Beakman's World

Did You Know?

• In 1998, the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal opened an interactive exhibit called Beakman's World On Tour, based on the television show.
• The 4,000 sqft exhibit toured dozens of cities in the United States.
• The series was based on the Universal Press Syndicate syndicated comic strip You Can with Beakman and Jax.

Summary

Paul Zaloom portrayed Beakman, an eccentric scientist who performed comical experiments and demonstrations in response to viewer mail to illustrate scientific concepts such as density, electricity, and flatulence. When an experiment succeeded, he often exclaimed "Zaloom!" as a nod to his own last name. Beakman was aided by a female assistant who changed over the run: Josie (Alanna Ubach) in season 1, Liza (Eliza Schneider) in seasons 2 and 3, and Phoebe (Senta Moses) in season 4. He was also assisted by his fake lab rat Lester, who in the pilot was a puppet but thereafter was played by Mark Ritts as a clueless, crude man in a tattered rat suit. A running joke sometimes implied Lester was actually a rat, while at other times he was identified as a guy in a rat suit or a serious actor with a bad agent. Lester was often unwilling to help and could be persuaded by the promise of food. An unseen cameraman named Ray, played by prop-master Ron Jancula's hands, handed Beakman items such as the "boguscope" and was suggested to have a crush on the unnamed make-up lady. Jean Stapleton appeared as Beakman's mother, "Beakmom." Paul Zaloom also played the dual role of Professor I. M. Boring in some skits.

Home media

On September 7, 2004, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released a DVD titled The Best of Beakman's World, a direct transfer of a VHS tape of the same name featuring only experiments and segments from The Beakman Challenge. No full-episode DVD releases have been made. All four seasons were formerly available on Netflix except for five episodes, with the streaming license ending on September 30, 2014. The series returned to television on MeTV starting October 2, 2016, showing two episodes every Sunday. As of 2026, it streams on The Roku Channel and the Indoor Recess YouTube channel.