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American animated television series for children From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bobby's World (originally known as The World According to Bobby) is an American animated comedy children's television series that aired on Fox Kids from September 8, 1990, to February 23, 1998.[1] The show was created by Canadian actor/comedian Howie Mandel, who also performs the voices of both Bobby and his father Howard Generic.[2]
| Bobby's World | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy Fantasy Children's television series |
| Created by | Howie Mandel |
| Developed by | Jim Staahl Jim Fisher |
| Voices of | Howie Mandel Gail Matthius Susan Tolsky Tino Insana Edie McClurg Kevin Michaels Pamela Adlon Rob Paulsen Gary Owens Frank Welker Debi Derryberry Pat Fraley |
| Theme music composer | John Tesh |
| Composers | John Tesh (1990–1993) Mark Koval (1993–1998) Robby Merkin (musical director) Rob Walsh (arrangements/conductor) Don McGinnis (orchestrations) Mark Koval (orchestrations) (1990–1993) |
| Country of origin | United States Canada Brazil |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 81 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Phil Roman (entire run) Howie Mandel (1991-98, seasons 2–7) |
| Producers | Mitch Schauer (1990-91, seasons 1–2) Gary Conrad (1991-98, seasons 3–7) |
| Production companies | Film Roman Alevy Productions Fox Children's Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Kids (United States) CBC (Canada) Rede Globo (Brazil) |
| Release | September 8, 1990 – February 23, 1998 |
It was produced by Film Roman in association with Mandel's company Alevy Productions and Fox Children's Productions. The theme song for Bobby's World was composed by John Tesh and Michael Hanna.
The series follows the daily life of Bobby Generic (/ˈdʒɛnərɪk/ JEN-ər-ik), with his very overactive imagination and how he sees the world.
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 13 | September 8, 1990 | January 19, 1991 | |
| 2 | 8 | September 7, 1991 | November 16, 1991 | |
| 3 | 13 | August 29, 1992 | May 8, 1993 | |
| 4 | 13 | September 18, 1993 | February 26, 1994 | |
| 5 | 13 | September 12, 1994 | February 20, 1995 | |
| 6 | 11 | September 11, 1995 | November 4, 1996 | |
| 7 | 10 | September 6, 1997 | February 23, 1998 | |
The Generic family's surname is pronounced "JEN-uh-rik", but mispronounced as "juh-NEHR-ik" by other characters as a running gag.
Howie Mandel explained that he accidentally created the voice that would be later used to voice Bobby when he was choking on a piece of cake.[3] Two of Mandel's friends Jim Fisher and Jim Staahl signed an agreement with the Fox Broadcasting Company's then newly created children's division in 1989. Fisher and Staahl asked Mandel to join them in creating a show based on Mandel's Bobby character and voice. Mandel explained that he believed Fox did not think his stand-up routines were "family entertainment". He, Fisher, and Staahl (co-producers) recalled stories from their childhoods as they discussed the formation of the show. Mandel said "that was the seed of Bobby's World". Later stories from the childhoods of writers Dianne and Peter Tilden along with Mitch Schauer were used as the basis of many of the stories. The other characters on the show were mixes of characteristics of the creators' parents' friends and relatives. Specifically, Uncle Ted was based on Fisher and Staahl's former comedy partner in a comedy trio formed by the three after leaving Chicago's Second City, called The Graduates. Ultimately, that partner Tino Insana read for and won the part of Uncle Ted.[4][5]
Mitch Schauer drew the designs for the main characters.[6] Bobby's character design was based on Schauer's then-4-year-old son.[7]
On February 12, 2007, the character Bobby made a surprise appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal.[8]
Episodes often consist of a short live-action segment either before or after the main story (and sometimes both before and after). The segment would include Mandel describing some aspect of the story and often relating it back to his personal childhood. Sometimes during these segments, the character of Bobby would appear in animated form and converse with Mandel. Other times, a live action child would appear and exchange words with Mandel. Endings of the show also featured Mandel breaking the "fourth wall" by talking to viewers about the preceding episode. In some part of the episode, Bobby will break the fourth wall by telling the audience his perspective on life.
The series' music was by Mark Koval. The theme music was by John Tesh and Michael Hanna.[9]
In an April 2006 online interview, Mandel expressed his desire for a possible reboot of the series.[10]
In November 2014, it was announced that Mandel told a crowd at Comikaze that plans to revive the series were in motion.[11]
In May 2018, Mandel again made reference to his efforts to get the series revived in an interview with Entertainment Weekly's Dave Quinn.[12]
During its original run, Bobby's World was seen on Fox Kids. After it was cancelled in 1998, reruns began airing on Fox Family until 2001.
The series was available in its entirety on Netflix instant streaming and Kabillion as well. It was available on Amazon Prime Instant Video. Episodes can occasionally be seen in syndication, on a variety of websites, on Netflix or on Comcast's OnDemand service.
In the United States, starting in 1996, the show was open-captioned; this was intended as an aid to help younger children learn to read.
In Canada, it aired on YTV and later, Teletoon Retro.
In Russian, it aired on REN-TV, TV-3 and Jetix Play.
In Kazakhstan, is aired on Raisovka Television.
From 1994 to 1998, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released VHS titles of the series.
In 2004, Anchor Bay Entertainment released two best-of compilations, Classic Scratch 'n' Sniff Episodes and The Signature Episodes, on DVD in Region 1.
On December 15, 2011, it was announced that MoonScoop Group had acquired the distribution rights to the series and planned to release all seven seasons of Bobby's World on DVD in early 2012[13] All seasons were made available for purchase on March 13, 2012.[14]
A video game adaptation of Bobby's World was made for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. It was developed by Riedel Software Productions and published by Hi Tech Entertainment. A Version for the Sega Genesis was in development, but never released.[15]
In the game, Bobby's mother tells him to clean his room. As he is cleaning his room, Bobby starts daydreaming about a toy. After beating a level, Bobby has another daydream about another toy that he puts away.[16]
Bobby's World is a platform game. In some stages, the gameplay changes to something similar to a shoot 'em up. The player is asked to control Bobby and make him jump, squat, walk, run, and throw objects at the enemies – the objects often change according to the level's thematic – and use Webbly to defend Bobby. On some stages, Webbly can be used to do other things too, like reach higher platforms, throw it at their enemies or even using it as a mount.
A Game Boy game based on the series was also planned, developed by Unexpected Development and published by Hi Tech Entertainment. The game was originally based on Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, taking place in Kevin McCallister's dreams, before being retooled into a Bobby's World game during development, retaining the same premise but replacing the characters with those of Bobby's World. However, the game was never released.[17]
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