The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987–1988) User Reviews

Get Smart for Kids

[hillari · 11 December 2000]

Beans Baxter was one of the first shows offered by the FOX network, and it was a quirky little show with hints of satire. I loved how Baxter's mother was totally clueless about her son's adventures, as well as that of her missing husband (Dad was a spy). The show should have been given a better chance. FOX decided to push Married With Kids instead.

Fresh and funny and cancelled before its prime

[wifflechicken · 28 April 2006]

Beans Baxter ran on Fox when it was a new startup network piggybacking on independent stations and UHF. Sad to say, most of Fox's best stuff was during this time as it was daring and crazy for attention. Not that the Joan Rivers Show was great but it wasn't bad. Tracy Ullman got her first TV exposure here (and subsequently the Simpsons) as well as Johnny Depp and Holly Robinson (21 Jumpstreet). But of all these shows, the one that sticks out is Beans Baxter. A spoofy spy show, it had more in common with Batman and Rocky and Bullwinkle in tone than the more obvious Get Smart. To this day I still remember Dee Snider portraying the role of an exorcist under Baxter's employ shaking the bejeesus out of the town's teens who have succumbed to evil foreign powers' attempts to make American youth as square as the Lawrence Welk singers. Both campy and smart, Beans Baxter never had the chance to grow on the rocky new network and fell by the wayside before most of America had the chance to see its charms. Meanwhile, you can't turn on the TV without seeing a rerun of Yes,Dear. Oh well, who said life was fair.

Forgotten Fox Network Television.

[Mike_Tee_Vee · 17 October 2004]

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987-1988) was a fun show. I was

really into it but after a season of promise it just disappeared. The creator of the show ("Savage" Steve Holland) made a couple of great films and I

was stoked when I heard that he was making a television show. Just when

I was getting ready for the next season, it was canceled. Such a shame

because it could have really taken off. They should have produced a

made-for-t.v. wrap up show. Now that would have been a blast!

So long Agent Baxter. I hope you find your father and keep your brother

in check!

I'm Mike Tee Vee, see ya!!

Pop Culture Classics: The New Adventures of Beans Baxter.

[Captain_Couth · 21 August 2005]

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987-1988) was another one of the charter shows that debuted on the upstart FOX Network during the late eighties. This weird show was about a noisy teen and his efforts to help his G-Man father complete his secret missions and bail him out whenever possible. One bizarre episode had G. Gordon Liddy playing himself, a sneaky and shady man who tries to woo Beans Baxter's mom whilst her husband was held captive by his nemesis. FOX made a mistake by canceling this show. It was another show that never made a proper closure.

This was one of the many mistakes that FOX made during the early years.

10 Year Old Me Remembers

[RyanTheStoryteller · 7/10 · 14 September 2017]

I was ten years old when this show premiered on FOX. At such a young age I had no real appreciation for just how smart and silly this show was. The comic violence especially was lost on me.

There was a scene where one of the "terrorists" was dangling a man out of a high window by his ankles trying to get some information from him. Once he found out what he wanted to know he dropped the man head first to his death. Yep, scared my little boy self somethin' fierce! Then, there was the Halloween episode with the kids turning into zombies due to subliminal messages. As cheese-ball as I'm sure the spinning head would look to me now, it made me a little on edge as I went back out trick-or-treating after it was over. And yes; I went out trick-or-treating, came back to watch the show and then went back out. That's how big of a fan I was.

I think my parents must not have been watching it with me. I can't imagine that my mom would have allowed me to watch much past the "I just saw Miss Universe naked" line.

Overall, in spite of my inability to understand the cleverness of the show at the time it was one of those shows that I still have some pretty fond memories of and that still brings a smile to my face even after 30 years.

Good Premise, but good stories

[dragonphan · 2/10 · 20 January 2001]

The premise for this show was good. Beans was a popular teenager in Kansas with a hot girlfriend, his father (so he thought) was a local mailman. In the pilot, Beans got word that his father was transferred to Washington DC, and the family would have to move. Right after moving to DC, Beans saw his father's mailtruck get blown up and he and his family thought that dad was killed. Beans somehow found out that his father was not killed, but was actually a secret spy who was kidnapped by an evil organization and his mailman occupation was really a cover. Beans asked to get involved in trying to find his father. His mother and little brother knew nothing and still thought that his father was dead. While in DC, Beans started dating a hot foreign girl. But a few episodes into the series, his old girlfriend from Kansas moves to DC to be with him.

The writing on this show turned out to be pretty poor, which really hurt the success. Fox cancelled the show before Beans was able to rescue his father.

cheap set dec, silly, absurd, a kid show with irreverence.

[surfisfun · 7/10 · 17 September 2021]

You can watch episodes on. Archive dot org.

Silly. For kids but not really . Cheers.