The Brothers Flub

The Brothers Flub is an animated television series produced by Sunbow Entertainment and co-produced by jigsaw puzzle manufacturer Ravensburger. It aired in the United States on the television network Nickelodeon. The show's title 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. It ran from January 17, 1999 until January 8, 2000.[5]

The Brothers Flub
The cover of Plan C: Panic!, depicting Guapo (left) and Fraz
GenreComic science fiction
Created byDavid Burke
Laslo Nosek[1]
Written bySusie Singer Carter
Dan Danko
Tom Mason
Don Priess
Ralph Soll
David Burke
Bob Widmer
Andrew Brenner
Kati Rocky
Shaun McLaughlin
Laslo Nosek
Directed byBob Boyle
Ralph Grairl
Thom Kins
Bert Ring
Charlie Adler (voice)
David Bucs (animation art)
Jeff Hall (timing)
Jamie H. Huang (timing)
Carole A. Beers (timing)
Michael Lyman (timing)
Voices ofScott Menville
Jerry Sroka
Charlotte Rae
Ron Hale
Christine Cavanaugh[2]
Theme music composerNathan Wang[2]
Country of originUnited States
Germany
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26 (52 segments)
Production
ProducersBonni Freeman (coordinating)
C.J. Kettler (executive)
Geraldine Clarke (supervising)
Jodey J. Kaminski (associate)
Salaam Coleman (Nickelodeon executive)
Wolfgang Heidrich (Ravensburger Film + TV executive)
Running timeapprox. 22-26 minutes (2×11-minute episodes)
Production companiesRavensburger Film + TV
Videal
Sunbow Entertainment
Sony Wonder Television
DistributorSony Wonder
Release
Original networkNickelodeon (United States)
Super RTL (Germany)
Original releaseJanuary 17, 1999 (1999-01-17)[3] –
January 8, 2000 (2000-01-08)[4]

Summary

The Brothers Flub takes place in 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 lighter 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][6][7] Other characters at their job include a female alien named Valerina and an older orange, male alien named Squish. The brothers, who are couriers, travel through their universe in their spacecraft (called the Hoog) to deliver packages to various planets.[7][8] 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,[9] or "Hip City", a planet inhabited by beatnik aliens.[10]

History

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.[11]

Production

The creators marketed the series for children ages six through eleven.[12] Sunbow contracted with Animatics, an Orlando, Florida-based company, allowing for Animatics to create the storyline and the storyboard for the series.[11] 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."[12] The series was delayed for a year from its original scheduled debut.[13]

Episodes
  • 1. Bard Brain/Bunch of Troubles
  • 2. Cookie Crumbles/Fitness Freaks
  • 3. Flub, Flub and Away/Flub's Overeasy
  • 4. Guapo's Funhouse/Guapos Galore
  • 5. Hair Brains/Heads Up
  • 6. Madman Mambo/Pay Dirt
  • 7. Pizza! Pizza!/ Prehysteria
  • 8. Queen Bees/Scared Stiff
  • 9. Snow Doomed/Tiresome Twosome
  • 10. Unlucky Charmers/Village Idiots
  • 11. Wrestlemaniacs/Bad Judgment Day
  • 12. Thanks for the Memories/Sloppy Sentiments
  • 13. Paradise Shmaradise/Sore Losers
  • 14. Warped Speed/Double Feature
  • 15. Finders Keepers/Shrinky Dinky
  • 16. For The Birds/It's a Mystery
  • 17. Yippy-Ki-Yay/Teacher's Pest
  • 18. Wishmasters/Train in Vain
  • 19. Boy's Toys/A Courier's Carol
  • 20. Play Time/On My Case
  • 21. Good Sports!/Sidekicked
  • 22. Big Business/Tarara Birthdeeyay

Cast

Main cast

Additional voices

Crew

Merchandising

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.[12] 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.[14] Skechers started a sweepstakes that distributed Skechers and The Brothers Flub-branded items.

VHS release

Sony Wonder released two videocassettes of the show in 1999. These were entitled Plan C: Panic! and Doom Wears Funny Tights!.[15][16] Each one featured four episodes of the series. Both tapes are now out of print and hard to find.

International Broadcast

Reception

The Brothers Flub was panned by critics. 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."[17] 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."[8] Writing for the Lakeland Ledger, Evan Levine thought that the show had a promising premise, but thought that its humor was mean-spirited.[18]

References
  1. Richmond, Ray (1997-12-09). "Nick buys "Brothers Flub"". Variety. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  2. As listed in closing credits
  3. "New kids on the shelf: Brothers Flub attracts "transdimensional" promo slate". Promo Magazine. 1999-09-01. Archived from the original on 2006-11-18. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  4. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television cartoon shows: an illustrated encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003. 1 (2 ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 159. ISBN 0-7864-2099-5.
  5. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 95. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  6. "Brothers Flub". Retroland. Archived from the original on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  7. Barth, Cindy (1998-05-29). "Nickelodeon's Brothers Flub gets local touch". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  8. "Brothers Flub". Hollywood Reporter. 1999-01-22. Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  9. "Scared Stiff". The Brothers Flub. Nickelodeon.
  10. "Bard Brain". The Brothers Flub. Nickelodeon.
  11. Barth, Cindy. "Nickelodeon's Brothers Flub gets local touch." Orlando Business Journal. Friday May 29, 1998.
  12. "New Kids on the Shelf: Brothers Flub attracts"transdimensional" promo slate Archived 2006-11-18 at the Wayback Machine." Promo Magazine. September 1, 1999.
  13. Perlmutter, David (2018-05-04). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 95. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  14. Stanley, T. L. (1999-07-26). "Bros. Flub sets rookie promo deal". Brandweek. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  15. "Brothers Flub: Plan C - Panic! (1999)." The New York Times. Retrieved on November 9, 2008.
  16. "Brothers Flub: Doom Wears Funny Tights." The New York Times. Retrieved on November 9, 2008.
  17. Weintraub, Joanne. "Animals star in two winning kid-TV shows." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. February 23, 1999.
  18. Levine, Evan (16 April 1999). "'The Brothers Flub' Needs More Than Funny Premise". Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
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