January 16, 1999 (1999-01-16)[3] – January 8, 2000 (2000-01-08)[4]
The Brothers Flub is a German-American animated television series created by David Burke and Laxlo Nosek for Nickelodeon. It was produced by Sunbow Entertainment and Sony Wonder Television in co-production with Ravensburger Film + TV and Videal. Nickelodeon billed the show as its original programming despite it not being a Nicktoon. 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 16, 1999, until January 8, 2000 and was widely panned by critics, who compared it unfavorably to actual Nicktoons.[5]
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]
Production
The show was produced by Sunbow Entertainment, at the time a subsidiary of Sony Wonder. 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.[12] 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 series was delayed for a year from its original scheduled debut.[13]
Episodes
No.
Title
Written by
Directed by
1
Wrestlemaniacs
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Raldolph Heard
Thom Kins & Bert Ring
Bard Brain
Doug Langdale
Thom Kins & Bert Ring
2
Queen Bees
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Ralph Soll
Thom Kins
Fitness Freaks
Doug Langdale
Thom Kins
3
Flub, Flub and Away
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Ralph Soll
Thom Kins & Bert Ring
Cookie Crumbles
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Kati Rocky
Thom Kins & Bert Ring
4
Village Idiots
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
Flubs Overeasy
Steve Brasfield
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
5
Hair Brains
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
Tiresome Twosome
David Burke
Thom Kins
6
Pizza! Pizza!
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Steve Brasfield
Thom Kins
Bad Judgement Day
Andrew Brenner
Thom Kins
7
Snow Doomed
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Andrew Brenner
Thom Kins
Guapos Galore
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Shaun McLaughlin
Thom Kins
8
Tarara Birthdeeyay
Andrew Brenner
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
Big Business
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Andrew Brenner
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
9
Cold Soreheads
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Ralph Soll
Thom Kins
Operation Flubpossible
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Andrew Brenner
Thom Kins
10
Warped Speed
Kati Rocky
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
Double Feature
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
11
A Courier's Carol
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
Boys Toys
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Raldolph Heard
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
12
Sore Loser
David Burke
Thom Kins
Paradise Shmaradise
David Burke
Thom Kins
13
Finder's Keepers
Steve Brasfield
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
Shrinky Dinky
Andrew Brenner
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
14
Teacher's Pest
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Bert Ring & Thom Kins
Yippy-Ki-Yay
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
15
It's a Mystery
Ralph Soll
Thom Kins
For the Birds
Shaun McLaughlin
Thom Kins
16
Unlucky Charmers
Don Priess & Susie Singer
Thom Kins
Bunch of Trouble
Story by: Dan Danko, Tom Mason & Kati Rocky Teleplay by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
17
Madman Mambo
David Burke
Thom Kins & Bert Ring
Guapo's Funhouse
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins & Bert Ring
18
Heads Up
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Ralph Soll
Thom Kins
Pay Dirt
Andrew Brenner
Thom Kins
19
Bosom Buddies
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
Mother's Little Helpers
Shaun McLaughlin
Thom Kins
20
Wishmasters
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
Train in Vain
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
21
Fatal Distraction
David Burke
Thom Kins
Just Deserts
Ralph Soll
Thom Kins
22
Good Sports
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
Sidekicked
Rick Gitelson
Thom Kins
23
Playtime
Dave Polsky
Thom Kins
On My Case
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
24
Family Outing
David Burke
Thom Kins
Talent Show Offs
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
25
Thanks for the Memories
David Burke
Thom Kins
Sloppy Sentiment
Dan Danko & Tom Mason
Thom Kins
26
Scared Stiff
David Burke
Thom Kins
Prehysteria
Story by: Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by: Ralph Soll
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.[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 2000. 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.
VHS releases were planned for the series by Maverick in the United Kingdom, but in the end, no releases came to fruition.[17]
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."[18]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.[19]