Oobicube

Oobicube is an American children's television series created by Josh Selig for Nickelodeon and its sister channel Noggin. The show follows four characters, represented by bare hand puppets with eyes and accessories, on their everyday adventures. It began in 2000 as a series of two-minute interstitial shorts commissioned by Noggin, which was jointly owned by Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop at the time. It was later developed into a full-length series, with longer 13-minute episodes airing from April 2003 to February 2005.[2] The show has three seasons: the first season of shorts and two later seasons of long-form episodes.

Selig created the series shortly after leaving Sesame Street, which he had worked on since its first season. He developed the idea for Oobi while watching bare-handed puppeteers audition for Ulica Sezamkowa, the Polish version of Sesame Street. Roles on Oobi were offered to veteran puppeteers from related Sesame Workshop shows. The Jim Henson Company, which designed the puppets on Sesame Street, held a stake in Noggin when Oobi was produced. The show was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios, where Sesame Street is also taped.

The series features Muppet performers Tim Lagasse, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Noel MacNeal, and Tyler Bunch in starring roles. Oobi 's concept is based on a technique used by puppeteers learning to lip-sync, in which they use their hands and a pair of ping pong balls in place of a puppet. The characters' designs include glass eyes and accessories such as hats and hairpieces. The puppeteers' thumbs are used to represent mouth movement, and their fingers flutter and clench to indicate emotions. The characters talk in simple sentences, using only two to three words at a time.

Oobi was a breakout success for Noggin. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the puppeteers' performances, the visual style, and the show's appeal toward multiple age groups. The Melbourne Age reported that the show developed a strong cult following[3] among older viewers, and Noel MacNeal has commented that the show's fans range from amateur puppeteers to "college-age stoners."[4] The show received a variety of awards, including from the Television Academy and Parents' Choice. Oobi posted a Nielsen rating of 2.35 among the preschool age group by 2004, becoming the highest-rated series ever to air on Noggin. It is the most widely distributed Noggin show, having aired in over 23 markets worldwide by 2005. A foreign adaptation titled Oobi: Dasdasi premiered in 2012 and ran for 78 episodes, airing in the Middle East and countries across Asia.