The shorts were shot on the cheap, using 8mm film for the first few seasons. Though the characters were clay they were almost never animated but were portrayed via a series of static vignettes with the only motion being Mr. Hands, a human hand who manipulated things on camera. The typical Mr. Bill episode involved Mr. Bill and his dog Spot partaking in some mundane task which leads to some confusion and Mr. Bill getting in trouble. Mr. Hands would attempt to "help out" leading to even greater disaster and ending with Mr. Bill or his dog getting their little clay bodies carelessly mutilated.