Bobby's World

Did You Know?

• On February 12, 2007, the character Bobby made a surprise appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal.
• Gail Matthius based Martha's voice on her Saturday Night Live character, Roweena, a chain-smoking hairdresser.
• From 1994 to 1998, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released VHS titles of the series, including volumes such as 'Uncle Ted's Excellent Adventure / The Visit To Aunt Ruth's'.

Characters

Robert Adelvice "Bobby" Generic, voiced by Howie Mandel, is the four-year-old protagonist (five in seasons 2 through 6, then six in season 7) who frequently fantasizes, often taking colloquial sayings literally. He has short, spiky black hair, wears a white shirt with red short sleeves, red shorts, and blue sneakers. The family surname is pronounced "JEN-uh-rik," though other characters mispronounce it as "juh-NEHR-ik" as a running gag. Howard Generic, also voiced by Mandel using his normal voice, is Bobby's strict father who works at a trouser manufacturing company and punishes his children by sending them to their rooms. Martha Sven-Generic, voiced by Gail Matthius, is Bobby's mother with red hair and a sky-blue tracksuit, known for her Midwestern accent and phrases like "Fer corn sakes" and "dont'cha know." Kelly Generic, voiced by Charity James, is Bobby's 15-year-old tomboyish sister with a blonde shag haircut, colored makeup, pink-striped tights, a valley girl accent, and the catchphrase "Get real!" Derek Generic, voiced by Benny Grant in seasons 1-2, Kevin Smets in seasons 3-6, and Pamela Adlon in season 7, is Bobby's 10-year-old brother, a bully with a rat-tail hairdo and ripped blue jeans who teases Bobby, calling him a "dork" or "dweeb."

Production

Howie Mandel stated that he accidentally created the voice later used for Bobby while choking on a piece of cake. In 1989, Mandel's friends Jim Fisher and Jim Staahl signed an agreement with Fox's newly-created children's division and asked Mandel to join them in creating a show based on his Bobby character. Mandel believed Fox did not consider his stand-up routines "family entertainment." The three co-producers recalled childhood stories during discussions, which Mandel called "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 for many episodes. Other characters were mixes of characteristics from the creators' parents' friends and relatives; Uncle Ted was based on Fisher and Staahl's former comedy partner Tino Insana, who later read for and won the part. Mitch Schauer drew the main character designs, basing Bobby's design on his then-4-year-old son. Episodes often include a short live-action segment before or after the main story, where Mandel describes aspects of the story, sometimes with an animated Bobby or a live-action child. Endings feature Mandel breaking the fourth wall to talk to viewers. The series' music was composed by Mark Koval, with theme music by John Tesh and Michael Hanna. In an April 2006 online interview, Mandel expressed desire for a possible reboot; in November 2014, he told a crowd at Comikaze that plans to revive the series were in motion; in May 2018, he again referenced his revival efforts in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Broadcast

Originally a Fox Kids program, Bobby's World ended its first run in 1998, with reruns continuing on Fox Family until 2001. The full series has been available through Netflix, Kabillion, and Amazon Prime, with occasional episodes appearing in syndication or on Comcast On-Demand. In the U.S., starting in 1996, open captions were added to help young viewers learn to read. Internationally, it aired on SBT in Brazil; on Global, TVO, YTV, and Teletoon Retro in Canada; on REN-TV, TV-3, and Jetix Play in Russia; on Raisovka Television in Kazakhstan; and across Europe and Latin America on Fox Kids, later Jetix, then Disney XD.

Video game

A video game adaptation of Bobby's World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis was scheduled for release in 1994 but never released. Developed by Riedel Software Productions and set to be published by Hi Tech Entertainment, a prototype ROM image of the SNES version was unofficially released by a Warez scene group in October 1994. In the game, Bobby's mother tells him to clean his room, and he starts daydreaming about toys. It is a platform game where the player controls Bobby to jump, squat, walk, run, and throw objects at enemies, with gameplay occasionally shifting to a shoot 'em up style. A Game Boy game based on the series was also planned, developed by Unexpected Development and published by Hi Tech Entertainment; originally based on Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, it was retooled into a Bobby's World game during development but never released.