Here are my top ten favorite Mary Jo moments, in episode order:
• 513- THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE–Of course, it’s impossible to forget her breakout performance as Jan in the Pan.
• 703- DEATHSTALKER AND THE WARRIORS FROM HELL–All I need to say is: “Clayton? Clayton! Clayton! Clayton?”
• 704- THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN–MJ parodies every snooty studio set she met during the making of MST3K the Movie to hilarious effect.
• 812- THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES/903- THE PUMA MAN — Mary Jo channels every oddball hair stylist she’s ever had to deal with as she does the voice of Shelli the Nanite.
• 804- THE DEADLY MANTIS–MJ really settles into her new role in this episode, where Pearl craftily escapes from the doomed Earth and discovers that Bobo has come along for the ride.
• 807- TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000–Mary Jo dominates the scene as the Observers make Pearl and Bobo fight, a la Star Trek.
• 822- OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK–Mary Jo and Bill show delightful chemistry in “Pearl! Pearl! Pearl! Pearl! Pearl!”
• 905- THE DEADLY BEES–Mary Jo shines in the “Please Stay” operetta.
• 913- QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS–No list would be complete without Mary Jo’s segment in the theater! She handles it beautifully.
• 1011- HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND–Mary Jo again shows her physical comedy skills as Pearl auditions for Mike’s dance troupe.
What are yours?
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Any time Mary Jo is heard or seen is F$#)^&@> great. We love you Mary Jo. I meant that in the good way and not the creepy cyber stalker way.
I forget the episode, season 8 sometime. Pearl and Bobo are fighting “renegade warlike robots” — which are offscreen in a low budget way that I admire . . . Anyway, Observer comes up, wearing a nurse’s uniform. Pearl says “Brain guy, what the h-ell is your deal?” Something about her delivery, the little pause in the middle of “hell,” cracks me up every time.
Later that season, when the three have been captured by the Romans and Pearl faces “inevitable” death. She talks about making peace with “God . . . or whatever . . . ” Again, it’s all in the delivery.
Oh, in a very early Satellite News (when it was a print newsletter!), Mary Jo talked about her worst temp gigs. At one, the supervisor was asking her to do some filing, and asked her — totally seriously — “Are you familiar with the alphabet?” Classic. Also in that essay, she provided a bit of wisdom — about temping as well as life in general — that I’ve never forgotten: “It’s actually harder to look busy than to be busy.”
I think I started watching around the seventh season, and I remember my mom wondering what I was watching and catching the “Clayton?” sketch. We were both laughing like crazy.
Also, I’m a big fan of when the mom calls Mike aka Chopper. “Mommy’s on the phooooo-oooone!”
Let us not forget the segments in Time Chasers where she and Mike have a neighborly chat in the cold darkness of space.
How could you forget her wonderful turn as Magic Voice, when she has the conversation with creepy narrator, also in “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” Magic Voice never got the focus in a sketch other than that one, and MJ handled it with flying colours. I think I like that one better than the slightly uncomfortable Jan in the Pan sketch.
My favorite is still “Mommy’s on the phoooooooone!” and her telling mike “That’s differnt.” When he tells them they’re not the right nelsons. SOOOO midwestern.
I grew up watching a lot of PBS, so the Pearl TV pledge drive skits are a lot of fun.
And I really love whatever skit that is where MJ, Bridget, et. al. portray the stoner kids next door. “Shut UP, Shelley!”
513- THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE: The Jan-in-the-Pan performance is a must, yeah.
518- THE ATOMIC BRAIN: Magic Voice talking with the creepy voiceover from the movie. Great skit.
607- BLOODLUST: Frank hitting it off with Mrs. F in the episode that debuted her character.
608- CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD: Magic Voice teaches the Bots valuable lessons about living with Mike.
701- NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST: Mrs. F viciously overseeing Dr. F’s trombone recital.
703- DEATHSTALKER AND THE WARRIORS FROM HELL: Not only the whole “Clayton! Clayton?” thing, but also Mrs. F enjoying Crow as he reads her trashy romance novel.
