Line #46 WesternAnimation/TUGS


1	[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tugs_logo.png]]
2
3	->''"The tugboat, for its size, is the most powerful craft afloat. And the Star Tugs are the power behind the docks and waterways that make up the Bigg City Port. This is ''TUGS.''"''
4	-->-- '''Captain Star''''s OpeningNarration
5
6	From the minds of Robert Cardona and David Mitton comes a [[ScrewedByTheNetwork short-lived]] little series featuring equally little tugboats. Set in Bigg City Port in TheRoaringTwenties, it chronicles the adventures of the Star Tugs, a fleet of [[CoolBoat Thomas-esque boats with faces]] as they compete for contracts with their biggest rivals, the Z-Stacks. The show is notably created by much of creative staff from ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'', including the aforementioned David Mitton, the director of ''Thomas & Friends'' season 1-7.[[note]]This is except for then ''Thomas'' producer Britt Allcroft, who reportedly hated ''TUGS'' at the time and even sued David Mitton for alleged copyright infringement (which didn't hold in court). Despite this, she rehired Mitton back for season 3 of ''Thomas'' (and he brought much of the TUGS staff with him to the show) and she's reportedly softened up on the show since.[[/note]]
7
8	What really sets this show apart from Thomas is the maturity of the stories. There are dangerous perils that the Tugs have to deal with, such as being crushed by a wayward ocean liner, or the risk of being scrapped, and one episode was nothing but fifteen straight minutes of explosions that caused actual damage, nearly killed several of the main characters, and outright killed one other character who didn't speak, but had a name. Unfortunately, this caused the show to turn away American investors, preventing the show from getting further funding and leading it to get cancelled after only 13 episodes.
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10	Clips from the show were later redubbed and used as segments for ''WesternAnimation/SaltysLighthouse''. See also ''WesternAnimation/TheodoreTugboat'', a SpiritualSuccessor created by ''TUGS'' co-producer Robert Cardona.
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12	----
13	!!This show provides examples of:
14	* TheAce: Hercules, the largest and strongest of Captain Star's fleet.
15	* AlliterativeName: Names to be exact, with the Z-Stacks being named Zorran, Zebedee, Zak, Zip and Zug, working for Captain Zero.
16	* BatmanGambit: Zorran pulls this in "Warrior". He says rude things about Warrior in front of Big Mac in order to make Big Mac so angry that he forgets his barge is still loading and becoming too heavy to stay afloat.
17	* BigBrotherMentor: The older tugs often act this role to Ten Cents and Sunshine.
18	* BigDamnHeroes:
19	** Warrior and Big Mac in "Warrior" when they stop Izzy from capsizing after he runs aground.
20	** Zebedee of all characters in "High Winds" when he helps the Star Tugs dock the Princess Alice liner during a windstorm.
21	** Grampus in "Regatta" when he plugs a hole in Lillie's hull with his face to keep her from sinking.
22	* BrokenAesop: The original edit of "Munitions" has a very odd one; at the end, Captain Starr blames the accident equally on Ten Cents, O.J., and Bluenose- even though the episode itself showed that the incident was entirely Bluenose's fault. It's especially bizarre because the Aesop of "not all authority figures are reasonable and you shouldn't just follow orders without thinking about them" comes across perfectly well in the episode itself, only for Starr to suddenly claim that "Bluenose was right in his way". The TV edit corrects by stating the incident was more clearly Bluenose's fault. There has been some speculation that this had to do with an extended version of the episode.
23	* CharacterCatchphrase:
24	** Hercules tends to call everyone "m'dear" and "sweetheart."
25	** Warrior says [[UnusualEuphemism "Sufferin' stacks"]] when surprised or startled.
26	* ClothespinNosePlug: The garbage-carrying barge Lord Stinker wears a clothespin on his nose.
27	* CoolOldGuy: O.J. is the only paddleboat still working at the harbor, and according to Captain Star "he had given many years of good service, but time was catching up on him". Despite his age, he still is one of the most reliable tugs in the Star Fleet.
28	* TheCharmer: WordOfGod says that Hercules displays these tendencies. It can be seen a little in the show.
29	* CrashIntoHello: In "Sunshine", this is how the title character meets Ten Cents.
30	* TheDandy: Top Hat is absolutely this, and often mocked by his fellow tugs because of it.
31	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to ''Thomas the Tank Engine'', some Tugs risk their lives to protect their friends. Add to that several recurring or minor characters nearly being outright ''killed'' onscreen (with one ''actually'' being killed), not to mention the liberal use of pyrotechnics, you have a recipe for a show following in the tradition of the Gerry Anderson series.
