Baby Bob is an American sitcom

Situation comedy

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 that 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...

 as a midseason replacement

Midseason replacement

In American and Canadian television, a midseason replacement is a television series that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between January and May...

 in March 2002. The Baby Bob character had previously been on television since February 2000, appearing in commercials for FreeInternet.com

Freei

Freei was a free Internet Service Provider from 1998-2000. In 2000, FreeInternet.com was acquired by United Online, Inc. . In 2008, United Online re-launched FreeInternet.com as a Web site dedicated to free and discounted retail offers...

. While actual infants played Bob, the effect to make him look like he was talking was achieved through computer editing.

Synopsis

The series centered around first-time parents Walter Spencer (Adam Arkin

Adam Arkin

Adam Arkin is an American television, film and stage actor and director. He played the role of Aaron Shutt on Chicago Hope. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony as well as 3 primetime Emmys, 4 SAG Awards , and a DGA Award...

), his wife Lizzy (Joely Fisher

Joely Fisher

Joely Fisher is an American actress best known for her work on television as Paige Clark on Ellen as well as Joy Stark in the Fox sitcom Til Death, and also on stage and in films.-Background:...

) and their six-month-old baby Bob (voiced by Ken Hudson Campbell

Ken Hudson Campbell

Ken Hudson Campbell is an American television and voice actor.Campbell played "Animal" on the experimental Fox TV series Herman's Head, as well as Buckman in the movie Down Periscope. He appeared in the Seinfeld episode "The Seven", where he played Ken, the husband of Susan's first cousin, Carrie...

). After discovering that their son can talk like an adult, Walter decides that the 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

Holland Virginia Taylor is an American actress of film, stage and television. Her notable television roles include Ruth Dunbar in Bosom Buddies, senator's wife Margaret Powers on Norman Lear's The Powers That Be, Judge Roberta Kittleson in The Practice and Evelyn Harper in Two and a Half...

) who constantly brags about her other grandchildren. Supporting cast members included Elliot Gould as Walter's father Sam and Marissa Tait

Marissa Tait

Marissa Tait is an American actress.-Roles:*The Last Resort *The Rain Makers *Berkeley *I'm With Her *Angel ......

 as Bob's babysitter Teala.

Reception and cancellation

The series was panned by critics but premiered to strong ratings and placed 15th in its first week; however, ratings quickly declined. 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 for the new series My Big Fat Greek Life

My Big Fat Greek Life

My Big Fat Greek Life is a situation comedy series that ran on CBS in 2003. The series is a continuation on the 2002 movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and was produced by HBO Television and Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions for Sony Pictures Television....

and cut the second season 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 Quizno's.

In 2002 TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

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

Cast

• Joely Fisher....Lizzy Collins Spencer
• Adam Arkin....Walter Spencer
• Ken Hudson Campbell....Voice of Bob Spencer
• Holland Taylor....Madeline Collins
• Elliot Gould....Sam Spencer
• Marissa Tait....Teala

Season 1

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
1-1	"First Words"	March 18, 2002
1-2	"Mommy & Me"	March 25, 2002
1-3	"The Tell-Tale Art"	April 1, 2002
1-4	"The Other Side"	April 8, 2002
1-5	"House of the Rising Son"	April 15, 2002
1-6	"Talking Babies Say the Darndest Things"	April 22, 2002

Season 2

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
2-1	"Rush Lim-Bob"	June 6, 2003
2-2	"Don't Pass Me By"	June 13, 2003
2-3	"Reality Bites"	June 20, 2003
2-4	"Boys Will Be Girls"	June 27, 2003
2-5	"Footloose, Infancy Free"	July 4, 2003
2-6	"You Don't Know Jack"	Unaired
2-7	"Vegas Baby"	Unaired
2-8	"Let's Go to the Videotape"	Unaired