The New Adventures of Beans Baxter

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
Genre	adventure/comedy
Created by	Savage Steve Holland
Starring	Jonathan Ward
Country of origin	USA
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	17
Production
Production location(s)	Vancouver, BC and Richmond, BC
Running time	25 minutes
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	July 18 – November 28, 1987

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, promotional photograph, featuring Jerry Wasserman and Jonathan Ward

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter was an adventure/comedy television series that aired between 1987 and 1988 on the Fox television network. It was created by Savage Steve Holland who also wrote and directed most of the 17 episodes. The title character was played by Jonathan Ward, who won a "Best Young Actor Starring in a New Television Comedy Series" Young Artist Award for the role.

The show revolved around the spy activities of Benjamin "Beans" Baxter Jr., a Kansas teenager who had just moved with his parents and younger brother to Washington, D.C., as part of his father's(assumed) reassignment as an employee of the U.S. Postal Service.

After Beans witnessed his father's apparent assassination via a bomb placed in his postal vehicle, he was recruited by the mysterious "Number Two" (Jerry Wasserman), an officer of "The Network," a CIA-styled spy agency (whose main delivery of assignments for its agents was a system similar to what was seen on the 1960s spy comedy "Get Smart"). The main nemesis of The Network was an evil organization that called itself UGLI, for the Underground Government Liberation Intergroup, which was headed by the equally evil Mr. Sue (Kurtwood Smith) and his second-in-command (Taylor Negron). The Network considered Beans a "place-holder" agent, and would only allow him to work in its dangerous service till his father could be found and freed. Viewers were warned, as a result, to expect to see little of Benjamin Sr., since his prime purpose was to stay lost and trapped so that the series might continue.

Additional episodes were intended to show Beans's mother Susan, wrongly believing herself to be a widow, reentering the dating scene. This was to have led to complications for Beans, who knew that hers was still a valid, legal marriage to a husband who was still alive and would thus have had to turn away possible suitors to prevent his mother from accidentally committing bigamy. Moreover, for all Beans or Susan knew, any of those suitors might have been UGLI terrorists planning all manner of nefarious activities, such as possibly assassinating not only Susan but also Beans himself. Unfortunately for Savage Steve Holland's ability to explore such possibilities, the series was canceled before any of these developments could be raised.

Beans started a friendship with a classmate nicknamed "Woodshop" (Stuart Fratkin), and he later became attracted to a beautiful student nicknamed "Cake Lace," played by Karen Mistal. In one episode, former Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly played herself. (The opening scene had Beans catching her in the shower naked and trying to escape from UGLI's chief henchman, who wanted to kidnap her as part of an unknown experiment.)

The cast included Rick Lenz as Beans's father, Benjamin Sr.; former 1950's child star Elinor Donahue(Father Knows Best) as his mother, Susan; Canadian teen actor Scott Bremner as "Scooter," Beans' younger brother; and occasional guest appearances by punk rock icon Wendy O. Williams (founder/lead singer of the Plasmatics) as Beans's part-time friend/enemy in the spy world.

Episode list

Nº	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Original air date
1	"Beans' First Adventure: Part 1"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	18 July 1987 (1987-07-18)
Benjamin Baxter Jr., whose friends call him Beans, is a teenager who, after his family moves to Washington D.C., becomes a secret agent. In the premiere episode, Beans witnesses his father's abduction.
2	"Beans' First Adventure: Part 2"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	18 July 1987 (1987-07-18)
3	"Beauty and the Beans"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	25 July 1987 (1987-07-25)
Darla surprises Beans with a visit at the same time he is asked to house a gorgeous Soviet agent.
4	"Beans for President"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	1 August 1987 (1987-08-01)
An assignment to save the President's daughter interferes with Beans's candidacy for class president of his high school.
5	"Beans and the Satanic Backwards Masking Conspiracy"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	8 August 1987 (1987-08-08)
Beans investigates whether messages on records played backwards have a part in changes in the behavior of the son of the Network's "Number One," or Director.
6	"Beans' Wicked and Awesome Adventures at College"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	15 August 1987 (1987-08-15)
A case of mistaken identity hampers Beans's ability to discover if a student radical is involved with UGLI.
7	"Beans in Ski Heck"	Mary Beth Fielder	Martin Olson, Mary Jo Pritchard	22 August 1987 (1987-08-22)
On a ski vacation, Beans accidentally uncovers a scheme to kidnap diplomats.
8	"There's No Place Like Omsk"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland, Martin Olson, Mary Jo Pritchard	12 September 1987 (1987-09-12)
Beans meets with Svetlana, a defected Russian double agent who is severely homesick.
9	"Beans Finds His Dad But...: Part 1"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	26 September 1987 (1987-09-26)
Beans locates his kidnapped father, but Mr. Sue hampers the rescue effort.
10	"Beans Finds His Dad But...: Part 2"	Michael E. Steele	Savage Steve Holland	3 October 1987 (1987-10-03)
11	"Beans' Unpleasant Introduction to Modern Science"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	10 October 1987 (1987-10-10)
HAP, a robot which Beans is testing for the government, runs amok, attacking children and animals, and ruining a meeting with Darla.
12	"Beans Goes to Camp"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	17 October 1987 (1987-10-17)
After UGLI steals a nuclear warhead, Beans goes undercover at a parasailing camp to find it.
13	"A Nightmare on Beans' Street"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	31 October 1987 (1987-10-31)
Beans and his friends are set upon by a deadly pumpkin sent by UGLI's leader, Mr. Sue, and the Pumpkin Princess.
14	"Beans' Home Life Gets UGLI"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland, Andrew Katz, Larru Schulze	7 November 1987 (1987-11-07)
Hoping to coerce Beans's father to talk, an UGLI agent tries to get a photograph that will make it appear Mrs. Baxter is having an affair with him.
15	"Beans' Under the Weather"	Tom Rowe	Savage Steve Holland, Andrew Katz, Larru Schulze	14 November 1987 (1987-11-14)
After Scooter invents a weather-making machine for a science fair, UGLI schemes to use it for their own ends.
16	"Beans Gets His Driver's License (and It Isn't Pretty)"	Tom Rowe	Savage Steve Holland, Rick Overton, Bruce Wagner	21 November 1987 (1987-11-21)
UGLI agents Jack and Henry attempt to stop Beans from getting his driver's license.
17	"Beans in Jungleland"	Savage Steve Holland	Savage Steve Holland	28 November 1987 (1987-11-28)
Beans infiltrates the Bad Seed gang when his brother, Scooter, is falsely accused of making drug sales.

The series was filmed entirely in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada; in the episode "Beans Gets His Driver's License (And It Isn't Pretty)," the world-famous CN Tower is featured in the background. The show's theme and soundtrack were performed by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson.

External links and references

• The New Adventures of Beans Baxter at IMDb
• The New Adventures of Beans Baxter at TV.com