History Series / Oobi

''Oobi'' is a puppet show made for Creator/{{Noggin}} (a channel co-founded by MTV Networks and Creator/SesameWorkshop). The characters are all [[BareHandedPuppetry bare-hand puppets]]. The concept is based on a technique used by puppeteers learning the basics of lip-syncing and eye focus, where they use their hands and a pair of ping-pong balls instead of an actual puppet.

''Oobi'' is a puppet show made for Creator/{{Noggin}} (a channel that started as a collaboration between Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and Creator/SesameWorkshop). The characters are all [[BareHandedPuppetry bare-hand puppets]]. The concept is based on a technique used by puppeteers learning the basics of lip-syncing and eye focus, where they use their hands and a pair of ping-pong balls instead of an actual puppet.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Every episode title (except for "Uma Sick") ends with an exclamation mark.

* SickEpisode: "Uma Sick," which is also the only episode without an [[ExcitedShowTitle Excited Title]].

* AmbiguouslyGay:
** Oobi and Kako have a habit of hugging and touching whenever possible. In the words of ''[[http://thestir.cafemom.com/being_a_mom/112167/oobi_through_a_grownups_eyes The Stir's]]'' Andrew Dalton, "When Oobi and Kako 'wash their hands' by rubbing against each other in a dance of soapy ecstasy, it may be the most homoerotic moment in TV history, unless you count [[Series/TheUltimateFighter Ultimate Fighting]]."
** Their sexuality was even questioned by Creator/JoelMcHale on a 2007 episode of his talk show ''Series/TheSoup''. In it, he watched a clip from "Showtime!" that depicted [[ItMakesSenseInContext their mouths glued together]] and compared it to an orgy.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Kako. His parents are definitely African-Americans, but his frequent use of Spanish phrases seems to imply he could be Spanish. It's not very easy to tell because...well, they're hands.

* BorrowedCatchphrase: "Grampu Day!" has all of the kids using Grampu's signature "Lovely!"
** Randy does it while performing an impression of Grampu for Uma.

* CompanionCube: Uma's doll.

%%* CoolOldGuy: Grampu to the kids. - How?

* TheDitz: Uma.

* EyeGlasses: A few background puppets wear miniature glasses on the fronts of their fingers, giving the impression they are wearing them.

* FantasySequence: Quite a few happen throughout the series, most notably the kids' imaginary circus in "Pretend Circus!"

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: The third season increases the prominence of the supporting cast and features much more vibrant sets than the early episodes. If it weren't for the instant recognizability of the characters, the original shorts and the latest episodes would look like different shows.

* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Uma wears a barrette to differentiate her from Oobi.

** Kako notes that he loves hot sacue in, "Grampu Day!"

* VagueAge: Inka. She could be middle-aged or a senior citizen.
** Also Oobi and Kako, to anyone who has never read an official plot summary for the show (most of them describe Oobi as a four-year-old). WordOfGod says they are both four, but they act a little older and sure as hell don't sound that young.

%%* HandPuppet: And how.
* HammerSpace: Because the puppeteers were able to easily reach below the sets and hold/throw whatever prop was necessary for a scene, this trope was employed quite a few times.

** However, in "Uma Preschool" Grampu introduces himself to Uma's teacher by saying his name is Grampu and is Uma's grandfather which means that they do use the word "grandfather"

* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Angus has eyes ''below'' his fingers rather than on top, giving the impression that he's supposed to have some sort of hand puppet disability. Of course, he is a fantastic pianist and singer.
* InteractiveNarrator: Oobi frequently breaks the fourth wall to interact with the audience.

%%* LargeHam: Uma. - How?

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: Played with. Oobi and Kako take out a radio to play "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in two episodes.

** The second season was also this, because whenever a minor character appeared, they were a one-off. Even Inka only made one appearance in the second season before becoming a secondary cast member in season three.

* MythologyGag: Photos of the main characters' designs from season one can be seen throughout Oobi's house in later seasons.

* NoAntagonist
* NoFourthWall
* NobodyPoops: Averted in episodes such as "Baby!".

* LongRunners: ''Oobi'' was Noggin's longest-running show, both in terms of years and episodes. It started airing in 2000, aired its last new episode in 2005, and kept airing in reruns until 2013. It has 48 shorts and 52 long-form episodes: a total of 100 individual stories.

