Hugo (game show)

Hugo

One of many logos for the Hugo shows, this one used by Kabel 1 in 1996.
Created by Ivan Sølvason and Niels Krogh Mortensen[1]
Presented by Nina Klinker Jørgensen,[2][3] various
Country of origin Denmark
Production company(s) Interactive Television Entertainment[4]
Broadcast
Original channel TV2
Picture format 480i
Original run September 1990[5] – May 1995

Hugo (Danish: Skærmtrolden Hugo) was an interactive television show created by the Danish company Interactive Television Entertainment (ITE) in 1990. Since its premiere in TV2, this popular "live one-player multi platform interactive game show" has aired in more than 40 other countries and has seen multiple video games and other media and merchandise in its extended franchise.

Original program

Hugo was first aired on Danish national television TV2 in the program Eleva2ren in 1990,[6][7][8] featuring a video game that was played by the audience via telephone connection. A player would call the show, then be prompted by a human host to control a cartoon character on the TV screen in several scenarios by pressing the number keys on the phone, assorted to the character controls.[9] The show has been aired continuously for five years.[10]

ITE developed a designated, custom-built computer hardware system called ITE 3000 that would convert telephone signals into remotely control the characters in the game and allow the interaction of the audience and the TV action without delay.[11] The system was based on two Amiga 3000 computers plus a new audio control system MIDI sampler, the DTMF system and some other extra hardware, and reportedly costed $100,000 to make.[12] ITE 3000 got later replaced by the PC-based ITE 4000, which used a real time motion capture system Animation Mask System (AMS)[13] invented by Bjarne Sølvason (father of the ITE founder Ivan Sølvason) to transfer an actor's body/head/eye movements and facial expressions to Hugo's character on screen.[14][15] The actor providing the voice of Hugo wore the helmet which contained sensors that could capture his facial expressions and translate them to the character, but all of the characters' body movements were pre-rendered.[16] In 1996, ITE created new, 3D graphics for Hugo using Silicon Graphics machines.[7] A new technology allowing the real-time 3D animation of Hugo was unveiled in 2006.[17]

Hugo '​s original scenario, which ran on Danish television for a year, featured only the titular character - a small, friendly troll named Hugo, navigating an old mine in a quest for a treasure. Hugo was originally portrayed by Michael Brockdorf, who has developed this voice while in the Army.[18] Several others have since taken over the task of voicing the character, including Amin Jensen and Torben Simonsen. For the next season, ITE added Hugo's family: his wife Hugolina (Hugoline) and their kids Rit (TrolleRit), Rat (TrolleRat) and Rut (TrolleRut), as well Hugo's enemy, an evil witch named Scylla. Hugolina was originally voiced by Louise Engell and Scylla by her mother Winnie (Louise's brother, Thomas Engell, also composed Hugo music).[19] Later, it got gradually expanded with more characters and more diverse environment and gameplay, with the spin-off program Hugo Jungle Island[20] (Hugo Vulkanøen) premiering in January 1999.[21]

Licensed programs

The programs were licenced for more than 40[20] (43 as of 2007[22]) TV shows around the world (first in Spain in 1992, followed by France[10]), tailored to individual markets. Many viewers believed that the program is native to their countries, as Hugo spoke Danish only in Denmark.[23]

Hugo never aired in South Africa because the local TV station demanded ITE to remove horns in all animations for all games, as their viewers where very superstitious and believed that Hugo would appear as a demon from the local beliefs. The horns of Hugo also caused some problems in the Middle East.[28]

