What was up with Mr Bean's original airing schedule?

[Memorex MP3]

Just looked this up and it's erratic as fuck; was there some kind of logic to when episodes aired? Were the ones on seemingly random dates (e.g. why 17th Feb two years in a row?) part of some kind of event night I'm just a bit oblivious of? Were there many other shows that followed such an odd screening schedule?

1 January 1990 
5 November 1990 
30 December 1990 
15 October 1991 
1 January 1992 
17 February 1992 
29 December 1992 
17 February 1993 
10 January 1994 
25 April 1994 
26 October 1994 
20 September 1995 
31 October 1995 
15 November 1995 
15 December 1995 

[idunnosomename]

Isn't that just how they were produced too? Most of them are shot on location, unlike most sitcoms, and even when they use studios, there's no reuse of sets between episodes (I think... was Bean's flat or bedroom given any consistency? The New Years ep is partly built so Bean can destroy, uh, redecorate it).

They were presented more as specials than episodes of a series really. They were heavily trailed and promoted too so it wasn't like they just felt randomly dropped into the schedule.

[sutin]

It didn't have seasons. The episodes were specials which just came out once in a while.

[idunnosomename]

I seem to recall also they'd rerun the previous episodes to run up to the new one? could be wrong there but sort of thing you could look up. it was an odd way of doing a comedy franchise at the time, and I'd be interested to know how it was produced.



interesting you have those two great ones that are just Driscoll/Atkinson before it goes to shit. Do-It-Yourself Mr Bean is one of my favourite things. Three cheers for Rupert and Hubert!

[imitationleather]

It was event telly. Like England matches.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Yes, it was never scheduled like an actual series. There's no mystery or confusion here.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

shit were there that many Mr Beans?

[imitationleather]

Probably ITV thought the gaps would lead to maximum hype among the public and viewing figures and also they didn't trust it to work as a series?

Fucking worked, if so!!

[thenoise]

shit were there that many Mr Beans?

I guess itv used to repeat some of the earlier ones more than the others, hence the "oh god this again" feeling every time you stumbled across Bean again.

[idunnosomename]

Probably ITV thought the gaps would lead to maximum hype among the public and viewing figures and also they didn't trust it to work as a series?

Fucking worked, if so!!

and selling these. Must've been a big money spinner.



Including the legendary Unseen Bean. Which I, naturally, have never seen.

[JamesTC]

I'd never realised that Unseen Bean was only names as such due to including the final episode ahead of the airing alongside an earlier episode. I only ever knew it off the VHS tapes which I absolutely wore out as a kid. I got rid of the tapes (which I now regret) when I replaced them with the DVD. I've not rewatched them since I was a kid aside from the movies.

interesting you have those two great ones that are just Driscoll/Atkinson before it goes to shit. Do-It-Yourself Mr Bean is one of my favourite things. Three cheers for Rupert and Hubert!

I loved Tee Off Mr Bean. Not seen it for at least a decade and a half but it is one I have fond memories of.

Of course, we all know that the best era of Bean is the Pizza Bean era. Cup of Tea is an absolute anthem.

[Twilkes]

I similarly remember very early You've Been Framed coming out as random episodes, and it was incredible to see people being idiots on camcorder in an era where very few people owned a camcorder, the fact it was sporadic meant it felt like a real treat and I remember being excited when the second one was announced. Not like now where people endlessly spew their mobile phone escapades down Youtube to seep into our minds like the septic juice from a syphilitic pissflap.

[Replies From View]

I similarly remember very early You've Been Framed coming out as random episodes, and it was incredible to see people being idiots on camcorder in an era where very few people owned a camcorder, the fact it was sporadic meant it felt like a real treat and I remember being excited when the second one was announced. Not like now where people endlessly spew their mobile phone escapades down Youtube to seep into our minds like the septic juice from a syphilitic pissflap.

It'll Be Alright On The Night, as well.

[Replies From View]

It's weird when you look into the windows of tourist shops in London, because along with royalty tat and Corgi red double-decker buses there's all Mr Bean wobble-head things and cardboard Mr Bean masks.  No other comedy icons from the 90s, and no other inane cultural references from any era.  Just Union flags, royal family, double-decker buses, some masks of current politicians for a bit of satire and sitting amongst them all, Mr Bean.

[Memorex MP3]

It'll Be Alright On The Night, as well.

Yep, was it a quirk of how ITV broadcast that they would have a bunch of shows they just didn't think would stick up to weekly broadcasts?

Was Mr Bean viewed as a bit of an Atkinson vanity project initially? Or was it that Atkinson and Curtis were such massive gets ITV that they really had to promote it as something different than their usual comedy output?
I don't really know where their reputations were at around 1990 but the fact Atkinson followed it up with a very run of the mill BBC sitcom suggests he wasn't quite viewed as a national treasure or anything like that just yet.


