The Mighty B! season 1
(Redirected from
The Mighty B! (season 1)
)
| The Mighty B! | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
 The Mighty B! "We Got the Bee" DVD cover | |
| No. of episodes | 20 (whole) 39 (segments) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon |
| Original release | April 26, 2008 – June 12, 2009 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Paper Kite Productions and Polka Dot Pictures, and series co-creators Amy Poehler, Cynthia True and Erik Wiese served as executive producers.
The series focuses on Bessie Higgenbottom (Poehler), an ambitious Honeybee
alter-ego The Mighty B. The season consisted of 38 eleven-minute segments, and one half-hour final titled "Dragonflies". Poehler, True and Wiese had been developing the series several years before its premiere.[1] They talked about making a "female-driven" animated series,[1] and it was picked up by Nickelodeon in early 2006 under the name of Super Scout.[2]
The season received generally positive reviews. One reviewer called Bessie the "female answer to SpongeBob SquarePants".[3] 1.92 million viewers among Kids 2–11 watched the series premiere,[4] and the series averaged 3.1 million viewers each episode during the season.[5]
Episodes
All episodes in this season were directed by Erik Wiese & Larry Leichliter.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboarded by | Original air date | Prod. code [6] | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 1a | "So Happy Together" | Cynthia True & Erik Wiese | Erik Wiese | April 26, 2008 | 101A | 3.16[7] |
|
In order to earn her Animal Appreciation Badge, Bessie Higgenbottom adopts a dog she names Happy, and goes to enter in a dog show, but he runs away because he didn't want to be in it in the first place. Bessie apologizes to Happy and he returns. Bessie wins the dog show when it is revealed that Portia's "dog" Precious is really a rat. Note: This episode originally appeared in 2007 as a sneak peek on a bonus DVD packaged with the DVD release of SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis. This is also the only episode that contains minor original music composed by James L. Venable. | |||||||
| 1b | 1b | "Sweet Sixteenth" | Jessica Chaffin | Chuck Klein | April 26, 2008 | 101B | 3.16[7] |
| Bessie is eager to ride a new ride at the amusement park called "The Punisher", but is unable to because she is not tall enough to ride it. Every attempt she makes to get in fails. She has to go on the "stupid teacups" now, but Happy shortens the height checker, allowing Bessie to get on the ride, which is accidentally set for two times. | |||||||
| 2a | 2a | "Bee My Baby" | Story by : Cynthia True & Erik Wiese Written by : Will Berson | Chuck Klein | April 27, 2008 | 102A | N/A |
| When Gwen and Portia plan to go out, they trick Bessie and Penny into babysitting Gwen's five younger siblings. However, while babysitting, Penny and Bessie lose the baby. They chase the baby, while Happy takes care of the other kids. However, after they finally catch the baby, Bessie and Penny are kicked out of the house by Portia and Gwen, who treat themselves to a delicious meal. | |||||||
| 2b | 2b | "Bee Afraid" | Cynthia True & Erik Wiese | Erik Wiese | April 27, 2008 | 102B | N/A |
| Bessie is eager to earn the Happy Camper Badge. However, while going on a camping trip, Penny tells a scary story about a nasty girl who was abandoned in the woods, which leads to Portia running away terrified and getting lost in the woods. A bear tries to attack Portia, but she is saved by Bessie, which allows her to earn the Happy Camper Badge. | |||||||
| 3a | 3a | "Artificial Unintelligence" | Dani Michaeli | Piero Piluso & Andy Suriano | May 3, 2008 | 103A | N/A |
|
In order to earn the Mad Scientist badge at the Honeybee Science Fair, Bessie builds a robot she names Emily. A jealous Portia goes inside Emily, controlling the robot. Meanwhile, Ben and Happy become angry at Emily and team up to destroy her, with Portia being sprayed by black ink during one attempt. Emily goes insane in the Science Fair , breaking every project. As Bessie is about to be disqualified from the science fair, Ben and Happy storm in, having found Emily's brain. They put it back in Emily and Portia is found inside the robot. Bessie wins the Mad Scientist badge. | |||||||
