Originally published: July 15, 1997
Last updated: February 3, 2026
Compiled by Loren Heisey
https://innermind.com/myguides/
Series notes
Beans Baxter was a typical teenager living in Kansas when his postal carrier father is transferred to Washington D.C. After his father is kidnapped, Beans finds out his father was actually a courier-spy for an intelligence agency known as "The Network." Beans turns junior spy after school delivering top-secret messages while trying to free his dad from the subversive U.G.L.I. (Underground Government Liberation Intergroup) lead by the diabolical Mr. Sue. Beans' mother, little brother, and friends at Upper Georgetown High School are oblivious to his spy goings on.
The series was one of the early offerings of the FOX network back when they tended to try things different then the established network fair, and this was a very tongue-in-cheek series. Apparently it was a little too weird for viewers as it only lasted 16 episodes. There were no previous adventures of Beans Baxter so the New in the show title appears to be for dramatic purposes.
Guide notes
Just the first air date is listed. The synopses were adapted from TV Guide listings.
Cast
| Jonathan Ward | Benjamin "Beans" Baxter, Jr. |
| Jerry Wasserman | Number Two |
| Karen Mistal | Cake Lase |
| Stuart Fratkin | Woodshop |
| Elinor Donahue | Mrs. Susan Baxter |
| Scott Bremner | Scooter Baxter |
Episodes
1. A Hill O'Beans (Beans' First Adventure)
Airdate: July 18, 1987 [1 hour]
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Mary Crosby as Professor Vankleef
Kristin Cumming as Darla
Rick Lenz as Benjamin Baxter Sr.
Gerry Rousseau as Sneezle
Wendy O. Williams as Conju
Synopsis: Beans witnesses the abduction of his father - a top-secret courier - and embarks on an after school intelligence career pursuing his father's captors.
2. Beans Meets Shawn Weatherly (Beauty and the Beans)
Airdate: July 25, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Kristin Cumming as Darla
David Longworth as Henry
Rick Overton as UGLI Agent #1
Shawn Weatherly as Svetlana
Synopsis: It's two much of a good thing for Beans when he's asked to shelter a beautiful female Soviet informant and Darla pays him a surprise visit from Kansas.
3. Beans Runs For President
Airdate: August 1, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Karen Haber as Jaime O'Neil
Taylor Negron as Mr. Thornton
Adrien Dorval as Bubbles
Andrew Markey as Myron Finklebaum
Sheila Moore as Bella
Derek Sullivan as Lars
Ted Lewis as Farmer
Garry Chalk as Secret Service Man #1
Paul Batten as Secret Service Man #2
Andrew Kavadas as Commander
Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Sue
Evelyn West as Woman at courthouse steps in blue coat
Synopsis: Beans has to put his campaign for class president on hold when he's called on to rescue the U.S. President's daughter from terrorists.
4. Beans and the Satanical Backwards Masking Conspiracy
Airdate: August 8, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Shawn Clements as Little One
Lorraine Foreman as Mrs. One
Dee Snider as Dr. Snider
Timothy Stack as Murray De Lamour
Dana Still as Ticket Taker
John Vernon as Number One
Synopsis: Beans gets an assignment right from the top: find out if there's a connection between subversive backward messages on records and the erratic behavior of Number One's son. [Dee Snider of "Twisted Sister" plays a deprogrammer].
5. Beans' Wicked and Awesome Adventure At College
Airdate: August 15, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Ian Tracey as Doug
Amanda Wyss as Mary Ellen
Jennifer Stewart as Barbara
David Altow as Fraternity Boy
Bobby Duchowny as Fraternity Boy
Nigel Harvey as Fraternity Boy
Jason Priestley as Fraternity Boy
Schaffer Smith as Fraternity Boy
Joe Coffey as Pledge
Bernie Coulson as Pledge
Saffron Henderson as Sorority Girl
Jan James as Sorority Girl
Synopsis: Beans' investigation into a possible link between a student radical and UGLI gets sidetracked when he's mistaken for a pledge during fraternity hazing week.
6. Beans In Ski Heck
Airdate: August 22, 1987
Written by: Martin Olson, Mary Jo Pritchard
Directed by: Mary Beth Fielder
Guest Cast:
Frank Ferrucci as Italian Ambassador
David Glyn-Jones as Amabassador LaBlanc
David Longworth as Henry
Andrew Markey as Myron
Tom McBeath as Secret Service Man
Pat McCormick as Senator Godfried
Jeff Schultz as Tad
Derek Sullivan as Lars
Ian Sullivan as Beginner Skiier
Bruce Wagner as Vlodia
Synopsis: A trip to the ski slopes amounts to more than a hill of beans when the junior spy stumbles over a plot to take diplomats hostage.
7. There's No Place Like Omsk
Airdate: September 12, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland, Martin Olson, Mary Jo Pritchard
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
John Curtis as Dr. Small
Michael Lee Gogin as Dr. O'Connor
Jack Hardy as Hillbilly
Heidi the Cow as Self
Bob Metcalfe as Agent Loomis
Kavi Raz as Dolph
Sarah Sawatsky as Little Girl
Dana Still as Pretty Good Musician
Shawn Weatherly as Svetlana
Forest Woodward as Biker
Synopsis: Beans is reunited with Soviet defector and double agent Svetlana, who misses the motherland and is having an attack of "Omsk-sickness."
