Bob and Margaret

Bob and Margaret
Created by David Fine and Alison Snowden
Starring Andy Hamilton/Brian George as Bob Fish
Alison Snowden as Margaret Fish
Country of origin United Kingdom
Canada
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 52
Production
Running time 22 mins
Production company(s) Global Television Network
Philippines Animation Studios
National Film Board of Canada
Nelvana Limited
Release
Original network Canada: Global
United Kingdom: Channel 4
United States: Comedy Central (1998–2000)
Showtime
Original release June 22, 1998 – December 25, 2001
Chronology
Related shows Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy
O Canada

Bob and Margaret is a British-Canadian adult animated television series that is also shown all over the world. The series was produced by Nelvana, a Toronto animation studio, and created by Canadian David Fine and British Alison Snowden. 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.[1] The series is one of the few Canadian TV shows to ever have regular American exposure. In Canada, it was the highest rated Canadian made animated series ever when it aired in primetime on Global.

The show revolved around a married English couple named Bob and Margaret Fish, a middle class 40-ish working couple with no children and two dogs named William and Elizabeth. 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 which is eminently relatable. From the trials of shopping to dealing with friends who annoy them, but owe them a dinner.

In the first two seasons, Bob and Margaret lived in England, in the South London community of Balham. For the third and fourth seasons, however, they moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, allowing the writers to explore the humour of culture clash. The move was actually inspired by the realities of funding, with certain Canadian tax benefits dependent on stories actually based in Canada. As such, to keep the series funded, the move was necessary. The creators of the series (real-life husband-and-wife David Fine and Alison Snowden) chose to take an executive role on these latter two seasons, reviewing scripts and consulting, but not involved in the detail they were for the first two seasons. Snowden continued to provide the voice of Margaret, but Bob's voice, originally played by Andy Hamilton, was replaced by Brian George.

The programme was shown in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 and Ftn, in the United States 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 2 years after Comedy Central showed the last second season episode) on the Showtime cable channel; they currently rerun all four seasons on their specialty "Showtime Women" channel.

Bob and Margaret formerly aired on Locomotion, and Adult Swim Latin America. Cartoon Network Brasil aired its four seasons on the Adult Swim block. The London seasons also get shown in the UK, currently on Channel 4. It also had a brief run, years later, on Canada's YTV.

The second series can be found on Region 1 NTSC DVDs in Canada and Region 2 PAL DVDs in the UK. Season one can be found on VHS in PAL (at least in the UK) and NTSC (at least in Canada), and the DVD was released in Canada in February 2010 as an NTSC Region 1 Set. The third and the fourth seasons can be viewed in Amazon Video and ITunes.

Characters

Main characters

  • Bob Fish (voiced by Andy Hamilton in Season 1&2, Brian George in Season 3&4): is portrayed as an English dentist working in South London and is the husband of Margaret. His Parents are Daisy and Cesial Fish who often addresses him as Robert. Bob has a brother named Peter a successful world class television chef and sister named Susan who is a recent divorcee and single mum. In the show, his father is deceased and only appears in past flashbacks. His mother Daisy still lives and is very mean-spirited to Bob but not to his brother Peter. Throughout the series Bob is portrayed as the most kind and understanding person out of his family, however there are times he unknowingly becomes offensive often targeting Margaret but he eventually realizes it and makes his apologies. He and Margaret have two dogs named William and Elizabeth and the food they are often seen eating is Chinese and sometimes Indian.
  • Margaret Fish (voiced by Alison Snowden): Bob's wife, Margaret, is portrayed as an English chiropodist working in South London. Her parents are Tony and Maureen Heslop who greatly adore her husband Bob however they show little to no respect for Margaret. Margaret resents her parents for it but does not show it. Throughout the series she was portrayed as caring and very passive which leads other people to take advantage of her, however in various cases she learns to stand up for herself but only when the time calls for it. At one time, Margaret was accidentally classified as terrorist by the London police department who even attempted to assassinate her until they were informed that she was innocent. Margaret has appeared in every episode with Bob.

