Bobby's World

Lead

• Bobby Generic (voiced by Howie Mandel using the same voice he used for Skeeter in Muppet Babies) – Robert Adelvice "Bobby" Generic is the main character of the series, a four- (five- in seasons 2 through 6, then six- in seasons 7 and 8) year-old little boy with huge imaginations. An imaginative Bobby claims however that he came from a magical place called "Bobbyland" where he ruled everything. Scenes with Bobby most often involve elaborate literal interpretations of the popular or colloquial sayings uttered by other characters during the show (i.e. a "traffic jam" becomes Traffic Jam, as Bobby imagines spreading tiny cars and trucks on a piece of bread and taking a bite). When he enters contests, he tends to end up losing because Bobby ends up being himself instead of using his common sense. Bobby has spiky black hair. In "Bobbyland", he wears a white sailor-like hat with a black tassels, white shirt with short sleeves, blue navy sailor collar with white stripes, blue shorts with two white buttons, white socks and black Mary Jane shoes. On earth, he wears a white shirt with red short sleeves, red shorts and blue sneakers.

Family members

The Generic family's surname is pronounced "JEN-uh-rick", but uttered as "jin-AIR-ic" (like the synonym for words like 'common') by other characters.

• Howard Generic (modeled upon and also voiced by Howie Mandel using his regular voice) – Bobby's father.
• Martha Generic (voiced by Gail Matthius) – Bobby's mother, who has red hair and is often seen wearing a sky-blue track suit. She often punctuates her speech with phrases like "Fer corn sakes", "Fer cryin' in the mud", "gee golly", "gosh darn" and "don't 'cha know". Gail Matthius based Martha on her Saturday Night Live character, Roweena, a chain-smoking hair dresser)
• Kelly Generic (voiced by Gail Matthius) – Bobby's 15-year-old tomboyish bully sister, the eldest Generic sibling, sporting a shag haircut, purple eye shadow, striped tights, and a valley girl demeanor and often uses her catch phrase "Get real!" Gail Matthius based Kelly on her other SNL character "Vicky the Valley Girl".
• Derek Generic (voiced by Kevin Michaels seasons 1–6, Pamela Segall season 7–8) – Bobby's 10-year-old brother, also a bully, Cain style, with a rat-tail hairdo, slashed jeans, and a sarcastic manner. He always teases and insults Bobby and tends to call him a "dork". Bobby has a bad habit of listening to him.
• The Generic Twins – Jake & Alex are Identical twins who were introduced in Season 3 but mentioned in Season 2 as Martha was pregnant with them. Bobby's infant brothers.
• Aunt Ruth (voiced by Edie McClurg) – Bobby's aunt and Martha's sister She is a blonde, amply contoured lady with a sweet, pretty face, hair in a bun, and kindly ways. She is loving and affectionate toward her small nephew and particularly likes to pinch his cheeks, which Bobby really doesn't go for. Part of her signature attire is knee-high stockings rolled into a ring at the cuffs.
• Uncle Ted (voiced by Tino Insana) – Bobby's uncle and Martha and Ruth's brother. He is a blond, large-bodied gentleman with a deep rough voice and his signature garment is a yellow shirt printed with red hearts. Uncle Ted is a fun-loving fellow who loves to give noogies to Bobby and is a collector of various things, one of which is a novelty item called Socks in a Can. His last name is revealed to be Sven. He is also affectionate toward his little nephew and often calls him by the nickname "Bob-O". Bobby likes hanging out with Uncle Ted because he thinks of all kinds of fun stuff to do.
• Roger (voiced by Frank Welker) – The Generic family dog.

