Bob and Margaret | |
---|---|
Genre | Adult animation Romance Sitcom |
Created by | |
Based on | Bob's Birthday by David Fine Alison Snowden |
Starring |
|
Composer | Patrick Godfrey |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Canada |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 52 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Tom McGillis (S3-4) |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production companies | Nelvana Limited SilverLight Productions (season 2) National Film Board of Canada Channel 4 |
Original release | |
Network | Global Television Network (Canada) Channel 4 (United Kingdom) |
Release | 3 December 1998 – 29 November 2001 |
Related | |
Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy O Canada |
Bob and Margaret is an adult animated sitcom created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Channel 4 as a collaboration, both financial and artistic, between the United Kingdom and Canada. [1] The last two seasons were co-produced without Channel 4 but with continuing British involvement in the animation, cast, and screenwriting. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film Bob's Birthday , featuring the same main characters, which won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 1994. [2] In Canada, it was the highest-rated Canadian-made animated series ever when it aired in primetime on Global.
The show revolves around a married English couple named Bob and Margaret Fish. They are a middle-class professional working couple of forty-ish with no children and two dogs named William and Elizabeth, who often serve as surrogates for children and are considered to be characters with personalities in their own right. [3] Bob is a dentist and Margaret is a chiropodist.
Bob and Margaret struggle with everyday issues and mid-life crises. Stories often revolve around the mundane, but in a way that is eminently relatable, from the trials of shopping to dealing with friends who annoy them but owe them a dinner. They are often seen enjoying various takeaways – curries, various Chinese dishes, and especially pizza - as they navigate their lazy, sedentary homelives.
In the first two seasons, Bob and Margaret live in England, in the South London community of Balham. For the third and fourth seasons, they move to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, allowing the writers to explore the humour of the culture clash. The move was mandated by the realities of funding after Channel 4 backed out, with certain Canadian grants and tax benefits being dependent on stories being physically based in Canada. As such, the transition was necessary to finance the show's continued production. Fine and Snowden chose to take an executive role on these latter two seasons, reviewing scripts and consulting, but not involved in as granular detail as they were for the first two seasons. Snowden continued to provide Margaret's voice, but Brian George replaced Andy Hamilton as Bob's voice.[ citation needed ]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD and Blu-ray release date | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season premiere | Season finale | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
1 | 13 | 3 December 1998 | 25 February 1999 | 16 February 2010 [4] | — | — | |
2 | 13 | 19 August 1999 | 18 November 1999 | 25 September 2005 [5] | 17 July 2006 [6] | — | |
3 | 13 | 30 May 2001 | 22 August 2001 | — | — | — | |
4 | 13 | 13 September 2001 | 29 November 2001 | — | — | — |
No. in series | Title | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "A Tale of Two Dentists" | David Fine | 3 December 1998 |
A new dentist opens a practice right across the road from Bob's and steals all his customers. His receptionist also defects, so Bob hires Penny. But things are not as they seem. | |||
2 | "A Night In" | David Fine | 10 December 1998 |
A quiet night at home...unfortunately it falls on a night when there's absolutely nothing to watch on TV. | |||
3 | "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" | Alison Snowden | 17 December 1998 |
Bob and Margaret decide to get fit and, after fruitless attempts at aerobics and workouts, they decide on a friendly game of badminton against Cathy and her latest boyfriend, Ken. | |||
