''The New Adventures of Beans Baxter'' is an adventure/comedy television series that aired 1987 on the
Fox television network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
. It was created by
Savage Steve Holland
Savage Steve Holland (born April 29, 1958) is an American writer, cartoonist, producer, voice actor, animator, and film director who wrote and directed the films '' Better Off Dead'' (1985) and ''One Crazy Summer'' (1986), starring John Cusack. ...
, who also wrote and directed most of the 17 episodes. The title character was portrayed by
Jonathan Ward, who won a "Best Young Actor Starring in a New Television Comedy Series"
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
for the role.
Plot
The show revolved around the spy activities of Benjamin "Beans" Baxter, Jr., a Kansas teenager who had just moved with his parents and younger brother to Washington, DC, as part of his father's (assumed) reassignment as an employee of the
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
.
After Beans witnessed his father's apparent assassination in the explosion of a bomb planted in Benjamin Sr.'s postal freighter, he was recruited by the mysterious "Number Two" (
Jerry Wasserman
Jerry Wasserman (born November 2, 1945) is an American professor and film and television actor.
Wasserman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is working on his role in ''Alien Trespass'' in post-production.
He is a Professor of English and Theatr ...
). Number Two was an officer (and, presumably, the Deputy Director) of "the Network", a CIA-styled spy agency; Beans thus learned that his father was actually an agent of the Network, and that the older Baxter's Postal Service employment was his cover assignment. (The Network's main delivery of assignments for its agents was a system similar to what was seen on the spy comedy ''
Get Smart!'' in the 1960s.) The main nemesis of the Network was a terror organization that called itself UGLI, for the Underground Government Liberation Intergroup, which was headed by the professional terrorist called Mr. Sue (
Kurtwood Smith
Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in ''Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), as ...
) and his second-in-command (
Taylor Negron
Brad Stephen "Taylor" Negron (August 1, 1957 – January 10, 2015) was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Milo in the 1991 buddy cop action comedy film ''The Last Boy Scout''.
Early life
Negron was born in Glendale, C ...
). The Network, however, considered Beans himself strictly a "place-holder" agent, and it would only allow him to work in its dangerous service till his father could be found and freed. Viewers were warned, as a result, to expect to see little of Benjamin Sr., since his prime purpose was to stay lost and trapped so the series might continue.
Additional episodes were intended to show Beans's mother Susan, wrongly believing herself to be a widow, re-entering the dating scene. This activity on her part was to have led to complications for Beans, who knew, as she did not, that hers was still a valid, legal marriage to a husband who was still alive, and would thus have had to turn away possible suitors to prevent his mother from accidentally committing
bigamy
In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...
. Moreover, for all Beans or Susan knew, any of those suitors might have been UGLI terrorists planning all manner of nefarious activities, such as possibly assassinating not only Susan, but also Beans. The series was cancelled before any of these developments could be explored.
Beans started a friendship with a classmate nicknamed Woodshop (
Stuart Fratkin
Stuart Fratkin (born September 22, 1963) is an American actor, best known for playing Fitz in the movie '' Ski School''. Fratkin also starred in ''They Came from Outer Space'' with Ski School co-star Dean Cameron.
Fratkin has been in several mo ...
), and he later became attracted to a beautiful student nicknamed "Cake Lace" (
Karen Mistal). In one episode, former
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
Shawn Weatherly
Shawn Nichols Weatherly is an American actress and beauty queen who won the titles of Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1980. She went on to star as Cadet Karen Adams in the film '' Police Academy 3: Back in Training'' (1986), and as Jill Riley in th ...
appeared as herself. (The opening scene had Beans catching her in the shower naked and trying to escape from UGLI's chief henchman, who wanted to kidnap her as part of an unknown experiment.)
Cast
The supporting cast included
Rick Lenz as Beans's father, Benjamin Sr.; former 1950s' child star
Elinor Donahue
Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom ''Father Knows Best''.
Early ...
from ''
Father Knows Best
''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by E ...
'' as his mother, Susan; Canadian teen actor
Scott Bremner as Scott "Scooter" Baxter, Beans's younger brother; and occasional guest appearances by punk rock icon
Wendy O. Williams (founder/lead singer of the
Plasmatics
The Plasmatics were an American punk rock, hardcore punk and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1977. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theat ...
) as Beans' part-time friend/enemy in the spy world.
The role was originally offered to
David Spade
David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...
, and he regretted turning it down per advice of his agents.
1x01/02 -
Derek Shane
Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".
Common variants of the name are ...
(Lars),
Bruce Wagner
Bruce Alan Wagner (born March 22, 1954) is an American novelist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles known for his apocalyptic yet ultimately spiritual view of humanity as seen through the lens of the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood entertainm ...
(Vlodia),
Betty Philips
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatric ...
(Mrs. Kindwater),
Stephen E. Miller (Colonel),
Douglas Tuck
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
(Mr. Lucas),
Tara Vessels
Tara may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Tara'' (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena
* ''Tara'' (2001 film), an American film, also known as ''Hood Rat'', directed by Leslie Small
* ''Tara'' (2010 film), a ...
(Newscaster)
1x03 -
Kristin Cumming Kristin may refer to:
* Kristin (name), a Scandinavian form of Christine
* ''Kristin'' (TV series), a 2001 American sitcom
* Kristin Peak, Antarctica
* Kristin School, a school in New Zealand
See also
* Kristen (disambiguation) Kristen may re ...
(Darla),
David Longworth
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(UGLI Two)
Episodes
Season 1 (1987)
Season 2 (1987)
Production
The series was filmed entirely in and around
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
; in the episode "Beans Gets His Driver's License (And It Isn't Pretty)", the world-famous
CN Tower
The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...
located in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
is featured in the background. The show's theme and soundtrack were performed by jazz trumpeter
Maynard Ferguson
Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Adventures of Beans Baxter, The
1987 American television series debuts
1987 American television series endings
Fox Broadcasting Company original programming
1980s American comedy television series
Television shows set in Washington, D.C.
Espionage television series
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television series created by Savage Steve Holland
Television series about teenagers