Pearl (TV series)

This article is about the television series. For other uses, see Pearl (disambiguation).

Pearl
Created by	Don Reo
Starring	Rhea Perlman Kevin Corrigan Carol Kane Malcolm McDowell Dash Mihok Lucy Liu
Composer	Craig Safan
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Paul Junger Witt Rhea Perlman Tony Thomas
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Impact Zone Productions Witt/Thomas Productions Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 16, 1996 (1996-09-16) – June 25, 1997 (1997-06-25)

Pearl is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from September 16, 1996 until June 25, 1997. The series starred Rhea Perlman, in what was her return to television after the conclusion of her long-running series Cheers three years earlier on NBC. Don Reo created the series, and Perlman served as an executive producer alongside Reo, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas and Gary S. Levine. Pearl was produced by Impact Zone Productions and Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Plot

Pearl Caraldo (Rhea Perlman), a middle-aged widow, is the loading dock manager for University Electronics but who wants to achieve a higher level of education. She is accepted as a night student at the prestigious Swindon University. By contrast, her 20-year-old son Joey (Dash Mihok), a single father with no apparent ambition, is disappointed that his mother is no longer readily available as a live-in babysitter for his infant daughter. Also less than thrilled is Pearl's sister-in-law Annie (Carol Kane), who is concerned that with her greater educational attainment, Pearl will become another "one of them intellectuals." A professor of a required course, Stephen Pynchon (Malcolm McDowell), further complicates matters by his belief that higher education is for a cultured elite, not working-class people like Pearl, and sets out to embarrass and belittle her whenever possible in hopes that she will withdraw from the university.

Cast

Actor	Role
Rhea Perlman	Pearl Caraldo
Kevin Corrigan	Franklin 'Frankie' Spivak
Carol Kane	Annie Caraldo
Malcolm McDowell	Prof. Stephen Pynchon
Dash Mihok	Joey Caraldo
Lucy Liu	Amy Li

References

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows

External links

• Pearl at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show