| 3b | 3b | "We Got the Bee" | Dannah Feinglass | Fred Gonzales | May 3, 2008 | 103B | N/A |
| Bessie wants to join Portia's band, The Pretty Pretty Princesses, but Portia will not let her because of her lack of musical talent, so she becomes the new drummer for Rocky's band The Integritones, where she and Portia both rock the whole bay area! | |||||||
| 4a | 4a | "Li'l Orphan Happy" | John Bowie & Jamie Denbo | Sherm Cohen & Louie del Carmen | May 10, 2008 | 107A | 3.60[8] |
| It's Mother's Day and Bessie learns that Happy does not know where his mom is. Bessie goes around town looking for her, but once she is found, she starts to teach Happy to break Bessie's rules. | |||||||
| 4b | 4b | "Body Rockers" | Jessica Gao | Ken Boyer & Louie del Carmen | May 10, 2008 | 107B | 3.60[8] |
| The Honeybees go on a field trip to the Science Exploratorium. Penny has to go to the bathroom while the other Honeybees are watching a short movie. Bessie goes with Penny to look for one, but they unintentionally get lost in one of the exhibits. | |||||||
| 5a | 5a | "Bat Mitzvah Crashers" | Jessica Chaffin | Sherm Cohen | May 17, 2008 | 104A | 3.63[9] |
|
Bessie and Penny start crashing bat mitzvahs after attending Penny's neighbor Zanni's, and set their sights on the ultimate bat mitzvah being held by Portia's cousin, Chelsea. | |||||||
| 5b | 5b | "Super Secret Weakness" | Dani Michaeli | Octavio Rodriguez | May 17, 2008 | 104B | 3.63[9] |
| Bessie finds out that every superhero has a secret weakness. When she concludes that the Mighty Bee's weakness is zucchini, she plans to rid the whole bay area of the foul vegetable. | |||||||
| 6a | 6a | "An I See Bee" | Jessica Chaffin | Ray Angrum & Piero Piluso | May 31, 2008 | 105A | 3.03[10] |
| A fortune teller convinces Bessie that she can see the future, but her sunny predictions for Penny's birthday party are way off the mark, so she attempts to make things right. | |||||||
| 6b | 6b | "Woodward and Beesting" | Dannah Feinglass | Fred Gonzales | May 31, 2008 | 105B | 3.03[10] |
| Bessie tries to learn Portia's secret by becoming a reporter for the Hive Herald, but comes to the ridiculous conclusion that Portia is an alien. The truth: She has laryngitis. | |||||||
| 7a | 7a | "Doppelfinger" | Will Berson | Louie del Carmen | June 7, 2008 | 106A | N/A |
| Bessie begins to follow the advice of Fingere, Finger's evil French cousin, after Finger is injured in an origami competition which leads her and Happy into mischief to win the Origami Badge. | |||||||
| 7b | 7b | "Little Womyn" | Jessica Chaffin | Fred Gonzales & Chuck Klein | June 7, 2008 | 106B | N/A |
| Bessie's mom becomes the troop leader and stops giving out badges because of the Honeybee structure and lack of self-expression. | |||||||
| 8a | 8a | "The Apprentice" | Jessica Chaffin | Sherm Cohen & Fred Gonzales | June 23, 2008 | 108A | N/A |
| Portia's mom takes Bessie as her apprentice to boost her cosmetics sales, but Bessie's zeal will give her much more than she anticipated. | |||||||
| 8b | 8b | "Beenedict Arnold" | Jessica Gao | Ken Boyer | June 24, 2008 | 108B | N/A |
| Bessie puts Happy on a strict health food regimen and workout schedule. Happy is not excited about this and he does not understand that Bessie only wants what's best for him, and leaves Bessie for Portia. | |||||||
| 9a | 9a | "Boston Beean" | Jessica Gao | Octavio Rodriguez | June 25, 2008 | 109A | N/A |
| Bessie is hosting a foreign Honeybee, Sissy Sullivan, who comes all the way from Boston. At first, the girls seem to get along perfectly fine, but when Bessie realizes that Sissy is better than her at everything, it inspires her competitive spirit. | |||||||
| 9b | 9b | "Penny Hearts Joey" | Story by : Nicholas Cofrancesco Written by : Dannah Feinglass | Lynne Naylor | June 26, 2008 | 109B | N/A |
|
Penny develops a special connection with an animatronic kangaroo from a pizza arcade. | |||||||
| 10a | 10a | "Ten Little Honeybees" | Jessica Gao | Chuck Klein | June 27, 2008 | 110A | N/A |
| Portia's locket disappears during her birthday party, so Bessie goes on the case to try to find it. | |||||||
| 10b | 10b | "Toot Toot" | Cynthia True & Erik Wiese | Ken Boyer, Piero Piluso & Bernie Petterson | November 29, 2008 | 110B | N/A |
|
Bessie accidentally banned and shunned from the Honeybees which in turn bring them horrible haunting situations and they try to get Bessie back. And Bessie reveals a badge that has never been given out before or long gone, The Toot Toot Badge. | |||||||
