Bob and Margaret

Bob and Margaret
Created by	David Fine and Alison Snowden
Starring	Andy Hamilton/Brian George as Bob Fish Alison Snowden as Margaret Fish
Country of origin	United Kingdom, Canada, United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	30 mins
Production company(s)	Global Television Network Philippines Animation Studios Nelvana Limited
Release
Original network	Canada: Global United Kingdom: Channel 4 United States: Comedy Central (1998–2000) Showtime
Original release	June 22, 1998 – December 25, 2001
Chronology
Related shows	Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy O Canada

Bob and Margaret is a Canadian/UK/American animated television series that is also shown all over the world. The series was produced by Nelvana, a Toronto animation studio, and created by Canadian David Fine and British 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.^[1] 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 crisis. 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, 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 (real-life husband-and-wife David Fine and Alison Snowden) 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 (almost 2 years after Comedy Central showed the last second season episode) on the Showtime cable channel; they currently rerun all four seasons on their specialty "Showtime Women" channel.

Bob and Margaret formerly airs on Locomotion, and Adult Swim Latin America and formerly on Canada's YTV. 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.

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 (at least in the UK) and NTSC (at least in Canada), 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 (voiced by Andy Hamilton in Series 1&2, Brian George in Series 3&4): 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 (voiced by Alison Snowden): 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.

Minor characters

• Melvin and Cookie Fish (Melvin voiced by Wayne Robson and Cookie voiced by Jayne Eastwood): 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 (Stranded in Toronto). 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 Series 1 and recurrently in Series 3 and 4.
• Penny and Heather (Penny voiced by Doon Mackichan and Heather voiced by Vickie Papavs): After the arrest of "Dorothy" (who was suspected to have been an accomplice in patient molestations), 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. Heather is another 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 (including Bob) head out on a camping adventure. Audrey is Bob's other dental hygienist who works his Toronto dental clinic.
• Robin (voiced by Yanna McIntosh): 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.
• Eden and Guinevere (Eden voiced by Doon Mackichan and Guinevere voiced by Tracey Hoyt): Eden (Edie) is Margaret's former secretary at her London chiropody clinic, and Guinevere is Margaret's secretary at the women's clinic in Toronto, seen as calm and friendly to Margaret.
• Trevor and Joyce: (Trevor voiced by Dwayne Hill and Joyce voiced by Robin Duke later Jayne Eastwood): 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.
• Cathy Beatles and Ken Baxter: (Ken Baxter voiced by Steve Coogan) 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 Series 1.
• Daisy: Bob's mother.
• Peter: (voiced by Steve Coogan) Bob's brother and a successful television chef.
• Neil and Moira: (Moira voiced by Doon Mackichan) Appears in Season 1 Friends for dinner.
• Dorothy: (voiced by Doon Mackichan) Appears in Season 1 A Tale of Two Dentists.
• Dr.Stanway: (voiced by Steve Coogan) Appears in A Tale of Two Dentists.
• Gerald and Charlotte: (Gerald and Charlotte voiced by Lily Snowden) Peter's children who appear in the episode For Petes Sake in Series 1.
• Beany and Boney: Two burglars from London.
• Bernard Wiggins: (Voiced by Steve Coogan) Appears in Season 1 The Dental Convention.
• Kitty and Larry: (Kitty voiced by Alison Snowden and Larry voiced by Jamie Watson) Appears in Season 1 Neighbours.

Series overview

Series		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD and Blu-ray release date
			Series premiere	Series finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	13	June 22, 1998	November 2, 1998	16 February 2010 [2]	N/A	N/A
	2	13	August 19, 1999	February 8, 2000	25 September 2005 [3]	17 July 2006 [4]	N/A
	3	13	May 30, 2001	August 22, 2001	N/A	N/A	N/A
	4	13	September 13, 2001	December 25, 2001	N/A	N/A	N/A

See also

• O Canada (TV series), Cartoon Network series that featured "Bob's Birthday"
• Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy

Notes

1. Gates, Anita (June 21, 1998). "TELEVISION; Unassertive, Unexciting And Loverly". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
2. Bob & Margaret Series 1 (Region 1)
3. Bob & Margaret Series 2 (Region 1)
4. Bob & Margaret Series 2 (Region 2)

External links

• Bob and Margaret at the Internet Movie Database
• Bob and Margaret at TV.com
• Bob and Margaret on Arte TV
• SnowdenFine.com — the creators' website