Bananaman

Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

"This is 29 Acacia Road, and this is Eric, a schoolboy who leads an amazing double life..."

Bananaman was a superhero in only the loosest sense of the word. His alter ego, Eric Wimp, was able to transform himself into a yellow-tinted crime fighter with the strength of twenty men ("twenty BIG men") and banana-themed powers and weapons, such as banana peel gloves. The fact that Bananaman was all but inefficient as a hero was a moot point considering the fact that his enemies were even more incompetent than he was.

Each episode of Bananaman was only five minutes long, but those five minutes were perfect examples of madcap British comedy. Bananaman’s situations were so unbelievably silly, one couldn’t help but get caught up in the action. Together with his sidekick, a crow named Crow, and with the occasional help of police chief O'Reilly, Bananaman flew (or rather, swam on air) to the rescue, always trying to impress the lovely TV reporter Fiona.

Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, the men who created the series, also did most of the voices and were solely responsible for its off-the-wall humor. Former sitcom writers and members of a comic troupe, the creators were well-schooled in subtle comedy as well as broad farce, and their skills were put to use as Bananaman battled such hapless foes as his arch-nemesis Appleman, General Blight, the alien Nerks, Weatherman, and Auntie.

In America, Bananaman aired on the children’s network, Nickelodeon, as interstitial bits between programs like Dangermouse and Inspector Gadget. The silly superhero soon gained a loyal following of Nick viewers, and even kids who didn't care for certain programs would often be willing to sit through them just to catch the next gut-busting episode of Bananaman. The character continued to delight the kiddies in his British homeland into the 1990's, appearing in both cartoons and comics.

Release History

1983 - ? Nickelodeon

TV Sub Categories

animated
comedy

TV Studio

101 Prod.

Television Cast

Bananaman Graeme Garden
Eric Bill Oddie
Crow Bill Oddie
Appleman Tim Brooke-Taylor
Chief O'Reilly Bill Oddie
Fiona Jill Shilling
General Blight Graeme Garden
Auntie Tim Brooke-Taylor
Weatherman Bill Oddie
King Zorg Tim Brooke-Taylor
Mother Nerk Jill Shilling
Dr. Gloom Bill Oddie
Maurice Graeme Garden
Narrator Tim Brooke-Taylor