The Mads is the term used by the Satellite of Love crew members to collectively describe their various mad scientist captors as part of the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" experiments.
History[]
The first scientists to be referred to as "the Mads" were the initiators of the experiments, Dr. Clayton Forrester and Dr. Laurence Erhardt. They ran the experiments from the the earliest through Experiment #113. Experiments were initially run out of Gizmonic Institute, but later moved to a sub-basement, Deep 13.
Just before Experiment #201, Dr. Erhardt left and Dr. Forrester hired TV's Frank as an assistant. At this time, Dr. Forrester also sometimes enlisted the aid of Gerry and Sylvia, two mole people who typically provided manual labor. They continued the experiments through the loss of their initial test subject Joel Robinson and the introduction of Mike Nelson.
During the course of Experiment #624, Frank was assumed into Second Banana Heaven. Dr. Forrester's mother Pearl joined her son during Experiment #701 and stayed through the conclusion of Experiment #706
In the far future, a race of sentient apes had taken over the Earth, setting up a habitat in the location previously occupied by Deep 13. Led by Professor Bobo and his second-in-command Dr. Peanut, they pulled the Satellite of Love back into Earth's orbit and restarted the experiments at the behest of the "Lawgiver", Pearl Forrester.
Following the destruction of Earth, Pearl and Bobo continued the experiments, eventually being joined by one of the Observers. Pearl, Bobo and "Brain Guy" would eventually settle on then-modern-day Earth in Castle Forrester until a mishap led to the end of the original run of experiments.
Several years later, Dr. Forrester's daughter, Kinga, revived the experiments from her base on the Moon in Moon 13. She was aided by aided by Max, who was identified as the son of TV's Frank. Kinga had a much larger support crew including Synthia (a clone of Pearl), Ardy, and The Skeleton Crew (aka "The Boneheads"), a group of henchmen/band members. They captured Jonah Heston and placed him in a new Satellite of Love.
Synthia was given the opportunity to run an experiment when Kinga sent her on tour with Jonah.
Following the tour, the experiments resumed. Additional personnel joined Moon 13, including new Boneheads, Ardy's dog Bonesy, and Dr. Donna St. Phibes. At the conclusion of Experiment #1206, Jonah embarked on another tour with Synthia that saw the return of Joel Robinson, having trapped Kinga and Max in a Mystery Science Theater hidden in Moon 13.
In order to escape, Kinga was forced to destroy Moon 13 and relocate her operations to Moon 1. While she was setting things up on the Moon, a hybrid clone of Pearl and Synthia, Mega-Synthia, was tasked with running two more tours, the first with Joel Robinson and the second with Emily Connor.
Once operations were set in Moon 1, Kinga and Max started the experiments again, joined by Pearl, Synthia, and Mega-Synthia. This new venture was overseen by the mysterious financier Dr. Kabahl. Kinga and Max later recruited Jonah's bots M. Waverly and Growler, who acted as the new Boneheads. Dr. St. Phibes was still associated with the experiment, but seemed to be based in a spaceship rather than on the moon.
Mirror Universe[]
In a mirror universe that briefly crossed over with the Prime universe, the Mads consisted of mirror versions of Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo and Gypsy. They sent experiments to mirror versions of Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank.
Notes[]
- Other characters were shown interacting with the Mads, but would not qualify as Mads themselves. The members of the Observers Hivemind and The Space Children both sent movies to the Satellite of Love, but this was not motivated by a desire to conduct the experiment (the Observers being more interested in observing the Mads during the experiment and the Space Children acting out of spite). Additionally, the Ancient Romans had no control over the experiments while they hosted the Mads.
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Principal | Dr. Clayton Forrester • Dr. Laurence Erhardt • TV's Frank • Pearl Forrester • Professor Bobo • Brain Guy • Kinga Forrester • Max | |||||
Secondary | Gerry and Sylvia • Dr. Peanut • The Observers • Synthia Forrester • Ardy • Skeleton Crew • Dr. Donna St. Phibes • Bonesy • Mega-Synthia • Dr. Kabahl • M. Waverly • Growler | |||||
Mirror Universe | Mike Nelson • Crow T. Robot • Tom Servo • Gypsy | |||||
Locations | Gizmonic Institute • Deep 13 • Deep Ape • The Widowmaker • Observer homeworld • Camping Planet • Ancient Rome • Castle Forrester • Moon 13 • Moon 1 • Deep Hurting | |||||