I'm not sure when I started unfairly begrudging Mr. Bean his phenomenal success. You'd think I could be content merely declaring that Blackadder was better and enjoy both, especially since clips of Rowan Atkinson's Beanesque stand-up and Not the Nine O'Clock News tomfoolery have been in my YouTube rotation for years.
On the bright side, this childish aversion means I can now enjoy these largely forgotten childish delights as if they were brand new again. Some of them are. Here are my Top 15 Beans ('Best Bits' disqualified for cheating).
Obsolete VHS key:
The Amazing Adventures of Mr. Bean
The Exciting Escapades of Mr. Bean
The Terrible Tales of Mr. Bean
The Merry Mishaps of Mr. Bean
The Perilous Pursuits of Mr. Bean
Unseen Bean
The Final Frolics of Mr. Bean
15. Hair by Mr. Bean of London (1995)
Was this barrel-scraping mediocrity originally intended for broadcast, but sent direct to video for not being up to standard? It remained Unseen to me for 24 years, but my life wasn't any worse off. It might have been slightly better.
14. Mind the Baby Mr. Bean (1994)
Famously postponed by tragic events, this is a horrible episode in any context. Even if you're not fazed by babies, dogs and goldfish in peril, the rest is just unimaginative fairground gags to fill out the time. Here's hoping the wandering nappy isn't the start of a new trend in gross-out humour.
13. Back to School Mr. Bean (1994)
Everyday silliness has fully given way to unrelatable weirdness now as Mr Bean wanders around a school open day harrassing various innocents, sexually or otherwise. I wouldn't mind if it was funny, but Bean was an institution now and it doesn't take much to get a standing ovation from these sycophants. The destruction of the Mini is the only worthwhile minute.
12. Tee Off, Mr. Bean (1995)
A welcome return of everyday incompetence in the first half as Bean does his laundry, before we go back to strange fantasy as he pursues a golf ball across the country with admirable diligence for the rules... until he decides to just cheat anyway. I've reached the point where I don't remember some of these now, or maybe they just weren't worth remembering.
11. Deleted scenes: The Library / The Bus Stop / The Chair / Turkey Weight (1990-92)
Satisfyingly, the several scenes trimmed from broadcast for time or taste but restored for VHS add up to the length of a bonus B-sides episode. It's doomed to be a bit barrel-scraping as a result, but there are still more laughs in there than in some of the proper episodes. 'The Chair' is the exception, a glimpse of a more psychopathic Bean that no one thought was a bit weird during writing and filming but fortunately came to their senses about later.
10. Mr. Bean Rides Again (1992)
There's a bit of an even-number curse with the early episodes. None of them have been overall lacklustre yet, but this comes close with its oddly morbid opening and plane and train scenes that are more annoying than anything. That's all redeemed by the minimalist holiday packing though.
9. Good Night, Mr. Bean (1995)
A fitting series finale (before the low-key VHS special), this is a happy blend of mean Bean at the doctor's, silly Bean messing with the guard and mad genius Bean with his bedtime ritual. Nice to get back to basics rather than being unrelatably outlandish.
8. Mr. Bean Goes to Town (1991)
Bean's struggle with a seemingly sentient TV is one of the more low-key A-sides, but still brilliant to watch unfold, and the callback in the end credits is the sort of satisfying structure that elevates episodes for me. The rest is more forgettable and veers into the unpleasantness that would sadly get worse as time goes on, especially as the audience are fully on his side. Finally got the 'Club Phut' joke after 28 years.
7. Mr. Bean in Room 426 (1993)
Their first mini film holds together well, apart from an anticlimactic ending. As a child, I remember finding the torturously slow old lady a lot more screamingly hilarious, but its reprise later on is still gold. I don't know why Bean's instantly sent into oneupmanship mode, but it's not like I have much insight into any of his thought processes.
6. The Return of Mr. Bean (1990)
Mr. Bean goes to a shopping centre seemingly for the first time, which was never as funny to me as when Mr. Blobby did it. He then has a birthday meal for one that's more depressing than amusing. If you're wondering what his source of income could possibly be, this is answered by the end in a scene that would feel out of place if it wasn't already so familiar.
5. Merry Christmas Mr. Bean (1992)
Considering they could have kept churning out specials long after they ran out of ideas, it's sort of remarkable that there was only one Christmas episode, though they did seemingly exhaust all the festive staples in their first go. The turkey scene might have been funny the first of the million times I saw it, or maybe it was always too ghoulish.
4. The Curse of Mr. Bean (1990)
We had this (and 'Goes to Town') on video, so it's up there with 'Call of the Simpsons,' 'The Fifth Turtle' and 'Mr. Happy' as things I know inside-out. Still lots of fun to go through the motions. If there's any old-school silent comedy as funny and well-executed as the park bench skit, I should check it out. The cinema bit feels more like an imported stand-up routine that doesn't quite fit the character, but it becomes retroactively less weird as time goes on.
3. Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean (1994)
A nice old-fashioned domestic one between the short films, this features one of the most deservedly iconic Bean scenes as he ingeniously pilots his car from the roof, but my favourite moment was that final shot. Bean's DIY party snacks are a new level of worrying madness.
