Hugo (game show)


Hugo is a children's interactive television show created by the Danish company Interactive Television Entertainment in 1990. Since its premiere on TV2, this popular "live one-player multi platform interactive game show" has aired in more than 40 other countries. The show has been adapted into multiple video games as well into various merchandise and other media in its extended franchise.

Show

Hugo, created by Danish company SilverRock Productions later known as Interactive Television Entertainment, was first aired on the Danish television channel TV2 during Eleva2ren in September 1990, following the lesser success of their previous show, OsWALD. It featured a video game that was played by the audience via telephone connection. A player would call the show where they would control a cartoon character on the TV screen in several scenarios by pressing digit keys on the phone which represented different character controls.
The show proved to be a hit, airing continuously on TV2 for five years. Since then, Hugo has been licensed to more than 40 TV shows around the world, beginning in Spain and France in 1992. Many viewers believed that the program was native to their countries, as Hugo spoke Danish only in Denmark.

''Hugo''

The show's original scenario, which ran on Danish television for a year, featured only the titular character, Hugo. Hugo is a small, friendly troll who is 220 years old, who in this scenario would navigate a dangerous old mine in a quest for a treasure without a backstory. The in-game Hugo would also communicate with the player to comment on the game's progress.
For the next season, the show was vastly expanded, adding Hugo's 180-year-old wife Hugolina and their kids — Rit, Rat and Rut, who were aged 20–50 — as well as Hugo's arch-enemy, the evil witch named Scylla, or the family would be freed but the witch would escape him, or he would end up tied up and sent flying; according to the result, the score will be doubled, left at its state, or halved. Usually, several people would attempt this task to win the prize during half an hour of airtime. In addition to Hugo's messages for the player, Scylla would also cruelly taunt both Hugo and directly the player.
Later, the show was gradually expanded with more characters and increasingly more diverse environments and gameplay. The new scenarios added through the years to the TV show were also featured in the updated editions of the video game based on it.

''Jungle Island''

A new program titled Hugo: Jungle Island premiered in January 1999 and was itself adapted into a video game series set on in the titular location. A late scenario set inside the magic mirror from the 2002 video game was also created and aired in some countries including Poland.

Behind the scenes

Hugo was originally portrayed by Michael Brockdorf, who developed the voice while in the Army. Several others had since taken over the task of voicing the character, including Amin Jensen and Torben Simonsen. Hugolina was originally voiced by Louise Engell while her mother Winnie voiced the antagonist Scylla.
For Hugo and its similar television program projects, ITE originally developed a designated, custom-built computer hardware system called the ITE 3000 that would convert telephone signals into control commands for the characters in the game and allow audience interaction and the action on the TV to occur without delay. The system was based on two Amiga 3000 computers combined with a new audio control system MIDI sampler, the DTMF system and some other hardware, all of which reportedly cost $100,000 to make.
The ITE 3000 was later replaced by the PC-based ITE 4000, which used a real-time motion capture Animation Mask System, invented by Bjarne Sølvason, to transfer an actor's body, head, and eye movements and facial expressions to Hugo's character on screen. The actor providing the voice of Hugo wore a helmet which contained sensors that would capture his facial expressions and translate them to the character, but all of the characters' body movements were pre-rendered.
In 1996, ITE created a 3D graphics system for Hugo using Silicon Graphics' Onyx RealityEngine. A new technology for the real-time 3D animation of Hugo was unveiled in 2005, but was aimed only for export, specifically to Asian countries.

