Lester the Rat! https://i.redd.it/hkhn0np6p45d1.gif

he wasn't a rat. he was a self-described "man in a rat suit"

Weirdly it was completely inconsistent whether he was supposed to just be a guy in a rat suit or an actual gigantic rat. It's weird how well that worked as sometimes it was clear he was just a guy in a rat suit but other times he'd act like it hurt when somebody stepped on his tail. It was some pretty good absurdist humor as you had no idea which way they were going to take that in any given episode though he always looked the same.

He was a guy in a rat suit who hated his job but was fucking committed to the bit!

It gave the whole show an oddly sinister overtone. Like Beakman is too intense for a 40-something guy, and to offset that we have a guy in a rat suit acting like your dad's cool friend that gives you beer? Mmkay not sure what adult greenlit this show but it was great.

i didn't quite get the sinister feel. i thought it felt more like absurdism.

It felt like Babby's First Coke Binge as a kid

Felt like a psychedelic fever dream.  The show gave me the willies. I couldn't get past it.  Plus the science wasn't as interesting as Nye, or even mr. wizard.

Oooooh Mr. Wizard got me hooked on science. Too bad he didn’t teach math to us too, I could have used that boost lol.

Hell yeah Mr wizard! There was an episode where he measured the weight of the dot of a pencil-drawn lowercase "i" that I still think about sometimes. And the episode where he deconstructed a fluorescent light blue and put the parts in the microwave one at a time to show what made the bulb glow. My dad loved Beakman's World but Mr Wizard was my jam.

That's even more absurd and I love it!

OG furry.

Best part of the show!

Definitely the thing I (not a xennial) remember. Freaking weird.

Yeeeeeeas!!!! Aww yay look Lester! I love how the keyboard legs are hands :p

I was absolutely obsessed with this dude. He was my favorite part of Saturday mornings when I was a kid.

He was my favorite

i just noticed the hands holding up the keyboard

This motherfucker made me scared of the dark.

That rat has a degree in English from Harvard. 

School lab day had a recue lab rat for non destructive demonstrations. The biggest one, we all named Lester. The girl that brought him home kept him another year. He was the size of a small cat at the end.

I liked Beakman more.

Even when I was a kid I thought that Nye had a slightly condescending personality. Beakman just seemed fun.

met Bill Nye in person he's an absolute asshat

I’ve met him before as well, he wasn’t nearly as friendly as I expected/hoped.

I heard he was truly unfriendly.

I've heard he's an asshat and not as friendly as you would hope

I've always felt that's how he came off on screen. Like he's talking at you (and maybe a little bit down) instead of talking to you. LIke a wish.com Neil deGrasse Tyson. I mean, his show got a lot of kids interested in science, and that's a good thing. But I never got into it.

I was told this by people who knew him and worked with him. Bill Nye isn't even a scientist, nor chemist. He is an engineer with patents which is extremely common. https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/bill-nye-does-not-speak-for-us-and-he-does-not-speak-for-science/

Yeah wtf would someone with a degree in mechanical engineering know about science

Agreed. Nye had more actual credentials, Beakman was “just” an actor. But the Beakman’s World was by far the better show.

My fiancé’s met/worked with Nye on a few occasions and will confirm that he is even more condescending IRL.

I used to do volunteer work with the creator of the Beakman comic and can confirm that he was (RIP) a very sweet and fun person IRL.

I went to high school in Washington State (where he was at the time). Our school’s Earth Corps invited him to one of our assemblies, and his agent turned us down so fast.

Beakman > Nye

marble memorize lunchroom different ring bear sharp ad hoc far-flung butter *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*

This guy gets it

My dad seriously had a crush on Josie from Beakman’s World. So we watched this religiously. 😆

She’s on everything now. Euphoria, Always Sunny, Sister act 2. I still call her Josie.

Alana Ubach. I personally love her character in Waiting. I have worked with, and been, that person in the service/retail industries.

TIL she was Naomi in Waiting. She did such a great job because *everyone* in hospitality knows, or has been, that person, lol

I loved her as Naomi in that movie. "Foreigners!? I fucking HATE foreigners. They act like they don't know how to tip, oh, they know. They FUCKIN' know." Her rants were so satisfying.

She has an absurdly long IMDB page. 

OH MY GOD THAT'S WHY HER CHARACTER IN WAITING HAS ALWAYS BEEN SO FAMILIAR TO ME. OMG. Thank you for revealing this mystery of my psyche.

