History Series / BeakmansWorld

The show starred Beakman, played by puppeteer Paul Zaloom, as he answered questions from viewers with a zany tower wig and a green lab-coat. Helping him on his quest for science is guy-in-a-rat-suit (and resident skeptic who would be a DeadpanSnarker if he weren't wrong all the time) Lester (played by the late puppeteer Mark Ritts), and the lovely young female assistant, of which there would eventually number three (Alanna Ubach as Josie; Eliza Schneider as Liza; and Creator/SentaMoses as Phoebe).

* CallBack: Many props that were previously used in demonstrations are seen lying around the center, most notably the working diagram of a car engine.

* DelusionsOfEloquence: Art Burn: "Yo! Welcome to mah humble commode!"

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The MadLibsCatchphrase intro to Beakmania didn't actually start until about the fifth episode. Also, in the pilot, Beakman didn't have his trademark lab coat, there was no LovelyAssistant, and Lester was a puppet (as operated by Mark Ritts).

* EmbarrassingSlide: When Beakman did a slideshow about libraries, he accidentally put one in with him in his underwear.

* ExactWords: In one of the few times Lester was able to technically do the Beakman's challenge, Beakman challenged Lester to raise something without lifting up his arms. He had Beakman take it and then threatened ''him'' into lifting it.

* TheFaceless / HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Ray the cameraman

* [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Humans Are the Real Disgusting Animals]]: The final "THOSE DISGUSTING ANIMALS!" named humans as the most disgusting animals of all, because they're the only animals that willingly feed themselves poison (smoking and drinking) and, while some animals live in the waste products of other animals, humans are disgusting enough to live in their own waste (pollution).

* LastSecondWordSwap: They have to get creative whenever they rhyme something ending in "ass". Example, one Beakmania introduces us to:

* NitroExpress: In the dynamite segment, guess which rodent was tasked with bringing the nitroglycerin over from the "REALLY DANGEROUS STUFF" cabinet?

* NoFourthWall: Normal for a mail-in-your-questions show, but they still play with it occasionally. In one episode, Lester provides an intelligent and concise explaination of the science behind a Beakman Challenge. When Beakman asks Lester how he knew that, Lester says that he read Beakman's cue cards. And then, of course, Beakman regularly converses with Ray the Cameraman.

* ParentalBonus / NoodleImplements: One experiment requires "A bowling ball, a chainsaw, a Macintosh apple, a picture of Raymond Burr in short pants sitting on vinyl furniture..." Sadly, this is interrupted before we find out what it entails.
** Not only are all of the dances Beakman references in the Beakmania intro real dances (and pretty much done the way he does 'em), but the assistants always shout out actors and other people in entertainment that would have been relevant to parents of kids who would've watched the show in the mid-'90s.

* RepeatAfterMe: There are several examples of Beakman saying "Let's say X", with someone else (usually Lester) immediately saying X.
** An amusing version of this, after a Beakman "a-ha" moment:

* ShaggyDogStory: One segment (on camouflage) has Lester trying to hide from a bill collector, getting all sorts of tips on how to hide in plain sight from Beakman and Liza. The bill collector shows up at the end of the segment. Turns out his name is Bill Collector, and he just wants Lester's autograph!

* TakeThat: "Let's Macarena!" "'''''LET'S NOT!'''''"

* ThrowTheDogABone: In one episode, Lester proposed a Challenge of his own, where he proved to a doubting Beakman that it is indeed possible to tear a phone book in half with your bare hands.
** Subverted in another Lester Challenge, in which he challenged Beakman to make 5 squares into 4 by moving (not removing) 2 lines. Just when it seems that Lester's won, Beakman manages to get it.
*** Of course, Lester did get back at him by placing a "KICK ME" sign on his back.

* [[UnflinchingFaithInTheBrakes Unflinching Faith in Friction]]: Beakman does the "bowling-ball-on-a-rope" trick, and despite numerous rhinoplasty jokes by Josie and Lester, gets out of it unscathed.

* YourMom: In the episode about codes Beakman asks Lester to read a code he made that says "Your Mother Wears Rat Feet".

* ServiceSectorStereotypes: Art's Diner empoloys several of the Diner type 2 type of waitresses (young and slightly rude) that look suspiciously like the assistants with beehive wigs and Joisey accents.

** Another segment (on soap) has a letter sent in. Nothing too unusual, only it can't be read since it's too dirty. Lester and Josie initially consider discarding it, but Beakman convinces them to keep it. Eventually, Beakman starts breaking into explanations of how soap works, to Josie and Lester's collective responses of "GET ON WITH IT!" What's the question on the letter? [[spoiler:"How does soap work?" To make it even better, Beakman then starts going back into the explanation only for Lester [[VaudevilleHook to cut him off.]]

* RubeGoldbergDevice: The crazy invention Liza makes to brush Lester's teeth while he sleeps.

