The Hoobs is a live-action/animated children's television series created and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Decode Entertainment for Channel 4. A total of 250 episodes were produced across five series.

Plot

The series stars five creatures called Hoobs (Hubba Hubba, Iver, Groove, Tula, 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. Hubba Hubba remains in Hoobland to await the report from the other Hoobs, Iver, Groove, and Tula live in the music powered vehicle called the Hoobmobile, and Roma travels to all parts of the world by foot, by public transport and even her music powered motorcycle called the Hooby Picki picki. The five creatures are muppets, but the show also includes some animated sequences as well as live motion of human children who explain concepts to the Hoobs.

Series

A typical episode format involves:

Other series

Characters

Puppeteers

(Mark Jefferis was also lead singer of the show's opening theme, and the voices of the Hoobmobile's Motorettes also sang the music track that powers Roma's Hooby Picki Picki)

Production

Channel 4 announced in November 2000 that a new educational series, titled "The Hoobs", had been developed for a preschool audience. In a £20 million joint venture between Channel 4 and The Jim Henson Company, the channel commissioned 250 half-hour episodes which were to be broadcast from early 2001 (to replace Sesame Street). The series was set to be the biggest preschool series on British television as it was said that "Channel 4 hopes its Hoobs will be the new Teletubbies and the new Tweenies" and wished from it to match its success. Executive vice-president, Angus Fletcher, of the Jim Henson Television Company commented that "We are delighted to have the opportunity to pioneer a groundbreaking format which will address the needs of the first truly multi-media generation."

Broadcast history

United Kingdom

The series premiered on Channel 4 on 15 January 2001 from 6:00am to 7:00am, with two episodes being broadcast each weekday morning. The episodes were repeated from 11:00 am during the Channel 4 schools strand 4Learning, finishing its run of 250 episodes on 3 January 2003. Although the series ceased production in the United Kingdom in July 2002, it was regularly repeated in the same early morning time slot for several years afterwards. It was temporarily taken off the schedule every year during the Christmas period and returned in the new year. 2014 was the final year that the series was repeated, as it has not since returned. It also aired on Nick Jr. UK from 2002 to 2004.

International

It has also been shown in other countries, including North America (the series formerly airing on PBS Kids Sprout) and Australia airing on both ABC and ABC2 from 4 February 2002 to 2 July 2011. In Poland it aired on Polsat JimJam and TV4. It aired in Hungary on JimJam. In Spain, it was on Telemadrid and on K3 in Catalonia. Hop! in Israel, In Italy, "Hello Hoobs" was on JimJam from Sky. In Germany, the show aired on KiKA. In Latin America, the show aired on Semillitas. In Greece, the show aired on Alter Channel. In Ireland, it was screened on TG4, where it was dubbed in Irish. In Hong Kong, it was aired on TVB.

Episodes

Series 1 (2001)

Series 2 (2001)

Series 3 (2001)

Series 4 (2001–2002)

Series 5 (2002–2003)

Home media releases

From 2001 to 2003 in the United Kingdom, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released four VHSs in the United Kingdom each containing two episodes: "Finding Out", "Holidays", "Funny Faces" and "Groove's Wish". Three of the tapes were also released as a bi-pack, and a promotional tape named "Meet the Hoobs" was also released. "Groove's Wish" was also issued out on DVD by CTHE in April 2002, which included an extra episode. Another DVD - "Hooble Toodle Doo!", was released in September 2005 by HIT Entertainment.

Video game

A video game based on the show was released for the PlayStation on 7 June 2002, developed by Runecraft and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.