Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Jok Church once had a job
answering George Lucas’ fan
mail at Lucasfilm. While there, he
became enamored with the way children bravely asked anything at all in their
letters. This inspired him to develop an idea for a comic strip and educational
television series called “Here’s How”, starring C-3PO teaching a foreign
language and R2-D2
explaining the physical world. He eventually abandoned the idea, but soon
returned to it with an original character and in the comic strip You Can with
Beakman.
U Can With Beakman and Jax comic strip by Jok Church.
The strip featured
the character Beakman Place (named after the street in New York City), who had
spiky blue hair, a pocket full of tools, and a strong desire to learn. Like
Church, he wasn’t a scientist but was intrigued by the world at large and
wanted to know more about it. From the multitude of letters he would eventually
be sent (mostly from women and not all from children exclusively), Church would
select one that dealt with a topic that he himself would want to learn about.
From there, he would craft a text-heavy one panel strip on a Mac (and later in Adobe Illustrator,
making it the first computer-rendered comic strip) indirectly answering the
question through a simple experiment his readers could also perform.
Eventually, Beakman would be joined by his sister, Jax, and the strip became You
Can with Beakman and Jax for the remainder of its run.
Beakman’s World was presented like a live-action cartoon; both
so that children could have fun learning and to bridge the gap between them and
their parents. Unlike the strip, Beakman (Paul Zaloom) was an eccentric
scientist with tall hair and a green lab coat that lived in a cluttered, zany
lab full of the materials he’d need to conduct the experiments and
demonstrations to answer any of the thousands of letters the production would
receive from viewers. Left out of the show, much to Church’s regret, was
Beakman’s sister Jax in order to simplify the show with a single host; however,
one episode did feature his mother, Beakmom (Jean Stapleton), and brother,
Meekman (Zaloom).
The lab assistants: Alanna Ubach, Eliza Schneider and Senta Moses.
Instead, Beakman had
two constant assistants that would help in his experiments as well as act as
the audience surrogates to ask further questions on their behalf. The first was
a female lab assistant, who would usually read off the viewer letters to
Beakman. There were three during the show’s run. The first was Josie, played by
Alanna Ubach until she left to pursue her movie career. The second was Liza,
played by Eliza Schneider for two seasons. She would leave to perform the
one-woman show USA 911, then beginning a voice over career. The third
was Phoebe, played by Senta Moses. Each assistant had a colorful wardrobe and
an equally colorful personality.
Mark Ritts as Lester the rat.
The second, begrudgingly, was Lester (Mark Ritts), a slovenly man in a
giant rat suit. His dimwitted nature often made him the perfect target to segue
into a demonstration; most often the “Beakman Challenge”, where Beakman would
try to get him to perform a deceptively simple feat using science. There were
two running jokes about Lester: he was either an actor whose lousy agent got
him a bad gig, or being in a rat suit was a lifestyle choice. In the pilot
episode, Lester was portrayed by a puppet.
Beakman behind the Boguscope as an image materializes on it.
Incidentally, there was technically a third assistant. The unseen
cameraman known only as “Ray” would often hand Beakman various items from
off-camera. This was played by prop-master Ron Jancula’s hands. Additionally, Ray
was said to be operating the camera as well as various other systems around the
set, and would also send in a “viewing screen” known as the Boguscope. It would
display simple computer-generated animations to help illustrate what was being
explained to the audience.
Don and Herb at the South Pole watching Beakman's World.
Each episode usually began and ended with two puppet penguins Don (Bert
Berdis, operated by Steve
Sherman) and Herb (Alan Barzman, operated by Ritts), named after the
legendary Mr. Wizard (aka Don Herbert), tuning in to
the show in the South Pole. The TV would explode, leading to Beakman in his lab
where would lay down a fast fact before the title sequence. For the closing,
the penguins would deliver an intentionally bad joke related to the episode
before turning the TV off and cutting to the credits. The penguin duo would
also sometimes appear during segments or between commercial breaks.
Professor I.M. Boring.
Besides
Beakman, Zaloom play multiple characters. His two recurring ones were slovenly
fry cook Art Burn and Professor I.M. Boring. Burn’s segments took place in the
kitchen area of the set and saw Lester ordering the materials needed for the
experiment from a menu, which were then rudely handed to him by the female
assistant dressed as a waitress. Boring appeared in black and white segments
reminiscent of boring old educational film reels to deliver a definition related to a topic being explained.
Other times, Zaloom would appear as a famous scientist or historical figure
(treated as a separate individual, but a recurring gag had Lester aware that it
was just Beakman). Ritts also occasionally appeared outside of his rat suit as
other minor characters, such as a sportscaster.
Beakman with Captain Disillusion.