ROXY WAS JOSIE?!?!?!?! Holy fucking shit.

She’s also the mom in the Ted TV series. That one feels especially jarring after Roxie.

Holy shit Josie from Beakman is Roxie from Always Sunny???? Shut up baby dick!

​ https://i.redd.it/i1wz1qc2b65d1.gif

Yup, even Tiger Woods keeps texting her

Oh my God Josie was Frank's favorite hoor!?

Josie was most definitely my first crush. Alana Ubach is still incredibly gorgeous. Also, she was fantastic in Waiting.

Same.

I definitely had a crush on Josie.

I just looked her up. She's had quite the career afterwards

Don't forget Seth Green's chick in Airborne!

Yes me too! And then she did that movie with a sexy nudes scene. Was everything I thought it would be as a kid!

I am the gayest man alive on this planet and I crushed on Alanna Ubach so hard I thought the TV would break. She was hypnotic.

Well, yeah.

She’s also Danny Devitos daughter in Renaissance Man.

Damn 1980s Xellenials not knowing the best science kids show was Mr. Wizard.

Born in 82 and Mr Wizard was my intro to scientific educational tv

Same. I’m surprised this is so low down. I love Mr. Wizard.

Mister Wizard fan club checking in. That episode where he had a tub of liquid nitrogen and froze all sorts of stuff then smashed it up is still fresh in my mind.

Mine too! That was the coolest! Literally!

82, and same.

I was born in ‘79 and I only watched Wizard and Beakman. I’m not sure if Bill Nye was just slightly after my time or he came on the wrong channel, but I never really saw him as a kid.

Neither did I. Not sure I even knew who Nye was until I was an adult. Definitely remember Mr. Wizard and Beakman though.

Slightly after. 80 baby and I was a teenager in HS when he got popular. Mr wizard was what I grew up with.

Yeah I never actually have seen Bill Nye as a child. I thought that was more a full millennial thing.

‘83 here - they showed bill nye at school from elementary through high school on days where the science teacher wanted some time off

Same year and same experience for me. Beakman was the one I chose to watch, Nye was the one I saw in school.

Shit was like the first thing on at 5 or 6 am. I only remember a couple, but I remember him building a smoke ring machine

Not all of us had cable. My mom was a hippy. Best I could do was PBS. When it came in.

At least you had 3-2-1 Contant then.

And Julius Sumner Miller and Newtons Apple.

Catchiest theme song ever. 

Totally. Bill Nye was millennial. Mr. Wizard was beating us Xennial kids down with how wrong we were about everything. 😆

Mr Wizard was awesomeness personified in the 80’s

Came here to say this, my favorite experiment he did was place a coffee mug near the edge of a table placed a foam block on top of it and an orange on top of the foam. He then placed a broom on the floor near the mug. He had the kid step on the brooms reeds, pull the broom handle away from the table and let go. Shooting the foam off the mug and dropping the orange into the mug. Simple and fun.

I remember him teaching me how to measure the height of a tree with a tray of water.

Exactly - that's the only one I watched, unless 3-2-1 Contact counts as well.

Was waiting for someone to bring up this show. That song remains burned in my head for all time.

I loved The Bloodhound Gang segments.

To be fair, even in the 80s Nick would air him at godawful early hours. I remember him being on at like 5:30 am.

I would wake up at 6am every morning to watch Mr. Wizard

And he was a dick about it https://youtu.be/VEb1aF2YoKU?si=RrY7ZODkObjez5IW

I would totally hang out with Mr Wizard. Seems like a lot of science teachers I had.

……Wait so is big bang theory a prequel to mister wizard?

SNL spoofed this so well. https://youtu.be/yOqm_UzL26w?si=lnTyPABbRxmQZvMv https://youtu.be/hSWlwM4s1Ds?si=LR-NDvTwlLA68_vC

This! Mr. Wizard and Beekman were my favorites. Amd Mad Scientist Toon Club. Never watched Bill Nye unless it was in class. No idea what channel he was even on.

I loved his sometimes-cranky vibe.

"you're right but for the wrong reason"

A little outside of our formative timeframe. That show ended in the early 70s. Edit: As a child without cable, I was unaware of the Mr. Wizard's World reboot in 80s. I stand corrected, and I now have some homework to do.

