Each episode of the cartoon series included a short segment "Peabody's Improbable History" in which the Wayback Machine was used by the segment's main characters, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, to travel back in time to visit important events in human history.
[2][3] In each episode Mr. Peabody and Sherman would use their Wayback Machine to travel back in time to visit important historical events.
By enabling them to visit famous historical people or events, the Wayback provided educational adventures for Sherman.
The main focus of Mr. Peabody and Sherman's adventures is thus the restoration of historical events to their proper course, albeit in a characteristically frivolous and anachronistic way.
[15] Another example occurred in a 1995 episode of the television show NewsRadio in which station owner Jimmy James (Stephen Root) says: "Dave, don't mess with a man with a Wayback Machine.
[16] As in the original cartoon, the Wayback Machine is invoked to suggest the audience follow the narrator back to the past.