705- ESCAPE 2000: A lucid Mrs. F is stuck in a home – probably her funniest Season 7 moment.
804- THE DEADLY MANTIS: The final scene with Pearl trying to talk tough to Mike as Bobo expresses a desire for pumpkins and gourds. The physical comedy as they switch seats is a lot of fun.
805- THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE: Pearl giving Bobo the evil eye as he tries to find a place to sleep. Just one of the many times when Mary Jo was wonderfully evil in the role of Mrs. F.
807- TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000: Mrs. F delivers a heartfelt, humane speech before Bobo pushes her back into psychotic territory. The character of Mrs. F was very entertaining when we got to see such contradictory qualities.
815- AGENT FOR H.A.R.M.: Pearl at her diabolical best as the prosecutor in the cosmic courtroom.
821- SPACE MUTINY: Pearl’s folksy talks with Mike at the beginning/end of the episode. Again, it’s when we see those contradictory sides of Mrs. F (that is, her friendliness alongside her evil tendencies) that we get a lot to enjoy out of the character.
822- OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK: All the skits involving Public Pearl TV, but especially Mrs. F counting up the loot with Ortega.
902- PHANTOM PLANET: A doubtful Pearl receiving a visit from torch-wielding villagers. Mary Jo hits it out of the park when Mrs. F begins to revel in her evilness.
904- WEREWOLF: Mrs. F not even flinching when Mike finds his way back to Earth.
907- HOBGOBLINS: Pearl getting increasingly agitated by Mike and the Bots’ antics, causing her to send them THE movie.
909- GORGO: Pearl enlisting Leonard Maltin’s help to put the hurting on the SOL crew. Mary Jo and Maltin had some fun comedic chemistry.
913- QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS: Pearl holding in her own in the theater.
1001- SOULTAKER: Pearl catches up with Frank on this and that. It was cool to see them back at it again.
1008- FINAL JUSTICE: Mrs. F getting more and more exasperated as Mike and the Bots hammer home the message about the crappy editing in the movie.
1013- DIABOLIK: Mary Jo (with the help of some makeup) effectively conveys Pearl’s despair at the SOL’s descent. Her final scene on the show (“Look, Nelson, move on – I am”) is certainly memorable, too.
Time Chasers. “So what happened to the other Crow?”
The “Fresh pain awaits!” part with Mike at the end of Jack Frost.
(#821 should have been listed as “Time Chasers” instead of “Space Mutiny” – good catch, Jerry.)
One of my favorite moments is during Quest of the Delta Knights where Pearl points to Tom Servo and Crow and characterizes them as ‘these two chattering…objects’
RAD
Green Switch #9:
I forgot that speech at the end of TERROR. Classic! “It’s wrong to kill. Though I have done that, probably shouldn’t have . . . ”
:-)
“…the only former cast member who has worked on a RiffTrax riff and Cinematic Titanic.”
Actually she’s worked on two Rifftrax titles, Glitter and X-Files: Fight the Future. Unless Rifftrax Presents titles don’t count of course. Oh…and Mary Jo Pehl “ROX!”, as the kids say these days, but you knew that.
Mary Jo’s introduction of “Riding With Death”: “I’m sending you the worst movie I know. It’s called ‘Riding With Death’ and it sucks on toast!” There’s something about her delivery of those lines that crack me up every time.
Also, Pod!Pearl, Pod!Observer and the zuchinni throw pillows. :mrgreen:
Most of my favorite moments have already been mentioned, but my absolute favorite is in 821, “Time Chasers.”
The conversation between Mike and Pearl in segment one is so fantastic. Mike is good (and later Crow), and I love that they allow the scene to play out with pauses and everything, but Pehl is really, really hilarious. It’s one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, Sci Fi channel host segment, and a lot of it is because of her work.