Although
the series wrapped in 1997, the comic strip that inspired it continued until
July 17, 2016; ending three days after its 25th anniversary and
three months following
the death of Church from a heart attack. Zaloom maintains the rights to use
the Beakman character to perform at live events for children and continues to
do so around the world in a show called Beakman Live! There was also a traveling exhibit called Beakman’s World On Tour started in 1998
that visited science halls across America. In 2016, Zaloom appeared as Beakman on an episode of the viral
video debunking web series Captain Disillusion,
which was filmed and acted in a style similar to an episode of Beakman’s
World.
In
1997, Columbia released a VHS collection called The
Best of Beakman’s World, which was later re-released onto
DVD in 2004 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and again
in 2016 by Mill Creek Entertainment.
The complete series was made available to stream on Netflix until 2014. In 2016 it became part
of MeTV’s Sunday morning line-up preceding Bill
Nye for the next few years, and was later made available to stream on Tubi.
EPISODE GUIDE (as there were no story plots, there are no episode descriptions):
Fraggle
Rock was the name of the subterranean world of the Fraggles;
colorful little creatures with tails who like to sing, dance and play. The
entrance to their world was located in what they call Outer Space, or the
surface world, where the Silly Creatures, or human beings dwell. Using a
mixture of comedy and music, the series was accessible to viewers of all ages
and dealt with serious issues such as prejudice, the environment, social
conflict and more through allegory. The series was the first collaboration of Henson International Television and Deluxe Digital Studios.
Each
episode was bookended by a live-action segment that featured the human who
dwelled where the entrance to Fraggle Rock was located (aka a hole in the wall)
with a small subplot that dealt with the overall theme of the episode. Unlike
previous Henson projects, Fraggle Rock was produced with international markets in mind. As a result,
the live segments varied in locations and actors in order to allow the viewers
to relate to the world of the show. In America, New Zealand, the Netherlands,
Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain and Eastern Europe, the human was inventor Doc (Gerry Parkes) and his dog
Sprocket (portrayed by a puppet operated by Steve Whitmire with
assistance by Karen Prell) in his workshop.
The German version had a similar setting with Doc played by Hans-Helmut Dickow. The British version took
place on a rocky lighthouse island with The Captain (Fulton Mackay) for the first two
seasons, his nephew P.K. (John Gordon Sinclair) for the third,
and his son B.J. (Simon O’Brien) in the fourth. In France, Doc was a baker
played by Michel Robin set in a
bakery he inherited from his eccentric inventor uncle Georges. Sprocket was
called Croquette in that version.
Wembly, Red, Gobo, Mokey and Boober and their animated counterparts.
Fraggle
Rock itself was inhabited by a variety of creatures. The series centered on
five main Fraggles: Gobo (Jerry Nelson puppet,
Townsend Coleman animated), the de-facto “leader” of the group who was
unusually level-headed for a Fraggle and played guitar when not exploring the
Rock’s unknown regions; Red (Prell puppet, Barbara Goodson animated), who was
highly athletic, the best swimmer in the rock, and often clashed with Gobo over
who should be in charge in a given situation; Mokey (Kathryn Mullen puppet, Mona
Marshall animated), a hippie-like Fraggle with strong spiritual and artistic
inclinations; Wembley (Whitmire puppet, Bob Bergen animated), Gobo’s roommate
and best friend who was the most cowardly of the group and who tended to
wemble—a Fraggle verb meaning “to be indecisive”; and Boober (Dave Goetz puppet, Rob
Paulsen animated), a highly nervous and cautious Fraggle that tended to be a
hypochondriac and took great pleasure in doing the Fraggles’ laundry. Uncle
Traveling Matt (also Goetz, Patrick Pinney animated) was Gobo’s uncle who spent
most of his time exploring Outer Space—aka the human world--and sent postcards
back to Gobo describing his adventures interacting with The Silly Creatures
(the Fraggle designation for humans). Matt’s name was a play on “traveling
matte,” a green screen technique used to produce his flashback segments with
him against footage of the human world. They were all designed by Michael K. Frith.
The Doozers.
The other
primary residents of the Rock were smaller creatures known as Doozers, designed
by Frith and built by Faz Fazakas. They were 6-inch-tall
pudgy green beings with big noses that wore hard hats, work boots and gloves. They
used a variety of construction equipment to build strange, intricate structures
all around the Rock. Those constructs were made of an edible candy-like
material and were the Fraggles’ other primary source of food next to radishes.
Doozers were said to need to build to live, thus purposely made their
constructs appealing to the Fraggles to eat in order to continue to have room
to build.
The Gorgs: Junior, Pa and Ma.
Fraggle
Rock had another entrance which led to the garden of their primary antagonists,
the Gorgs. The Gorgs were giant, furry humanoids who believed themselves the
ruling family of the Universe. The Gorgs regarded the Fraggles as pests as they
constantly stole radishes from the Gorgs’ garden. Unlike the Fraggles, the
Gorgs didn’t eat the radishes but rather used them to make a cream to keep them
from becoming invisible. The Gorgs were developed by Douglas Cook. They
were comprised of Pa Gorg (Nelson and Gord Robertson live, Pinney animated), Ma
Gorg (Myra Fried, Cheryl Wagner and Trish Leeper live,
Patricia Parris animated) and Junior Gorg (Richard Hunt, Rob Mills and Frank Meschkuleit
live, Michael Laskin animated).
