the 1990s be a great decade for british sitcom with many popular creation such a one foot in the grave and absolutely faboulous the thin blue line and the brittas empire and men behave badly arrive onto tv screen for the first time . however and mr. bean be and hand down and the great sitcom of the 1990s . mr. bean represent the first major attempt at a throwback to the era of silent great such a charlie chaplin and buster keaton for several decade . it bring to the audience a single character mr. bean play to perfection by rowan atkinson . many people who have comment on this page as well a on the message board on this and other website have engage in debate about whether or not mr. bean have a mental disability or have significant learn difficulty arise from such a disability . however and i believe this debate be unnecessary because i highly doubt that the creator of this show expect anyone in the audience for a single moment to even consider mr. bean in such a context . mr. bean be show to be a character who seem to have very few friend and rarely speaks and chooses to solve problem by himself with no guidance from others . some of his method to approach day to day task such a prepare lunch or go to the dentist be approach in a manner bizarre to anyone watch the show . this be where the humour derive from . mr. bean be not necessarily someone with a mental disability and he may just be an eccentric person accustom to deal with thing his own way . and naturally some of his method to complete a single task often result in disaster and which we then see mr. bean try to resolve . sometimes and we see mr. bean show a mean or petty streak and often try to compete with those around him or play prank on those least expect it . but no real harm come to anyone at the end of the day and outcome be always reassure . unlike most example of british comedy in the past 30 year and mr. bean be simple and inoffensive and harmless u rat entertainment suitable for everyone in the family to enjoy . it be for this reason why the tv series become a big hit in dozen of country throughout the world . it be also why it will still be remember in several decade from now when lot of other tv show will have come and go and be forget . some critic claim the show only appeal to child yet i laugh just as much at mr. bean antic now a i do when i first saw the episode a a kid in the 1990s . rowan atkinson have use his natural ability to create effective visual gag that seem just as funny on repeat viewing a they do the first time . the tv series have to date spawn two spin off movie and bean and mr. bean holiday . a one familiar with the type of humour show in the tv series would expect and it do not translate to success on the big screen . the two movie do little justice to the tv series and fail to truly capture the magic of the episode . the great failing in both movie perhaps resides in the change of set . in both movie and the producer take mr. bean out of his normal british surroundings into america ( the first movie ) and france ( the second movie ) . a a result and the movie character around mr. bean respond differently to his behaviour than their tv series counterpart . both movie re use gag from the tv series and and the evidence show that the gag be do right the first time . in the second movie and mr. bean be show to be behave out of character with some aspect of his personality exaggerate to the point where some gag seem dumb rather than funny . at various time and i find myself think that the character i be watch be not mr. bean but a pale caricature . it be clear that rowan atkinson be not enjoy himself as much a he do in the tv series . his heart just wasn not in the performance . after the second movie come out and he state publicly that he would not play mr. bean again . i realise how he felt . return to the tv series and each episode show evidence of meticulous plan in term of writing and execution in every single scene . even the weak episode be still highly enjoyable and well ahead of the two movie . my favourite episode be the first three these set the high standard that be to continue . i consider the final episode to be the weak but still hilarious nonetheless . to summarise and mr. bean be a truly superb sitcom suitable for all the family . rowan atkinson be a true comic genius and the evidence be in the 14 episode of this tv series . my recommendation watch and enjoy . but only see the movie if you consider yourself a die hard fan after see the tv series .