| 11a | 11a | "Night Howl" | Jessica Chaffin | Eddie Trigueros & Sherm Cohen | September 9, 2008 | 113A | N/A |
| Bessie finds out Happy is leading a double life and going out every night to a bar. | |||||||
| 11b | 11b | "Hat Trick" | Story by : Cynthia True & Erik Wiese Written by : Jessica Chaffin | Ken Boyer & Fred Gonzales | September 10, 2008 | 113B | N/A |
| Bessie uses Happy in her magic act, but he soon gets bored and sneaks off without her knowing, causing a wild menajire to escape from the hat. | |||||||
| 12a | 12a | "Apoxalypse Now" | Jessica Gao | Chuck Klein | September 11, 2008 | 114A | N/A |
|
Bessie tries to catch the chicken pox to earn the Chicken Pox Badge. When she learns Ben has an immunity from her Mom, she tries to use him to get the chicken pox. In the end, it turns out Bessie is the one with the immunity, and now she must take care of the sick-as-a-dog Ben. | |||||||
| 12b | 12b | "Hive Jacked" | Jessica Gao | Lynne Naylor | September 12, 2008 | 114B | N/A |
| Bessie loses a bet and must let Portia and Gwen run the Hive for the weekend. However, when they refuse to give up the Hive after the ending time, Bessie, Ben, Happy, and Penny go to drastic measures to kick them out, even unknowingly using an angry skunk in the process. | |||||||
| 13a | 13a | "Something's Wrong With This Taffy" | Jessica Chaffin, Jessica Gao & Cynthia True | Chris Graham | October 25, 2008 | 116B | N/A |
| Bessie sets out to uncover what's wrong with the latest batch of taffy. She finds out that it's fake honey making the taffy taste different. | |||||||
| 13b | 13b | "Name Shame" | Jessica Gao | Eddie Trigueros | October 25, 2008 | 116A | N/A |
| Portia finds out that Bessie's middle name is cursed and whenever somebody says it, something bad happens. It soon becomes a problem after she spreads it around all of San Francisco. | |||||||
| 14a | 14a | "Bee Patients" | Jessica Chaffin | Eddie Trigueros & Sunil Hall | September 8, 2008 | 112A | N/A |
| Bessie and Happy visit the doctor and veterinarian. Bessie is horrified to learn she is due for a booster shot. | |||||||
| 14b | 14b | "To Bee or Not to Bee" | Jessica Gao | Lynne Naylor | November 29, 2008 | 112B | N/A |
| Bessie wins the chance to have tea with Miriam Breedlove, the founder of the Honeybees, but Portia and Gwen sabotage her chance by feeding her false information and odd etiquette. | |||||||
| 15a | 15a | "Eye of the Honeybee" | Jessica Chaffin | Chris Graham & Ian Graham | January 9, 2009 | 117A | N/A |
|
Bessie helps Penny find her hidden talent to play ping pong. Note: This episode hasn't been rerun since its original airing. | |||||||
| 15b | 15b | "Thanksgiving Beenactment" | Jessica Chaffin, Jessica Gao & Cynthia True | Sunil Hall | November 29, 2008 | 117B | N/A |
|
Bessie and the Honeybees go on a trip to a town to learn about the pilgrims, but things go wrong when the pilgrims accuse Portia of being a witch when she disregards their rule against technology. Note: This episode hasn't been rerun since its original airing. | |||||||
| 16a | 16a | "Blindsided" | Jessica Chaffin, Jessica Gao & Cynthia True | Eddie Trigueros | January 5, 2009 | 118A | N/A |
| Happy takes Bessie's glasses and trades them for a bone. Bessie is unable to see clearly as she stumbles through the city to buy a new pair, leaving her in serious danger from Portia and Gwen, not including a pack of pirranas, which Happy must repeatedly save her from. In the end, he loses his bone to save Bessie, and Bessie finds a replacement as thanks. | |||||||
| 16b | 16b | "Hen and Bappy" | Jessica Chaffin | Chris Graham & Sunil Hall | January 6, 2009 | 118B | N/A |
| The Hippie cooks the wrong recipe. After Ben and Happy eat his tasty treat, they switch bodies, where Happy uses this to get vengeance on Ben. In the end, Bessie and the Hippie switch bodies, and Ben, Happy, Bessie, and the Hippie start to make up one big, weird, body. | |||||||
| 17a | 17a | "Ben Appetit" | Cynthia True, Jessica Chaffin & Jessica Gao | Louie del Carmen & Sherm Cohen | January 7, 2009 | 115A | N/A |
| Bessie tries to get Ben to break his rule about food not touching other foods. In the end, he gets over it, and he and Happy try to get Bessie to get over her claustrophobia with her methods. | |||||||