32	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Ten Cents almost doesn't survive the explosion in "Munitions". Big Mickey also seems to sink into the ocean in the same episode after the munition explosions knock him into the drink, but the narrator confirms he was saved this way in the TV version.]]
33	* DubInducedPlotlineChange: Aired as part of WesternAnimation/SaltysLighthouse on Creator/{{TLC}} with American accents re-dubbed over the characters, [[DubNameChange name changes]], [[ShesAManInJapan sex changes]] and other edits.
34	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Zorran may be willing to play dirty when competing with the Starr Tugs for contracts, but "Munitions" shows he treats dangerous jobs with the utmost caution and respect. He also chastises Zip and Zug for trapping Ten Cents and Sunshine at a fuel depot in "The Big Freeze", because [[PragmaticVillainy without the emergency lighthouse barge they had, both the Starr Tugs and the Z-Stacks would have lost out on contracts to supply a luxury liner]].
35	* EverythingIsBetterWithExplosions: Billy Shoepack thinks so. Also, many episodes have some sort of explosion or another. Given that co-creator David Mitton had once worked on Thunderbirds (where things exploded pretty much on a regular basis), this is hardly surprising.
36	* TheFaceless: Captain Starr and Captain Zero. The closest we see of any human is a megaphone. Bizarrely, in "Jinxed", when Captain Starr's megaphone falls out of his window, his amplified voice still carries on.
37	* FirefightingEpisode: In the second half of "Munitions", when a naval ship called Krakatoa is being loaded at the loading dock, an impatient Bluenose starts a fire, which quickly spreads through Bigg City Port. Sunshine and Warrior help the Fire Tug put out the fire, while Ten Cents tries to get Bluenose and an oil barge that caught fire out of the way.
38	* ForcedIntoEvil: The Green-Eyed Pirates force Sea Rogue to steal barges of cargo for them, threatening to sink his uncle if he refuses.
39	* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Star Tugs are all painted yellow with red, white, and blue smokestacks, while the Z-Stacks are all painted brown with black smokestacks.
40	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Ten Cents and Sunshine. And Zip and Zug.
41	* HonorBeforeReason: Bluenose likes to put orders before common sense.
42	* TheHorseshoeEffect: Captain Starr and Captain Zero usually couldn't be further on the opposite sides in terms of business and management ethics. However, while Captain Starr can also be rather impatient and sometimes even unfairly harsh to his tugs when they do bad business, Captain Zero does occasionally [[PragmaticVillainy take ethical methods when it gets better results]], and isn't against praising his tugs the rare times they manage a profit.
43	* ItsAllAboutMe: In "Quarantine", the ship Nantucket lowers its warning flag after being quarantined for a possible diseased cargo. All the tugs except Zorran are suspicious however. They are proven correct since Nantucket had simply got impatient and disobeyed orders to keep the flag up so he could be towed, not caring the least if he was a serious health hazard to others, or that he got a very ticked off Zorran quarantined with him as a result.
44	* JerkAss: Bluenose, [[spoiler: whose rudeness nearly gets the whole harbour blown up]].
45	* JerkassHasAPoint: In "Regatta" Zorran harasses the Stars after they rescue Grampus. He rightfully wants his timber barges that were taken by Ten Cents (even though both were used to save someone) and points out that they were technically stealing Navy property. Hercules runs him off before he can do anything about it though.
46	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Top Hat. Zebedee may count as well, given ''High Winds''.
47	* JumpScare: A surprisingly horrific one in ''Munitions'' when Ten Cents gets a burning petrol barge out to sea. [[spoiler:The barge explodes before Ten Cents even has a chance to get clear and it's only through Grampus's aid that he makes it home.]]
48	* KilledOffForReal: Krakatoa, the tramp steamer from the episode ''Munitions'' capsizes when the payload she is carrying blows her to pieces.
49	* TheKlutz: Warrior. 90% of the time he is known to be a gigantic buffoon due to his attempts to be a hardworking tug often translating into inherent clumsiness.
50	* LaserGuidedKarma: In "Regatta", a tramp steamer accidentally takes out Lillie Lightship due to the crew being unable to see her. It then promptly crashes into the rocks and begins sinking.
51	* LargeAndInCharge: Hercules and Zorran. Basically the larger the tug, the more status they tend to have. The small Harbour Switchers Ten Cents, Sunshine, Zip and Zug are almost like the babies of their families. And the huge ocean liners are treated like royalty.
52	* LastOfHisKind: O.J., the last paddleboat tug in Bigg City.
53	* MeaningfulName: The tramp steamer "Krakatoa" from the episode "Munitions".
54	* MeaningfulRename: Before Boomer was, well, Boomer, his name was Captain Harry. Unfortunately, like the urban legend goes, renaming a ship gives bad luck... in this case, bad luck to Boomer himself.
