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Doctor Clayton Forrester (MST3K)
Encyclopedia
Dr. Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester is a fictional character on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K). Named for the hero
of the 1953 film The War of the Worlds
, Dr. Forrester was the chief mad scientist on the show from its inception in 1988 through the seventh season in 1996, and also appeared in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
in 1996. He was played by Trace Beaulieu
.
, shooting him into space onboard the Satellite of Love
.
According to the show's mythos, Dr. Forrester (full name: Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester, perhaps because his mother
wanted a daughter; he has referred to himself as Clayton "Stonewall" Forrester and Clayton "Firebrand" Forrester) had been a mad scientist ever since his youth, when he was a member of Evilos (a mad scientist version of Webelos
), where he grafted the rear end of a dog onto the rear end of a cat; he has traced his scientific ambitions back to "Oslo
...I was found drunk and woozy...scratching the name "Paula Cranston" into my thigh with a nail". Other pivotal moments in his early life include a 1956 visit to "Sun Valley...[where] I was found behind the soft-serve machine, drooling over a picture of Dick Button" (Since Trace Beaulieu was born in 1958, Forrester must thus be at least a decade or so older than the actor who portrayed him.) and a visit to "the Ice Capades
, [where] I was hot-riveting my kneecaps to Peggy Fleming
's zamboni
."
Forrester's high school career was typified by a series of humiliations, presumably contributing to his rather deranged personality. Frequently teased by classmates, he received a "shameful expulsion" from the Chess
Club, suffered a "shameful shower incident" during his sophomore year, got rejected by the Swing Choir, was frequently victimized by book-dumpings after typing class, was forced to do power sit-ups in gym, and received "the revulsion, scorn, and rejection of all the pretty girls." At some point, he was struck by lightning, resulting in the white streak in his hair and mustache.
While earning his doctorate, Forrester took some undergraduate courses in Super-Villainry, and at some point he joined the Fraternal Order of Mad Science. He was a frequent attendee of the Mad Scientist Convention, although he lost the convention's invention contest each year (on one occasion his entry, "the More Painful Mouse Trap," was met only with laughter). In response to his rejections, he has blown up the convention center twice and once used incendiaries to not "actually make the building blow up, it just made it burn...really quickly."
While working at Gizmonic Institute, Forrester and his assistant, (Dr. Laurence Earhardt from K-01 to the end of Season One, at which point he was replaced by TV's Frank
without explanation) sent Joel cheesy movies which he was forced to watch, in order to find a movie that would drive people mad and allow him to take over the world. In response, Joel built several robot friends to keep him company, and keep himself from being driven mad. Joel, Crow T. Robot
, and Tom Servo
mocked each of the movies they were forced to watch. During Joel's time on MST3K, Forrester participated in Invention Exchanges with Joel and the 'bots. He would show his invention, then Joel would show his invention.
At the end of the sixth season, Frank was assumed into Second Banana
Heaven
by the angel Torgo
the White
, an event that, surprisingly, deeply saddened Forrester, reacting as though he had lost his best friend, even lamenting Frank's loss with the song "Who Will I Kill?". In the seventh season, Pearl Forrester
(Mary Jo Pehl
) joined her son Clayton to help him out. When Trace Beaulieu left the series, she took over as the head mad, and continued sending bad movies to hapless temp Mike Nelson
(played by Michael J. Nelson
, who had replaced Joel halfway through the 5th season) and the 'bots.
Clayton's last appearance was Laserblast
(Episode #706), where he announces that his funding has been cut, causing him to pack up Deep 13 and cut loose the Satellite of Love. The end of the episode is a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey
, in which an old Clayton tries to reach a Monolith
-like giant videocassette labeled "The Worst Film Ever Made". In the final scene, he is reborn as a star child. When Pearl muses about another chance to raise her son, he utters his final words of the Comedy Central series: "Oh, poopie."
When the show moved to the Sci Fi Channel
for its eighth season and the setting changed to the future year 2525, it was revealed that although Pearl had intended to do a better job of raising Clayton the second time around, she had somehow never actually gotten around to doing so and he had grown into much the same sort of adult he was before. Pearl therefore killed him by smothering him with a pillow. Oddly enough, although Pearl would've thus murdered Dr. Forrester some forty years to fifty years after the events of Episode #706, when the SOL crew returned to the 20th century, it was at the same time they had left it, i.e. at the end of Episode #706, which would mean that a second Pearl and a baby Clayton were still alive at that time. However, because MST3K is "just a show" which advises its viewers to "really just relax", this was never addressed.