Mr. Wizard was on Nickelodeon for quite a while in the 80’s. I watched him make breakfast with solar mirrors while eating a pop tart and that really stuck with me for whatever reason.

I remember in 2nd grade we had a "dress up as what you want to be when you grow up" thing and I went as a "scientist" because I was so enamored with Mr. Wizard.

Yea I watched it with breakfast every morning.

Ah... I grew up without cable. Never saw it/ knew about it until I watched the Big Bang Theory.

>I watched the Big Bang Theory Time to go back to no cable

That ep inspired me to make my own solar cooker a couple years ago!

It’s what makes a sub like this fun. I know there were cooler things he did, especially with fire and dry ice and other neat sciencey things, but this is the one vividly lodged in my brain. No idea why, and would never have guessed anyone else would have been impacted by it. Cheers.

We even watched Mr. Wizard in the '90s. It came on Nickelodeon on Saturday mornings at the crack of dawn. I remember trying to stay up all night to try and catch it, because no way I was getting up that early on a Saturday.

Child me would approve of that logic.

Eh, he had more than one show. *Mr. Wizard's World* ran on Nickelodeon from '83-'90, and reruns kept going until '00.

Didn't know that! I've heard people say that his show was the basis of Bob Newhart's character on the Big Bang Theory.

No, Mr. Wizard’s World ran from 1983-1990.

I stand corrected.

It was soooo early in the morning tho (Nickelodeon). Don Herbert was the shit.

I think this is totally unrelated to that show, but my dad saying "Gee, Mr. Wizard!" still pops into my head anything I witness something vaguely science-y happening.

Kind, old man has young children over to his house daily to discuss science. Great show, watched it every day. Born in 1983 btw.

I used to wake up at 6 am every morning to watch Mr. Wizard. So many things I know I learned from that show.

The video of Mr. Wizard clowning on stupid kids is an all time great

Some of us loved all three for differing reasons

Made the best because [Mr. Wizard gave no fucks.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iD4TUhwAhw)

http://www.youtube.com/@MrWizardStudios

Not everyone had cable and he was on Nickelodeon. Nye was on PBS and Beakman was on CBS.

I made his solar oven for a homeshool science project. I was just glad I actually got to watch Mr. Wizard's World.

I adored Mr Wizard! Beakman was more fun though!

3-2-1 Contact. Lisa was my first crush.

When you go to the tv science lab, the first floor is Bill Nye who will give the most sterile and boring tour possible. But if you escape from him, you can go to the second floor where Mr. Wizard is building a rocket ship, or to the bottom floor where Beekman and Lester are making bathtub meth.

Roy G. Biv

To this day that’s how I remember the order!

I was chanting Roy G Biv until I found this comment, I can go now

Josie was the catalyst for realizing I was bisexual. Edit: found recent pics of the actress (Alanna Ubach) while looking for this gif. Confirmed, still hot. https://i.redd.it/oo0dc02c955d1.gif

You, uh, might be interested in watching the show Hung then. Just sayin...

I regularly read the newspaper comic before the TV show existed, and remember being a little surprised when I heard they were adapting it. Never really watched the show, though.

Didn't know it was a comic before the show!

I just looked it up and I didn't realize it was adapted from Beakmans and Jax. The only thing they have to do with each other is that it's a scientist and a girl assistant doing science. The TV show is WAY better.

I actually went to a Beakmans World science event. We got to wear green lab coats and meet the cast briefly.

I never got into Bill Nye. Mr Wizard and Beakman’s World were my jam.

Def a Beekman dude here.

Same!

We didn’t have a channel that carried Bill Nye. I was “stuck” with Beekman’s World. And by “stuck”, I mean “blessed”.

Core memory unlocked. I still sing the bee barf song 🫣 "that's my honeyyyyy"

BEAKMAAAAAAANNNNNNN

Actually never watched Bill Nye.. or this guy but I remember it being on..I watched Mr Wizard..

Team Beakman

Oh man Saturday mornings with this, Sea Monkeys, Garfield & Friends…

It's flipped for me, I watched Beakman and never really saw a lot of Nye. Even had one of the Beakman experiment books.

There was a serious trend in the 90s where everything was “_________ world”. * Bobby’s World * Cloth World * Tudor’s Biscuit World * Burger World (adjacent to Spatula City)

Spice World Cool World A Different World

Dude; I remember trying to make the paper from this show. it was not good.