Canadian-based characters

  • Melvin and Cookie Fish (Melvin voiced by Wayne Robson and Cookie voiced by Jayne Eastwood): Melvin and Cookie Fish are Bob's friendly Canadian cousins from the Toronto suburb of Mississauga; they both have carefree attitudes and always have a positive and humorous view of life. The TV series depict them as being proud Canadians and always having to compare Toronto as being a better city than London and once with New York City (Stranded in Toronto). However, as much as they love and adore Bob and Margaret, they certainly and unknowingly annoy them on numerous occasions, for example, when they play their vacation videos about their visits to London and all the hilarious and humiliating moments of their taping Bob and Margaret at their worst time. The couple have two aggressive cats named Buster and Bailey. They first appeared in the episode "The Discomfort of Strangers" in Season 1 and recurrently in Season 3 and 4.
  • Heather (voiced by Vickie Papavs):Heather is a secretary of Bob's working in his dental office in Toronto, she has similar attributes to Penny in terms of facial expression but is more kind and less judgemental with a carefree attitude.
  • Ed, Patel and Audrey: Ed and Patel are Bob's dental hygienists working in his Toronto dental clinic. Ed is defined as a Canadian woodman while his friend Patel is an Indian hygienist who encourages Bob to take on challenges for success. In one episode, both Ed and Patel fight when all three of them (including Bob) head out on a camping adventure. Audrey is Bob's other dental hygienist who works in his Toronto dental clinic.
  • Robin (voiced by Yanna McIntosh): is a reflexologist working at the women's clinic in Toronto, she employs Margaret as the clinic's podiatrist. She appears to be of Jamaican descent.
  • Guinevere (voiced by Tracey Hoyt): Guinevere is Margaret's secretary at the women's clinic in Toronto, seen as calm and friendly to Margaret.
  • Trevor and Joyce: (Trevor voiced by Dwayne Hill and Joyce voiced by Robin Duke later Jayne Eastwood): Trevor and Joyce are Bob and Margaret's next-door neighbours in Toronto. Trevor is seen as a lazy, alcoholic couch potato, and his wife Joyce is a hardworking smoker. The couple is mostly seen feuding.
  • Gary: Son of Trevor and Joyce and a former army cadet who has a crush Bob's secretary Heather.

British-based characters

  • Daisy: Bob's mother.
  • Peter: (voiced by Steve Coogan) Bob's brother and a successful television chef.
  • Neil and Moira: (Moira voiced by Doon Mackichan) Appears in Season 1 Friends for Dinner.
  • Dorothy: (voiced by Doon Mackichan) Appears in Season 1 A Tale of Two Dentists.
  • Dr.Stanway: (voiced by Steve Coogan) Appears in A Tale of Two Dentists.
  • Gerald and Charlotte: (Gerald and Charlotte voiced by Lily Snowden) Peter's children who appear in the episode For Petes Sake in Season 1.
  • Beany and Boney: Two burglars from London. (Beany voiced by Steve Brody)
  • Bernard Wiggins: (Voiced by Steve Coogan) Appears in Season 1 The Dental Convention.
  • Kitty and Larry: (Kitty voiced by Alison Snowden and Larry voiced by Jamie Watson) Appears in Season 1 Neighbours.
  • Cathy Beatles and Ken Baxter: (Ken Baxter voiced by Steve Brody) Cathy and Ken are an overbearing couple who were friends with Margaret back in London, but Bob despises them. Cathy often becomes annoyed by Ken's antics and becomes regretful whenever something bad happens to him. They first appeared in the episode "Blood, Sweat and Tears" in Season 1.
  • Eden:(voiced by Doon Mackichan) Eden (Edie) is Margaret's former secretary at her London chiropody clinic.
  • Penny:(voiced by Doon Mackichan) After the arrest of "Dorothy" (who was suspected to have been an accomplice in patient molestations), Bob's secretary at his former dental office in London, Penny becomes her replacement. She is characterized as a lazy, irresponsible and neglectful employee who seems to have an attitude problem. Death threats from violent protesters force Bob and Margaret to depart London on account of their dogs being improperly cared for - something that was actually Penny's fault.

