Boohbah

Boohbah Magique, a video released in France.

Boohbah is a television show aimed at children between three and six years old, intended to encourage them to exercise. It premiered in 2003 on ITV in the United Kingdom, and 2004 in the United States on PBS. It was created by Anne Wood, who also created the children's show Teletubbies, and is produced by the UK's Ragdoll Ltd. and the USA's PBS Kids. The similarity between this show and Teletubbies, both of which have a "science fiction" theme, is notable.

"Boohbah" means "doll" in Hebrew, but it's not clear if this influenced the name of the show, or even if the creators are aware of this.

The Boohballs

One of the common features in Boohbah is the Boohballs. The Boohballs, glowing white balls, are where the Boohbahs live, and appears out of nowhere in various parts of the show. It travels from country to country when it is called by children. Inside the Boohball is a spinning recharging pod, where the Boohbahs recharge energy. It resembles five deep spoons with the handles linked. The energy is created by the laughter of the children when playing with the Boohbahs, the Boohball, and the Storypeople.

The elements of the program

Each show follows the same sequence of events in every episode. The sequence of events are:

Opening title. The Boohball flies over at least three out of 15 different countries (Australia, China, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Jamaica, Japan, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, United States)
Boohbah warm up dance. The children call the Boohbahs by their names ("Humbah, Zumbah, Zing Zing Zingbah, Jumbah, Jingbah -- Booh!"), and then the Boohbahs one by one do a simple dance. After awhile the pacing goes faster until all the Boohbah's are out of control only to freeze when the children call out their names one by one.
Present giving, in which a group of children bring a present for the Storypeople and they blow it into the Storyworld with the power of Boohbah magic. The present given will be the theme of the segment.
Storyworld and the Storypeople, which is based on the present given in the last segment. During the segment, certain Storypeople will encounter problems, and the children will say the magic word, which is "Boohbah", which freezes the story and allows the children to blow another gift to the Storypeople, which enables the story to continue and make the problem solved. These segments are filmed in Spain, unless the segments involve snow, in which case, the respective segment is filmed in Switzerland.
Boohbah dance, where the Boohbahs perform a dance somewhat related to the "Storyworld and the Storypeople" segment. This dance is slightly more complex than the "warm up" dances.
Look What I (or We) Can Do, shown in the American version in which actual children perform dances of their own. Three different dances are featured per show, and are simple so the home audience can follow along.
End title, in which the Boohball flies off to another country with children calling from far away.

This sequence is similar to the one in Teletubbies.

External links

Current PBS Kids Shows (as of May 2006)

* No new episodes are being produced, yet many major PBS stations televise air reruns

List does not include shows from networks airing PBS Kids shows but not funded directly from PBS such as KLCS shows.

[Complete List] | [Current Shows] | [Past Shows] |

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