A rather ordinary boy adopted by a rather extraordinary dog, Sherman is the time-traveling companion of the canine genius known as Mr. Peabody. This plucky young orphan gained notoriety for being at the center of a famous custody battle. The presiding judge's decision that if a boy can have a dog, there's no reason why a dog can't have a boy has passed into legal parlance as the "Peabody Precedent."

In order to exercise Sherman and keep him off the furniture, Mr. Peabody invented the time-traveling WABAC machine. Since then, their historical exploits have become legendary, as have the various individuals whom Sherman and Mr. Peabody ha-ve saved from obscurityŃShakespeare, Dante, Thoreau, and Smith to name but a few.