Then again, maybe the Thin Blue Line was a very big deal at the time? Reuniting with Ben Elton and all...

[Replies From View]

I suspect they thought of it initially as only a one-off, and felt they couldn't stretch the thin concept to a series.  Gradually they realised it had a following and devised more ideas but still never wanted to run it into the ground with a full series, maybe feeling that people would tire of it.

Maybe it never felt like the main thing any of them wanted to be doing, and they instead enjoyed revisiting it from time to time as they had windows of opportunity to work together between other projects.

[Tony Yeboah]

Mind the Baby, Mr Bean was delayed from 1 March 1993 to 25 April 1994 because of the James Bulger abduction and murder.

[idunnosomename]

I'd really like a Bean reunion to reminisce how it came together and how they made the classic episodes but that's never going to happen because Mr Bean isn't like that now. honestly I'd forgotten the Pizza Bean shit and how Atkinson had continued to monetise his creation with little more effort than gyrating in front of green screen for the entertainment of babies and cookdandbombd.

also there's the BEAN movie written by Curtis and Driscoll, that came out in August 1997. some genuinely good bits but a lot of rehashing and sappy Hollywood shit. but overall I think it's okay. Never seen Mr Bean's Holiday. Unseen Bean, you could say.

what country was it they never translated Mr Bean for so Rowan could go on holiday there unmobbed?

[rude soil]

Also, Rowan Atkinson starred as Mr Bean in a Chinese film called Top Funny Comedian: The Movie.

[Wadded Beef]

It's a bit odd that the Christmas episode first aired four days after the actual Day.

[phantom_power]

Yep, was it a quirk of how ITV broadcast that they would have a bunch of shows they just didn't think would stick up to weekly broadcasts?

I always remember It'll Be Alright On The Night as a holiday treat. Didn't they come out as part of the big Christmas or Easter line-ups? Or am I misremembering?

[Twilkes]

I'd imagine at the time that they probably couldn't source enough material for series of You've Been Framed or IBAOTN, although You've Been Framed escalated quickly.

I do wonder if that was also the case with Bean - for all its simplicity, it's not easy to come up with hours of top new silent/slapstick comedy in a short space of time, it's hard enough with a traditional sketch show. So I wonder if the creators just wanted to keep the quality high.

[TheMonk]

Also, Rowan Atkinson starred as Mr Bean in a Chinese film called Top Funny Comedian: The Movie.

Yea, very strange that. Here's the clips:
https://youtu.be/YeF6uAlxHWk

Also there's this twenty minute video of deleted scenes. Almost like a proper unseen episode. The scene at 2:45 where he crushes the lady in the electric recliner is chilling. Focusing on this sadistic part of the character would have made for an interesting comeback.
https://youtu.be/_2wfBNUnOVY

[idunnosomename]

It's a bit odd that the Christmas episode first aired four days after the actual Day.

even more odd the heavily New Year's Eve themed Do-it-yourself (NYE party, NYD sales) went out on the 10th, which is utter Christmas done and dusted time. Livens up a miserable January I suppose. Along with Tim Yeo MP resigning over his love child.

[Bad Ambassador]

Never seen Mr Bean's Holiday. Unseen Bean, you could say.

Mr Bean's Holiday is much closer to Jacques Tati than the first film. There some heartwarming moments, but the script doesn't have everyone else talking incessantly while Bean remains silent, or have him try to ingratiate himself into a typical American family.

It does have Willem Dafoe as a self-important film director, though, so that's quite fun.

[Captain Z]

Yea, very strange that. Here's the clips:
https://youtu.be/YeF6uAlxHWk

Found via the comments:

Mr Bean Kesurupan Depe (Mr Bean Possessed by Depe)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7v3wQbJViY&t=3439s

[Replies From View]

Mind the Baby, Mr Bean was delayed from 1 March 1993 to 25 April 1994 because of the James Bulger abduction and murder.

Finally the film Baby's Day Out was appearing in cinemas and they knew they could wait no longer.

[idunnosomename]

Also there's this twenty minute video of deleted scenes. Almost like a proper unseen episode. The scene at 2:45 where he crushes the lady in the electric recliner is chilling. Focusing on this sadistic part of the character would have made for an interesting comeback.
https://youtu.be/_2wfBNUnOVY

Video not available

The Bean remains unseen.

[lipsink]

I always remember Mr Bean Goes To Town was the first not very good one. And Merry Christmas Mr Bean was the last truly great one. Can see from the above list it was the last one Curtis wrote for.

[JamesTC]

Would love a longer version of the original Bean movie. Was apparently chopped to ribbons by the studio.