What foreign judgement are you using that says the order is “Mike; Joel; Murphy; Beaulieu; Pehl… Shouldn’t Frank be next? It’s the decisions like these that do not have people coming to MST3Kinfo on holidays …
Also, like last week, my thoughts turn to the Amazing Colossal Episode guide rather than the character since the character never stood out for me anyway. Mary Jo Pehl is funny doing the reflections for 315: Teenage Caveman, and 316: Gamera vs. Zigra.
Liked when she visited the SOL as an Amazon (along with Bridget) in the Hercules episode. Actually, whenever she visited in the hex screen it was good. Liked one where it was a bunch of people having a party, and Crow went to join them. Don’t remember which one that was. Liked her doing Magicvoice. Didn’t really like Pearl too much, but she had her moments, like the ones mentioned. I did like here duet with Brain Guy – “When Loving Lovers Love.”
“Her” duet, not “here”.
907 – HOBGOBLINS:
“You couldn’t turn me on if you had a dozen naked Gerardos and Fabio in tight leather pants!” A long delay, eyes roll to the back of the head… “Oh… Where… where was I?”
@ Evan K in post #2
You nailed it with that one! She comes across as genuinely caught off guard and disturbed by the spectacle of Brain Buy in a nurse’s uniform…PERFECT delivery, Mary Jo (if you’re reading these)!
I also agree with everyone who has mentioned the conversation in space with Mike from Time Chasers.
And the Amazon sketch with Bridgett from 502-Hercules is comedy gold!
“So why are you so evil?”
“Well, I’m filled with hate…”
What about the box of Pearl’s stuff repreenting love (forgot the ep)? MJ’s reactions are funny, but I assume some of the stuff chosen for her box had to be her idea lol
An un-impressed Pearl reacts to Bobo saving the galaxy with “Have you been drinking?” (Giant Spider Invasion)
Public Pearl hawking tote bags and quality TV. (Overdrawn at the Memory Bank)
Pearl attempts to rule the world, starting with Todd Gunderson “Well..Todd…” (Final Sacrifice)
Pearl and TV’s Frank — A charming pair, evil yet endearing — (Bloodlust and Soultaker)
So many great moments. Mary Jo has wonderful comic timing and great delivery that makes a great line even better.
“I think I lie because I’m evil,” from ‘Time Chasers’, is a perfect example. It’s a great line, but it’s even better when MJ delivers it in that contemplative tone.
The boardroom sketch in ‘Wasp Woman’, for Cinematic Titanic, is one driven pretty much entirely by her delivery; she gives every line the perfect spin to crack you up at what’s actually a pretty underwritten sketch.
(And I’ll also toss a shout-out to the sketch in ‘Doomsday Machine’, where she asks how they’re going to decide who lives and who dies. Her and Frank have a great interplay. “Naturally, as a woman, I’ll be among the living group–” “Wait, you’re planning to have kids?” “Me? Oh, HELL NO!” “Well, then GET BACK IN LINE, SISTER!” Never fails to get me laughing.)
Oh, and let’s not forget the insecure and nervous Pearl in ‘Girl In Gold Boots’. “Ha ha ha ha…ha.” (The ‘latex hump’ scene in the same skit is priceless.)
And yes, even in the much-maligned ‘Hamlet’, she is brilliant. The three-card monte sketch at the beginning (“Oh, I forgot. You’re also a wuss.”) and the death of Fortinbras at the end (“Is it me? Am I a magnet to these guys?”) are both lovely bits.
while i would certainly debate whether a female (or any particular random gender or race-based) perspective was (or is ever, for that matter) “much needed”… i will say that i have enjoyed Mary Jo’s role over the entire span of the series. from the smaller roles in the early years, to the magical voice of Magic Voice, to the legendary Pearl… i would say she has been and integral part of the MST3K world for the entire time she was with the show. Personally, my favorite pearl moment is the whole “Pearl! Pearl! Pearl! Pearl! Pearl!” bit from Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (as mentioned).
I liked Mary-Jo’s moments, but the “Clayton!” thing in Deathstalker always bothered me, mostly because I would dose off before that part and it would wake me up.
In Bloodlust, Mary Jo is talking to Frank when Dr. Forrester interrupts. Mary Jo answers with a “WHAT?” and stares into space with an annoyed look on her face. It cracks me up everytime.
