Mr. Bean

Mr. Bean
Behold the man who is a bean...
Genre: Sitcom Sketch Comedy Running Time: 29 minutes Country: United Kingdom Release Date: January 1, 1990 - December 15, 1995 Network(s): ITV: Thames Television (1990-1992) Central Independent Television (1993-1995) Created by: Rowan Atkinson Richard Curtis Distributed by: Thames Television (1990-1992) Central Independent Television (1993-1995) Pearson Television (1994-2001) Fremantle (2001-2009) Endemol UK (2009-present) Starring: Rowan Atkinson Seasons: 15 Next show: Mr. Bean: The Animated Series

Mr. Bean is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consisted of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside Curtis and Robin Driscoll; the pilot was co-written by Ben Elton. The series was originally broadcast on ITV, beginning with the pilot on January 1, 1990, and ending with "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean" on December 15, 1995.

During its original five-year run, Mr. Bean met with widespread acclaim and attracted large television audiences. The series was viewed by 18.74 million viewers for the episode "The Trouble with Mr. Bean" and has received several international awards, including the Rose d'Or.

Synopsis

Life is difficult for Mr. Bean, who, despite being a grown adult, has trouble completing even the simplest of tasks. Fortunately, his perseverance and resourcefulness frequently allow him to find ingenious ways to solve problems along the way.

Why He is a Comedic Bean

1. The reason why this show works well is that it uses very little intelligible dialogue (reminiscent of silent films), making it appeal to people who know little about English.
2. It shows the life of an inner child in an adult's body and what it's like in reality, which is hilarious from start to finish.
   • While he is mostly childish, dimwitted, and foolish, Mr. Bean himself is not cringeworthy like other childish people nowadays, as he's a very entertaining character who makes people laugh without any dialogue at all.
   • Besides that, he is also famous for his iconic stuffed companion "Teddy" and renowned green Mini.
3. All of the episodes contain many funny moments that have become famous over the years, such as Mr. Bean driving his famous Mini from the roof in "Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean", getting his head stuck in a Christmas turkey in "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean", trying to escape the parking lot without paying the barrier in "The Curse of Mr. Bean", and so on.
4. It even spawned its franchise consisting of two movies and an animated series spin-off: Bean (1997), Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007) and Mr. Bean: The Animated Series (2002-2019).
5. Great acting, particularly from Rowan Atkinson himself as the title character.
6. While they can be stupid at times (see below), some of Mr. Bean's antics are just as funny as Bean himself.
   • Some victims of them deserve it, such as the bully in the launderette in "Tee Off, Mr. Bean", the man who stole his camera in "Mr. Bean Goes to Town", the man who attempted to steal his Mini in "The Trouble with Mr. Bean", and so on.
7. The final episode, "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean", was a great way to end the series, as it featured all the famous and funny moments from the past episodes.

Bad Qualities

1. While great for the most part, some of the gags in the episodes are cringeworthy and obnoxious to watch, such as
   • Bean taking a bag from a sick child (who vomited inside the bag) and popping it to entertain him during a flight in "Mr. Bean Rides Again" is rather disgusting. Thankfully, the screen cuts to black before the outcome can be shown (however, an uncensored version is seen in the movie Bean).
   • Bean shooting a lightbulb with a pistol in "Goodnight Mr. Bean" is also one of his stupidest antics yet, not to mention quite violent.
   • There was another scene where he tried to make the Royal Gaurd move, who tried his best not to move but felt afraid when Mr. Bean dangerously swiped the trigger of this gun.
   • In the episode "Back to School Mr. Bean", there was an inappropriate moment when Mr. Bean was drawing fruits before it was replaced by a nude model. Thankfully, only some of her backs were visible and nothing explicit was shown onscreen.
   • There was another inappropriate moment when Mr. Bean accidentally strips naked in front of a group of female swimmers.
     • Most of these scenes are still funny to lots, but they can get rather inappropriate.
2. Depending on your view, Mr. Bean can get annoying and loathsome most of the time, which is not helped out by the fact he is mostly a Karma Houdini who barely gets punished for his actions.
3. If you sympathize with Mr. Bean for being a loner, some of the gags might come off as more tear-jerking than funny. Like when two of his friends leave him to host a boring New Year's Party and pretend that New Year came quickly just so they can go to a more fun one.

Reception

The show received overwhelming acclaim from critics, holding a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Trivia

• In the UK, the highest-rated episode was "The Trouble with Mr Bean (Episode 5)" which about 18.7 million people viewed.
• Some scenes were deleted from a few episodes either due to inappropriate content or to decrease the time of the episode.
• The 14th episode, "Hair by Mr. Bean of London", was originally released as a direct-to-video VHS exclusive in 1995, and was not broadcast on Nickelodeon until August 25, 2006.
• Mr. Bean's Mini was originally orange and had no black lines on it. It was seen only in the first episode but was destroyed by an offscreen crash at the end of the episode. His green Mini first appeared in the third episode "The Curse of Mr. Bean". However, it was destroyed by the army tank in the 11th episode "Back to School Mr. Bean", because a car looking just like his second Mini was supposed to be destroyed, but he parked his car in its place instead. Soon, the car which was supposed to be destroyed became his third Mini, and Mr. Bean was first shown driving it in the 13th episode "Goodnight Mr. Bean". However, his second mini appears again, and is shown destroyed in the final episode "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean".
• The 10th episode, "Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean", was originally scheduled for broadcast on March 1, 1993, on ITV, but following the murder of James Bulger on February 12, 1993, it was delayed for over a year until April 25, 1994.
• The movie Mr. Bean and Irma saw in the 3rd episode "The Curse of Mr. Bean" was A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, depicting Freddy Krueger, with the camera placed to cut off the last words.
• There was a factual error in the 6th episode "Mr. Bean Rides Again" because the young traveler sitting with Mr. Bean was way too young, and young travelers are kept in a special section where Flight Attendants take care of them.
• The 7th episode, "Mr. Bean in Room 426", never aired on Nickelodeon UK due to Mr. Bean being naked for a majority of the final act.

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