The Telebugs
| The Telebugs | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation |
| Created by |
John M. Mills Elphin Lloyd-Jones |
| Voices of |
Ron Moody Suzy Westerby |
| Music by | Andy Murray |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 86 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Anna Home |
| Producer(s) |
Telemagination Telebug Enterprises |
| Running time | 5 mins |
| Production company(s) |
Television South HIT Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 6 January 1986 – 16 December 1987 |
The Telebugs is a cartoon from the 1980s about the adventures of three robots with televisions for heads.[1]
Overview
The robots' names are C.H.I.P. (Coordinated Hexadecimal Information Processor), S.A.M.A.N.T.H.A. (Solar Activated Micro Automated Non-inTerference Hearing Apparatus) and B.U.G. (Binary Unmanned Gamma camera) - who were accompanied by a flying video pack called M.I.C. (Mobile Independent Camera). They were invented by Professor Brainstrain (who is also known as Pwofessor Bwainstwain, owing to his unfortunate speech impediment) to stop enemies such as Baron Bullybyte, Magna, Angel Brain, Z.U.D.O (Zero-failure Universal Data Optimizer) Bug and Arcadia, whilst working as reporters for a TV executive named Mr McStarch.[1]
A total of 3 seasons and 86 episodes were produced by Telemagination for Telebug Enterprises and broadcast on Children's ITV in the United Kingdom from 1986–1987.
It also aired on ABC TV in Australia from 6 July 1988 to 3 December 1991, and on TV2 in New Zealand.
The series was also best known for its closing theme song "I Have a Heart" (which debuted in season 2) written by American singer, pianist and songwriter Mort Shuman. It was sung by Samantha in season 2 and American disco singer George McCrae in season 3.
The series also aired on GBC TV in Gibraltar, where it regularly served as a filler during children's programming in the 6:30 - 7:30pm slot during the mid to late 1980s.
In the 1990s the show was sold to HIT Entertainment but this time, the name was changed to The Gigglebytes.
Voice cast
- All the male characters were voiced by Ron Moody (except for Bug) and the female characters (also including Bug) were voiced by Suzy Westerby.
Transmission guide
- Series 1: 26 editions from 6 January 1986 – 10 February 1986
- Series 2: 40 editions from 10 November 1986 – 16 January 1987
- Series 3: 20 editions from 17 November 1987 – 16 December 1987