* NiceHat: Kako sports a red cap.

''Oobi'' is a puppet show made for Creator/{{Noggin}} (a channel that started as a collaboration between Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and Creator/SesameWorkshop). The characters are all [[BareHandedPuppetry bare-hand puppets]]. The concept is based on a technique used by Muppeteers learning the basics of lip-syncing and eye focus, in which they use their hands and a pair of ping-pong balls instead of an actual puppet.

''Oobi'' was created by former ''Sesame Street'' writer Josh Selig, who later created the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets''. He came up with the idea for ''Oobi'' while watching bare-handed puppeteers audition for ''Sesame Street''. The show is about Oobi, a curious and creative hand puppet. He lives with his grandpa Grampu and his overdramatic little sister Uma. Oobi and his family have funny, simple adventures that celebrate the awkward steps of growing up.

* AerithAndBob: Most of the hand puppets have [[Main/MyNaymeIs made-up names]] like Maestru and Mamu or other [[Main/ThemeNaming thematic names]] with O's or U's in them, except for Uma and Bella the greengrocer.

* AuthorAppeal: Josh Selig spent most of his life working on ''Sesame Street'', so ''Oobi'' is very much like watching Muppets without fur or feathers.

* MerchandiseDriven: Averted to hell and back. Selig specifically made the show as simple and old-fashioned as possible because he was convinced that the kids' TV industry had gotten too commercial.
** On top of that, authentic Oobi eyes and accessories were only sold at a couple of promotional events. The demand for actual merchandise was so high that [[http://dawhois.com/site/flickwear.com.html an entire online catalogue]] of unofficial Oobi puppets was created in 2006 and operated until 2014.

* WatchItStoned: Due to the bizarre concept of hands as characters, the show has picked up somewhat of a reputation for being trippy, and thus a favorite of stoned college students. While it was airing, at least. This was even brought up in a [[http://www.littleairplane.com/press/newsweek/index.html 2004 interview]] with Josh Selig (excerpt below).
-->'''Nicki Gostin:''' I imagined you being really stoned in college with some buddies [while making the show]...\\
'''Josh Selig:''' No, sorry to disappoint you.

* SpinOff: While there was never a continuation of the show in the United States, an [[https://vimeo.com/197634760 Iranian version]] titled "Dasdasi" was created without the original puppeteers in 2012. It was shown throughout Asia until 2013, more than a decade after the original show began.

->''"OOBI was inspired by watching puppeteers without puppets. I was struck by the amount of feeling and articulation they could get without a piece of cloth on."''

----

* ConstantlyCurious: Oobi.

* CoolOldGuy: Grampu to the kids.

* CrossdressingVoices: Frankie Cordero played both Papu and Mamu (though he never really spoke as Mamu).

* TheEeyore: Angus.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Grampu.

* FamilyThemeNaming: Oobi, Uma, and their aunt Oota.

* HandPuppet: And how.

* InteractiveNarrator: Oobi.

* LargeHam: Uma.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The show has a countless number of one-off characters.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Inka has purple hair.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The "Theater!" episode is a musical.

* TheOutsideWorld: The interviews with real families/kids featured in every episode take place in the real world where humans are present. The actual stories take place in the show's fictional universe and never feature humans, with the exception of a photo in "Chopsticks!" that shows people in Tokyo.

* AerithAndBob: Most of the hand puppets have [[Main/MyNaymeIs made-up names]] like Maestru and Mamu or other [[Main/ThemeNaming thematic names]] with O's or U's in them, except for Bella the greengrocer.

* BaldWoman: Uma - being a hand, she has no hair. She is shown to be very proud of her baldness in the "Video!" episode, where she introduces herself as bald and turns around to show her bald head (wrist) to the camera.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: In "Oobi's Car!":

* ParentalSubstitute: Grampu.

* PowerTrio: The three kids.

* ProtagonistTitle

* TeamChef: Grampu.

* LongRunners: The franchise as a whole. The shorts debuted in 2000 and the full-length episodes finished airing in 2005, but the Iranian adaptation ''Dasdasi'' concluded in 2013, giving the franchise a thirteen-year run. This is far longer than any other Noggin production, but still relatively short when compared to ''Sesame Street'' and the Muppets.