The ever-wise Marjory the Trash Heap with Philo and Gunge (at left only).
The other
notable citizens of The Rock were Marjory the Trash Heap (Nelson puppet,
Paulsen animated) and her assistants Philo (Goetz puppet, John Stephenson
animated) and Gunge (Hunt puppet,
Bergen animated), designed by Frith and built by Jane Gootnick and Maria McNamara. Marjory was, as
her name implies, a living trash heap living near the Gorgs’ garden that served
as an oracle to the Fraggles. Philo and Gunge were rats that served as
Marjory’s heralds and helped to maintain her, while also delivering bad jokes
and puns.
Comic book ad for NBC's fall Saturday morning line-up in 1987.
The series
ran on HBO from 1983-87. Near its end, it was decided to attempt to bring the
series to a new audience on Saturday mornings. Henson teamed up once again with
Marvel Productions
and many of the people involved with their earlier hit show, Jim
Henson’s Muppet Babies, to produce the series. Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series was essentially the same as the previous show, though the
majority of the episodes were broken up into two story segments. The tradition
of original music was continued with at least one per episode composed by
Robert J. Walsh; however, several of the songs were recycled from the original
series, not including the theme song. Aside from the cast being made up of
animated voice actors, the only major difference in the series was that Doc
(Stephenson) was only visible from the neck down, much like Nanny (Barbara Billingsley) from Muppet Babies. In its original
run, the show was introduced by the puppet version of Traveling Matt in Doc’s
workshop.
Uncle Traveling Matt making observations about Sprocket.
“No Fraggle is an Island” (9/12/87) – Fraggle Rock becomes too crowded
and the Fraggles choose to move away, allowing a Slurp to take it over.
“Big Trouble for a Little Fraggle / Necessity is the Fraggle of
Invention” (9/19/87) – A magic stone causes Wembley to grow and be mistaken for
a Gorg by Junior. / Wembley has trouble coming up with an invention until he
needs one to save Marjory.
“The Great Radish Round Up / Lucky Fargy” (9/26/87) – Pa has Junior
hide their radishes and replace them with Banoony Berries, which make Fraggles
sick. / Wembley accidentally loses the lucky doll Mokey gave Boober.
“A Fraggle for All Seasons / A Growing Relationship” (10/3/87) – Mokey
tries to find a Fraggle for all seasons after being inspired by ancient
philosophers. / Red enters a flower from Doc’s workshop in a contest, which
soon ends up growing out of control.
“The Best of the Best / Where No Fraggle Has Gone Before” (10/10/87) –
Red’s attempts to break her records from last year causes problems for her
friends. / Gobo and Wembley climb the Gorg’s castle to reach the top of the
universe.
“Gobo’s Song / Wembley and the Bemble” (10/17/87) – Cantus the
Minstrel sends Gobo back to prehistoric times when Gobo begins to question the
importance of making maps. / A scary story leaves Wembley afraid of the
legendary Bemble.
“Ambassador Gorg / Homebody Matt” (10/24/87) – Pa sends Junior to
invite the Fraggles to form a peace treaty. / A blow to the head leaves Matt
forgetting he’s an explorer.
“The Great Fraggle Freeze” (10/31/87) – Doc’s workshop loses heat,
having a dangerous effect on Fraggle Rock.
“Laundry Never Lies / What Boober’s Nose Knows” (11/7/87) – Wembley
discovers Boober’s talent of detecting the odors on clothing. / Boober’s nose
tracks his favorite sweet water to the Gorg’s castle.
“Mokey’s Flood of Creativity / What the Doozers Did” (11/14/87) – A
poem Mokey is asked to recite at an event seems to cause a great flood. /
Lugnut and Rhinestone doubt Cotterpin’s floating construction until the flood
hits the caverns.
“Red’s Drippy Dilemma / Fraggle Babble” (11/21/87) – Red’s swimming is
interrupted by a burst pipe. / Mokey has Convincing John convince everyone to
make up a new vocabulary.
“The Radish Fairy / The Funniest Joke in the Universe” (11/28/87) – Red
dresses as the Radish Fairy to convince Junior to put his radishes in Fraggle
Rock to avoid a famine. / Boober’s new joke causes anyone who hears it to laugh
continuously.
“Fraggle Fool’s Day / Wembley’s Trip to Outer Space” (12/5/87) – One
of Red’s jokes backfires, leaving her trapped with Mokey in the Gorgs’ garden.
/ Too many decisive decisions gives Wembley Wembliosis, whose only cure is a
good scare.