In 2008, Trace Beaulieu, Joel Hodgson and Frank Conniff reprised their characters for a brief DVD skit explaining the rights issues for one of the films. The skit depicted Joel and the 'bots back on the ship and Forrester (as an adult) back at the lab with Frank. It's not known where (or if) the scene fits within the show's continuity.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(MST3K). Named for the hero
Doctor Clayton Forrester (War of the Worlds)
Doctor Clayton Forrester is a fictional character in the 1953 science fiction film The War of the Worlds, the first film adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel of the same name. The character is played by Gene Barry...
of the 1953 film The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (1953 film)
The War of the Worlds is a 1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. It was the first on-screen loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic novel of the same name...
, Dr. Forrester was the chief mad scientist on the show from its inception in 1988 through the seventh season in 1996, and also appeared in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a 1996 theatrical adaptation of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced and set between seasons 6 and 7 of the show. It was released by Gramercy Pictures and Best Brains with distribution held by Universal Pictures...
in 1996. He was played by Trace Beaulieu
Trace Beaulieu
Trace Beaulieu is an American puppeteer, writer, and actor. He is best known for his roles on Mystery Science Theater 3000 .-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
.
Character background
Forrester originally worked with fellow "mad" Dr. Laurence Erhardt at the Gizmonic Institute, until they moved their operations to the bowels of Deep 13. He engineered the kidnapping of janitor Joel RobinsonJoel Robinson
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000...
, shooting him into space onboard the Satellite of Love
Satellite of Love (MST3K)
The Satellite of Love is the fictional main setting of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is a giant bone-shaped spacecraft that Joel Robinson and his friends — robots Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, Cambot, and the noncorporeal Magic Voice — live in...
.
According to the show's mythos, Dr. Forrester (full name: Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester, perhaps because his mother
Pearl Forrester
Pearl Forrester is a character on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television series, played by Mary Jo Pehl. Forrester was the mother of Dr. Clayton Forrester...
wanted a daughter; he has referred to himself as Clayton "Stonewall" Forrester and Clayton "Firebrand" Forrester) had been a mad scientist ever since his youth, when he was a member of Evilos (a mad scientist version of Webelos
Cub Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)
Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America , available to boys from first through fifth-grade, or 7 to 11½ years of age and their families. Its membership is the largest of the three BSA Scouting Divisions...
), where he grafted the rear end of a dog onto the rear end of a cat; he has traced his scientific ambitions back to "Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
...I was found drunk and woozy...scratching the name "Paula Cranston" into my thigh with a nail". Other pivotal moments in his early life include a 1956 visit to "Sun Valley...[where] I was found behind the soft-serve machine, drooling over a picture of Dick Button" (Since Trace Beaulieu was born in 1958, Forrester must thus be at least a decade or so older than the actor who portrayed him.) and a visit to "the Ice Capades
Ice Capades
The Ice Capades was a traveling entertainment show featuring theatrical performances involving ice skating. Shows often featured former Olympicand National Champion figure skaters who had retired from amateur competition....
, [where] I was hot-riveting my kneecaps to Peggy Fleming
Peggy Fleming
Peggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...
's zamboni
Ice resurfacer
An ice resurfacer is a truck-like vehicle or smaller device used to clean and smooth the surface of an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949 in the city of Paramount, California...
."
Forrester's high school career was typified by a series of humiliations, presumably contributing to his rather deranged personality. Frequently teased by classmates, he received a "shameful expulsion" from the Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Club, suffered a "shameful shower incident" during his sophomore year, got rejected by the Swing Choir, was frequently victimized by book-dumpings after typing class, was forced to do power sit-ups in gym, and received "the revulsion, scorn, and rejection of all the pretty girls." At some point, he was struck by lightning, resulting in the white streak in his hair and mustache.
