Beakman's World - Premise

Premise

The program starred Paul Zaloom as Beakman, an eccentric scientist who performed comical experiments and demonstrations in response to viewer mail to illustrate various scientific concepts from density to electricity to flatulence. When his experiments were successful, he would often exclaim "Zaloom!", referring to his last name.

Over the years, Beakman was aided in his experiments by a female assistant just as in the comic strip on which it was based. The assistant's name changed throughout the show's run; for the episodes of season 1, it was Josie (played by Alanna Ubach); for the episodes of seasons 2 and 3, it was Liza (played by Eliza Schneider); and for the episodes of season 4, it was Phoebe (played by Senta Moses). Beakman was also assisted by his "lab rat" Lester. In the pilot episode, Lester was a puppet, but in every subsequent episode he was simply a clueless, crude man (Mark Ritts) in a tattered rat suit. In a running joke, it was never asserted that his character was actually supposed to be a rat; rather he was specifically identified by himself and others as a guy in a rat suit, or as a serious actor with a bad agent. Sometimes unwilling to help out, Lester was often persuaded by Beakman with the promise of food. Another occasional cast member is the unseen cameraman "Ray," who is played by prop-master Ron Jancula's hands. Ray assists Beakman by handing him various items, such as the "boguscope." It is suggested throughout the program that Ray has a romantic crush on the show's unnamed makeup lady. Actress Jean Stapleton also appeared on the show as Beakman's mother, "Beakmom". In some of the skits during the show the character Professor I.M. Boring (also played by Paul Zaloom, in a dual role) makes appearances and talks about various science topics. Zaloom also appeared as various 'guest scientists' and historic figures, such as Thomas A. Edison, Robert H. Goddard, and Philo T. Farnsworth. When Senta Moses was added to the show's cast, the producers began to use a majority of the sound effects from the NBC game show Scrabble.

One segment of the show was the famed "Beakman Challenge". During this segment, Beakman would challenge Lester to do a stunt that illustrated a basic scientific feat. During the first season, virtually every challenge related to either Air Pressure or Bernoulli's Principle. The show addressed this during the second season, by having Lester exclaim to Beakman (as he was explaining the science behind a trick) "AIR PRESSURE! IT'S ALWAYS AIR PRESSURE!".

At the beginning and end of the show, as well as before or after commercial breaks, the show featured short scenes portraying puppet penguins, Don (voiced by Bert Berdis) and Herb (Alan Barzman), at the South Pole watching Beakman’s World on television. The penguins were named after Don Herbert, who starred as Mr. Wizard in Mr. Wizard's World. Mark Ritts (Lester) was also one of the puppeteers operating the penguins.

Beakman's World plays in weekend syndication in the United States and in several other countries. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Television in the U.S. and in other countries. A Spanish-dubbed version aired on Univision (titled El Mundo de Beakman) as part of its Planeta U programming block.