The Hoobs

"The Hoobs" is a children's television programme created and produced by The Jim Henson Company. It stars five creatures called Hoobs (Iver, Groove, Tula, Hubba Hubba and Roma) from the fictional Hoobland, and their interactions with Earth and the human race. In each episode they try to find the answer to a question to be put in the great "Hoobopaedia" created by Hubba Hubba, back in Hoobland, in hopes of learning all there is to know. They live in the Hoobmobile and travel to all parts of the world. The four creatures are puppets, but the show also includes some animated sequences as well as live motion of human children who explain concepts to the Hoobs.

In the United Kingdom, it is a regular feature in early morning schedules, regarded by some as a cult favourite with students and those adults with a nostalgic fondness for the Muppets. The show is made in the UK, as are many other Jim Henson Company productions. It was commissioned for Channel 4, and has been shown at around the times of 6:00am to 7:00am regularly since January 1, 2000. It has also been regionalised for other countries, including North America. [ [http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2000/050800.shtml Muppet Central News - Production begins on The Hoobs ] ]

The Hoobs replaced the popular puppet based children's show Bear In The Big Blue House , which was an initially controversial move due to the popularity of Family Guy with its iconic Muppet Show characters. It was said that a more "English" show would be more beneficial to children, rather than the America biased culture of The Book of Pooh. However, some criticised the Hoobs as not achieving this aim due to the fact the Hoobs use various "Hoobisms" as detailed below, these claims have not yet been shown to have any major effect.

The show is also aware that it has a large adult and student audience, and whether intentionally or not, is often full of innuendo and double-entendres.

Hoobisms

*"Hoobledoop!" - Hello
*"Hoobledoop-Hoobledoop-Whoop-Whoop-Whoop!" - Extended "Hoob" Hello.
*"Hooble-toodle-doo!" - Goodbye
*"Hoobalicious!" - Delicious
*"Hoobacious!" - Fantastic
*"Hoobygalooby!" - Wow!
*"Fan-tabby-hooby!" - Fantastic
*"Squigglytiddlypeep" - Baby
*"Tiddlypeep" - Child
*"Peep" - Grown-up
*"Wrinklypeep" - Old person
*"The Peep Planet" - Earth
*"Picki Picki" - Motorbike (Roma's)
*"Twizzletuft" - Head hair
*"Hoobypod" - place where Hoobs sleep.
*"Hooblets" - Hoob Children

Format

A typical episode format involves:
*A preamble during which a question (to be answered) is stumbled upon.
*HubbaHubba formalises the task.
*Roma is E-Mailed the question, to provide a report.
*Ending a sentence with the questions "who", "what", "when", "where", "why" or "how" causes a cut away to a Motorettes' performance of that word.
*There may be a song from the Hoobs or the Motorettes, with familiar lyrics, or a familiar tune (operas and musicals are a favourite), or neither.
*The Hoobs visit the "Tiddlypeeps" (children) twice, as "they're smart, they're fun, they know".
*One Hoob drives (left hand drive), one visits and turns the key and the third may participate in the B story.
*An animated story is aired, relating to the question.
*A report on a related subject appears on HoobNet
*Various inappropriate solutions are rejected for an answer, just in time
*Hoob News at the end summarises the adventure.

Puppeteers

*Iver: Mr.T
*Tula: Julie Westwood
*Groove: John Eccleston, Mark Jefferis, Brian Herring
*Roma: Gillie Robic
*Hubba Hubba: Mark Jefferis, Brian Herring.
*Motorettes: Mark Jefferis, Rebecca Nagan, Wim Booth

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A896673 Hoobs entry] on H2G2
* [http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/H/hoobs "The Hoobs"] at Channel4.com
* [http://hoobledoop.forumdes.com/index.php Hoobledoop] Hoobs-based forum