Licensed programs

Hugo never aired in South Africa because the local TV station demanded that ITE remove horns in all animations for all games, as their viewers were very superstitious and believed that Hugo would appear as a demon from local beliefs. The horns of Hugo also caused some problems in the Middle East.
CountryDateChannelBroadcasting
September 1990 - May 1995TV2Friday
27 June 1992 - June 1994Tele5
September 1992 - August 1994France3Monday-Saturday Wednesday
March 1993 - October 1996Kanal 6Monday-Friday
March 1993 - December 1993Sverige 1Monday-Friday
17 March 1993 - 12 December 1995TV2Tuesday / Thursday
April 1993 - April 1994Telemundo
September 1993 - May 1995TV2Friday
July 1994 - August 1997Arutz HaYeladim
January 1994 - January 1995ITVSaturday
April 1994 - December 1996Der Kabelkanal / Kabel-1Monday-Saturday

December 1994 - December 1996Kabel-1Monday-Saturday
January 1995 - October 1995ITVSaturday
January 1995 - December 1997TV SlovenijaSaturday / Sunday
June 1995 - December 1997Televisión Nacional de ChileMonday-Friday
9 October 1995 - 1998CNT GazetaMonday-Friday
March 1996 - May 1998Channel 7Monday-Friday
1 April 1996 - 15 June 2004HRTMonday-Friday
4 November 1996 - 31 December 2005Magic KidsMonday-Friday
November 1996 - November 1997TnG / TG4Saturday


18 December 1996 - 13 December 1997Kabel-1Saturday
January 1997 - December 1998TV4Monday-Friday
February 1997 - May 1997TV2Friday
November 1997 - June 2000RTP1, RTP2Saturday / Sunday, Monday-Friday
31 December 1997 - 30 October 1998RTR2Saturday / Sunday
1998 - ?TG4Monday-Sunday
January 1998 - July 1998SF / DSR
May 1998 - June 1998NickelodeonMonday-Friday
February 1999 - January 2001Canal CapitalMonday-Friday
February 1999 - December 2000TV2Monday-Friday
March 1999 - ?ORT
18 June 1999 - 25 August 1999RTR2Monday-Friday
13 January - 9 April 2000Vasantham Central
28 February 2000 - 5 March 2004BK TVMonday-Friday
May 2000 - April 2001ntv7Saturday / Sunday
3 September 2000 - 28 February 2009PolsatSaturday
December - January 2003TV12
January 2001 - 31 December 2002TV2Monday-Friday
Middle EastJanuary 2001 - December 2003ARTMonday-Saturday
April 2001 - July 2001RTP2Monday-Friday
May 2001 - 30 September 2002Show TVMonday-Saturday
November 2001 - June 2002VenevisionMonday-Friday
27 March 2002 - 19 September 2008Federalna TVMonday-Friday
June 2003 - December 2004TV2Monday-Sunday
June 2003 - 2006Fresh TV
November 2003 - October 2004Cine5Monday-Saturday
17 May 2004 - 30 June 2006HTV7Monday / Wednesday / Friday / Sunday
July 2004 - ?Guangdong TVMonday-Sunday
September 2004 - June 2005ATVMonday-Saturday
March 2005 - February 2006VenevisionMonday-Friday
October 2005 - December 2007Prima TVFriday-Sunday
26 January 2006 - ?Hubei Province TVOnce a week
12/2005 - 2008Ha Noi TVWednesday evening / Sunday afternoon
October 2016 -Magic Kids

By country

Argentina

In Argentina, A Jugar Con Hugo, hosted by Gabriela "Gaby" Royfe, ran for seven seasons and 343 episodes, winning the Martín Fierro Awards for "Best Kids Show" in 2003. Hugo was voiced by César Ledesma. A paper magazine was also published for the show. Gaby Royfe returned to host the program in 2016, this time using the Internet and a mobile app instead of television and a classic telephone, when the 30th anniversary event was attended by 1600 people and watched by half a million.

Brazil

In Brazil, the Hugo show on CNT Gazeta peaked with 500% above the expected rating level, with 1.8 million callers on a single day. The program was directed by Herbert Richards and hosted by Mateus Petinatti and Vanessa Vholker, later replaced by Andréa Pujol and Rodrigo Brassoloto. Hugo was presented as a duende and played by an animatronic puppet voiced by Orlando Viggiani.