| 17b | 17b | "Dang It Feels Good to Be a Gamester" | Jessica Gao | Chris Graham | January 8, 2009 | 115B | N/A |
| The Honeybees become preoccupied with playing a new video game and neglect their responsibilities. | |||||||
| 18a | 18a | "Portrait of a Happy" | Jessica Chaffin | Sunil Hall | June 8, 2009 | 119A | N/A |
| Bessie wants to have professional photos taken with Happy, but she must talk the photographer out of quitting his job. | |||||||
| 18b | 18b | "O Say Can Bess See?" | Jessica Gao | Sunil Hall, Justin Ridge & Ian Graham | June 9, 2009 | 119B | N/A |
| Bessie cannot see the hidden image in a magical eyeball poster she receives as an award. | |||||||
| 19a | 19a | "Macro Mayhem" | Mike Bell | Sherm Cohen, Sunil Hall & Ian Graham | June 10, 2009 | 120A | N/A |
| Bessie gets carried away with her new macramé hobby. | |||||||
| 19b | 19b | "Ben Screams for Ice Cream" | Story by : Cynthia True Written by : Jessica Chaffin, Cynthia True & Jessica Gao | Lynne Naylor | June 11, 2009 | 120B | N/A |
| Bessie lands the ice-cream man in trouble with his boss when she reports that he ran a stop sign. As a result, he leaves the neighborhood and the children suffer in the heat. Will Bessie solve this problem? | |||||||
| 20 | 20 | "Dragonflies" | Jessica Chaffin, Jessica Gao, Cynthia True & Erik Wiese | Louie del Carmen, Fred Gonzales & Ian Graham | June 12, 2009 | 111 | N/A |
| The Honeybees must team up in order to take on a rival scout troop from Oakland for use of the recreation center. | |||||||
Production
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Conception
Several years before The Mighty B! premiered, co-creator Amy Poehler and her friends at
improvisational comedy troupes Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade as well as girls she looked up to when she was younger.[2] She described Bessie as a "feisty, plucky, bossy, Honey Bee scout".[11]
The Mighty B! was picked up for a pilot in early 2006 under the name of Super Scout.[2] It was co-created by Poehler, Cynthia True and Erik Wiese.[12] Brown Johnson, president of animation at Nickelodeon, was "absolutely thrilled to have a comedy team of the caliber of Amy, Erik and Cynthia create this iconic character for a new generation".[13]
Cast
Former
Gwen, Portia's friend.[17]
Reception
Critical reception
The season received generally positive reviews from television sources and critics. Brian Lowry of Daily News gave the show four stars, stating: "The Mighty B! has a decent shot at becoming a pre-tween fave."[18] Aaron H. Bynum of Animation Insider called the show a "good, brainless cartoon [...] Viewers shouldn't ever be bored with Bessie [but] the comedy really doesn't try to do too much, which may ultimately work against it when the story calls for the characters to do too little.[19]
Joanne Ostrow of the Denver Post called Bessie the "female answer to SpongeBob SquarePants".[3] Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show three stars out of five, saying: "The show maintains a chaotic pace, and there are no real attempts to teach strong positive lessons [...] Young tweens will likely enjoy Bessie's outlandish, fantasy-fueled adventures – which are fast-paced and, on the surface, entertaining."[20] Ed Liu of Toon Zone called The Mighty B! a show that he admires more than he "truly love[s]", stating: "There is prodigious talent behind it and its wonderfully energetic, boisterous comedy. It's clearly trying very, very hard to be entertaining and largely succeeds [...] I almost feel bad for not liking The Mighty B! more than I do, and I'm still not sure why I don't enjoy it more". He also said that it was worth pointing out that more recent episodes of the show seem "more assured and funnier" than the eight episodes on the We Got the Bee DVD.[21]
Ratings
The Mighty B! premiered at 10:30am on April 26, 2008, and scored "above average for Nickelodeon programming" in the
Nielsen ratings.[4] It ranked in the top ten of all programming for combined broadcast and basic cable shows, with 1.92 million viewers in the Kids 2–11 demographic and a rating of 5.2/23.[4] The Mighty B! had double the viewership as Bakugan Battle Brawlers, a show that aired simultaneously on Cartoon Network.[4]