Series overview

Series Episodes Originally aired DVD and Blu-ray release date
Series premiere Series finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 13 June 22, 1998 November 2, 1998 16 February 2010 [2] N/A N/A
2 13 August 19, 1999 May 20, 2000 25 September 2005 [3] 17 July 2006 [4] N/A
3 13 May 30, 2001 August 22, 2001 N/A N/A N/A
4 13 September 13, 2001 December 25, 2001 N/A N/A N/A

Episodes

Season 1 (1998)

No. in series Title Original air date
1 "A Tale of Two Dentists" June 22, 1998
2 "A Night In" June 29, 1998
3 "Blood, Sweat and Tears" July 6, 1998
4 "Bob's Burglary" July 13, 1998
5 "Shopping" July 20, 1998
6 "The Holiday" July 27, 1998
7 "For Pete's Sake" September 21, 1998
8 "Friends for Dinner" September 28, 1998
9 "Love's Labors Lost" October 5, 1998
10 "The Dental Convention" October 12, 1998
11 "Discomfort of Strangers" October 19, 1998
12 "Trick of Treat" October 26, 1998
13 "Neighbors" November 2, 1998

Season 2 (1999−2000)

No. in series Title Original air date
14 "Bob Gets Wired" August 19, 1999
15 "No Trouble" August 26, 1999
16 "The Trouble with Mummy" September 2, 1999
17 "The Fly on the Wall" September 9, 1999
18 "Problems" September 16, 1999
19 "A Patient Dies in Bob's Chair" September 23, 1999
20 "Cuckoo in the Nest" November 20, 1999
21 "A New Life" November 27, 1999
22 "Animal Behavior" December 4, 1999
23 "Party Politics" January 8, 2000
24 "Going Dutch" January 15, 2000
25 "My Foot Hurts" April 30, 2000
26 "A Bob or Two" May 20, 2000

Season 3 (2001)

No. in series Title Original air date
27 "Stranded in Toronto" May 30, 2001
28 "Strangers in a Strange Land" May 30, 2001
29 "Margaret Gets a Job" June 13, 2001
30 "'Til Death Do Us Part" June 20, 2001
31 "The Wedding" June 27, 2001
32 "Fish at the Bat" July 4, 2001
33 "Over-Exposed" July 11, 2001
34 "Age Before Beauty" July 18, 2001
35 "Book Club" July 25, 2001
36 "On Location" August 1, 2001
37 "Cottage Country" August 8, 2001
38 "Driving Bob" August 15, 2001
39 "Undefined Border" August 22, 2001

Season 4 (2001)

No. in series Title Original air date
40 "New Lease on Life" September 13, 2001
41 "Jury Duty" September 20, 2001
42 "The Player" September 27, 2001
43 "The Getaway" October 4, 2001
44 "Mummy's Boy" October 11, 2001
45 "Gone to Seed" October 18, 2001
46 "The Candidate" October 25, 2001
47 "Life Saver" November 1, 2001
48 "I, Bob November 8, 2001
49 "Mastermind" November 15, 2001
50 "Outward Bound" November 22, 2001
51 "Gary" November 29, 2001
52 "A Very Fishy Christmas" December 25, 2001

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Gates, Anita (June 21, 1998). "TELEVISION; Unassertive, Unexciting And Loverly". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  2. ↑ Bob & Margaret Series 1 Amazon Link (Region 1)
  3. ↑ Bob & Margaret Series 2 Amazon Link(Region 1)
  4. ↑ Bob & Margaret Series 2 Amazon Link (Region 2)
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