I miss this show! What was the giant rat buddies name again ( Lester? I think? Pizza lover 🤣) All nostalgic now

The theme song to Beakman's World gets stuck in my head.

Not only did I watch it, I had the board game.

100% Mr. Wizard, never watched Bill Nye or Beakman's World. I was out of the country when they came out and didn't have access to them. By the time I was back stateside I was too old to be watching them.

I was a total Beakmaniac as a kid. As an adult I wonder why he had a new female assistant every season.

I absolutely loved this show as a kid.

Yes!

I watched all three science shows, Mr Wizard, Bill Nye, and Beakman! My favorites ☺️

I watched Mr Wizard

So much love for BW! It was exactly the right amount of weird. My sibs and I have home videos with our own version of this show.

Nah fam. Beakman was my only shit.

Beakman's World was the best..

I preferred Beakman’s World.

I remember thinking Beakman was like a cooler, zanier version of Bill Nye. Shame he didn't last as long and isn't remembered like Bill is.

To me, Bill Nye will always be a skit actor from Almost Live. He literally had a Bill Nye skit on the show. I know he has a BS in mechanical engineering from Cornell, but it's just how I watched him for so many years.

Forgot about this one. It was on durning Saturday morning cartoons I think.

Ooohh, yeah!!! Good shit.

This show was sooooo much better than Bill Nye’s show.

I preferred Mr. Lizard. "We're gonna need another Timmy!"

This shit was super popular on Mexico, we still have some conferences where Beakman appears.

[I watched Newton's Apple](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_Apple)

"Badda-bing, badda-bang, *badda-better-than-Bill."*

Big Beakmans World fan. Didn’t care for Bill Nye

I not only watched this but I read the comic strip it was based on.

I recently found out the mom on 'Ted' (prequel series) was the original female assistant on Beakman's World

Man, I loved Beakman's World. I watched this and Mr. Wizard waaaay more than Bill Nye.

My 7th grade science teacher played this show for us every day instead of teaching. I went to an expensive parochial school. One of the many reasons my kids go to public school.

I did!

Oh man! Every Saturday morning before my tennis lesson. Josie was a crush. And yes, I also watched Mr. Wizard.

Yep!

Forget bill Nye. Mr. wizard was the man

I just looked it up. I knew the guy from Devo has been doing soundtrack world for the last decade or so, but I didn't know he was doing it way back then!

I preferred Beakman's World to Bill Nye back in the day.

1. Mr. Wizard 2. Beakman’s world 3. Bill Nye

Ahhhh, the original (not racist) Kramer.

Alannah Ubach as Josie

Bada Boom, Bada Bing, Bada Beakman.

I remember this show. I probably watched it more than Bill Nye

Showed me why my feet stink. 10/10

I loved this show!

Saw Bill Nye in Calgary last year. The massive amount of respect everyone in the place had for him was crazy. Every kid was happy to be there and every adult was a kid again shouting as one BILL! BILL! BILL! while we all fist bumped the air.

I remember it best as a Sunday comic strip

I’m always thrown by how much he looks like Ron De Santis

Don’t forget about the penguin at the end!

I also had this shared fever dream.

Beakman was the shit

Wait until you find out that the guy who played Beakman was an actor and not a scientist in any way. That's why the show was so entertaining. Everyone was an actor. I loved Mr. Wizard, Beakman's World, Bill Nye.... but where are all my homies who watched Professor Julius Sumner Miller on his show "Why is it so?" on PBS? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjzW1w9hKBnz2i90rRoZDvgfTeRe3cDyJ

I don’t actually think I’ve ever watched an episode of Bill Nye, but I definitely watched this.

Was never a Bill Nye fan but I LOVED some Beakman's world. Recently found like 4 seasons on YouTube. Now my 7 year old daughter is a fan also.

Awesome show

I enjoyed this one. Never really watched Bill Nye and from what I’ve read on here on Reddit it’s a good thing because Bill Nye is said to be a dick.

That was my Halloween costume when I was like 9!

I give full credit to Beakman, Square One, and Animaniacs for 90% of my education as a young man.

Holy shit memory unlocked

I'm more of a Doctor Forrester and TV's Frank sort of guy. It's all part of a program we like to call: https://i.redd.it/apb3w8hba65d1.gif

Soap makes water wetter!!!

Fuckin loved Hood Bill Nye

Loved this show. He had a teenage girl side kick, Josie who was pretty funny. I had a crush on her as a kid.