The Hoobs

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
It 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 Hoobmobile, and Roma travels to all parts of the world. 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:
 * Hubba Hubba introduces the viewers to the Hoobs and the opening titles roll, some of the fifth season episodes have trimmed the introduction before the theme song.
 * A preamble during which a question to be answered is stumbled upon.
 * Hubba Hubba formalizes the task.
 * Roma is e-mailed the question in order for her to provide a report.
 * Hubba Hubba downloads some pictures or shows videos from HoobNet, relating to the question.
 * A line of dialogue with a question and statement ending "who", "what", "when", "where", "why" or "how" causes a cutaway to a Motorettes' performance of that word.
 * There is usually a number of songs from the Hoobs or Motorettes, in some cases with familiar lyrics, or a familiar tune.
 * The Hoobs visit the Tiddlypeeps (human children) twice, as "they're smart, they're fun, they know."
 * One Hoob drives left hand drive or right hand drive, one visits and turns the key and the third may participate in the B-story.
 * An animated drawing story from a Tiddlypeep is aired, relating to the question. But in the episode "Stories", Tula makes a story herself which Hubba Hubba then puts on HoobNet and gets a Tiddlypeep to tell it.
 * Roma reports back to the other Hoobs about the related subject on the Hoobycomputer.
 * Various inappropriate solutions are rejected for an answer, just in time.
 * Hoob News summarizes the adventure then the end credits roll.

Other series

 * Hello Hoobs – the five-minute "Hello Hoobs" segment includes excerpts from the English-language version, edited to function as a teaching tool. Targeted at viewers between the ages of four and eight, the segment uses the Hoobs to expand English-language vocabulary and explain rudiments of grammar. The stated goal was to teach 400 words and 150 different expressions. The segment airs immediately prior to the half-hour The Hoobs broadcast on a weekly basis, and is compiled into a half-hour weekend broadcast for Southern Europe, to serve as a review of knowledge.

Characters

 * Iver: The purple leading male Hoob figure of the threesome. He is very punctual and business-like, but likes to have fun, too. Iver is a great doer, but sometimes he tends to be a bit of a worrier.
 * Groove: The green male Hoob with his green Twizzletuft covering his eyes who is always cool and relaxed, and a little slower than the others. He is also a little greedy and shy and a bit more hesitant to leave the Hoobmobile. He has a talent for making music, and he enjoys collecting things.
 * Tula: The pink female Hoob on board. She is sympathetic, caring and enthusiastic, though she's sometimes a little tiring to have around. Tula is very creative and loves crafts.
 * Roma: The orange female explorer Hoob who travels around the world, gathering information for the Hoobopaedia by talking to the Tiddlypeeps. Roma does neither live in nor drive the Hoobmobile, but she frequently reports all her discoveries to Iver, Groove and Tula through video messages and sometimes she visits the Hoobmobile to help them with their questions. Roma drives and rides a motorcycle called a Hooby Picki Picki, which is powered by one Motorette. In the series 3 episode "Roma's Visit" Roma talks to the Tiddlypeeps.
 * Hubba Hubba: The blue male leader of the Hoobs. From his home base in Hoobland, he updates the Hoobopaedia with all the info that Iver, Groove and Tula collect during their stay in our world. In the season 5 episode "The Big Bonk" Hubba Hubba comes to visit the Hoobmobile and talks to the Tiddlypeeps on the Peep Planet and does Hoob News all by himself.
 * The Motorettes: Three robotic creatures that live in engine of the Hoobmobile. Their names are Tootle (Female; Blue/Lime Green), Timp (Female; Yellow/Orange Red), and Twang (Male; Pink Magenta/Purple). The Motorettes operate the engine by singing and making music. There is also one that powers Roma's motorcycle, the Hooby Picki Picki.

Puppeteers

 * Iver − voiced by Don Austen
 * Groove − voiced by John Eccleston (series 1−3) and Mark Jefferis (series 4 and 5)
 * Tula − voiced by Julie Westwood
 * Roma − voiced by Gillie Robic
 * Hubba Hubba − voiced by Mark Jefferis (series 1−3, 4 (Occasionally)) and Brian Herring (series 4 and 5)
 * The Motorettes − voiced by Rebecca Nagan (Tootle), Wim Booth (Timp) and Mark Jefferis (Twang)
 * Steven Kynman, Victoria Willing, Ivestyn Evans, Robert Skidmore and Susan Beattie served as assistant puppeteers in the series.
 * Mak Wilson, Katherine Smee, Dave Taylor, Jason Hopley and Jamie Shannon served as puppeteer accountants in the show's final series and on Hooby Happy Holidays on Sprout.

(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."

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, 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.

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.