History TheUnintelligible / LiveActionTV

* In the pilot of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' Joel's sidekicks were Crow and Beeper, the latter of whom spoke entirely in electronic beeps only Crow could understand. When the show entered production Beeper was replaced with Tom Servo so they could have three characters riffing the movie.

* In the pilot of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' Joel's sidekicks were Crow and Beeper, the latter of whom spoke entirely in electronic beeps only Crow could understand. When the show entered production he was replaced with Tom Servo so he could join in the riffing.

* In the pilot of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' Joel's sidekicks were Crow and Beeper, the latter of whom spoke entirely in electronic beeps. When the show entered production he was replaced with Tom Servo so he could join in the riffing.

* Creator/{{CBBC}} mascot Gordon T. Gopher spoke in squeaks, which were translated by Philip Schofield. When presenter and puppet both moved to ''Series/GoingLive'', Schofield's successors Andy Crane and Andi Peters were accompanied by SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Edd the Duck, who spoke in quacks. ''Gordon T. Gopher'' spin-off media stressed that Schofield was one of only three or so humans in Britain who spoke "Gopherese", but also largely ignored this if Gordon needed to talk to someone else. Averted in the BBC Three ''Gordon'' short in which, without explanation, Gordon is SuddenlyVoiced by Creator/WarwickDavis. (The [[CharacterBlog official Twitter feed]] explains that Davies was his "voice coach".)

* Creator/{{CBBC}} mascot Gordon T. Gopher spoke in squeaks, which were translated by Philip Schofield. When presenter and puppet both moved to ''Series/GoingLive'', Schofield's successors Andy Crane and Andi Peters were accompanied by SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Edd the Duck, who spoke in quacks. ''Gordon T. Gopher'' spin-off media stressed that Schofield was one of only three or so humans in Britain who spoke "Gopherese", but also largely ignored this if Gordon needed to talk to someone else. Averted in the BBC Three ''Gordon'' short in which, without explanation, Gordon is SuddenlyVoiced by Creator/WarwickDavies. (The [[CharacterBlog official Twitter feed]] explains that Davies was his "voice coach".

** There have been a few {{aliens and monsters}} who fall into this despite the show's usual use of TranslatorMicrobes:

* On a TrueCrime series on A&E: the RealLife Frank Lucas needs subtitles, and occasionally EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped.
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For children’s shows, see TheUnintelligible/ChildrensShow.

* ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' has the lemur Treelo who can be hard to understand even when speaking normally and often descends into a sort of babble that closed-captioning refers to as "Treelo-ese."
* Henrietta Pussycat on ''Series/TheChildrensCorner''. ''The Children's Corner'' was an early show with Fred Rogers on a local station in Pittsburgh, before both the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's ''Mister Rogers'' and PBS's ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood''. Many of the make-believe characters from ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' had their start on ''The Children's Corner'', including Henrietta Pussycat. Henrietta could only say the words "beautiful," "telephone," and "Mister Rogers," replacing all other words with "Meow," placing her in the ranks of TheUnintelligible. On the later shows, although she still replaced many words with "Meow," she spoke enough English words so that the audience could understand her meaning, and thus she no longer qualified as TheUnintelligible. Although Henrietta referred to her owner, Mister Rogers, he was never seen on screen, making him TheUnseen in that show.
** On ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'', the trolley "speaks" in chimes that are understood by everyone in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

* ''Series/JohnnyAndTheSprites'', which was made by many of the same people as ''The Wubbulous World of Dr Seuss'', had a very similar character named Root.

* Lanny from ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'' does not speak at all, nor does he use sign language, but Matt has no problem at all interpreting his nods and smiles, to the confusion of Matt's parents. A smile or a tilt of the head from Lanny can be translate into detailed plans and information. In at least one instance, Matt and Lanny hold a telephone conversation without apparent difficulty.
** Melina seems to be able to understand him as well. Maybe it's just something about the age?
** Not necessarily. A random repairman, who was appearing for just the episode, seemed to understand him perfectly while the [=McGuires=] were left in confusion.
** When Lizzie [[FreakyFridayFlip swaps bodies]] with Matt, ''she'' can understand Lanny, much to her amazement.

* Creator/PBSKidsSprout's Chica the (puppet) chicken. Her voice is provided by a kazoo and she never appears without someone who can handle RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear duties. This hasn't stopped her from getting her own series (''Series/TheChicaShow''), in which everyone else understands her perfectly. It's implied that she's a child, and since her parents Mr. and Mrs. C speak perfect English she would likely become intelligible if she were to mature. It's come to the point that not everything she says on her starring show and the original ''Series/TheSunnySideUpShow'' block is "translated" outright by others.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' has the Honkers, who communicate by pressing their noses like bike horns, and the Dingers, who press little appendages on their heads like the bells used by hotel clerks. However, their fellow Muppets can understand them, and translate for the human characters (and, by extension, the audience).

* In ''Series/TheSootyShow'', Sweep communicates in squeaks, "translated" by Soo or the human presenter. Similarly, Sooty himself "whispers" inaudibly, making him TheVoiceless.

* ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'': Little Cat Z, who mutters z-words.

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* Chris Kattan's character Suel Forrester on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. "Lackie de boo sippy doo wo!"

* Creator/PBSKidsSprout's Chica the (puppet) chicken. Her voice is provided by a kazoo and she never appears without someone who can handle RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear duties. This hasn't stopped her from getting her own series (''Series/TheChicaShow''), in which everyone else understands her perfectly. It's implied that she's a child, and since her parents Mr. and Mrs. C speak perfect English she would likely become intelligible if she were to mature. It's come to the point that not everything she says on her starring show and the original ''Sunny Side Up Show'' block is "translated" outright by others.

%%* Mel from the Sesame Street segment "Monster's Clubhouse".

* ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'': Little Cat Z.
''Series/JohnnyAndTheSprites'', which was made by many of the same people, had a very similar character named Root.

** Camila the chicken and Gonzo's girlfriend is the only of the regular muppets that is not a TalkingAnimal and indeed only makes chicken sounds, yet she's part of all the musical numbers. Gonzo has no problem understanding her tho.

* Creator/PBSKidsSprout's mascot Chica the (puppet) chicken. Her voice is provided by a kazoo and she never appears without someone who can handle RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear duties. This hasn't stopped her from getting her own series (''Series/TheChicaShow''), in which everyone else understands her perfectly. It's implied that she's a child, and since her parents Mr. and Mrs. C speak perfect English she would likely become intelligible if she were to mature. It's come to the point that not everything she says on her starring show and the original ''Sunny Side Up Show'' block is "translated" outright by others.

* Creator/PBSKidsSprout's mascot Chica the (puppet) chicken. Her voice is provided by a kazoo and she never appears without someone who can handle RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear duties. This hasn't stopped her from getting her own series (''The Chica Show''), in which everyone else understands her perfectly. It's implied that she's a child, and since her parents Mr. and Mrs. C speak perfect English she would likely become intelligible if she were to mature. It's come to the point that not everything she says on her starring show and the original ''Sunny Side Up Show'' block is "translated" outright by others.

** Interestingly, Beaker's unintelligible speech seems in-universe, as one episode has Miss Piggy telling him not to talk to her ''[[LampshadeHanging because she can't understand him.]]''

* ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' has the lemur Treelo who can be hard to understand even when speaking normally and often descends into a sort of babble that closed-captioning refers to as "Treelo-ese." ''Series/JohnnyAndTheSprites'', which was made by many of the same people, had a very similar character named Root.