I didn’t have the appropriate cable channel for the transition seasons between Clayton and Pearl, but a photo in the MST3K episode guide indicates that Pearl was originally played by Mary Jo Pehl in old lady make up. In the Sci Fi seasons I saw with her, she was her own age. From a production standpoint I would assume that time or cost factors led them to abandon the old lady make up, but was there an in-show explanation as to why she apparently regressed in age?
In the Sci-Fi era, she had supposedly be in suspended animation for over 500 years. When Mike, Tom, and Gypsy regained their physical bodies (Crow having gotten bored not long after they became spirits), it was the year 2525.
They found the Earth under the control of apes (thanks to Mike’s ancestors) and Pearl was “The Lawgiver”. I don’t beleive there was a specific explanation about her looks.
I must admit that I didn’t like Mary Jo in the Comedy Central days because she was so annoying.
“…supposedly BEEN in…”
I had no idea Mike and company had lost their physical bodies.
Still doesn’t explain why she got younger though.
When the show was cancelled, Mike and the Bots figured out how to become spirits and went off to explore the universe. Dr. Forrester went out ala 2001 and became a space baby. Pearl decided to take the opportunity to raise him right (but ended up offing him soon after).
There was no explanation why her apparent age changed.
It was neve discussed. Behind the scenes, my impression is that they figured that once Pearl was the main Mad, they had to dial down her obnoxiousness.
–Cliffy
I think a lot of fans found Pearl grating, which the show could get away with as long as Trace was still there as Dr. Forrester. When he left, they had to make Pearl more appealing to fill the void of his absence.
The whole point to Pearl when she first appearred was to be a crappy mom who totally neglected and/or dissed her kid. So she was pretty much a one dimensional character at that time.