* ManOfAThousandVoices: As with nearly every other CTW or Muppet production, most of the 15 regular puppeteers on ''Oobi'' performed at least two different characters. The only exception is Tyler Bunch, whose only role was Grampu.

* MistakesAreNotTheEndOfTheWorld: In one episode, the title character has a piano recital and when he makes a mistake, he gets scared and runs off the stage. Kako reassures him that mistakes are no big deal and Oobi comes back and does it again, this time perfectly.

* InvisibleParents: Oobi and Uma's parents are never mentioned and they clearly only live with Grampu. The existence of their parents is very rarely hinted at.
** A particularly odd exchange about parents occurs between Oobi and Kako in "Kako Dinner!" when they are looking at photos of Kako's family. Oobi notices that Kako's normally-unseen mother Mamu is in the pictures, so he asks him where she is. Kako explains that she spends much of her time working at an office. Not once does Kako ask about the whereabouts of Oobi's parents, and Oobi never asks Grampu where his mom and dad are. Given that Oobi knows about nuclear families like Kako's, shouldn't he be wondering?

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: The third season increases the prominence of the supporting cast and features far more vibrant sets than the early episodes. If it weren't for the instant recognizability of the characters, the original shorts and the latest episodes would look like different shows.

* BaldWoman: Uma. Being a hand, she has no hair. She is shown to be very proud of her baldness in the "Video!" episode, where she introduces herself as bald and turns around to show her bald head (wrist) to the camera.
** However, all of the other female puppets have hair.

* BeYourself: The ending of "Grown-Up!" has this as an Aesop.

* ButtMonkey: Grampu. This is most obvious in the "Make Pizza!" episode, where the kids accidentally cover him in pizza dough, as well as "Make Art!", where Uma sticks a paper circle onto his face, and Kako inadvertently covers him in paint.
* BumblingDad: Grampu, although he's a grandfather.

* CampingEpisode: "Camp Out!", which was the first full-length episode.
* CanonDiscontinuity: The shorts aren't really considered canon in the full episodes, so many concepts that were first featured in a short ended up being reused.
* CatchPhrase: Most of the regular characters have one.

** Inka: "Beautiful!" (a SelfParody of Grampu's catchphrase)
* CartoonCreature: While the show isn't a cartoon, WordOfGod states that the characters are their own unique species of furless Muppets.
* CharacterFocus: While Oobi is undoubtedly the central character, the rest of the main cast members get a few [[ADayInTheLimelight days in the limelight]].
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Uma. She started out as a fairly generic baby in the shorts, but Stephanie D'Abruzzo played the role in an unexpectedly goofy and melodramatic way (relatable, too, for anyone with younger siblings) that she became a very frequent [[SpotlightStealingSquad spotlight stealer]].
* CharlieBrownBaldness: Sophie the baby, who only has a single strand of blonde hair.
* ChristmasEpisode: Surprisingly, a Christmas special was never made. The show covered other holidays, with both a Halloween and a Valentine's Day episode under its belt. The production team most likely wanted to avoid either [[YouMeanXMas skating around the subject of Christmas]] or having to make sure it wasn't the only winter holiday they covered.
** This didn't stop [[http://dawhois.com/site/flickwear.com.html OobiEyes.com]], a former online catalogue of unofficial Oobi puppets and accessories, from selling Santa Claus Oobis.

** Mrs. Johnson's cat first appears in "Camp Out!", the first full-length episode. She shows up again in "Superheroes!", the final episode of the series.

* CrossdressingVoices: Frankie Cordero played both Papu and Mamu, although he never really spoke as the latter.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Averted. Every episode was penned by the same team of seven writers, effectively avoiding this.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Oobi and Kako try to figure out what occupation would be best for them in "Grown-Up!"
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Oobi, Uma, and Kako are out trick-or-treating with Grampu when they run into their buddy Angus. "Mrs. Johnson house," he declares. "Good stuff!" ''Right...''

* DisappearedDad: See InvisibleParents below.
* DisguisedInDrag: Kako's postal worker costume/persona in "Neighborhood!"

* EarlyBirdCameo: Maestru makes an appearance in "Theater!" before being officially introduced in "Sing!" four episodes later.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original shorts used completely different sets of eyes for the characters (save for Grampu, whose eyes were the same throughout the entire series) and didn't feature any supporting characters. Also, none of the characters wore accessories, making it difficult to distinguish Oobi from Uma.