During the accidental on-turning segment, Pearl references Fabio/Gerardo. Her expression and delivery are priceless. As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes the jokes were just o.k., but the casts’ deliveries would make them transcendent. It’s what makes the show such a hard sell when you’re trying to describe it to the unconverted. Strapping them to a chair and forcing them to watch Hobgoblins is a much better method.
Oh, and when loving lovers love. Period.
Oh, and I watched A*P*E this weekend. It is perfect MST fodder. It made me wonder if they couldn’t get the rights or some other reason for not doing it.
Perhaps that would be a good discussion thread: movies they should have MSTied.
When they brought Pearl in for season 7, I REALLY hated her. There was something about seeing Dr F get henpecked by his mother that almost ruined the entire show for me.
But at some point during Season 8, she won me over. She had lots of great moments in the Sci Fi years. I loved when the apes brought her “The Hunk”.
I also enjoyed how, when she did the theater segment in Delta Knights, she turned into a kindly grandmother figure for the bots.
And for some reason that I can’t quite explain, her calling Crow “Art” always made me laugh a little.
Oh, yeah. Her calling Crow “Art” is maybe my favorite thing about the Sci Fi years. I love it.
MJ/Pearl has not always gotten the best review from some MSTies – I never understood why. Yeah, OK, one or two early performances would have benefitted from turning it down a notch or two, but all newbies should be given a break.
Anyhooo…
Nothing original to add the the many fin lists.
Time Chasers is perhaps the finest Pearl moment, and a real fine Mike moment, too. Pearl becomes a fully-rounded character, with her gentle side, aware of her flaws – all wonderfully delivered.
“Mike, Crow, Snack”
And any of the umpteen occasions where she does a “slow-burn” look to camera. Or when she gets flirty…
And in the real world, too. Received a lovely email from MJ when I’d had a minor op on my butt cheek. It read, in part “Be kind to your bottom: it is our best friend in sitting situations!”
I’m a fan. Pehl For President in 2012!
Rhys
Should have read: “Nothing original to add to the many fine lists”
Snowdog #32:
I can identify. For the most part, I found the Sci-Fi years Pearl much better than season 7. Perhaps because they got rid of that obnoxious costume, perhaps because she could really spread her wings without having to be Dr. F’s mom.
Oh, and lets not forget her catty relationship with Flavia.
Flavia: Lyre?
Pearl: WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?
Classic.
Mrs. F calling Crow “Art” always makes me laugh as well. It’s a special call back for me because the very first episode of MST3K I ever saw was the origin of the reference. When they did letters at the end a kid had drawn pictures of all the characters and for some reason had written the name Art underneath Crow. Fond memories.
Kirok #38:
The Art thing came about because of a gag in episode 203, Jungle Goddess. Joel introduces the bots as Jackie Gleason did with his fellow cast members at the end of every episode of The Honeymooners, calling each one out individually to take a bow. During this, Joel refers to Crow as “Art Crow!”, a reference to the enthusiastic way that Gleason would introduce Art Carney.
The kid who was watching that show had obviously missed the Honeymooners reference, assuming that “Art” was Crow’s real name. The writers found it amusing, so it became a recurring joke.
I’d agree with all these, so I’ll just add a couple that I haven’t seen mentioned:
*Horrors of Spider Island: Pearl’s response both to Brain Guy and Bobo while in the ladies’ room is dead on.
*Parts, the Clonus Horror: All of her reactions to the Space Children are extremely funny, and her explanation of the facts of life to Darlene make me laugh every time.
But like a lot of people, I think the absolute funniest moment may be her neighborly chat with Mike during Time Chasers: “Yah, it’s supposed to get down to absolute zero…that’s why I always wear a sweater.”
Werewolf – At the very end of the episode, “Time to watch me now!”
“But like a lot of people, I think the absolute funniest moment may be her neighborly chat with Mike during Time Chasers: “Yah, it’s supposed to get down to absolute zero…that’s why I always wear a sweater.”
