Baby Bob review

We're all familiar with shows based on toys (also vice versa) and we live in the era where internet crazes could also get a piece of that televised pie. But, what about shows based on commercials? Well, all you need to know is that these drop like flies and there's no way around the inevitable cash-in theory.

There've been two commercial based shows to my knowledge. The first was Cavemen from 2007, based on those Geico ads. Now, while Geico is synonymous with comedy gold, when left in the hands of a major network, not even the best writers could salvage it. Of a single 13-episode season, eight aired overall, and only six aired in the US.

Then there's today's topic. Baby Bob. The character appeared in a series of plugs for the now defunct FreeInternet.com. Going into this, I accidentally confused the actual Baby Bob with the babies in those E-Trade commercials, and it sorta warped my perception on what this show would've been like.

Going by one of the FreeInternet videos, and through the one episode I've seen, it's relatively close to one another, though the latter has a devastating disease doctors classify as SSSS, Stereotypical Sitcom Setting Syndrome, a disease that plagues many sitcoms that exist solely as midseason replacements, where effort is hardly required until the show they replace is ready with a new batch of episodes. This isn't listed on Wikipedia's notable midseason replacement list, so I have no idea what show this took the place of.

The show was spearheaded by Michael Saltzman, a producer who had involvement in various sitcoms, notable examples being Wings, Murphy Brown, Arrested Development and most recently Sneaky Pete, as well as serving as a writer for the 2006 film The Pink Panther. Baby Bob is interestingly listed as his top for notables on IMDb, so this could've been one of his only projects where he's slated as a creator.

Saltzman had little interest in the show, only changing his mind under the impression that the show would succeed within a six-episode slate and he had every intention of going against a stigma present in shows like these (though this was all for nothing as either executives got to him or he had ass execution. Maybe that's why Saltzman's vanity card had him in stocks getting pelted by rotten produce.) But the ironic thing is, it kinda was a success. It wasn't a critical success by any stretch, it even landed on TV Guide's Worst Shows of All Time list at number 14, but ratings speak louder than critics. Every episode of the first season aired at least once and a second season was greenlit.

But, the second season barely happened, not because the network buckled under the pressure of reviewers, but because CBS wanted to focus on a TV adaptation of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The season would air in 2003, but only three episodes surfaced and for a time, the series was actually considered lost. It wasn't until more than recently that someone posted home recordings of every episode that hit the airwaves, and as for the remainder of the season, it's unlikely these episodes were ever produced.

And now we get to our stars. We get Adam Arkin and Joely Fisher as Bob's parents Walter and Lizzy Spencer. Only other noteworthy actor I can pick off the top of my head is Elliot Gould, who you may recognize as the voice of Rabbi Goldberg in Hey Arnold!, giving his award winning performance that suggests he doesn't want to be anywhere near television. Bob is voiced by Ken Hudson Campbell, who had various odds and ends roles in sitcoms and movies, most recently appearing in Wonder Park, and would keep on voicing Bob when the character appeared in ads for Quiznos. But interestingly, the baby they use for Bob is a girl. Okay, I wouldn't have guessed from a single viewing, got me there.

The Episode I Saw

My philosophy is that I only need to watch the first episode to get an idea on what a show's like. That's where I began.

Now stop me if you heard this one before, a husband and wife live in Santa Monica and get snubbed by their parents over what direction they took in life. Never heard that one before. I will say this, Arki and Gould do look like they could be related, but they also look close to the same age. Going into this I expected Bob to talk right out of the gate, but that doesn't happen until the second act, and almost out of nowhere.

When Bob spoke, I expected some incredibly corny adult jokes, but luckily I was wrong. What I wasn't wrong about was how the parents would take it. Then again, people would complain about the parents likely taking the news too well, and by people, I mean "critics" who think screaming at the camera over minor things equates to comedy.

Now, I'm not necessarily knocking the actors, or Bob for that matter in spite of the mouth movements that would rub anyone the wrong way, it's the way they go about it. It's kinda predictable if you've seen enough shows of a similar structure. I expected them to lie to Bob about why he can't talk in public, ma claims a law prevents him from talking in the supermarket. I expected them to keep their mouths shut, they want Bob to keep it a secret, as to them.

I expected at the end where Bob's left with a babysitter to talk and scare her or at the very least give an assuring wink when she tells him a secret... It turns out she knew his secret first and for a few weeks now. Okay they got me there, usually the teenaged/early-20s babysitters get the worst on these deals, but if the one paragraph summary on Wikipedia is anything to go by she does play an occasional role in these episodes.

The issue with this show is that it does little to stand out from other shows. Bob is the only thing keeping this from blending in with the sitcom fodder of the early-2000s, I mean sure they made use of a gimmick but it needs good execution to go along with it. Well yeah, Bob's the best thing about it, I like how he perceives things, but it's all else that prevents me from going any further. The adults do little to differentiate from others in other CBS shows. The same network that gave us Everybody Loves Raymond, Yes Dear, groundwork for a b-plot in a Family Guy episode where Stewie goes through a Weekend at Bernies type experience, and just to point it out, a lack of animated series, but I think one tainted that potential beyond the point of no repair.

Would any good execution save this show? If it was some obscure TV movie from the mid-90s it would've made more sense, but as is, the critics were on the nose with this one. I'll at least say this doesn't deserve to be lost, I'm more afraid of what I'd find in Come to Papa if anyone ever finds episodes of that anywhere.

There is one good reason to watch the show, at least on YouTube. The video I saw was ripped from the actual broadcast, so if you want to relive some early-2000s nostalgia, the commercials were kept in. Did you know? When Peter Griffin used TiVo to skip a pesky show to get to the commercials... that came out after this show, I apologize.