Bob and Margaret
Bob and Margaret is a British-Canadian adult animated television series produced by animation studio Nelvana and created by David Fine and Alison Snowden. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film Bob's Birthday, featuring the same main characters, which won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 1994. The series is one of the few Canadian TV shows to ever have regular American exposure. In Canada, it was the highest rated Canadian made animated series ever when it aired in primetime on Global.
The show revolved around a married English couple named Bob and Margaret Fish, a middle class 40-ish working couple with no children and two dogs named William and Elizabeth. Bob is a dentist and Margaret is a chiropodist. Bob and Margaret struggle with everyday issues and mid life crises. Stories often revolve around the mundane, but in a way which is eminently relatable. From the trials of shopping to dealing with friends who annoy them, but owe them a dinner.
In the first two seasons, Bob and Margaret lived in England, in the South London community of Balham. For the third and fourth seasons, however, they moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, allowing the writers to explore the humour of culture clash. The move was actually inspired by the realities of funding, with certain Canadian tax benefits dependent on stories actually based in Canada. As such, to keep the series funded, the move was necessary. The creators of the series chose to take an executive role on these latter two seasons, reviewing scripts and consulting, but not involved in the detail they were for the first two seasons. Snowden continued to provide the voice of Margaret, but Bob's voice, originally played by Andy Hamilton, was replaced by Brian George.
The programme was shown in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 and Ftn, in the United States on Comedy Central, and in Germany and France on Arte. Comedy Central only showed the two "London" seasons. The third and fourth "Toronto" seasons were eventually shown on the Showtime cable channel; they currently rerun all four seasons on their specialty "Showtime Women" channel.
Bob and Margaret formerly aired on Locomotion, and Adult Swim Latin America. Cartoon Network Brasil aired its four seasons on the Adult Swim block. The London seasons also get shown in the UK, currently on Channel 4. It also had a brief run, years later, on Canada's YTV. In December 2013, biTe started to air this series.
The second series can be found on Region 1 NTSC DVDs in Canada and Region 2 PAL DVDs in the UK. Season one can be found on VHS in PAL and NTSC, and the DVD was released in Canada in February 2010 as an NTSC Region 1 Set. The third and the fourth seasons can be viewed in Amazon Video and ITunes.
Characters
Main characters
- Bob Fish : is portrayed as an English dentist working in South London and is the husband of Margaret. His Parents are Daisy and Cesial Fish who often addresses him as Robert. Bob has a brother named Peter a successful world class television chef and sister named Susan who is a recent divorcee and single mum. In the show, his father is deceased and only appears in past flashbacks. His mother Daisy still lives and is very mean-spirited to Bob but not to his brother Peter. Throughout the series Bob is portrayed as the most kind and understanding person out of his family, however there are times he unknowingly becomes offensive often targeting Margaret but he eventually realizes it and makes his apologies. He and Margaret have two dogs named William and Elizabeth and the food they are often seen eating is Chinese and sometimes Indian.
- Margaret Fish : Bob's wife, Margaret, is portrayed as an English chiropodist working in South London. Her parents are Tony and Maureen Heslop who greatly adore her husband Bob however they show little to no respect for Margaret. Margaret resents her parents for it but does not show it. Throughout the series she was portrayed as caring and very passive which leads other people to take advantage of her, however in various cases she learns to stand up for herself but only when the time calls for it. At one time, Margaret was accidentally classified as terrorist by the London police department who even attempted to assassinate her until they were informed that she was innocent. Margaret has appeared in every episode with Bob.
Canadian-based characters
- Melvin and Cookie Fish : Melvin and Cookie Fish are Bob's friendly Canadian cousins from the Toronto suburb of Mississauga; they both have carefree attitudes and always have a positive and humorous view of life. The TV series depict them as being proud Canadians and always having to compare Toronto as being a better city than London and once with New York City. However, as much as they love and adore Bob and Margaret, they certainly and unknowingly annoy them on numerous occasions, for example, when they play their vacation videos about their visits to London and all the hilarious and humiliating moments of their taping Bob and Margaret at their worst time. The couple have two aggressive cats named Buster and Bailey. They first appeared in the episode "The Discomfort of Strangers" in Season 1 and recurrently in Season 3 and 4.
- Heather :Heather is a secretary of Bob's working in his dental office in Toronto, she has similar attributes to Penny in terms of facial expression but is more kind and less judgemental with a carefree attitude.
- Ed, Patel and Audrey: Ed and Patel are Bob's dental hygienists working in his Toronto dental clinic. Ed is defined as a Canadian woodman while his friend Patel is an Indian hygienist who encourages Bob to take on challenges for success. In one episode, both Ed and Patel fight when all three of them head out on a camping adventure. Audrey is Bob's other dental hygienist who works in his Toronto dental clinic.
- Robin : is a reflexologist working at the women's clinic in Toronto, she employs Margaret as the clinic's podiatrist. She appears to be of Jamaican descent.
- Guinevere : Guinevere is Margaret's secretary at the women's clinic in Toronto, seen as calm and friendly to Margaret.
- Trevor and Joyce: : Trevor and Joyce are Bob and Margaret's next-door neighbours in Toronto. Trevor is seen as a lazy, alcoholic couch potato, and his wife Joyce is a hardworking smoker. The couple is mostly seen feuding.
- Gary: Son of Trevor and Joyce and a former army cadet who has a crush Bob's secretary Heather.
British-based characters
- Daisy: Bob's mother.
- Peter: Bob's brother and a successful television chef.
- Neil and Moira: Appears in Season 1 Friends for Dinner.
- Dorothy: Appears in Season 1 A Tale of Two Dentists.
- Dr.Stanway: Appears in A Tale of Two Dentists.
- Gerald and Charlotte: Peter's children who appear in the episode For Petes Sake in Season 1.
- Beany and Boney: Two burglars from London.
- Bernard Wiggins: Appears in Season 1 The Dental Convention.
- Kitty and Larry: Appears in Season 1 Neighbours.
- Cathy Beatles and Ken Baxter: Cathy and Ken are an overbearing couple who were friends with Margaret back in London, but Bob despises them. Cathy often becomes annoyed by Ken's antics and becomes regretful whenever something bad happens to him. They first appeared in the episode "Blood, Sweat and Tears" in Season 1.
- Eden: Eden is Margaret's former secretary at her London chiropody clinic.
- Penny: After the arrest of "Dorothy", Bob's secretary at his former dental office in London, Penny becomes her replacement. She is characterized as a lazy, irresponsible and neglectful employee who seems to have an attitude problem. Death threats from violent protesters force Bob and Margaret to depart London on account of their dogs being improperly cared for - something that was actually Penny's fault.
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (1998)
- All episodes in Season 1 are directed by Jamie Whitney.
| No. in series | Title | Written by | Original air date |
| 1 | "A Tale of Two Dentists" | David Fine | |
| 2 | "A Night In" | David Fine | |
| 3 | "Blood, Sweat and Tears" | Alison Snowden | |
| 4 | "Bob's Burglary" | Alison Snowden and David Fine | |
| 5 | "Shopping" | David Fine | |
| 6 | "The Holiday" | Alison Snowden | |
| 7 | "For Pete's Sake" | Alison Snowden | |
| 8 | "Friends for Dinner" | David Fine | |
| 9 | "Love's Labors Lost" | Alison Snowden | |
| 10 | "The Dental Convention" | Peter Baynham | |
| 11 | "Discomfort of Strangers" | David Fine and Alison Snowden | |
| 12 | "Trick of Treat" | David Fine and Alison Snowden | |
| 13 | "Neighbors" | Peter Baynham |