In September 2008, the show had an average of 3.1 million viewers, and in the second quarter of 2008, the show ranked among the top five animated programs on television.[5] During the third quarter of 2009, it averaged 2.6 million viewers, and was number-one in its timeslot in the kids 2–11 and kids 6–11 demographics.[22]
DVD releases
A DVD called We Got The Bee was released on February 24, 2009.[23] It contained eight episodes, behind the scenes footage, an animatic version of the episode "Bat Mitzvah Crashers" and a karaoke music video for "Running with the Rainbow Unicorn".[24] A second DVD called BEEing Bessie Higgenbottom was released on December 8, 2009, where it contained seven episodes, a karaoke music video for "Buzz Off", an animatic of the episode "Bee Patients", and audio commentary of the episodes of "Bee Patients", "Ben Appetit", and "Name Shame", provided by Amy Poehler, Andy Richter, Dee Bradley Baker, Grey DeLisle, Erik Wiese, and Eddie Trigueros.[25]
References
- ^ a b c d e Murray, Rebecca (April 23, 2008). "Amy Poehler Interview – Baby Mama and The Mighty B!". About.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Martin, Denise (February 15, 2006). "Poehler scouting Nick gig". Variety. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ a b Ostrow, Joanne (April 25, 2009). "Hot-hot Amy Poehler a "Mighty" voice". Denver Post. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
- ^ a b c d H. Bynum, Aaron (May 2, 2008). "The Mighty B! Premiere ratings". Animation Insider. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ a b Ball, Ryan (September 18, 2008). "Mighty B! will buzz again". Animation Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ "The Mighty B!: Season 1 - Episode Guide". Paramount+. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Gorman, Bill (May 12, 2008). "The Hills Again Leads Cable TV Time-Shifting". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Seidman, Bill (May 13, 2008). "Indiana Jones Raids Weekly Nielsen Cable Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Seidman, Bill (May 20, 2008). "Weekly Nielsen Ratings Cable Top 20: NBA, WWE and NASCAR Lead Pack". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 29, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Seidman, Bill (June 17, 2008). "In Plain Sight Leads Cable Time-Shifting". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ Parsley, Aaron (October 24, 2009). "Amy Poehler can't believe her son is turning 1". People. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ Roberts, Sheila. "Will Arnett & Amy Poehler interview Blades & Glory". Movies Online. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ Barrett, Larry (April 8, 2008). "The Mighty B! buzzes its way into Nick lineup". Multi Channel. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (March 8, 2009). "Please Don't Tell Her She's Funny for a Girl". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ La Gorce, Tammy (October 13, 2009). "Andy Richter interview". Babble. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ Harris, Will (November 16, 2009). "A chat with Andy Richter". Bulls-Eye.com. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ a b Lowry, Brian (April 23, 2008). "The Mighty B! Review". Variety. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ Hinckley, David (April 24, 2008). "New Poehler expedition: 'Mighty B' is a real honey". NY Daily News. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ H. Bynum, Aaron (April 8, 2008). "The Mighty B! Review". Animation Insider. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Ashby, Emily. "The Mighty B! Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Liu, Ed (April 3, 2009). "The Mighty B! is more admired than loved". Toon Zone. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
- ^ Liu, Ed (September 12, 2009). "Nickelodeon is buzzing with new episodes of The Mighty B!". Nickelodeon. Toon Zone. Archived from the original on December 16, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ Lambert, David (December 1, 2008). "The Mighty B! DVD announcement". TV Shows on DVD. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ "The Mighty B!: We Got the Bee". Amazon.com. February 24, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ "The Mighty B! BEEing Bessie Higgenbottom". Amazon.com. December 9, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
External links
- Season 1 at the Internet Movie Database