* EveryEpisodeEnding: Episodes always end with the line "Oobi, you, friends," coupled with a wave goodbye from every character on screen.

* ExcitedShowTitle: While the show title doesn't, every episode title (except for "Uma Sick") ends with an exclamation mark.

* FiveManBand: If you add Angus to the principal four.
** TheLeader: Oobi
** TheLancer: Kako
** TheSmartGuy: Angus
** TheBigGuy: Grampu
** TheChick: Uma
* FunnyForeigner: Inka, who loves everything about her home country of France, and Bella, who speaks with an exaggerated Italian accent.

* GagSeries: Anyone familiar with the show's history knows that ''Oobi'' was meant to be a tribute to ''Sesame Street'' and to puppetry as an art form, but it is very often mistaken for a gag series. This is due to the sheer bizarreness of the premise alone. Talking hands communicating in broken English are one thing, but the talking feet are on a whole new level of odd.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GrandparentalObliviousness: Averted with Grampu, who is very much involved in the kids' lives.

* {{Muppet}}: In addition to being created by Noggin while both the [[Creator/JimHenson Jim Henson Company]] and Sesame Workshop had creative control over all the channel's programming, the show's characters were even billed as "furless" Muppets in promotional statements.
** This makes ''Oobi'' one of the only shows in recent memory to brand its characters as Muppets without actually featuring one of [[Franchise/TheMuppets Jim Henson's original characters]], another example being ''[[http://www.handsuppuppets.com/html/bag.htm Big Bag]]''.
* MyNaymeIs: Grampu, Maestru, Mamu, Papu…actually, the entire cast is made up of bizarrely-spelled names.
* MythologyGag: Photos of the main characters' designs from the original shorts can be seen throughout Oobi's house.
* NamesTheSame: El Compayito, a hand puppet who showed up from time to time on Creator/{{Televisa}} in the mid-2000s, was named after the American Oobi when he first debuted. He was later renamed when Televisa wanted to continue using the character.
** In an unintentional example, "Oobi" was also the name of a failed Parker Brothers toy from the 1970s. It was a red/orange message carrier that looked like an ovaloid with a big pair of eyes on the front. Like TV's Oobi, it was named for its googly eyes (the O's are meant to mirror the two circular eyes).

* NeverSayDie: Considering all of the possibilities, it would make sense if the kids' grandmother and Grampu's former wife (Grammu?) passed away before the events of the series. This is never actually stated outright.

* NoPeripheralVision: Grampu never thinks to look upwards in "Make Pizza!" when the pizza dough clings to the ceiling and later falls down, covering him.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted with Uma, who is a baby in the shorts and three years old in the full-length episodes.
* ObjectCeilingCling: The pizza dough in, "Make Pizza!" True to the gag, it falls on Grampu when it comes by.

* ParentalBonus: While nowhere near as chock-full of it as ''Sesame Street'', the show loves making nods to the parents watching along with their kids. Grampu and Inka's romantic relationship is a good example of this.
* ParentalNeglect: Since it's never actually revealed where they are, it's ''technically'' possible that Oobi and Uma's parents are around but never take the time to...well, raise their kids.
** However, the intention was to have the main family represent a nontraditional family unit. In almost all real-life families consisting only of grandparents and grandkids (as rare as they are), the parents are no longer alive.

* {{Parody}}: Although all pop-culture parodies within the show are kept to minor references, a [[https://vimeo.com/150293146 Durex commercial]] from 2014 was an all-out parody of the series. (With ''Oobi'' puppets being a metaphor for masturbation, no less!)

* RatingsStunt: Never employed. The crew was starkly against commercializing the show.

* {{Retcon}}: Uma is a baby in the shorts, which take place before the full-length series, and she doesn't wear any accessories in them. However, the full-length episode "Grampu Day!" shows a baby photo of her wearing a bib and her barrette (which was introduced after the shorts), retconning her previous appearance as an infant

* RiddleForTheAges: The show never tries to explain how talking hands exist in-universe. Thankfully so, since it would ruin the charm.
** Of course, Josh Selig did jokingly describe Oobi as "kind of his own species" in an interview. The easy explanation to this question? They're puppets and it's not meant to be taken seriously.
* RuleOfFunny: The entire premise, which makes absolutely no sense when you start to think about it (do the hand puppets have feet? how do they eat? how do they use the bathroom?), can be summed up by the rule.

