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- Beakman's World (3)
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Beakman's World
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Beakman's World | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Children's television series/Education |
| Creator(s) | Jok Church |
| Starring | Paul Zaloom |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TLC and CBS |
| Original run | 1992 – 1998 |
| Links | |
Beakman's World is an educational children's television show produced by ELP Communications, Columbia Pictures Television, Universal Belo Productions (a production company whose only apparent purpose was to produce this show), and Columbia TriStar Television Distribution. The program was based on the Universal Press Syndicate syndicated comic strip You Can With Beakman and Jax created by Jok Church. It premiered in September of 1992, on The Learning Channel (TLC) cable network and in national syndication (225 stations, a freshman year record). On September 18, 1993 it moved from national syndication to CBS Saturday morning children’s lineup. At the peak of its popularity, it was seen in nearly 90 countries around the world. The series was cancelled in mid-1998. It returned to national syndication in September 2006. The show ran about the same time and covered similar topics to Bill Nye the Science Guy.
The program starred actor Paul Zaloom as Beakman, an eccentric scientist who performed comical experiments and demonstrations in response to viewer mail, to illustrate various scientific concepts from density to electricity to flatulence.
Over the years, Beakman was aided in his experiments by a female assistant. From 1993-1994, it was Josie (Alanna Ubach); from 1994-1995, it was Liza (Eliza Schneider); from 1995-1996, it was Phoebe (Senta Moses). Beakman also kept the company of Lester, the down-on-his-luck actor in a rat suit (Mark Ritts). In the pilot episode, Lester was a puppet, but in every subsequent episode he was simply a man in a rat suit. Sometimes unwilling to help out, Lester was often persuaded by Beakman with the promise of food. An "unofficial" member of the cast is the unseen cameraman, Ray (played by prop-master Ron Jancula's hands), who assists Beakman by handing him various items, such as the "bogoscope"; Ray, accordingly, has a sensitive crush on the show's unnamed makeup lady. Actress Jean Stapleton also appeared on the show as Beakman's mother, "Beakmom".
At the beginning and end of the show, as well as before or after commercial breaks, the show featured short scenes portraying puppet penguins, Don (voiced by Bert Berdis) and Herb (Alan Barzman), at the South Pole watching Beakman’s World on television. The penguins were named after Don Herbert, who starred as Mr. Wizard in Watch Mr. Wizard. Mark Ritts (Lester) was also one of the puppeteers operating the penguins.
As of March 2006, Beakman's World currently plays in weekend syndication in the United States and in several other countries. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Television in the U.S. and Sony Pictures Television International in other countries.
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Beakman’s World was nominated for and won numerous awards:
- Excellence in Media's Silver Angel Award (1993)
- International Monitor Award for Outstanding Audio Post Production (1993)
- Television Critics Association nomination for Outstanding Children's Program (1993)
- Ollie Award - American Center for Children's Television (1993)
- Parent's Choice Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Children's Programming (1993)
- Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Live and Tape Sound Mixing and Sound Effects (1993-1994)
- CableACE Award for Best Children's Programming 7+ older (1994)
- International Monitor Awards for Best Achievement in Children's Programming and Best Audio Post *Production in Children's Programming (1994)
- Nominated for Seven Daytime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Children's Series (1995)
- Daytime Emmy Awards (2) for Outstanding Achievement in Live and Tape Sound and Sound Effects (1994-1995)
- In a first-season X-Files episode, after a failed experiment, Mulder remarks "I don't think they'll be performing this trick on Beakman's World."
Columbia Pictures Television Distribution