Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean Leaves Twitter Users In Shambles For A Hilarious Reason
An easy way to go viral on the internet is simply to take a meme or piece of trivia that's gone viral before and simply just ... reuse it. Anyone who's chronically on platforms like Reddit or X, formerly known as Twitter, can likely attest that many things periodically go viral because people like hearing the same things over and over again. A staple of many people's childhoods, Mr. Bean, finds himself in the middle of one of these phenomena at the moment, and it isn't the first time.
The British show "Mr. Bean," starring Rowan Atkinson as the titular man-child who finds himself in many precarious situations, had only 15 episodes during its run. However, these were spread out across five years, from 1990 to 1995. As such, people can be forgiven for assuming there were more episodes than there actually were, and that doesn't stop X users seeking clout from re-posting this information ad nauseam. The latest to go viral from the tidbit is the account @InternetH0F, who posted a clipped meme — meaning they're not even giving credit to whoever made that meme in the first place — of the trivia, which has received over 25 million impressions so far.
This isn't the first time this information has been posted. In April 2022, X account @NoContextBrits posted, "There's only 15 episodes of Mr. Bean. As a kid I thought I'd seen about 10 series." It's an intriguing fact that continues to amaze people to this day.
There are potential explanations for why people think there's more Mr. Bean than there is
Since many people watched "Mr. Bean" when they were kids, it's natural they wouldn't be fully aware of how many episodes there were, especially if new episodes came out haphazardly across five years. But there may be another explanation for why there seemed to be more "Mr. Bean" stories than there were. A Reddit thread materialized on this exact topic, with u/haddock420 offering this reasonable clarification: "The reason we think it has dozens of episodes is that each episode had 3 different stories in it, so it was like getting three episodes for every episode."
While "Mr. Bean" may have had only 15 episodes, he appeared in other mediums, so people may also get confused that way. In 2002, "Mr. Bean: The Animated Series" premiered, which would go on to have 130 episodes. Rowan Atkinson returned to reprise the role, and even though he didn't say much aside from some mumbling in the original series, he gets more speaking opportunities in the cartoon. The character was also at the center of two feature films — "Bean" and "Mr. Bean's Holiday."
There's been plenty of Mr. Bean over the years, which is likely why people think he's been an ever-present force in the entertainment industry since the 1990s. Just don't expect Rowan Atkinson to reprise the role in live action anytime soon, as he sounds like he's done with the portrayal. At least there are plenty of Mr. Bean's escapades to enjoy, including the original series with its 15 episodes — no more and no less.