Q&A: Is Oobi still being made?

Another question I see a lot online: is Oobi still being made? Noggin doesn't make it clear when their shows end.

The answer? No, it's not. The last premiere episode was the Valentine's Day episode which aired way back in February 2005. Since then it's just been rerun after rerun! There are 52 segments in total of the full-length show, plus around 50 shorts (nobody really knows for sure).

But hope isn't lost for more Oobi. It recently started airing internationally, and new foreign-language dubs crop up every once and a while... who knows, maybe foreign demand will get Noggin to order more Oobi!!

Q&A: Where are Oobi and Uma's parents?

silver_faerie wrote to me:

...where in the world are Oobi and Uma's parents? Did they ever address this issue? If they have I must have missed it. Not a big deal but I alway's wondered. Any insight would be cool.

The answer? Their parents are never mentioned on the show, not even in passing. Personally, I really like how Grampu is their only guardian. Lots of kids grow up without two parents, and it's nice to see some representation of a non-traditional family on a show that so many little kids enjoy.

It's interesting to note that we actually see a photo of baby Oobi and Uma in the background of a few episodes. Grampu is younger in the picture -- with a sleek head of hair! -- but no parents in sight. So for all those Oobi analysts out there, we do know that Grampu's been taking care of his grandkids since they were babies.

Thank you!!

I decided to check the blog's hits this morning. And I got a nice surprise: the episode guide page has 25,892 pageviews as of right now!! It's one of the top results on Google for 'oobi episodes' too! It makes me pretty proud. Thank you so much to everyone who follows this silly little blog, and to all of the families out there who love Oobi as much as we do.

Q&A: What's up with the 'Oobi Shorts'?

Almost every TV show, whether it be for adults or little kids, starts out with a pilot episode: a first episode that the show's creators pitch to a TV network, in hopes of getting it turned into a full show. Oobi doesn't exactly have a pilot episode -- it has a bunch of short, 2-to-5-minute pilot episodes.

Well, not exactly. If you've been following Oobi for a long time like me, or if you just happen to watch the Noggin Network a lot, you might notice that the first episodes of Oobi were just shorts. The shorts are wonky and weird, and they just have this loose, energetic quality to them. Thanks to this interview with Josh Selig (creator of Oobi), now we know why Oobi started out with these shorts and not just a regular pilot!

The story: Noggin was looking for new shows, and Josh Selig pitched them the idea of Oobi in 1999. He was a good friend and longtime employee of Sesame Workshop, which co-owned Noggin. As a proof of concept, Noggin asked his studio to make a series of interstitial shorts with the Oobi characters. They wanted to have some content to play during commercial breaks, and the Oobi shorts fit the bill perfectly. If the shorts were popular with kids, Noggin told Selig, they would greenlight it for a half-hour series. And that's exactly what happened a few years later in 2003. And the rest is history!

Oobi on "The Soup!"

Does anyone here watch "The Soup"? It's a talk show on the E! Channel with Joel McHale as the host. He takes random-but-funny looks at stuff from pop culture. In a couple of recent shows, he featured clips from Oobi!

It was shown as part of their segment "What the Kids Are Watching." They showed the Showtime and Bathroom episodes. Check it out on YouTube! (Click link)

A scene of Oobi on The Soup!

Submissions!

Have a question about Oobi? Or maybe you'd like to share a memory, a picture, or a video about Oobi? Well, now you can send it to the blog! Just shoot me a message at:

grampusblog @ aol.com

Oobi on eBay

Sblaydes from Canada asked where to get Oobi Eyes if you're outside the United States.

OobiEyes.com doesn't ship internationally yet, so you could look for alternatives on eBay. There are two good options on there that do ship to Canada and abroad: Peepers Puppets (aka the "Oobi-Like" Eyes) and the eyes from Tadpoles1010's Shop, which are homemade eyes made to look like Oobi and Uma.

They may not be the most accurate but they sure are cute!

Episode guide now available!!

Alice from Berkeley wrote to me:

I love Oobi! I TiVo'd every time it was on and watched it obsessively! It was a fantastic program. I thought the messages were wonderful, the stories well told, and the characters lovable (come on, how can you not adore Grampu with his "lovely" voice). I don't believe they are making new episodes any longer and it's a shame! That just leaves me with "Jack's Big Music Show"! I was wondering if there is a list of Oobi episodes somewhere? Noggin's website doesn't list them and I'd like to know if I've seen them all!

It took a while, but now we have an up-to-date episode guide! It lists every episode from seasons one and two, plus the shorts! Check it out here! (Click the link)