8. Beans Finds His Dad... But... [part 1]
Airdate: September 26, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
The Adventurers as Soldier
Barry Crimmins as Sting Lynx
Don S. Davis as Agent Ruck
Deryl Hayes as Agent McKee
Rick Lenz as Benjamin Baxter Sr.
Rick Overton as Elvis Lynx
Gerry Rousseau as Sneezle
Richard Sargent as CIA Man
Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Sue
Stuart James as Student at party
Synopsis: Beans finally finds his captive father, but the evil Mr. Sue manages to keep them apart... for now.
9. Beans Finds His Dad... But... [part 2]
Airdate: October 3, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Michael E. Steele
Guest Cast:
Bruce Wagner as Vlodia
Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Sue
Rick Lenz as Benjamin Baxter Sr.
David Longworth as Henry
Gerry Rousseau as Sneezle
Blu Mankuma as Colonel
Tong Lung as Soldier
The Adventurers as Soldier
10. Beans' Unpleasant Introduction To Modern Science
Airdate: October 10, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Andrea Burchill as Little Girl
Kristin Cumming as Darla
Ian Forsyth as Scientist
Marco Gould as Parking Man
Don MacKay as Bald Man
Samantha Ostry as Rabbit Girl
Rick Overton as Jack
Enid Saunders as Old Lady
Paul Wildbaum as Dr. Romulus
Synopsis: Beans tests a new robot for the government, but "HAP" goes haywire, terrorizing small children and animals and interrupting Beans' reunion with Darla.
11. Beans and the Nuclear Warhead (Beans Goes To Camp)
Airdate: October 17, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Cavan Cunningham as Patrolman
Bill Dow as Red
Heather Langenkamp as Tracy
Gerry Rousseau as Sneezle
Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Sue
Tara Vessels as Lynseed
Bruce Wagner as Vlodia
Synopsis: Beans goes to work as a parasailing camp instructor to find a nuclear warhead stolen by UGLI.
12. A Nightmare On Beans' Street
Airdate: October 31, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Rick Overton as UGLI Agent #1
Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Sue
Kitten Natividad as Pumpkin Princess
David Longworth as Henry
Laura Waterbury as Mrs. Jacobs
Dana Still as Pumpkin Man #1
Michael Vairo as Pumpkin Man #2
Amber Woodley as Amber
Billy O'Sullivan as Snivels
Gordon Patrick White as Angry Man
Synopsis: A deadly pumpkin unleashed by Mr. Sue and the evil Pumpkin Princess makes Halloween miserable for Beans and friends.
13. Beans' Home Life Gets U.G.L.I.
Airdate: November 7, 1987
Written by: Andrew Katz, Larry Schulze, Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Rick Lenz as Benjamin Baxter Sr.
G. Gordon Liddy as G. Gordon Liddy
Gedde Watanabe as Ho Hum
David Longworth as Henry
Alexis Ioannidis as Big Mama
Moira Walley-Beckett as Harem Woman
Ron Orieux as Newlywed Man
Marcella Mulder Robertson as Newlywed Woman
Deborah Ludwig Davis as Singer
Synopsis: An UGLI operative [G. Gordon Liddy] woos Mrs. Baxter, hoping to get her photographed in a compromising position in order to get Baxter Senior to talk.
14. Beans Under the Weather
Airdate: November 14, 1987
Written by: Andrew Katz, Larry Schulze
Directed by: Tom Rowe
Guest Cast:
Babs Chula as Judge #2
Alex Diakun as UGLI Supervisor
Stephen Dimopoulos as Judge #1
Mike Reno as Mike Reno
Gerry Rousseau as Sneezle
Sarah Sawatsky as Cupcake
Gregory Eugene Travis as Dwight
Synopsis: UGLI has plans for the amazing weather making machine Scooter invented for the school science fair.
15. Beans Gets His Driver's License
Airdate: November 21, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland, Rick Overton, Bruce Wagner
Directed by: Tom Rowe
Guest Cast:
Lori Dungey as Clerk #1
Kristen Goelz as Sky
David Longworth as Henry
Robin Menken as Hippie Mom
Taylor Negron as Mr. Thornton
Rick Overton as Jack
Synopsis: Beans is steered away from getting his long-awaited driver's license when UGLI's Jack and Henry do their best to wreck his test.
16. Beans In Jungleland
Airdate: November 28, 1987
Written by: Savage Steve Holland
Directed by: Savage Steve Holland
Guest Cast:
Reggie Johnson as Martin
Bernie Coulson as Beef Wellington
Andre 'Doc' Newman as Doc
Pat Bermel as Coach
Mark Hildreth as Beazle
Blu Mankuma as Sheriff
Lossen Chambers as Louise
William Samples as Hoodlum #1
Tony Pantages as Hoodlum #2
Synopsis: When Scooter is accused of selling drugs, Beans joins the Bad Seed gang to track down the source of the trouble.
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