4 | "Burglary" | Alison Snowden and David Fine | 24 December 1998 |
After Bob and Margaret's home is robbed, they file a police report and an insurance claim. Bob tries to get Margaret to lie on the insurance claim so they can get bigger/newer/flashier/fancier high-tech replacements. Margaret feels that this is dishonest and leads to high insurance premiums; she'd rather get comparable replacements and install a home security system. Meanwhile, the thieves watch for empty shipping boxes left for the trash collector. | |||
5 | "Shopping" | David Fine | 31 December 1998 |
After realizing they spend too much on take out meals and expensive local shops, Bob and Margaret decide to shop at a new discount grocery store out of town, but the expedition is anything but easy or cheap. | |||
6 | "The Holiday" | Alison Snowden | 7 January 1999 |
7 | "For Pete's Sake" | Alison Snowden | 14 January 1999 |
Bob and Margaret are stuck babysitting their niece and nephew after Bob's brother, a professional TV chef, and his producer wife are going out of the country for a new reality show. | |||
8 | "Friends for Dinner" | David Fine | 21 January 1999 |
Bob and Margaret are invited for what they think is dinner by another couple only to spend an uncomfortable evening drinking wine, eating peanuts, and playing a rather irritating boardgame. | |||
9 | "Love's Labors Lost" | Alison Snowden | 28 January 1999 |
10 | "The Dental Convention" | Peter Baynham | 4 February 1999 |
Bob isn't thrilled when he is asked by an old colleague to fill in as a guest speaker at the upcoming Dental Convention but Margaret talks him into it when she finds out it comes with a free stay at a luxury hotel. | |||
11 | "Discomfort of Strangers" | David Fine and Alison Snowden | 11 February 1999 |
Just before Bob and Margaret are about to go on a second honeymoon, their cousins from Toronto stop by for an extended visit. | |||
12 | "Trick of Treat" | David Fine and Alison Snowden | 18 February 1999 |
13 | "Neighbors" | Peter Baynham | 25 February 1999 |
Bob and Margaret become acquainted with their new neighbors and invite them to a new restaurant, but the evening becomes a total disaster. |
No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
14 | "Bob Gets Wired" | Doug Thoms, Karen Lessman, Jamie Whitney, and Harold Harris | Jeremy Hardy | 19 August 1999 |
After Margaret is arrested for shoplifting a bag of sprinkles she mistakenly put in her pocket, Bob wears a wire to exonerate her when the police think she is connected to an arson. | ||||
15 | "No Trouble" | Doug Thoms | Peter Baynham | 26 August 1999 |
16 | "The Trouble with Mummy" | Jamie Whitney | Jamie Whitney, David Fine, and Alison Snowden | 2 September 1999 |
After his mother's best friend passes away, Bob's siblings think she needs to move to a nursing home so they can sell her house and split the proceeds. | ||||
17 | "The Fly on the Wall" | Doug Thoms | Tim Fountain | 9 September 1999 |
Bob becomes the subject of a documentary about the dental industry being directed by an old classmate, unaware of how he is actually being portrayed. | ||||
18 | "Problems" | Jamie Whitney | Jeremy Hardy | 16 September 1999 |
19 | "A Patient Dies in Bob's Chair" | Doug Thoms | Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil | 23 September 1999 |
Bob loses his job after a patient dies of natural causes during a checkup and the media embellish the story. | ||||
20 | "Cuckoo in the Nest" | Karen Lessmann and Jamie Whitney | Tim Fountain | 7 October 1999 |
21 | "A New Life" | Doug Thoms | Peter Baynham | 14 October 1999 |
Bob becomes enchanted by the prospect of moving into a new planned community but it's Margaret who is coveted by the community. | ||||
22 | "Animal Behavior" | Karen Lessmann and Jamie Whitney | Rosie Shuster | 21 October 1999 |
23 | "Party Politics" | Doug Thoms | Sarah Smith | 28 October 1999 |
24 | "Going Dutch" | Karen Lessmann | Sally Phillips | 4 November 1999 |
25 | "My Foot Hurts" | Karen Lessmann | Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil | 11 November 1999 |
26 | "A Bob or Two" | Karen Lessmann | Tim Fountain and David Fine | 18 November 1999 |
Bob and Margaret disagree on what to do when they purchases a painting from a neighbor's rummage sale and is shocked to learn that it may be worth a fortune. |