55	* NationalStereotypes: Izzy Gomez has a mustache and sombrero, sleeps a lot, has a very goofy accent and is notoriously cheap.
56	* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Munitions,'' Ten Cents takes a burning petrol barge out to sea, whilst Sunshine uses a fire barge to contain the fire. When the petrol barge explodes, Sunshine is about to leave to help Ten Cents, O.J. tells him to stay at his post, despite how much it destroys them both.
57	* NewTransferStudent: Sunshine from "Up River". Not a school per se, but [[TransferStudentUniforms has a different paint job]] until he's accepted at the end of the first episode.
58	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In "Up River", Billy Shoepack uses his dynamite to free Sunshine from a log jam. Unfortunately, the force of the explosion turns the logs into a massive battering ram heading straight for Bigg City.
59	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Zug's voice and appearance is very similar to Creator/PeterLorre. Hercules bears a strong resemblance to Creator/ClarkGable.
60	* NoFocusOnHumans: All we ever see of the humans are megaphones.
61	* NoodleIncident: It's not entirely clear what happened between Captain Zero and Johnny Cuba, but Zero is still pretty sore about it.
62	* OhCrap: Happens twice in "Up River":
63	** First, when Big Mac realizes the logs trapping Sunshine have caught fire.
64	** Second, when Warrior gets stuck on the wrong side of the barricade.
65	* OminousFog: "Ghosts".
66	* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: Top Hat, again.
67	* ReCut: The TV versions of four of the episodes differ from the VHS versions. The most infamous example is the episode "Munitions", which, depending on the version, decides whether or not Big Mickey the Crane [[spoiler: lives or dies.]]
68	* RedOniBlueOni: Captain Starr speaks mostly in a calm and controlled way but Captain Zero yells at his tugs and shakes his megaphone whenever he speaks.
69	* SameLanguageDub: Aside from the {{Macekre}} that is ''Salty's Lighthouse'', the show had a specially made American English dub of "Sunshine", in an effort to sell ''TUGS'' to North American markets. Among the cast were Creator/CharlieAdler (as Sunshine, Zug and Izzy Gomez), Creator/MichaelBell (as Top Hat and Hercules), Creator/RobPaulsen (as Ten Cents, Zorran and Zip), Creator/AlanOppenheimer (as OJ and Warrior), and Creator/EdGilbert (as Captain Zero), with the characters given appropriate [[AccentAdaptation New York Area accents]] to fit the setting.
70	* SceneryGorn:
71	** "Munitions" features a ten-minute sequence of explosions, enough to make Creator/MichaelBay proud.
72	** The series has quite a few spectacular explosions.
73	* SceneryPorn: The harbor, the docks, the boats...
74	* ShipTease: No pun intended, between Hercules and Lillie.
75	* ShoutOut:
76	** The Line "Goodnight Vienna" is a direct reference to Music/RingoStarr's album of the same name. At the time, Ringo Starr was cast as the narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine, TUGS' sister show.
77	** Zug looks and sounds like horror legend Creator/PeterLorre.
78	* SixthRanger: Near the end of the series, Grampus the submarine joins the Star Tugs.
79	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: There are three female characters with lines in the show (Lillie, Sally and Pearl). The liners are always referred to as "she" but that may just be because of the nautical term, as they don't appear to be sentient like the other ships.
80	* SpeechImpediment: Grampus lisps when he talks, possibly as a result of his mouth sitting right at the surface of the water.
81	* SuicideAsComedy: Boomer, in an extremely light-hearted example.
82	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Not exactly the theme music, but there is a dramatic piece of music played whenever a Tug is acting heroically.
83	* TrackTrouble: In "High Tide", when Top Hat, Zebedee, and Zak come across a narrow canal with a railway bridge above it, the high tide causes Zebedee's steel rig to damage the bridge. While Zebedee and Zak leave to get help, Top Hat uses Zebedee's steel rig to prop up the bridge whilst Puffa travels across it. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards, the steel rig sinks and the bridge collapses, forcing Top Hat to [[TrashLanding catch the Goods Engine in Lord Stinker the Garbage Barge]] when it comes across the bridge.
84	* UpperClassTwit: Top Hat and Bluenose.
85	* VehicleTitle: Unsurprisingly, a show titled ''TUGS'' is about tugboats.
86	* VillainousBSOD: After Bluenose's stubborn attitude and insistence on all his orders being obeyed leads to the harbor almost being destroyed, he shuts down completely, unable to so much as whimper.
87	* ViolentGlaswegian: Big Mac.
88	* WatchWhereYoureGoing: In "Warrior", The Shrimpers say this to Warrior when he cuts across them. Warrior apologizes and tells them that they should look where they're going.

Context WesternAnimation / TUGS