| The Brothers Flub | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated television series |
| Created by | David Burke Laslo Nosek[1] |
| Written by | Susie Singer Carter Dan Danko Tom Mason Don Priess Ralph Soll David Burke Bob Widmer |
| Directed by | Bob Boyle Ralph Grairl |
| Voices of | Scott Menville Jerry Sroka Charlotte Rae Ron Hale Christine Cavanaugh Joe Lala John Kassil Tom Kenny Candi Milo Jeff Bennett H. Richard Greene[2] |
| Theme music composer | Nathan Wang[2] |
| Country of origin | US |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 22-26 minutes (2×11-minute episodes) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nickelodeon |
| Original run | January 17, 1999[3] – January 8, 2000[4] |
The Brothers Flub is an animated television series produced by Sunbow Productions and co-produced by Ravensburger. It aired in the United States of America on the television network Nickelodeon. The show's titular characters are a pair of alien brothers named Guapo and Fraz, both of whom work as couriers, who travel throughout their universe to deliver packages to a different planet in each episode of the series. The Brothers Flub lasted for twenty-six episodes, airing on Sundays from January 1999 until its cancellation in January 2000.
Contents |
The Brothers Flub takes place in a fictionalized version of outer space. The show's title refers to its two central characters: a pair of blue-furred alien brothers named Guapo and Fraz Flub. Guapo is shorter and fatter than his brother, and is a darker shade of blue. Both wear bodysuits, shoes and caps.
In the series, they work for a company called RetroGrade Interdimensional Couriers, of which a green-colored female alien named Tarara Boomdeyay is the boss.[1][5][6] Other characters at their job include a female alien named Valerina and an older orange, male alien named Squish. The brothers, who are couriers, through their universe in their spacecraft (called Hoog) to deliver packages to various planets.[6][7] Each episode features a different planet with a different characteristic, such as "The Land of Oversized Games", which comprises life-sized game pieces such as a pinball machine,[8] or "Hip City", a planet inhabited by beatnik aliens.[9]
Cindy Barth of the Orlando Business Journal said that "although still an untested property, optimism is high for the Brothers Flub" because of Sunbow's record and staff members.[10]
The creators marketed the series for children ages six through eleven.[11] Sunbow contracted with Animatics, an Orlando, Florida-based company, allowing for Animatics to create the storyline and the storyboard for the series.[10] Laura Sullivan, the senior director of marketing of Sony Wonder, said in a 1999 Promo article that the series attracted equal numbers of male and female children and that it was "very Nickelodeon-looking."[11]
The Brothers Flub was used in several promotional deals for various brands. Fast food chain KFC announced that it would use the characters in a kids' meal, while Carl's Jr. and Hardee's branded tray liners and bags with The Brothers Flub images.[11] GNC planned to include The Brothers Flub yo-yos in its children's vitamins, while department store chain Macy's used the characters in their back-to-school advertising flyers.[12] Skechers started a sweepstakes that distributed Skechers and The Brothers Flub-branded items.
Sony Wonder released two videocassettes of the show in 1999. These were entitled Plan C: Panic! and Doom Wears Funny Tights!.[13][14] Each one featured four episodes of the series.
Critical reception for the show was largely negative. Joanne Weintraub of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel described the show as "a rare clinker with all the noisy hyperactivity of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and little of the cockeyed charm."[15] The Hollywood Reporter called it "a somewhat vacuous effort that lacks the charm and substance of much of Nick's other programming" but added "now and again [the creators] hit on some clever high jinks."[7] Writing for the Lakeland Ledger, Evan Levine thought that the show had a promising premise, but thought that its humor was mean-spirited.[16]