Mary Jo Pehl (; born February 27, 1960 in Circle Pines, Minnesota) is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her various roles on the television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''.

''Mystery Science Theater 3000''

Pehl was one of the writers on '' MST3K''. From 1992 to 1996, Pehl played the role of "Magic Voice", a disembodied woman's voice who would announce upcoming commercials at the beginning of the show. In 1996, she began playing the role of Pearl Forrester, the mother of Dr. Clayton Forrester ( Trace Beaulieu), initially as a guest character and then as a recurring character on the departure of TV's Frank (played by Frank Conniff). When Beaulieu left the series at the end of the seventh season, she took over as the head "mad" on the series. She would retain that role to the show's end in the tenth season. Pehl also played a number of other small roles on the series, such as "Jan in the Pan", a woman's head that had been removed from a body (inspired by the movie

The Brain That Wouldn't Die ''The Brain That Wouldn't Die'' (also known as ''The Head That Wouldn't Die'' or ''The Brain That Couldn't Die'') is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was complete ...

), and "White Trash Party Girl" from the MST3K episode 517 "Beginning of The End". In the Bonus Features of the DVD release of The Leech Woman, as part of the larger, special (tin container) release of the

25th Anniversary Edition Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

(12/2013), Pehl is featured in an ongoing series, Life After MST3K.

Work after ''MST3K''

Since the ending of the series, Pehl has had comedy segments on National Public Radio. In 2007, she returned to MST3K-style riffing on bad movies, joining former castmate Mike Nelson's

RiffTrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

for the film '' Glitter'', and Bill Corbett for '' The X-Files'' movie, as well as becoming a cast member on Joel Hodgson's '' Cinematic Titanic'', making her one of a select few MST3K alumni to be involved with both Mike and Joel's successor projects. After an extended stay in New York City, she moved to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

with her husband Ronald DeGroot in 2007, and has performed with the Violet Crown Radio Players. She has since starred in the science fiction computer game '' Darkstar: The Interactive Movie'' as both Captain Beth Ingram of the Starship Bridgebuilder and the voice of the computer Westwick Main. Pehl appeared on Ken Reid's ''TV Guidance Counselor'' podcast on May 13, 2016.

''Cinematic Titanic'' and ''Rifftrax''

On October 30, 2007, Joel Hodgson announced he was starting a new show with the same "riffing on bad movies" premise as ''MST3K'' called '' Cinematic Titanic'', together with former ''MST3K'' cast and crew members Pehl, Trace Beaulieu,

J. Elvis Weinstein Joshua Stuart "Josh" Weinstein (born May 21, 1971), known professionally as J. Elvis Weinstein, is an American writer and performer, best known for his roles as Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original puppeteer and voice for Tom Servo and Gypsy o ...

, and Frank Conniff. She continued to tour with Cinematic Titanic starting from November 2012 until the show's indefinite hiatus in December 2013. In June 2015, Pehl teamed up with

Bridget Jones Nelson Bridget Jones Nelson ( Jones; born September 24, 1964), also credited as simply Bridget Jones or Bridget Nelson, is an American screenwriter and actor for ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. She worked as a contributing writer for the show before ...

to regularly riff shorts for

, and participated in the RiffTrax Live MST3K reunion show that was broadcast live in theaters throughout the United States and Canada on June 28, 2016.

''The Mary Jo Pehl Show''

In August 2021, Pehl launched a monthly livestream show, ''The Mary Jo Pehl Show'', on her own

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

channel. The comedy-variety show has featured guest appearances by numerous ''MST3K'' alumni such as Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff,

Jonah Ray Jonah Ray Rodrigues (born August 3, 1982) is an American actor, comedian and writer from Los Angeles. He stars as Jonah Heston, the most recent primary host of ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. He is a former host of '' The Nerdist Podcast'' and ...

, Rebecca Hanson, and Beez McKeever. Additionally, Pehl regularly hosts ''Movie Jo Night'' watch parties on the channel featuring her watching mostly

made-for-tv A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

movies such as ''Where Have All The People Gone?'' and ''

Satan's Triangle ''Satan's Triangle'' is a 1975 American made-for-television mystery horror film directed by Sutton Roley and produced by ABC. The plot involves a United States Coast Guard helicopter sent to answer a distress call from inside the Bermuda Triang ...

''.

Literary work

Pehl wrote her first book in 2004 ''I Lived with My Parents and Other Tales of Terror'' published by

Plan 9 Publishing Plan Nine Publishing was a small press book publisher known for publishing webcomics in printed form. The first series published, and perhaps its most famous, was ''Kevin and Kell''. History Plan Nine Publishing was named after the Ed Wood film ' ...

. Pehl contributed quotes to ''Girls Against Girls'' by author Bonnie Burton. Pehl has stated that she is a Catholic, and has written for the ''

Catholic Digest ''Catholic Digest'' was an American Roman Catholic monthly magazine founded in 1936. By the 1950s ''Catholic Digest'' was publishing articles by such well-known Catholic authors as Fulton J. Sheen, Frank Sheed and Dorothy Day. In 2016 it was rea ...

'', including an article about a priest who works in a circus. In 2011, Pehl released the book ''Employee of The Month And Other Big Deals.'' In May 2022, Pehl released her memoir ''Dumb Dumb Dumb: My Mother's Book Reviews'', which celebrates the relationship she shared with her mother.

References

External links

* * *
The Mary Jo Pehl Show
' on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pehl, Mary Jo 1960 births Living people Actresses from Minnesota American comedy writers American stand-up comedians American television actresses American television writers People from Circle Pines, Minnesota American women television writers Catholics from Minnesota Screenwriters from Minnesota 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American actresses