Bobo the Bear appeared on Muppets Tonight as the jovial but bumbling security guard at the KMUP TV studio.
Bobo was featured prominently in the episode featuring guest star Cindy Crawford, in which Bobo fell in love with Crawford and made a number of clumsy attempts to woo her.
Ernst Stavros Grouper insisted that Bobo change his name to "Whitley Nibbles the Television Elf." In another episode, Bobo claimed his name was "Bizzo the Bat," in order to scam Rizzo out of food.
In Muppets from Space, Bobo played a character named Rentro, an assistant to Jeffrey Tambor's government agent character (K. Edgar Singer) at the Top Secret Facility C.O.V.N.E.T. (which Bobo says is "cleverly disguised as a cement factory"). Although he and Singer are portrayed as the "bad guys" in the film, Bobo's kind-hearted nature shows through when his character tries to save Gonzo from being captured and having his brain removed at the command of Singer.
Bobo appeared on Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony at movies.com, where he was seen auditioning for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Bobo performed parodies of Star Wars characters such as Yoda: "'Careful you must be when sensing the future!' Geez, what is this guy, dyslexic or something?"
He also appeared in "The Muppets on Muppets," a bonus feature on The Muppet Show: Season Two. Where he says his favorite place to visit is New Zealand.
Other appearances include potraying an airport security guard in A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, working alongside Nathan Lane, and staring in a series of videos on Disney Xtreme Digital called "Better Living with Bobo," where he is paired with Beauregard.
In The Muppets, Bobo serves a similar function to his appearances in Muppets from Space and Letters to Santa, as the well-meaning, suit clad assistant to the antagonist. In this case, Bobo is the "less-helpful-than-you-might-wish assistant" to Tex Richman.
He also appeared in the sequel Muppets Most Wanted. He doesn't appear at the beginning of the movie however and appears halfway towards the end of the movie, appearing with Uncle Deadly at the Tower of London wedding.
Behind the scenes[]
The Bobo puppet originally debuted as one of the bears that hibernated with Fozzie Bear in Muppets Take Manhattan (where he was performed by Jerry Nelson). The puppet was slightly altered when it was used as Bobo. Also prior to becoming Bobo, the bear puppet would also be used on a promotional photo for the unproduced series W.I.L.D., as well as Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, and in one of Muppet Time recurring sketch, Frog Scouts, as a customer who buys all the cookies from them.