2. The Trouble with Mr. Bean (1992)
Probably the best sustained sequence, Mr. Bean's morning routine and efficient driving/grooming technique that straddles insanity and genius is the perfect overture to the character. This doesn't let up during his needlessly calamitous dental visit, but sadly the episode completely drops off in the final third with some base-level mime work trying to convince us there's a fly buzzing about.
1. Mr. Bean (1989)
I was familiar with most of this certified classic through its justified inclusions on the Best Bits video we had. They could've saved time and just re-run the lot. The innuendo's more rampant than I remembered, we may have Ben Elton to thank for that in his sole outing. The feuding cars make for brilliant transitions, it's a shame Richard Briers' straight man wasn't similarly recurring.
The Amazing Adventures of Mr. Bean
The Exciting Escapades of Mr. Bean
The Terrible Tales of Mr. Bean
The Merry Mishaps of Mr. Bean
The Perilous Pursuits of Mr. Bean
Unseen Bean
The Final Frolics of Mr. Bean
Was this barrel-scraping mediocrity originally intended for broadcast, but sent direct to video for not being up to standard? It remained Unseen to me for 24 years, but my life wasn't any worse off. It might have been slightly better.
Famously postponed by tragic events, this is a horrible episode in any context. Even if you're not fazed by babies, dogs and goldfish in peril, the rest is just unimaginative fairground gags to fill out the time. Here's hoping the wandering nappy isn't the start of a new trend in gross-out humour.
Everyday silliness has fully given way to unrelatable weirdness now as Mr Bean wanders around a school open day harrassing various innocents, sexually or otherwise. I wouldn't mind if it was funny, but Bean was an institution now and it doesn't take much to get a standing ovation from these sycophants. The destruction of the Mini is the only worthwhile minute.
A welcome return of everyday incompetence in the first half as Bean does his laundry, before we go back to strange fantasy as he pursues a golf ball across the country with admirable diligence for the rules... until he decides to just cheat anyway. I've reached the point where I don't remember some of these now, or maybe they just weren't worth remembering.
11. Deleted scenes: The Library / The Bus Stop / The Chair / Turkey Weight (1990-92)
There's a bit of an even-number curse with the early episodes. None of them have been overall lacklustre yet, but this comes close with its oddly morbid opening and plane and train scenes that are more annoying than anything. That's all redeemed by the minimalist holiday packing though.
A fitting series finale (before the low-key VHS special), this is a happy blend of mean Bean at the doctor's, silly Bean messing with the guard and mad genius Bean with his bedtime ritual. Nice to get back to basics rather than being unrelatably outlandish.
Bean's struggle with a seemingly sentient TV is one of the more low-key A-sides, but still brilliant to watch unfold, and the callback in the end credits is the sort of satisfying structure that elevates episodes for me. The rest is more forgettable and veers into the unpleasantness that would sadly get worse as time goes on, especially as the audience are fully on his side. Finally got the 'Club Phut' joke after 28 years.
Their first mini film holds together well, apart from an anticlimactic ending. As a child, I remember finding the torturously slow old lady a lot more screamingly hilarious, but its reprise later on is still gold. I don't know why Bean's instantly sent into oneupmanship mode, but it's not like I have much insight into any of his thought processes.
Mr. Bean goes to a shopping centre seemingly for the first time, which was never as funny to me as when Mr. Blobby did it. He then has a birthday meal for one that's more depressing than amusing. If you're wondering what his source of income could possibly be, this is answered by the end in a scene that would feel out of place if it wasn't already so familiar.
Considering they could have kept churning out specials long after they ran out of ideas, it's sort of remarkable that there was only one Christmas episode, though they did seemingly exhaust all the festive staples in their first go. The turkey scene might have been funny the first of the million times I saw it, or maybe it was always too ghoulish.
We had this (and 'Goes to Town') on video, so it's up there with 'Call of the Simpsons,' 'The Fifth Turtle' and 'Mr. Happy' as things I know inside-out. Still lots of fun to go through the motions. If there's any old-school silent comedy as funny and well-executed as the park bench skit, I should check it out. The cinema bit feels more like an imported stand-up routine that doesn't quite fit the character, but it becomes retroactively less weird as time goes on.
A nice old-fashioned domestic one between the short films, this features one of the most deservedly iconic Bean scenes as he ingeniously pilots his car from the roof, but my favourite moment was that final shot. Bean's DIY party snacks are a new level of worrying madness.
Probably the best sustained sequence, Mr. Bean's morning routine and efficient driving/grooming technique that straddles insanity and genius is the perfect overture to the character. This doesn't let up during his needlessly calamitous dental visit, but sadly the episode completely drops off in the final third with some base-level mime work trying to convince us there's a fly buzzing about.
I was familiar with most of this certified classic through its justified inclusions on the Best Bits video we had. They could've saved time and just re-run the lot. The innuendo's more rampant than I remembered, we may have Ben Elton to thank for that in his sole outing. The feuding cars make for brilliant transitions, it's a shame Richard Briers' straight man wasn't similarly recurring.
