''Baby Bob'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

television series that premiered on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

as a

midseason replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

on March 18, 2002, and aired two seasons through June 20, 2003. The Baby Bob character had previously been on television since February 2000, appearing in commercials for FreeInternet.com. While actual infants played Bob, the effect to make him look like he was talking was achieved through computer editing.

Synopsis

The series centered on first-time parents Walter Spencer (

Adam Arkin Adam Arkin (born August 19, 1956) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the role of Aaron Shutt on ''Chicago Hope''. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony Award, Tony (Best Actor, 1991, ''I Hate Ha ...

) and his wife Lizzy (

Joely Fisher Joely Fisher ( ; born October 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Clark in the Ame ...

), and their six-month-old baby Bob (voiced by

Ken Hudson Campbell Kenneth Hudson Campbell (born June 5, 1962) is an American actor. Early life Ken Campbell attended York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Columbia College Chicago as a film major. He began ...

). After discovering that their son can talk like an adult, Walter decides that they must keep it a secret. Lizzy, however, wants to show off Bob's talking skills, especially to her mother Madeline (

Holland Taylor Holland Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003) and she ...

), who constantly brags about her other grandchildren. Supporting cast members included

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...

as Walter's father Sam, and Marissa Tait as Bob's babysitter Teala.

Cast

as Lizzy Collins Spencer *

as Walter Spencer *

as Madeline Collins *

as Sam Spencer *

as the voice of Bob Spencer * Marissa Tait as Teala

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2002)

Season 2 (2003)

Reception and cancellation

The series was panned by critics but premiered to strong ratings and placed 15th in its first week. ''Baby Bob'' wrapped its first season, consisting of six episodes, in April 2002 with CBS planning a second season of thirteen episodes. However, CBS decided to shift its programming budget to its new series ''

My Big Fat Greek Life ''My Big Fat Greek Life'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on CBS from February 24 to April 13, 2003. The series is a continuation of the 2002 movie ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and To ...

'' and cut the second season order for ''Baby Bob'' to eight episodes. The second season of ''Baby Bob'' remained unaired for over a year until CBS aired the episodes in summer 2003. After the show's run ended, the Baby Bob character returned to television in a series of commercials for

Quiznos Quiz Holdings, LLC, doing business as Quiznos, is an American franchised fast-food restaurant based in Denver that specializes in offering toasted submarine sandwiches. It was founded in 1981 by Jimmy Lambatos and sold to Rick and Richard Schad ...

. In 2002, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' ranked ''Baby Bob'' number 14 on its '50 Worst TV Shows of All Time' list.

References

External links

* * {{epguides, BabyBob 2000s American sitcoms 2002 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television series about children Television series about dysfunctional families Television series by CBS Studios Works based on advertisements CBS sitcoms