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You know her as Saturday Night Live’s trashiest character, Amber, the One-Legged Hypoglycemic. But this month, comedian, actor and Tribeca resident Amy Poehler transfers her talents to an earlier time slot on Nickelodeon. On the network’s new animated show Mighty B!, Poehler voices Bessie Higgenbottom, a hyperambitious Honeybee scout who dreams of becoming a troop “superhero”—a distinction achieved by earning every possible merit badge. The premiere features the lisping ten-year-old basking in the limelight after her mutt wins the Honeybees’ dog show.
Of course, this silly premise just serves as a vehicle for Bessie’s wry interactions with a cast of colorful characters. Comedian Andy Richter (The New Adventures of Old Christine) plays Bessie’s clingy little brother, and Kenan Thompson from SNL voices Rocky, the übercool heartthrob. Other foils to the slightly manic Bessie include her Edna Turnblad–esque mother and an imaginary friend (actually Bessie’s own finger, transformed by a hand-drawn smiley face).
Cocreator Cynthia True conceived of the show after coming across a photo of herself in a Brownie uniform. “I asked Amy if she’d be interested in doing a project with this slightly deranged Girl Scout character I had seen her do,” she says. The character True had in mind was Cassie McMatson, a naive, cookie-shilling girl who befriends the Unabomber and accidentally shoots herself on a 1998 episode of Comedy Central’s Upright Citizens Brigade. Don’t worry: None of these R-rated antics transpire on Mighty B!, which is written for kids ages six to 14. Only Cassie’s personality and gestures live on in Bessie Higgenbottom. Bessie’s gap-toothed smile, glasses and blond pigtails are modeled after photographs of Poehler as a child.
True says she hopes that the cartoon—produced with whimsical squash-and-stretch animation, à la Ren and Stimpy—will influence the way the youngest generation understands humor. “We’d like kids to see that girls can be really funny,” she says. “There aren’t enough funny female leads on television—they’re often just ‘straight men,’ if you will, or rolling their eyes at really funny guys.” Adult viewers will enjoy the way the show highlights Poehler’s knack for improv. “During takes, she often goes off and tries something crazy. Those unscripted riffs are vital,” says True.
Girls need not have Girl Scout experience to latch on to Mighty B!’s jokes. In fact, Bessie should appeal to youngsters who defy convention and pursue unique passions. Says True, “Bessie does her own thing, and the naysayers are like water off a duck’s back. She’s on her own path.”
Mighty B! debuts Sat 26 at 10:30am on Nickelodeon.
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