The Brothers Flub is an animated television series produced by Sunbow Entertainment and co-produced by Ravensburger. It aired in the United States on the television network Nickelodeon. The show's title characters are a pair of alien brothers named Guapo and Fraz, both of whom work as couriers, who travel throughout their universe to deliver packages to a different planet in each episode of the series. It ran from January 17, 1999 until January 8, 2000.
Summary
The Brothers Flub takes place in outer space. The show's title refers to its two central characters: a pair of blue-furred alien brothers named Guapo and Fraz Flub. Guapo is shorter and fatter than his brother, and is a lighter shade of blue. Both wear bodysuits, shoes and caps. In the series, they work for a company called RetroGrade Interdimensional Couriers, of which a green-colored female alien named Tarara Boomdeyay is the boss. Other characters at their job include a female alien named Valerina and an older orange, male alien named Squish. The brothers, who are couriers, travel through their universe in their spacecraft to deliver packages to various planets. Each episode features a different planet with a different characteristic, such as "The Land of Oversized Games", which comprises life-sized game pieces such as a pinball machine, or "Hip City", a planet inhabited by beatnik aliens.
History
Cindy Barth of the Orlando Business Journal said that "although still an untested property, optimism is high for the Brothers Flub" because of Sunbow's record and staff members.
Production
The creators marketed the series for children ages six through eleven. Sunbow contracted with Animatics, an Orlando, Florida-based company, allowing for Animatics to create the storyline and the storyboard for the series. Laura Sullivan, the senior director of marketing of Sony Wonder, said in a 1999 Promo article that the series attracted equal numbers of male and female children and that it was "very Nickelodeon-looking." The series was delayed for a year from its original scheduled debut.
The Brothers Flub was used in several promotional deals for various brands. Fast food chainKFC announced that it would use the characters in a kids' meal, while Carl's Jr. and Hardee's branded tray liners and bags with The Brothers Flub images. GNC planned to include The Brothers Flub yo-yos in its children's vitamins, while department store chainMacy's used the characters in their back-to-school advertising flyers. Skechers started a sweepstakes that distributed Skechers and The Brothers Flub-branded items.
VHS release
Sony Wonder released two videocassettes of the show in 1999. These were entitled Plan C: Panic! and Doom Wears Funny Tights!. Each one featured four episodes of the series. Both tapes are now out of print and hard to find.
The Brothers Flub was panned by critics. Joanne Weintraub of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel described the show as "a rare clinker with all the noisy hyperactivity of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and little of the cockeyed charm." The Hollywood Reporter called it "a somewhat vacuous effort that lacks the charm and substance of much of Nick's other programming" but added "now and again hit on some clever high jinks." Writing for the Lakeland Ledger, Evan Levine thought that the show had a promising premise, but thought that its humor was mean-spirited.
