Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1990 TV series)
Encyclopedia
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures is a 1990 spin-off animated television series following the misadventures of two time-travelling
slacker
s as they travel into the distant past and future. It was based on the 1989
film, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
and is part of the Bill & Ted franchise
.
and aired on CBS
, with Keanu Reeves
, Alex Winter
, George Carlin
, and Bernie Casey
reprising their movie roles. In the second season, the show switched production companies and networks, now airing on Fox Kids
and produced by DiC Entertainment
. As Fox
was also planning on airing a new live-action series of the same name
, the cast was replaced, and the leads were now voiced by Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy, the actors who respectively portrayed Bill and Ted on the short-lived series. The new episodes introduced a “Squint” phone booth that could take Bill and Ted into literature, television shows, and (after shrinking them) inside the human body. The new show had trouble catching on, and after one more season, Bill and Ted was cancelled.
(the very studio where the Hanna-Barbera team got its start), via its 1997 acquisition of Orion Pictures
, who co-produced the series and distributed the Bill & Ted films. Unlike the films, no stake in the TV series is owned by Paramount Pictures
, which owns TV and digital rights (the former through Trifecta Entertainment & Media
) to the films via its ownership of certain Nelson Entertainment films for those media.
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
slacker
Slacker
The term "slacker" is used to refer to a person who habitually avoids work. Slackers may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in some cases their behavior may be due to other causes ....
s as they travel into the distant past and future. It was based on the 1989
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
film, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a 1989 American science fiction–comedy buddy film and the first film in the Bill & Ted franchise in which two metalhead slackers travel through time to assemble a menagerie of historical figures for their high school history presentation.The film was written by...
and is part of the Bill & Ted franchise
Bill & Ted (franchise)
Bill & Ted is a series of two films featuring Ted Theodore Logan and Bill S. Preston Esq. as two metalhead slackers who travel through time. The first Bill & Ted film, Excellent Adventure, was released on February 17, 1989, followed two years later by Bogus Journey...
.
Overview
The first season was produced by Hanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
and aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, with Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
, Alex Winter
Alex Winter
Alexander Ross "Alex" Winter is an English-born American actor, film director, and film writer, best known for his role as Bill S. Preston Esq. in the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its 1991 sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey...
, George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
, and Bernie Casey
Bernie Casey
Bernard Terry "Bernie" Casey is a professional actor who initially had a career as an interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football player. Casey was also a record-breaking track and field athlete for Bowling Green State University...
reprising their movie roles. In the second season, the show switched production companies and networks, now airing on Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
and produced by DiC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
. As Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
was also planning on airing a new live-action series of the same name
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1992 TV series)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures is a live action spin-off following the misadventures of two time-traveling slackers as they travel into the distant past and future...
, the cast was replaced, and the leads were now voiced by Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy, the actors who respectively portrayed Bill and Ted on the short-lived series. The new episodes introduced a “Squint” phone booth that could take Bill and Ted into literature, television shows, and (after shrinking them) inside the human body. The new show had trouble catching on, and after one more season, Bill and Ted was cancelled.
Season One (Hanna-Barbera)
- One Sweet & Sour Chinese Adventure - To Go (9/15/90)
- The Birth of Rock 'N Roll or Too Hip for the Womb (9/22/90)
- A Most Excellent Roman Holiday (9/29/90)
- Model 'T' for Ted (10/6/90)
- The More Heinous They are, the Harder They Fall (10/20/90)
- Birds of A Feather Stick to the Roof of Your Mouth (10/27/90)
- A Black Night in San Dimas (11/3/90)
- Pocket Watch Full of Miracles (11/10/90)
- This Babe Ruth "BABE" is A DUDE, Dude (11/24/90)
- When the Going Gets Tough Bill & Ted are History (12/1/90)
- Never the Twain Shall Meet (12/8/90)
- A Job, a Job - My Kingdom for a Job (12/15/90)
- A Grimm Story of an Overdue Book (12/22/90)
Season Two (DiC)
- Now Museum, Now you Don't (9/14/91)
- The Totally Gross Anatomy of a Gym Teacher (9/21/91)
- The Star Strangled Banner (9/28/91)
- Leave it to Bill & Ted (10/5/91)
- Goodbye Columbus.... and America
- It's A Bogus day in The Neighborhood (10/26/91)
- Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in Babysitting (11/2/91)
- The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Phone Booth (11/16/91)
Season One
- Alex WinterAlex WinterAlexander Ross "Alex" Winter is an English-born American actor, film director, and film writer, best known for his role as Bill S. Preston Esq. in the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its 1991 sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey...
- Bill S. Preston - Keanu ReevesKeanu ReevesKeanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
- Ted "Theodore" Logan - George CarlinGeorge CarlinGeorge Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
- Rufus - Bernie CaseyBernie CaseyBernard Terry "Bernie" Casey is a professional actor who initially had a career as an interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football player. Casey was also a record-breaking track and field athlete for Bowling Green State University...
- Mr. Ryan - Danny CookseyDanny CookseyDanny Cooksey is an American singer, actor and voice actor. He has been in show business since he was very young and is best remembered for playing the roles of Sam McKinney on the last years of the TV show Diff'rent Strokes and Robert "Bobby" Budnick on the Nickelodeon program, Salute Your...
- Deacon Logan - Peter RenadayPeter RenadayPeter Renaday is an American voice actor.-Film:*The Aristocats as the truck driver*Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost as Mr.McKnight-TV series:*Angel as The Beast's Master...
- Detective Logan
Season Two
- Christopher Kennedy - Bill S. Preston
- Evan Richards - Ted "Theodore" Logan
- Tara CharendoffTara StrongTara Lyn Strong is a Canadian actress, voice-over artist, singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons.-Early life and career:...
- Mary Jane
DVD release
The first episode of the first season was released as a special feature on the Bill and Ted's Most Excellent Collection DVD box set. The whole series is now currently available on netflix instant streaming.Rights
The rights to all incarnations of the series are owned by Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
(the very studio where the Hanna-Barbera team got its start), via its 1997 acquisition of Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
, who co-produced the series and distributed the Bill & Ted films. Unlike the films, no stake in the TV series is owned by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, which owns TV and digital rights (the former through Trifecta Entertainment & Media
Trifecta Entertainment & Media
Trifecta Entertainment & Media is an American entertainment company founded in 2006. The company's founders previously held jobs as executives at MGM Television. Trifecta is primarily a distribution company and also handles advertising sales in exchange for syndication deals with local television...
) to the films via its ownership of certain Nelson Entertainment films for those media.
International broadcast
Chile-
- TVNTelevisión Nacional de ChileTVN is Chile's state-owned television station. Its inaugural transmission took place on 1969. TVN is owned, but not funded, by the state, and it functions independently from it; a very particular case of public television in South America...
(1991–1995) - Canal 13Canal 13 (Chile)Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959...
(1996–1998)
- TVN
External links
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Online Adventure
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures at HuluHuluHulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...