========================================
Followed by Crow’s taunting TS with “And
Pearl said she likes me best and she’s
going to take me to France.”
And think how well Pearl could run PBS
fundraisers. She certainly knows how to pick and grease her phone bank.
704 Escape 2000 – ‘Clayton, I’m hungry! Clayton!’ The capper is when Toblerone carries Pearl off at the end.
607 – Bloodlust – Great chemistry with TVs Frank. Her off-handed way of brushing of Dr. F cracks me up every time!
617 – The Sword and the Dragon – Mary Jo and Bridgette visit Dr F and TVs Frank in Deep 13 and are run off by their weirdness.
812 – The Incredibly Strange Creatures… – Pearl is golden as she has a world-weary talk with the Space Children.
I loved all the public tv bits they did in Overdrawn at the memory bank. Her song with bill is well worth waiting halfway through the episode for. Her kind of parenting in Clonus with the space children was great. The old electronic babysitter!
Okay, I thought of another of my absolute favorite moments…
In Werewolf, at the beginning of the episode when Mike climbs down the ladder from the SOL and into the dungeon where Pearl, Brainguy, and Bobo are eating cereal, I love the way they casually move away from the cannon, and the dead-on delivery Mary Jo gives when Mike steps back down to ask the name of the show for that week and she says in a perfect dead-pan fashion; ‘Werewolf’. Priceless.
RAD
Most of my faves have already been mentioned but I’ll through in when the space children are calling her mom and she says ‘I ain’t anybody’s mommy!’ with such hate and then they start calling her grandma instead and that upsets her even more. :grin:
I’m a little more partial to the scifi years and Mary Jo really made them worthwhile.
Seeing Pearl’s character develope over a few years into what she was on Sci-Fi is a great study of the creative process. They kept redifining her until MJ became as comfortable in the character as within her own skin. Seeing her all boozy with big hair and squealing along with Frank just looks wrong now.
And she is so much more evil than her son.
Merlin’s Shop: Taste the rainbow of fruit pain.
Ah, my prediction was wrong. I thought this weekend would be our favorite Frank moments. Maybe next time.
As for Mary Jo:
The Brain that Wouldn’t Die – My first encounter with MST3K and her Jan in the Pan still cracks me up, especially with her sudden mood change at Mike’s joke.
The Atomic Brain – Magic Voice meets the movie’s narrator. It doesn’t get much better than that.
The Brain of Yucca Flats – “Shut up, Shelley!” Done better in the Poopie reel, IMO.
Night of the Brain Beast (TD) – Pearl showing no remorse for killing the dinner guests with the traditional family recipe. Her conversation with Clayton on which of the two should kill Jack Perkins is probably the only moment where they really get along in the series.
Deathstalker and the Brains from Hell – Not only the delivery of “Clayton! Clayton!” but you can see how much fun she’s having while doing so, especially in Segment 1.
The Giant Brain Invasion – Pearl’s evil laughter as she sends the movie again, proving that she is much more evil than her son.
The Deadly Brains – Pearl’s indifference when tasked with saving the world.
The Brain Sacrifice – Pearl trying to remember her previous encounter with Servo.
Brain Waters of Dr. Z – Brain Guy having to explain to Pearl about love.
Boggy Creek II: And the Brain Continues – Pearl trying to sell the Legend of Forrester Swamp for as long as possible despite M&tB knowing immediately that it’s Bobo all along.
Kudos to the Monty Python Spam sketch and the subsequent credit sequence for the silly inspiration to replace one of the words in each title with “brain.” Have a nice brain.
I never saw any of season seven (nor most of season six, thank you Star Trek), so my introduction to Pearl was in Deep Ape. As a result, I got to know her as Pearl rather than Mrs. Forrester, which I think helped my reaction to her.
That said, some of my favorite moments were when she needed Mike to help her out, and her reactions to Mike’s often intentional foiling of her plans. “Oh, I’m going to send you *such a movie!*”
Secretly, I have a harmless crush on Mary Jo.
Wait, is this a public blog – DOH!