Beakman's World

Beakman's World was an American TV show that taught science to kids. It came from the comic strip *You Can with Beakman and Jax*, which Jok Church drew for Universal Press Syndicate. The show first aired on TLC on September 16, 1992, and then, three days later on September 19, it started playing on 220 U.S. TV stations through a deal with Columbia Pictures Television Distribution. (Sony Pictures Television, the company that eventually took over Columbia's role, now handles the rights to the series in the U.S. and abroad.)

On September 18, 1993, the show moved from syndication to CBS's Saturday morning kids' block. At its most popular, it reached nearly ninety countries. It was canceled in 1997. Reruns came back to syndication in September 2006, then moved to local stations like KICU. The host, Paul Zaloom, still performs as Beakman in live shows around the world.

The show starred Paul Zaloom as Beakman, a quirky scientist who did funny experiments and demonstrations based on viewer mail. He covered topics from density and electricity to flatulence. When an experiment worked, he often shouted "Zaloom!" as a nod to his own last name.

Like the comic strip, Beakman had a female assistant who changed over time. In season one, it was Josie (Alanna Ubach). In seasons two and three, it was Liza (Eliza Schneider). In season four, it was Phoebe (Senta Moses). He also had a fake lab rat named Lester. In the pilot, Lester was a puppet, but after that he was played by Mark Ritts in a ratty suit, acting clueless and crude. A running joke was that sometimes he seemed to be a real rat—like when someone stepped on his tail or tickled him—but other times he was clearly a guy in a suit, or a serious actor with a bad agent. Beakman often got Lester to help by offering food.

Another regular was the unseen cameraman "Ray," played by prop-master Ron Jancula's hands. Ray handed Beakman things like the "boguscope." The show hinted that Ray had a crush on the unnamed makeup lady. Actress Jean Stapleton appeared as Beakman's mother, "Beakmom." Paul Zaloom also played Professor I. M. Boring in some skits, and he appeared as historical figures like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Robert Goddard, and Philo Farnsworth. When Senta Moses joined, the producers started using many sound effects from the game show *Scrabble*.

One segment was the "Beakman Challenge," where Beakman dared Lester to do a stunt showing a basic science idea. In the first season, almost every challenge was about air pressure or Bernoulli's principle. The show poked fun at this when Lester yelled, "AIR PRESSURE! IT'S ALWAYS AIR PRESSURE!" Later, other cast members got their own challenges, like "The Lester Challenge" or "The Liza Challenge." When Eliza Schneider joined in season two, she had a segment called "Those Disgusting Animals," where she showed off creatures like slugs and mosquitoes.

Before each experiment, a warning said: "Any experiment performed at home should be done with adult supervision and all appropriate safety precautions should be taken. All directions should be followed exactly and no substitutions should be used." The same warning played during the credits.

At the start and end of the show, and before or after commercials, puppet penguins Don (voiced by Bert Berdis) and Herb (voiced by Alan Barzman) watched *Beakman's World* from the South Pole. They were named after Don Herbert, the star of *Mr. Wizard's World*. Mark Ritts also helped puppeteer the penguins.

The theme song and other music were by Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh and Denis M. Hannigan. The theme mixed Zydeco and synthpop, with an accordion as the main riff and lots of wacky sound effects. Mothersbaugh and production designer Wayne White had worked together on *Pee-wee's Playhouse*, which also aired on CBS.

The cast included Paul Zaloom as Beakman (seasons 1–4), Mark Ritts as Lester (seasons 1–4), Alanna Ubach as Josie (season 1), Eliza Schneider as Liza (seasons 2–3), Senta Moses as Phoebe (season 4), Alan Barzman as Herb Penguin, and Bert Berdis as Don Penguin. The series had four seasons: season 1 (1992–1993), season 2 (1993–1994), season 3 (1995), and season 4 (1996–1997). On September 7, 2004, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released a DVD called *The Best of Beakman's World*, which was a direct transfer of the original episodes.