* TickleTorture: In the Measurement segment, Beakman compares Phoebe and Lester's foot sizes to explain the need for standardized measurements. Beakman repeatedly tickles Phoebe’s foot, who in turn tickles Lester’s rat costume foot. Somehow, Lester is in hysterics. At the end of the segment, he tickles Phoebe's foot and she kicks him in the face while she laughs hysterically. Apparently, this was also an instance of ThrowItIn, as Senta Moses [[https://twitter.com/sentamosesmikan/status/331254338716581888?lang=en confirmed via Twitter]] that her feet are genuinely very ticklish.

* CallBack: Many props that were previously used in demonstrations are seen lying around the center, most notably the working diagram of a car engine.
** When Lester introduces Beakman to his "fiancee", Cindy the Camel, Beakman asks what happened to Rhonda the Cow from the previous season. Cue the cow puns.

** "But Mom, none of the other [[BillNyeTheScienceGuy TV science guys]] let ''their'' moms do stuff..."

A Saturday morning kids' ScienceShow based on an award winning comic strip titled '''You Can With Beakman And Jax''', ''Beakman's World'' was a fast-paced romp through many scientific questions, some of which are considered gross, like "How is snot formed?", "What is vomit?", "What causes foot odor?" and "Why do we fart?" (which aired on the series finale).

A Saturday morning kids' ScienceShow based on an award winning comic strip, ''Beakman's World'' was a fast-paced romp through many scientific questions, some of which are considered gross, like "How is snot formed?", "What is vomit?", "What causes foot odor?" and "Why do we fart?" (which aired on the series finale).

* RainbowMotif: Roy G Biv is the name of a a colorful hippie who explains the visible spectrum in "Scientific Method, Beakmania & Rainbows". He returns in a second season episode to help answer the question "Why is the sky blue?"

* SeriesFauxnale: The last episode of Season 1 contained a segment explaining to kids how they could find answers on their own. This was just in case the series wasn't picked up for Season 2. Not only was it picked up, but it also moved to CBS. NOTE: Despite that Philo Taylor Farnsworth had mentioned that the show had been renewed for a 2nd season.

* SeriesFauxnale: The last episode of Season 1 contained a segment explaining to kids how they could find answers on their own. This was just in case the series wasn't picked up for Season 2. Not only was it picked up, but it also moved to CBS. Note: Despite that Philo Taylor Farnsworth had mentioned that the show had been renewed for a 2nd season.

* SeriesFauxnale: The last episode of Season 1 contained a segment explaining to kids how they could find answers on their own. This was just in case the series wasn't picked up for Season 2. Not only was it picked up, but it also moved to CBS.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Many of the Famous Dead Guys were done in the style of a celebrity: Ben Franklin was a Rodney Dangerfield-esque joke-cracker; Albert Einstein was a German-style Jackie Mason, and Charles Goodyear was Jim Backus as Thurston Howell from GilligansIsland.

** In one scene, Lester is reading [[{{Playboy}} A Ratboy magazine]], which he scrambles to hide when Beakman and Liza come into the scene.

* CreepyCockroaches: The second "THOSE DISGUSTING ANIMALS!" segment. So disgusting, they freaked Liza out enough to require a second take.

* TheCastShowoff: All the girls could sing, so the show gave 'em a chance. Senta Moses could break boards, so the show gave her a chance to do that, too.
** Mark Ritts' other job was as a puppeteer. He operates one of the penguins in the South Pole cutaways. They allow him a hand puppet (literally) in "Scratchy the Chicken".

The show lasted from September, 1992 to March, 1997. A total of three-and-a-half seasons' worth of shows stretched out to a full five seasons, first on TLC, then on CBS. The show has also run in syndication (first before moving from TLC to CBS, then more recently starting in 2007, with Creator/{{BKN}} syndicating it for a few years starting in 1999), as well as Spanish-dubbed reruns on Univision's kids block, ''Planeta U''. Zaloom himself still plays Beakman in live shows, including in places like Brazil and Mexico, where Beakman's popularity is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff through the roof]].

** Though [[AllInTheFamily Jean Stapleton]] guested as Beakman's Mom a couple of times. (Her daughter was part of the production staff.)

[[caption-width-right:350:''Beakmaaaaaaaaaaan!'']]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It wouldn't be a 1990s kids' show without this trope, and, since it explored a lot of biological subject matter (such as the formation of vomit, snot, urine, body odor, and flatulence), there was a lot of ToiletHumor as well (though it was no worse than what you would find in the cartoons like ''Rugrats'' or ''RenAndStimpy''). However, there were some lines and scenes that went beyond that:

* GenreSavvy: Lester would occasionally succumb to the inevitable and inform Beakman that he was not going to pooh-pooh the latest Challenge, because he knew from experience Beakman was going to turn out to be right and make Lester look foolish in the process.

** Subverted in another Lester Challenge, in which he challenged Beakman to make 5 squares into 4 by moving ([[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything not removing]]) 2 lines. Just when it seems that Lester's won, Beakman manages to get it.

A Saturday morning kids' ScienceShow based on an award winning comic strip, BeakmansWorld was a fast-paced romp through many scientific questions, some of which are considered gross, like "How is snot formed?", "What is vomit?", "What causes foot odor?" and "Why do we fart?" (which aired on the series finale).