What's Up Doc? (TV series)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (June 2007)

What's Up Doc? was a Saturday Morning children's variety series produced and aired on ITV from 1992 to 1995 and hosted by Andy Crane, Yvette Fielding and Pat Sharp. The series also included a variety of characters including Simon Perry, Colin, Wooley, Billy Box, Balgit, Pasty the Worm, Naughty Torty, Sam Sam and Bro & Bro the Wolves. "What's Up Doc?" was designed to promote and feature products created by Warner Bros. in the UK, this included video games, movies, tours of their studios, and of course, their vast library of Looney Tunes animated shorts.

"What's Up Doc?" made use of the "phone in" game format made popular by BBC mainstays Going Live and others, using revolutionary for the time games technology to escalate the experience thanks in part to the budget and resources of Warner Bros. The show was also responsible for the success of Batman: The Animated Series and Animaniacs on terrestrial television. Music was also a huge part of the show and played a massive role in launching the careers of the likes of Take That, East 17 and Eternal.

"What's Up Doc?" was also notorious for launching the careers of puppet comedians Don Austen and John Eccleston, as the show's central new puppet characters, Wolves Bro and Bro, became something akin to overnight sensations. They soon became one of the main reason to watch the show besides Batman: TAS and Animaniacs and earned a spin-off series. Wolf It, on the weekday CITV blocks.

Despite the ratings winning viewership, The show's near the knuckle student humour didn't go unnoticed by Ofcom and after a few wrapped knuckles Sandy Ross, head of STV was worried that Warner Bros would take their business elsewhere and sacked the producers of the show. (On that morning when Gary Barlow was told of this he made speech live on air saying how important the show was and how much he wanted to thank the staff of Whats Up Doc? for their success.) Despite this Sandy Ross employed a safer alternative in the producer roles and in the process took away the fun and innovativeness of the show and the viewing figures plummeted. Along with most of the staff, one by one the characters left and the death knell was finally sounded when Bro and Bro (Austen and Eccleston) jumped ship to the BBC to star on Live & Kicking as a couple of leprechaun brothers, "What's Up Doc?" folded shortly after.