Noggin Presents: Oobi (partially lost series of interstitial shorts; 2000-2002)
Oobi was a puppet TV series that was co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon for Noggin.
The show began as a series of shorts that aired during commercial breaks on Noggin starting from 2000. The success of the shorts led to full episodes being produced. The full episodes aired from 2003 until 2005. In 2007, however, Nickelodeon pulled the plug on their partnership with Sesame Workshop. While the full episodes continued to air in reruns on Noggin, the shorts did not.
Premise
The show is set in a neighborhood populated by bare-hand puppets, and is shown from the perspective of a 4-year-old boy named Oobi. The puppets tend to interact with the audience and encourage them to join in on whatever they are doing. The puppets speak in clipped sentences (ex. "Uma, school, first day!" instead of "It's my first day of school!").
Oobi lives in an old-fashioned single-story home with his excitable little sister, Uma, and somewhat hapless grandfather, Grampu. Oobi's best friend, Kako, lives right across the street and visits often. Each episode focuses on Oobi discovering or learning more about a particular concept, such as a game or sport. Uma and Kako provide comic relief, often misunderstanding Oobi's discoveries in a comical way.
Availability
While all of the full episodes are available to legally watch for free on YouTube, 15 of the 48 known shorts are completely lost.
Episodes
# | Episode Title | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Dance!" | Partially Lost | Available on the Blue's Clues: Shapes and Colors! and the Dora the Explorer: Rhymes and Riddles DVDs, albeit lacking the ending. |
2 | "Tag!" | Lost | |
3 | "Flush!" | Found | |
4 | "On and Off!" | Lost | |
5 | "Share Pretzels!" | Found | |
6 | "Watermelon!" | Partially Found | Last 10 seconds. |
7 | "Soup!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in the shorts' opening sequence. |
8 | "Hotdog and Ketchup!" | Lost | |
9 | "Prince Oobi!" | Lost | |
10 | "Bubbles!" | Lost | |
11 | "Empty and Full!" | Found | |
12 | "Popcorn!" | Found | |
13 | "Worm!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in the shorts' opening sequence. |
14 | "Apple Picking!" | Found | |
15 | "Pretend Wind!" | Lost | |
16 | "Tea!" | Found | |
17 | "Ice Cream!" | Lost | |
18 | "Water Games!" | Partially Found | A low-quality screenshot of this episode exists online. |
19 | "Guess!" | Partially Found | A screenshot of this episode exists online. |
20 | "Bird!" | Lost | |
21 | "Cat!" | Lost | |
22 | "Puppy!" | Lost | |
23 | "Animal Cookies!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in the shorts' opening sequence. |
24 | "Slide!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in a promo. |
25 | "Follow the Leader!" | Lost | |
26 | "Peekaboo!" | Found | |
27 | "Dig!" | Partially Found | A Behind-The-Scenes photograph of the production of this short is featured on Tim Lagasse's website. |
28 | "Hide and Seek!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in the shorts' opening sequence. |
29 | "Nature!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in a promo. |
30 | "Pretend Catch!" | Found | |
31 | "Music!" | Found | |
32 | "Guitar!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in a promo. |
33 | "Bongo Drums!" | Found | |
34 | "Quiet Read!" | Found | |
35 | "Clap Hands!" | Found | |
36 | "Painting!" | Partially Found | A low-quality screenshot of this episode exists online. |
37 | "Macaroni Jewelry!" | Found | |
38 | "Paint Shapes!" | Lost | |
39 | "Pinch Pot!" | Partially Found | A short clip of this episode is featured in the shorts' opening sequence. |
40 | "Drawing Game!" | Found | |
41 | "Neighborhood Art!" | Lost | |
42 | "Toothpaste!" | Found | |
43 | "Feelings!" | Found | |
44 | "Cake!" | Lost | |
45 | "Wet and Dry!" | Lost | |
46 | "Bubble Bath!" | Found | Available on the Dora the Explorer: City of Lost Toys and the Blue's Clues: Blue Takes You to School DVDs, albeit lacking the beginning. |
47 | "Itsy Bitsy Spider!" | Found | |
48 | "Toys!" | Found |