The Hugo shows airings in chronological order[5]
Country Date Channel Broadcasting
Denmark (I) September 1990 - May 1995 TV2 Friday
Spain June 1992 - June 1994 Tele5
France September 1992 - August 1994 France3
Turkey (I) March 1993 - October 1997 Kanal 6 Monday-Friday
Sweden (I) March 1993 - December 1993 Sverige 1 Monday-Friday
Finland March 1993 - December 1995 TV2 Tuesday / Thursday
United States (Puerto Rico) April 1993 - April 1994 Telemundo
Norway September 1993 - May 1995 TV2 Friday
Israel January 1994 - October 1997 Arutz HaYeladim
United Kingdom (I) January 1994 - January 1995 ITV Saturday
Germany April 1994 - December 1996 Der Kabelkanal / Kabel-1 Monday-Saturday
Austria and Switzerland December 1994 - December 1996 Kabel-1 Monday-Saturday
United Kingdom (II) January 1995 - October 1995 ITV Saturday
Slovenia (I) January 1995 - December 1997 TV Slovenija Saturday / Sunday
Chile June 1995 - December 1997 Televisión Nacional de Chile Monday-Friday
Brazil October 9, 1995[37] - 1998[38] CNT Gazeta Monday-Friday
Thailand March 1996 - May 1998 Channel 7 Monday-Friday
Croatia April 1, 1996 - June 15, 2004[39] HRT Monday-Friday
Argentina September 1996 - 2006 Magic Kids Monday-Friday
Ireland (I) November 1996 - November 1997 TnG / TG4 Saturday
Austria, Germany and Switzerland December 18, 1996 - December 13, 1997 Kabel-1 Saturday
Sweden (II) January 1997 - December 1998 TV4 Monday-Friday
Denmark (II) February 1997 - May 1997 TV2 Friday
Portugal (I) November 1997 - June 2000 RTP1, RTP2 Saturday / Sunday, Monday-Friday
Russia (I) December 1997 - September 1998 RTR2 Saturday / Sunday
Ireland (II) 1998 - ? TG4 Monday-Sunday
Switzerland January 1998 - July 1998 SF / DSR
Germany May 1998 - June 1998 Nickelodeon Monday-Friday
Colombia February 1999 - January 2001 Canal Capital Monday-Friday
Denmark (III) February 1999 - December 2000 TV2 Monday-Friday
Austria March 1999 - ? ORT
Russia (II) June 1999 - December 1999 RTR2 Monday-Friday
Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro January 2000 - December 2003 BK TV Monday-Friday
Malaysia May 2000 - April 2001 ntv7 Saturday / Sunday
Poland September 2000 - February 2009 Polsat Saturday
Singapore December 2000 - January 2003 TV12
Denmark (IV) January 2001 - December 31, 2002 TV2 Monday-Friday
Middle East January 2001 - December 2003 ART Monday-Saturday
Portugal (II) April 2001 - July 2001 RTP2 Monday-Friday
Turkey (II) May 2001 - September 30, 2002 Show TV Monday-Saturday
Venezuela (I) November 2001 - June 2002 Venevision Monday-Friday
Bosnia & Herzegovina March 27, 2002 - June 30, 2005 RTVFBiH Monday-Friday
Denmark (V) June 2003 - December 2004 TV2 Monday-Sunday
Bermuda Juni 2003 - 2006 Fresh TV
Turkey (III) November 2003 - October 2004 Cine5 Monday-Saturday
Vietnam March 2004 - February 2006 HTV7 Monday / Wednesday / Friday / Sunday
People's Republic of China July 2004 - ? Guangdong TV Monday-Sunday
Turkey (IV) September 2004 - June 2005 ATV Monday-Saturday
Venezuela (II) March 2005 - February 2006 Venevision Monday-Friday
Romania October 2005 - December 2007 Prima TV Friday-Sunday
China January 26, 2006 - ? Hubei Province TV 1x a week
Vietnam 2007 - ? VTC 2x a week
Slovenia (II) October 2007 - ?

See also

References

  1. (Danish) Hugos far bortadopterer tv-trolden, ComON, 16 July 2002
  2. (Danish) Galleri: Frederiks gamle flammer
  3. (Danish) Video: Kiksede danske 90'er-shows, Tkek TV, 7.7.11
  4. "Brand Licensing". Brand Licensing. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  5. 5.0 5.1 (German) TV-Historie, Hugo-Troll.de
  6. (German) Firma Historie, Hugo-Troll.de
  7. 7.0 7.1 ITE Hugo (ITE official website 1997)
  8. (Danish) Video: Skærmtrolden Hugo vender tilbage, tvitd.dk, 6 November 2011
  9. Doug Fairall. "This Mobile Game Will Troll You « PopGamer". Pop-gamer.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  10. 10.0 10.1 ITE milestones (2001 ITE release)
  11. Nico Schimmelpfennig. "Backstage - Hinter den Kulissen" (in German). Hugo-troll.de. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Simon Byron, "Work in progress: Halt! Hugo's There!", The One Amiga 66 (March 1994).
  13. ITE Animation Mask System (archived)
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Hugo - an international, interactive TV star! (2001 ITE press release)
  15. (German) Die Hugo Show (1995) - Hinter den Kulissen
  16. Sharon Schatz. "Interactive Television: Are We There Yet?". Awn.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  17. (Danish) Mette Kühnell Petersen, Skærmtrolden Hugo _ Hvor blev han af?, TV 2 Programmer, 14-07-12
  18. (Danish) Elisabeth Saugmann, Hele filmuniverset er hans legeplads, Jyllands-Posten, 10.01.06
  19. 20.0 20.1 "Hugo Jungle Island". Ite.dk. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  20. Hugo Jungle(1999) (archived)
  21. (Danish) Hugos far er umulig at slå ud, Erhvervsbladet.dk, 5 September 2007.
  22. (Danish) Bjørn Schiønning, 20 år gamle Hugo hitter i udlandet, dr.dk, 21 December 2011.
  23. 24.0 24.1
  24. (Portuguese) Hugo chega ao Brasil - TV-Pesquisa - PUC-Rio
  25. "Årsrapport 2000/2001" (PDF) (in Danish). Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  26. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 ITE customers (archived).
  27. 28.0 28.1 "''Hugo'' memories Facebook thread by the former ITE crew". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  28. Nico Schimmelpfennig. "Hugo-Show" (in German). Hugo-troll.de. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  29. Nico Schimmelpfennig. "Julia Haacke (alias Hexana)" (in German). Hugo-troll.de. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  30. "Hexana (TV-serie)". Wunschliste.de. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  31. "Hexana 27.12.1997". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  32. http://www.tz.de/muenchen/stadt/90er-jahre-generation-tamagotchi-gameboy-kassettenrekorder-meta-4705966.html
  33. (Hebrew) הוגו
  34. (Hebrew) עולמו של הוגו
  35. "Vui cùng Hugo: trên 20.000 cuộc gọi/lần" (in Vietnamese). Vietbao.vn. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  36. (Portuguese) Jogadores salvam vida de duende por telefone, Folha de S.Paulo, September 6, 1995
  37. (Portuguese) Recordar é viver: 'Hugo', TV Wonders, August 19, 2011
  38. (Croatian) Marina Harpin, HUGO - NAJBOLJA TV IGRA DJECE DEVEDESETIH, srednja.hr, 10/10/2012