While earning his doctorate, Forrester took some undergraduate courses in Super-Villainry, and at some point he joined the Fraternal Order of Mad Science. He was a frequent attendee of the Mad Scientist Convention, although he lost the convention's invention contest each year (on one occasion his entry, "the More Painful Mouse Trap," was met only with laughter). In response to his rejections, he has blown up the convention center twice and once used incendiaries to not "actually make the building blow up, it just made it burn...really quickly."
While working at Gizmonic Institute, Forrester and his assistant, (Dr. Laurence Earhardt from K-01 to the end of Season One, at which point he was replaced by TV's Frank
TV's Frank
TV's Frank, played by Frank Conniff, is a fictional character, mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester's lab assistant in the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. He appears at the beginning of Season 2, with the departure of Forrester's earlier co-scientist Dr. Laurence Erhardt, and...
without explanation) sent Joel cheesy movies which he was forced to watch, in order to find a movie that would drive people mad and allow him to take over the world. In response, Joel built several robot friends to keep him company, and keep himself from being driven mad. Joel, Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...
, and Tom Servo
Tom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
mocked each of the movies they were forced to watch. During Joel's time on MST3K, Forrester participated in Invention Exchanges with Joel and the 'bots. He would show his invention, then Joel would show his invention.
At the end of the sixth season, Frank was assumed into Second Banana
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
by the angel Torgo
Torgo
Torgo may refer to:*Torgo , a vampire in the Marvel Comics universe*Torgo , an alien robot in the Marvel Comics universe*Torgo, a character in the 1966 horror film Manos: The Hands of Fate...
the White
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
, an event that, surprisingly, deeply saddened Forrester, reacting as though he had lost his best friend, even lamenting Frank's loss with the song "Who Will I Kill?". In the seventh season, Pearl Forrester
Pearl Forrester
Pearl Forrester is a character on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television series, played by Mary Jo Pehl. Forrester was the mother of Dr. Clayton Forrester...
(Mary Jo Pehl
Mary Jo Pehl
Mary Joseph Pehl born February 27, 1960 in Circle Pines, Minnesota, is an American writer, actress and comedienne. She is best known for her various roles on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
) joined her son Clayton to help him out. When Trace Beaulieu left the series, she took over as the head mad, and continued sending bad movies to hapless temp Mike Nelson
Mike Nelson (character)
Mike Nelson is a fictional character in the comedy science fiction television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Portrayed by actor/head writer Michael J. Nelson, Mike is a likable, sometimes dim temp worker from Wisconsin who comes to work for the mad scientists Dr...
(played by Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
, who had replaced Joel halfway through the 5th season) and the 'bots.
Demise
Laserblast
Laserblast is a 1978 American science fiction film about an unhappy teenage loner who discovers an alien laser cannon and goes on a murderous rampage, seeking revenge against those who he feels have wronged him. The low-budget film was directed by Michael Rae and produced by Charles Band, who is...
(Episode #706), where he announces that his funding has been cut, causing him to pack up Deep 13 and cut loose the Satellite of Love. The end of the episode is a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, in which an old Clayton tries to reach a Monolith
The Monolith
Monoliths are fictional advanced machines built by an unseen extraterrestrial species that appear in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series of novels and films....
-like giant videocassette labeled "The Worst Film Ever Made". In the final scene, he is reborn as a star child. When Pearl muses about another chance to raise her son, he utters his final words of the Comedy Central series: "Oh, poopie."
When the show moved to the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
for its eighth season and the setting changed to the future year 2525, it was revealed that although Pearl had intended to do a better job of raising Clayton the second time around, she had somehow never actually gotten around to doing so and he had grown into much the same sort of adult he was before. Pearl therefore killed him by smothering him with a pillow. Oddly enough, although Pearl would've thus murdered Dr. Forrester some forty years to fifty years after the events of Episode #706, when the SOL crew returned to the 20th century, it was at the same time they had left it, i.e. at the end of Episode #706, which would mean that a second Pearl and a baby Clayton were still alive at that time. However, because MST3K is "just a show" which advises its viewers to "really just relax", this was never addressed.
In 2008, Trace Beaulieu, Joel Hodgson and Frank Conniff reprised their characters for a brief DVD skit explaining the rights issues for one of the films. The skit depicted Joel and the 'bots back on the ship and Forrester (as an adult) back at the lab with Frank. It's not known where (or if) the scene fits within the show's continuity.