Recurring

• Howie Mandel (portrayed by Himself) – The show's creator in live-action who interacts with Bobby in the cold opening and final scenes. In some episodes, Howie has the ability to turn into a cartoon where he changes into Howard Generic.
• George (voiced by Pauly Shore) – Boyfriend of Kelly Generic.
• Tiffany (voiced by Candi Milo) – One of Kelly Generic's friends. She wears a hat.
• Amber (voiced by Candi Milo) – One of Kelly Generic's friends.
• Andrea (voiced by Candi Milo) – One of Kelly Generic's friends.
• Jackie (voiced by Debi Derryberry) – Bobby's cute girlfriend / next door neighbor / classmate with the floor-length pigtails who has a crush on Bobby. She always kisses him (which he hates) and hugs him (which he loves). She speaks with a monotonic voice.
• Charlotte – Rambunctious and sassy, Charlotte was the fun-loving adventurous girl who was famous for her dislike of chocolate and her ability to tease Bobby incessantly over small things he does.
• Mrs. Orso (voiced by Susan Tolsky) – Bobby and Jackie's teacher at Little Red Pre-School.
• Meeker and Snurd – Meeker (voiced by Pat Fraley) and Snurd (voiced by Jeff Doucette in 1990–1991, Rob Paulsen in 1991–1998) are bumbling duo seen doing various jobs around town, whether it be mall cops, paramedics, or stage hands.
• Captain Squash (voiced by Gary Owens) – Captain Squash is Bobby's favorite superhero. He often appears to help Bobby in his imaginations.

Development

Howie Mandel said that he accidentally created the voice that would be later used to voice Bobby when he was choking on a piece of cake.^[1] Two of Mandel's friends Jim Fisher and Jim Staahl signed an agreement with the Fox Corporation's then newly created television division in 1989. Fisher and Staahl asked Mandel to join them in creating a show based on Mandel's Bobby character and voice. Mandel said that he believed Fox did not think his stand-up routines were "family entertainment." He, Fisher, and Staahl (co-producers) recalled stories from their childhoods as they discussed the formation of the show. Mandel stated "that was the seed of Bobby's World." Later stories from the childhoods of writers Dianne and Peter Tilden along with Mitch Schauer were used as the basis of many of the stories. The other characters on the show were mixes of characteristics of the creators' parents' friends and relatives. Specifically, Uncle Ted was based on Fisher and Staahl's former comedy partner in a comedy trio formed by the three after leaving Chicago's Second City, called The Graduates. Amazingly, that partner Tino Insana read for and won the part of Uncle Ted.^[2][3]

During his standup routines, Mandel would commonly go into character with the same voice as Bobby, often conversing with an unseen "parent".

The voices of Kelly Generic (Bobby's sister) and Martha Generic (Bobby's mother) are based on two recurring characters Gail Matthius played when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1980. Martha is based on the character Roweena, a chain smoking hair stylist who gets into arguments with her best customer Nadine (Denny Dillon), while Kelly Generic is based on the character Vicky, a valley girl who annoys others with her shallow questions and rambling stories and often is seen with her friend Debbie (also Dillon).

Mitch Schauer drew the designs for the main characters.^[4] Bobby's character design was based on Schauer's then four-year-old son.^[5]

According to a stand up video posted on YouTube,^[6] Mandel mentions that they are working on new episodes.

On February 12, 2007, the character Bobby made a surprise appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal.^[7]

Show format

Episodes often consist of a short live-action segment either before or after the main story (and sometimes both before and after). The segment would include Mandel describing some aspect of the story and often relating it back to his personal childhood. Often very similar. Sometimes during these segments, the character of Bobby would appear in animated form and converse with Mandel. Other times, a live action child would appear and exchange words with Mandel. Endings of the show also featured Mandel breaking the "fourth wall" by talking to viewers about the preceding episode. In some part of the episode, Bobby will break the fourth wall by telling the audience his perspective on life.

Music and songs

The series has the famous composer and orchestrations from Friz Freleng's Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales, Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island, Pink Panther in Olym-Pinks and Muppet Babies and other Marvel Shows was made by Rob Walsh and Don McGinnis., and the musical director for the 25th Season of Sesame Street and two specials like Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration and Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration. is done by Robby Merkin, and the original songs was made in the show who sung by Bobby Generic. the theme music was made by John Tesh and Michael Hanna.

Possible revival

In an April 2006 online interview, Mandel expressed his desire for a possible re-launch of the series.^[8]

In November 2014, it was announced that Mandel told a crowd at Comikaze that plans to revive the series were in motion.^[9]