Christopher Lloyd reprised his iconic most consistently great trilogies of all time, but the show that followed it never quite lived up to the high standards of the feature-length efforts. That being said, the sequel show did at least manage to pull Lloyd back to the franchise, so there was at least a sense of continuity.

The show is set after the best time travel movies of all time did play a huge part in the show's creation. As such, it adds to the enjoyment of the movies rather than serving as a proper sequel.

Back To The Future’s TV Show Called Out How There’s Always A Biff In Any Period

Thomas F. Wilson played several of Biff's family

Marty McFly talking to Biff in Back to the Future: The Animated Series

Back to the Future: The Animated series ran for two seasons between 1991 and 1992, totaling 26 episodes. It was largely a way to further explore the original trilogy's concept and take the characters to periods not visited in the movies. During the show, several ancestors and descendants of Biff Tannen appeared - a villain originally played by Thomas F. Wilson. This wasn't an original gag, of course. Instead, it was an extension of a joke from the movies that always had Marty running into of Biff's family - and they always hated him.

Christopher Lloyd only plays Doc Brown in the show's live-action segments, and the character is otherwise voiced by Dan Castellaneta.

This could have been left as something of a coincidence in the show, and something that only ever really needed to be a wink to the audience. However, Marty McFly - voiced by David Kaufman in the animated series - openly ponders whether every period they visit has its own past or future version of Biff Tannen. Either way, there's very often one of Biff's relatives who just happens to look exactly like Thomas F. Wilson - who also reprised his role in the animated project.

Why Marty McFly Kept Running Into Different Versions Of Biff In Back To The Future

What was a funny Back to the Future joke actually raised an interesting question

There was never any real high-concept reason why Marty kept encountering Biff's relatives so often. It didn't happen with any other character, so it felt a little coincidental. This is because it was intended to be little more than a running gag made technically possible by the show's sci-fi premise. Just giving Wilson's likeness different costumes and makeup was intentionally lazy, and it worked well from a comedic standpoint. However, it was at least very interesting from a canonical perspective how Marty's complex timeline always seemed to tie into Biff's Back to the Story family.

Back to the Future (1985) Movie Poster
Created by
Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale
First Film
Back to the Future
First TV Show
Back To The Future
Latest TV Show
Back To The Future
First Episode Air Date
September 14, 1991