* SelfAbuse: Having been made for a very young audience, the hand puppets on ''Oobi'' never bring up any intentional references to masturbation. However, Durex Condoms' [[http://adsoftheworld.com/media/online/durex_farewell_elizabeth infamous Oobi parody]] is an anti-masturbation advert that uses Oobi as a metaphor for it.
* SeriesFauxnale / GrandFinale: When you think about it, the actual series finale "Superheroes!" seems to have been written like a fauxnale. It is about as heroic and high-stakes as a preschool-oriented program can go, it features all of the main characters plus a good deal of the supporting players, and it ends with the entire cast waving goodbye to the viewer. Because the crew wasn't sure whether or not the series would be renewed after this episode, it's a fauxnale, but since the show wasn't* renewed afterwards, it could also be considered a grand finale.
** *The franchise continued with ''Dasdasi'' in 2012, so it best fits under fauxnale.

** Technically, every episode with Inka is a continuation of this plotline.
* SharedUniverse: Given that the characters are supposed to be some kind of Muppets, the show presumably takes place in the same universe as ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'' (and by extension everything else featuring puppets from the Jim Henson Company).

* ShoutOut: The amount of references to ''Sesame Street'' is off the charts. Even the production company (Little Airplane) is named after a ''Sesame'' sketch. Every episode closes with the Little Airplane logo, which uses a scene from ''Sesame Street''.
* SignatureLaugh: Grampu has a distinct chuckle.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Among the main cast, Uma is the only female, but the supporting cast is almost all female (save for Angus, Papu, and Maestru).
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The "Theater!" episode is an all-out musical.

* SickEpisode: "Uma Sick," which is notable for being the only episode without an [[ExcitedShowTitle Excited Title]].
* SpeciesSurname: Frieda the Foot, although it's not clear whether that's really her name or not.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Played straight. Plots rarely involve the principal characters changing at all, but when they do, it's never mentioned again.

* ThirdPersonPerson: Every single character, due to the somewhat controversial decision to make all of the puppets speak in uber-simplified sentences. For example, "Uma, school, first day" is said in place of "It's my first day of school."
* TitleDrop: Happens often.
* TitlePlease: None of the shorts have title cards.

* TwoShorts: The full-length episodes, spanning about ten minutes each, are always paired with another when being broadcast.

* WidgetSeries: Quite possibly the strangest show ever to air regularly on Nickelodeon, given the unique form of puppetry, the characters' simplified speech patterns, and the seemingly limitless amount of connections to ''Sesame Street'' (which is no longer a Nickelodeon-related property). It even stands out against other intentionally bizarre shows like ''Series/MrMeaty''.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: As described in VagueAge above, Oobi and Kako sound and act much older than they supposedly are.

''Oobi'' is a puppet show made for Creator/{{Noggin}} (a channel that started as a collaboration between Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and Creator/SesameWorkshop). The characters are all [[Main/LiteralMinded literal]] [[BareHandedPuppetry bare-hand puppets]]. The concept is based on a technique used by Muppeteers learning the basics of lip-syncing and eye focus, in which they use their hands and a pair of ping-pong balls instead of an actual puppet.

''Oobi'' was created by former ''Sesame Street'' writer Josh Selig, who later created the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets''. He came up with the idea for ''Oobi'' while watching bare-handed puppeteers audition for ''Sesame Street''. All of the characters on ''Oobi'' are [[Main/ThirdPersonPerson third-person people]] with a simple manner of speaking, meant to mimic how kids talk in very early childhood. The show won multiple Parents' Choice Awards. The first season was a series of two-minute shorts that ran on Noggin in 2000. It was later picked up for two more seasons, both made up of longer half-hour episodes, which finished airing in 2005.

A [[https://vimeo.com/197635405 full-fledged foreign remake]] called ''Oobi: Dasdasi'' premiered in 2012 and ran for 78 episodes in Asia and the Middle East.

* AdvertisingByAssociation: Tom Ascheim, former EVP of Sesame Workshop, promoted the official debut of ''Oobi'' in April 2003 by highlighting its connections to the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''.

* AgelessBirthdayEpisode: "Uma's Birthday!" is this, since her new age is never mentioned. Official descriptions of the show, from both before and after the episode aired, say she is three.

* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations: "Theater!" features a musical version of Little Red Riding Hood.
* AllWorkVsAllPlay: Maestru, the boys' singing instructor, is all work while Oobi and Kako are all play.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Oobi from ''Oobi'' to Mano from ''Lejo''. They are both bare hand puppets with googly eyes whose main personality traits are their curiosity. Both are CTW-related characters, though, and ''Lejo'' was literally [[AdvertisingByAssociation advertised as an equivalent]] to the former series, so they're technically not an alternate company example.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Kako. His parents are definitely African-Americans, but his frequent use of Spanish phrases seems to imply he has Spanish heritage. It's not very easy to tell because...well, they're hands.

* ArtEvolution: The sets of acrylic eyes used for each of the three kids were updated for each season. Oobi's eyes in the shorts were dark brown at first and got progressively lighter.

* AudienceParticipation: Every episode from season two includes an interactive game segment. The other episodes feature similar interactions but not as part of a special segment.

* AscendedExtra: Inka appeared in only one episode of season two. By the third season, she became the most important side character, with a total of eight appearances.
* AsideGlance: Oobi does this quite a lot, usually when Uma or Kako causes trouble.
* BabysittingEpisode: The appropriately-titled "Babysitter!" is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly this]]. It features Kevin Clash, the original performer of [[Series/ElmosWorld Elmo]], as Oobi and Uma's new babysitter Randy. Uma despises Randy at first since he is nothing like Grampu, but she starts to warm up to him after he shows her how silly he is.

* BathsAreFun: The outcome of the rather amusing "Uma Bathroom!" episode.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: In a particularly memetic scene, Oobi goes berserk when Uma breaks his toy car after promising to be careful with it.

* BigApplesauce: The show is filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York.
* BigBudgetBeefUp: The transition from two-minute shorts to 22-minute episodes brought improved eye pieces for the characters, much more expansive sets (including a large number of one-off locations like the Chinese restaurant and the dance studio), and a larger ensemble cast of Muppeteers.
* BigEater: Kako loves cake and immediately volunteers when Uma wants to play a cake-counting game with him. Of course, he gets sick of it after eating three slices.

* ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily: The family in ''Dasdasi'', the Iranian version.

''Oobi'' was created by former ''Sesame'' writer Josh Selig, also known for creating ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets''. He came up with the idea while watching bare-handed puppeteers audition for the Polish version of ''Sesame Street''. All of the characters are [[Main/ThirdPersonPerson third-person people]] with a simple manner of speaking, meant to mimic how kids talk in very early childhood. The show won multiple Parents' Choice Awards. Its first season was a series of two-minute interstitials that ran on Noggin in 2000. It was later picked up for two more seasons, both made up of longer half-hour episodes, which finished airing in 2005.

While this series is notable for its connections to ''Sesame Street'' and for being downright bizarre, it's perhaps best remembered for launching [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100130065441/http://www.oobieyes.com/eyes.html "Oobi eyes" finger rings.]] The quirkiness of the concept has inspired an onslaught of other works—ranging from a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGHevQoWsGA music video]] featuring [[Music/{{Fun}} Nate Ruess]] as an Oobi puppet to a [[https://vimeo.com/150293146 Durex condom commercial]] based on Oobi. A [[https://vimeo.com/197635405 full-fledged foreign remake]] called ''Oobi: Dasdasi'' premiered in 2012 and ran for 78 episodes in Asia and the Middle East.

''Oobi'' is a puppet show made by Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} for Creator/{{Noggin}}, a channel that Nick controlled along with Creator/SesameWorkshop at the time. As a result, ''Oobi'' is unlike anything else Nickelodeon has aired and contains countless [[Main/ShoutOut shout-outs]] to ''Sesame Street''. The characters are all [[Main/LiteralMinded literal]] [[BareHandedPuppetry bare-hand puppets]], billed as "furless" Muppets on promotional material. The concept is based on a technique used by Muppeteers learning the basics of lip-syncing and eye focus, in which they use their hands and a pair of ping-pong balls instead of an actual puppet. The program thankfully avoids the [[WorldOfPun world of not-so-handy puns]] it could potentially make; rather, this show of hands uses the kind of sight gags and physical humor that can be expected from Muppets.