No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
27 | "Stranded in Toronto" | Julian Harris | Rosalind Shuster | 31 May 2001 |
Bob and Margaret plan a vacation to New York but bad weather forces a layover in Toronto while their dogs are left in the care of Bob's assistant Penny, who promptly leaves them for an outing with her boyfriend. | ||||
28 | "Strangers in a Strange Land" | Dan Poitras | Valri Blomfield | 7 June 2001 |
Bob and Margaret become pariahs in London after they are accused of leaving their dogs unattended while they are stuck in Toronto. | ||||
29 | "Margaret Gets a Job" | Julian Harris | Rosalind Shuster and David Cole | 14 June 2001 |
Margaret, after she and Bob immigrated to Toronto to retain custody of their dogs, struggles to find work while Bob already has one. | ||||
30 | "'Til Death Do Us Part" | Dan Poitras | Heather Conkie | 21 June 2001 |
Bob is tricked into buying a cemetery plot for him and Margaret as an anniversary present. | ||||
31 | "The Wedding" | Julian Harris | David Cole | 28 June 2001 |
32 | "Fish at the Bat" | Dan Poitras | Matthew Cope | 5 July 2001 |
33 | "Over-Exposed" | Dan Poitras | Valri Blomfield and David Cole Story idea by: Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers | 12 July 2001 |
34 | "Age Before Beauty" | Julian Harris | Leila Basen and David Preston | 19 July 2001 |
35 | "Book Club" | Julian Harris | Heather Conkie | 26 July 2001 |
36 | "On Location" | Julian Harris | Valri Bromfield | 2 August 2001 |
When a movie is being shot right next door, Bob and Margaret both find themselves involved with the production. | ||||
37 | "Cottage Country" | Dan Poitras | Terry Saltsman | 9 August 2001 |
38 | "Driving Bob" | Julian Harris | Valri Bromfield | 16 August 2001 |
39 | "Undefined Border" | Julian Harris | David Cole | 23 August 2001 |
No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
40 | "New Lease on Life" | David Thomas | Matthew Cope and David Cole | 6 September 2001 |
41 | "Jury Duty" | David Thomas | David Cole | 13 September 2001 |
42 | "The Player" | Harold Harris | Chas Lawther and Gail Kerbel | 20 September 2001 |
43 | "The Getaway" | David Thomas | Matthew Cope and David Cole | September 27, 2001 |
44 | "Mummy's Boy" | David Thomas | Julie Lacey | 4 October 2001 |
45 | "Gone to Seed" | David Thomas | Terry Saltsman | 11 October 2001 |
46 | "The Candidate" | Julian Harris | Terry Saltsman | 18 October 2001 |
47 | "Life Saver" | Julian Harris | Jennifer Cowan | 25 October 2001 |
48 | "I, Bob" | Julian Harris | David Cole | 1 November 2001 |
49 | "Mastermind" | Julian Harris | David Cole | 8 November 2001 |
50 | "Outward Bound" | David Thomas | David Fine and David Cole | 15 November 2001 |
51 | "Gary" | David Thomas | Chas Lawther and Gail Kerbel | 22 November 2001 |
52 | "A Very Fishy Christmas" | David Thomas | David Fine | 29 November 2001 |
The programme was shown in the UK on Channel 4 and Ftn, in the US on Comedy Central, and in Germany and France on Arte. Comedy Central only showed the two "London" seasons. The third and fourth "Toronto" seasons were eventually shown (almost two years after Comedy Central showed the last second-season episode) on Showtime.
Bob and Margaret formerly aired on Locomotion, and Adult Swim Latin America. Cartoon Network Brazil aired its four seasons on the Adult Swim block. The London seasons also get shown in the United Kingdom, currently on Channel 4. It also had a brief run years later on the Canadian YTV. In December 2013, biTe started to air this series (until the rebrand to Makeful on 24 August 2015).
Two VHS tapes of the series containing three Series 1 episodes each were released in 1999 by Video Collection International under their Channel 4 Video imprint.
The entirety of Series 2 was released on DVD in July 2006 by Maverick Entertainment.
In 1999, Season 1 was released on six VHS volumes by Paramount Home Entertainment containing two episodes each.
In Canada, the series has seen DVD releases. Series 2 was released in 2005 by Kaboom! Entertainment and Phase 4 Films, and Season 1 was released in February 2010 by Phase 4 Films/Kaboom!. Both releases are two-disc sets containing all 13 episodes of each season.
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