The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
| The New Adventures of Beans Baxter | |
|---|---|
| Genre | adventure/comedy |
| Created by | Savage Steve Holland |
| Starring | Jonathan Ward |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Vancouver, BC and Richmond, BC |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Savage Productions(in association with Twentieth Century-Fox Television) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | July 18 – November 28, 1987 |
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter was an adventure/comedy television series that aired between 1987 and 1988 on the Fox television network. It was created by Savage Steve Holland, who also wrote and directed most of the 17 episodes that were actually produced and transmitted. The title character was acted out by Jonathan Ward, who won a "Best Young Actor Starring in a New Television Comedy Series" Young Artist Award for the role. The lead role of Beans Baxter was originally offered to David Spade, and he regretted turning it down, per advice of his agents.[1]
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, D.C., as part of his father's (assumed) reassignment as an employee of the U.S. Postal Service.
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," acted out by Jerry Wasserman. 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) and his second-in-command, as whom Taylor Negron appeared. 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 that the series might continue.
Additional episodes were intended to show Beans's mother Susan, wrongly believing herself to be a widow, reentering the dating scene. This activity on her part was to have led to complications for Beans, who knew, as she herself 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. 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 himself. Unfortunately for Savage Steve Holland's ability to explore such possibilities, the series was canceled before any of these developments could be raised.
Beans started a friendship with a classmate nicknamed "Woodshop," acted out by Stuart Fratkin, and he later became attracted to a beautiful student nicknamed "Cake Lace," acted out by Karen Mistal. In one episode, former Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly 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.)
The supporting cast included Rick Lenz as Beans's father, Benjamin Sr.; former 1950's child star Elinor Donahue from Father Knows Best 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) as Beans's part-time friend/enemy in the spy world.
Episode list
| Nº | Title | Directed by: | Written by: | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Beans' First Adventure: Part 1" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 18 July 1987 |
| Benjamin Baxter Jr., whose friends call him Beans, is a teenager who, after his family moves to Washington D.C., becomes a secret agent. In the premiere episode, Beans witnesses his father's abduction. | ||||
| 2 | "Beans' First Adventure: Part 2" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 18 July 1987 |
| Beans fails to rescue his father, and The Network's "Number Two" informs him that he will only be allowed to continue working for The Network till his father is found and freed. | ||||
| 3 | "Beauty and the Beans" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 25 July 1987 |
| Darla surprises Beans with a visit at the same time he is asked to house a gorgeous Soviet agent. | ||||
| 4 | "Beans for President" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 1 August 1987 |
| An assignment to save the President's daughter interferes with Beans's candidacy for class president of his high school. | ||||
| 5 | "Beans and the Satanic Backwards Masking Conspiracy" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 8 August 1987 |
| Beans investigates whether messages on records played backwards have a part in changes in the behavior of the son of the Network's "Number One," or Director. | ||||
| 6 | "Beans' Wicked and Awesome Adventures at College" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 15 August 1987 |
| A case of mistaken identity hampers Beans's ability to discover if a student radical is involved with UGLI. | ||||
| 7 | "Beans in Ski Heck" | Mary Beth Fielder | Martin Olson, Mary Jo Pritchard | 22 August 1987 |
| On a ski vacation, Beans accidentally uncovers a scheme to kidnap diplomats. | ||||
| 8 | "There's No Place Like Omsk" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland, Martin Olson, Mary Jo Pritchard | 12 September 1987 |
| Beans meets with Svetlana, a defected Russian double agent who is severely homesick. | ||||
| 9 | "Beans Finds His Dad But...: Part 1" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 26 September 1987 |
| Beans locates his kidnapped father, but Mr. Sue hampers the rescue effort. | ||||
| 10 | "Beans Finds His Dad But...: Part 2" | Michael E. Steele | Savage Steve Holland | 3 October 1987 |
| Beans's second effort to rescue his father falls short. | ||||
| 11 | "Beans' Unpleasant Introduction to Modern Science" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 10 October 1987 |
| HAP, a robot which Beans is testing for the government, runs amok, attacking children and animals, and ruining a meeting with Darla. | ||||
| 12 | "Beans Goes to Camp" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 17 October 1987 |
| After UGLI steals a nuclear warhead, Beans goes undercover at a parasailing camp to find it. | ||||
| 13 | "A Nightmare on Beans' Street" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 31 October 1987 |
| Beans and his friends are set upon by a deadly pumpkin sent by UGLI's leader, Mr. Sue, and the Pumpkin Princess. | ||||
| 14 | "Beans' Home Life Gets UGLI" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland, Andrew Katz, Larru Schulze | 7 November 1987 |
| Hoping to coerce Beans's father Benjamin Baxter Sr. to talk, an UGLI agent tries to get a photograph that will make it appear that Mrs. Baxter (Susan) is having an affair with him. | ||||
| 15 | "Beans' Under the Weather" | Tom Rowe | Savage Steve Holland, Andrew Katz, Larru Schulze | 14 November 1987 |
| After Beans's younger brother Scott Baxter, called Scooter, invents a weather-making machine for a science fair, UGLI schemes to use it for their own ends. | ||||
| 16 | "Beans Gets His Driver's License (and It Isn't Pretty)" | Tom Rowe | Savage Steve Holland, Rick Overton, Bruce Wagner | 21 November 1987 |
| UGLI agents Jack and Henry attempt to stop Beans from getting his driver's license. | ||||
| 17 | "Beans in Jungleland" | Savage Steve Holland | Savage Steve Holland | 28 November 1987 |
| Beans infiltrates the Bad Seed gang when his brother Scooter is falsely accused of making drug sales. | ||||
The series was filmed entirely in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada; in the episode "Beans Gets His Driver's License (And It Isn't Pretty)," the world-famous CN Tower is featured in the background. The show's theme and soundtrack were performed by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson.
External links and references
- The New Adventures of Beans Baxter at the Internet Movie Database
- The New Adventures of Beans Baxter at TV.com