The Berenstain Bears (1985 TV series)

Lore & Background

The series is set in a forested land populated only by anthropomorphic bears and primarily centers around the Berenstain Bears, a family residing in the rural community of Bear Country. The family consists of Mama Bear, Papa Q. Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear. The series teaches lessons, continues from the TV specials, and expands Bear Country as well as character development. Each episode follows the struggles of the family, mainly the cubs. Characters from the books and earlier specials include Actual Factual, Big Paw, Mayor Horace J. Honeypot, Farmer Ben, Cousin Fred, and Grizzly Gramps & Gran. New characters added are Officer Marguerete, Scout Leader Jane, Lizzy Bruin, Queen Nectar, and Old Jake the Catfish. The main antagonists are the swindler Raffish Ralph and occasionally Weasel McGreed; Too-Tall Grizzly serves as the school bully.

From 1979 to 1983, the Berenstain Bears made their first television introduction on a series of holiday specials on NBC. After the release of The Berenstain Bears Play Ball, the team began developing a TV series. Joe Cates and Buzz Potamkin produced this series, with Elliott Lawrence scoring the music based on his compositions from the specials but in a faster tempo. Stan and Jan Berenstain were producers and wrote some scripts. CBS picked up the series for a first 13-episode season as an attempt to lure a new audience for their Saturday morning "Kids Just Wanna Have Fun" lineup. The program was produced by Southern Star Productions/Hanna-Barbera Australia with new voice actors. The characters do not talk in rhyme, and the series has an updated appearance with 80s synth-tunes. Stories are told without a narrator and are 11–12 minutes in length. One major focus was Papa Bear as comic relief, which Stan Berenstain disliked, feeling Papa came off as a "selfish, bumbling idiot."

Reader's Guide

The Berenstain Bears Show represents the first regular television adaptation of the beloved book series, expanding Bear Country with new characters and settings. It aired on CBS from 1985 to 1986, with reruns through 1987, and was nominated in 1987 for a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming and a Humanitas Prize in the category of Non-Prime Time Children's Animated Show. The series introduced original stories alongside book adaptations, some of which were later turned into books. Characters created for the show, such as Raffish Ralph, appeared in future Berenstain Bears books. The series was produced by Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia, giving it an Australian-American identity. It later aired on TLC's Ready Set Learn! block in 1998–1999 and on the DIC Kids Network in the early-mid 2000s. All episodes are available for free on YouTube via the official Berenstain Bears channel. A second Berenstain Bears series, produced by Nelvana, aired from 2002 to 2004.

Did You Know?

• Each episode consisted of two segments: one adapting a book, the other an original story.
• Stan Berenstain disliked the portrayal of Papa Bear as a 'selfish, bumbling idiot' in this series.
• Some episodes planned as adaptations of books like 'Too Much TV' and 'Too Much Junk Food' were reportedly turned down by CBS executives due to unhealthy habits.