Beakman's World

This show is nothing less than an absolute landmark in educational TV, and dare I say it, in TV in general. It was like they found the perfect formula: the characters, the timing, the scenery, the lines, the sound effects, and just about everything else. Good old Beakman could talk about *everything* using simple speech, good humour, enthusiasm, always aided by his assistant (originally Josie) and not-exactly-aided by the man in the rat costume, Lester. The three characters completed each other perfectly, and all through the episode, there was not a single second wasted: to every line, there was a perfect reply, and to every question, there was a perfect answer. This is brilliance and talent in their highest forms. Beakman's World can make me laugh harder than any adult comedy show out there can, and I still learn great things with it. It was a shame that Alanna had to leave the series ("Sister Act II", remember that?), and had to be replaced. Liza took herself too seriously, and didn't fit in too well with the other characters. Josie was unbeatable.

And of course, the show was cancelled. I doubt even Beakman could explain us how the execs had the courage to do that.

This show was so great. Why did they ever stop making it.

Beakman had the COOLEST experiment, the wildest hair, and the craziest assistants. Especially Lester the dim-witted Rat. Jean Stapleton as Beakman's mom was hilarious. Saturday morning TV was never the same when this show went away.

I wish I could find it on video.

Okay, I'm certainly no "kid" and I'll admit that when I first came upon the show while channel surfing way back when, It's true, I was drawn to pause on the channel because Alanna Ubach was on the screen.. BUT, it didn't take more than the one episode to realize this was well done and had a very unique and fun way to present science facts to young people.

Okay, here's where I show my age.. it's not unlike the old Soupy Sales show in it's use of off stage and inside jokes. Nothing offensive for the kids, but things that an adult can find and enjoy.

It takes a lot of good writing and acting to serve up facts and figures in a way that might keep a person glued to the screen for the whole "class" but these people managed to do it in my opinion.

Everyone did a great job on this show and it should still be aired more often as it still has lots to give people of all ages 8-)

As a matter of fact, I'm off to see if it's on DVD now..

I loved this show for so many reasons. It made science interesting to me for the first time, it was fast, funny and furious and it had one of the cutest ingenues as an assistant. Alanna Ubach made this show for me with her funny one-liners and quips; when she got replaced, it almost killed me, but at least Beakman and Lester, the down-on-his-luck-actor-in-a rat-suit, got me through it. The show had so many good things going for it; I just wish this show had been around in my youth, I could have been a better student than I was.

This show had it all - highly entertaining, educational, and just plain fun all rolled into one. The funny thing is that its target audience was obviously children, but I was 22 when it first aired, had no children of my own, and throughly enjoyed the show.

Most if not all of every show revolved around questions posed by the audience, i.e., children. The hosts (primarily Beakman) would proceed to answer by performing basic, yet interesting scientific experiments or explain the prevailing theory, with a thick dose of humor over all.

From all the great shows, the one I remember most was this question - "why do farts smell bad?" Now naturally, this question was fodder for all sorts of jokes by the sidekick guy in a rat suit. But Beakman, as always, tackled the question with a fantastic blend of serious science and circumstantial humor. I've never heard such a question asked on a children's show before, but it was handled very well, with the anticipated humor not completely detracting from the serious matter of providing the answer.

As a young adult I was amazed by this show, and even got up regularly, on Saturday morning no less, to see what Beakman had in store next. The show was cleverly designed to please both adults and children, and certainly worked its magic on me. Definitely give this one a chance.