The New Adventures of Beans Baxter

Beans Baxter was one of the first shows offered by the FOX network, and it was a quirky little show with hints of satire. I loved how Baxter's mother was totally clueless about her son's adventures, as well as that of her missing husband (Dad was a spy). The show should have been given a better chance. FOX decided to push Married With Kids instead.

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987-1988) was a fun show. I was

really into it but after a season of promise it just disappeared. The creator of the show ("Savage" Steve Holland) made a couple of great films and I

was stoked when I heard that he was making a television show. Just when

I was getting ready for the next season, it was canceled. Such a shame

because it could have really taken off. They should have produced a

made-for-t.v. wrap up show. Now that would have been a blast!

So long Agent Baxter. I hope you find your father and keep your brother

in check!

I'm Mike Tee Vee, see ya!!

Beans Baxter ran on Fox when it was a new startup network piggybacking on independent stations and UHF. Sad to say, most of Fox's best stuff was during this time as it was daring and crazy for attention. Not that the Joan Rivers Show was great but it wasn't bad. Tracy Ullman got her first TV exposure here (and subsequently the Simpsons) as well as Johnny Depp and Holly Robinson (21 Jumpstreet). But of all these shows, the one that sticks out is Beans Baxter. A spoofy spy show, it had more in common with Batman and Rocky and Bullwinkle in tone than the more obvious Get Smart. To this day I still remember Dee Snider portraying the role of an exorcist under Baxter's employ shaking the bejeesus out of the town's teens who have succumbed to evil foreign powers' attempts to make American youth as square as the Lawrence Welk singers. Both campy and smart, Beans Baxter never had the chance to grow on the rocky new network and fell by the wayside before most of America had the chance to see its charms. Meanwhile, you can't turn on the TV without seeing a rerun of Yes,Dear. Oh well, who said life was fair.

The premise for this show was good. Beans was a popular teenager in Kansas with a hot girlfriend, his father (so he thought) was a local mailman. In the pilot, Beans got word that his father was transferred to Washington DC, and the family would have to move. Right after moving to DC, Beans saw his father's mailtruck get blown up and he and his family thought that dad was killed. Beans somehow found out that his father was not killed, but was actually a secret spy who was kidnapped by an evil organization and his mailman occupation was really a cover. Beans asked to get involved in trying to find his father. His mother and little brother knew nothing and still thought that his father was dead. While in DC, Beans started dating a hot foreign girl. But a few episodes into the series, his old girlfriend from Kansas moves to DC to be with him.

The writing on this show turned out to be pretty poor, which really hurt the success. Fox cancelled the show before Beans was able to rescue his father.

You can watch episodes on. Archive dot org.

Silly. For kids but not really . Cheers.