Bobby's World
Bobby's World was a cartoon series that ran on Fox's Fox Kids Saturday morning block from 1990 to 1998. It was created by comedian Howie Mandel.
It was about an imaginative young boy named Bobby Generic (voiced by Mandel) who often misinterpreted things that were said to him.
Other characters include Bobby's parents, Howard and Martha; his older sister, Kelly; his older brother, Derek; his younger twin brothers, Jake and Al, who were born in the third season; his uncle Ted; his aunt Ruth, and his sheepdog, Roger.
For something that ran for eight seasons, it had very little publicity.
Tropes featured in this show include:
- Big Brother Bully: Derek.
- Blunt Metaphors Trauma
- Celebrity Toons: Well, sort of. Bobby is based on Howie Mandel's son, and Mandel himself is in the opening credits.
- Closed Captioning: On Fox Kids, the show made use of this, but embedded into the show rather than the video signal. This means that they couldn't be switched off.
- Charter On-Demand episodes do not have these, actually.
- Curse Cut Short: According to Howie, when Roger gets shown his leash (since he associates it with being taken to the vet), he disappears "...like a bat out of-- A steeple."
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Kelly Generic is voiced by Gail Matthius, a former Saturday Night Live cast member-turned-voice actress who often played Valley Girls (particularly Shirley the Loon from Tiny Toon Adventures). Matthius also voices Martha Generic (the voice for the character was based on Roweena, a chain-smoking hairstylist Matthius played on SNL). Pamela Segall Adlon, who is probably best known for voicing Bobby Hill from King of the Hill, voiced Derek in the later seasons.
- Bobby has the same voice as Skeeter.
- Hot Mom: Martha Generic.
- Ink Suit Actor/The Danza: Howard Generic as played by Howie Mandel.
- Howie even turns into Howard Generic in certain openings.
- It Is Pronounced Tro-PAY: Everybody mispronounces the family's last name Generic, which is pronounced "JEN-er-ic".
- Literal Minded: Bobby.
- Medium Blending: When Howie Mandel interacted with Bobby before and after the episodes.
- Mr. Imagination: Bobby.
- Parental Bonus: In "I Want My Mommy", Uncle Ted tries to explain the concept of adoption to Bobby.
 |
Uncle Ted: You see, a lot of times when a guy and his wife-- |
 |
- Ted was well known for the Parental Bonus. In one episode, he even used the word "hell", which was kind of taboo at the time for a kid's show. Martha corrected him after he said it, though.
- Pop Star Composer: John Tesh composed the theme song, as well as the incidental music in the show.
- The Renaissance Age of Animation
- Sidetracked by the Analogy: Happens very frequently to Bobby.
- Talking to Himself: Any time Bobby talks with his dad.
- Those Two Guys: Meeker and Snurd.
- Valley Girl: Kelly.
- Verbal Tic: Martha Generic frequently ends sentences with "Doncha know?".
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Martha sounds like Sarah Palin.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Bobby... sort of.