Chile

In Chile, Hugo was a success and was quickly extended from a 15-minute segment to 30 minutes in the latter half of 1995, eventually receiving a daily one-hour time slot on Televisión Nacional de Chile as La Hora de Hugo. The winner of the daily editions would meet in a weekend finale and a "Hugo van" traveled around the country to meet the program's viewers. The show was originally hosted by Ivette Vergara and later by Andrea Molina, with Sandro Larenas voicing Hugo.

China

In the People's Republic of China, Hugo was known as a "European troll" and the show could not be interactive because a 30-second delay was required in order to allow authorities to cut off the feed if anyone said anything negative about the ruling regime.

Croatia

In Croatia, Hugo was presented by Boris Mirković, Ivana Plechinger and Kristijan Ugrina, with Hugo voiced by Ivo Rogulja. The show was highly popular, running for eight years, and the taunt used by the witch Scylla in the dungeon became iconic: Hajde, izaberi jedan broj, sigurno ćeš pogriješiti!.

Finland

In Finland, where Hugo was introduced by game journalist-turned-producer Pekka Kossila in 1992, two different, 30-minute Hugo shows were aired at the same time by Yle TV2, one for adults and one for children, achieving an 18% market share by 1996. The programs were originally presented by Taru Valkeapää, who was chosen from among 45 candidates, and later by Marika Saukkonen, while Hugo was voiced by Harri Hyttinen. Merchandise included the music CD DJ Hugo, which included dance hits of 1993.

France

In France, the program was titled Hugo Délire and Les Délires d'Hugo and was presented by Karen Cheryl on France3. The popular show achieved a cult status among the children of the 1990s.

Germany

In Germany and at first also Austria and Switzerland, Die Hugo-Show, scored with techno music, would draw up to 200,000 phone calls every day at its peak, achieving the 40% share of viewers in the target age of 3-13 with its audience of 700,000 in Germany. It used a virtual reality-like studio and the "Hugo-mobile" for live broadcasting all around the country, becoming a cult show for some. The German version of Hugo won the Golden Cable award in 1995 for the "Best Children's Program". There were several musical guests on the show, including Masterboy. A 1996-1997 Kabel 1 spin-off program titled Hexana-Schloss, was hosted by a live-action version of Hexana played by Julia Haacke and sponsored by PlayStation. German presenters included Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, Yvette Dankou, Tania Schleef and Judith Hildebrandt, while Sonja Zietlow hosted the spin-off program Hugo & Hexana. Hugo's voice actors were Michael Habeck, Oliver Grimm, Oliver Baier and Sven Blümel. The country also had a Hugo magazine and a wide variety of merchandise, including numerous music CD releases.

Ireland

In Ireland, Hiúdaí won the Oireachtas TV awards' "TV Presenter of the Year" in 2001 and "Personality of the Year" in 2004.

Israel

In Israel, Hugo was a 30-minute show on Arutz HaYeladim and quickly became the channel's most popular show. The show inspired a three-hour spin-off, Hugo's World, in 1996, in which children used a large step-on number pad to enter character movements. From 1997 to 2001, Hugo starred in a children's electricity safety campaign by Israel Electric Corporation and the show offered a contest related to this campaign in 1997. The program's presenters included Tal Berman. In addition to various merchandise, the show was adapted into a comic book series and a musical stage show.

Poland

In Poland there was the main show, and two spin-offs, all of which were shown on the Polsat network. The spin-offs, Hugo Family and Hugo Express, were the most popular children's programs for years. Hugo was originally hosted by Wojciech Asiński and Andrzej Krucz, and later by Piotr Galus, while Aleksandra Woźniak hosted Hugo Family. Hugo was voiced first by Andrzej Niemirski and later by Mariusz Czajka. There was a monthly magazine and many types of locally produced merchandise, similar to Germany.

Portugal

In Portugal, the show's presenters included Alexandra Cruz, Fernando Martins, Pedro Mendonça, Pedro Pinto, Joana Seixas and Susana Bento Ramos, and the voice actors were Frederico Trancoso, Grace Ferreira, and Mónica Garcez. Hugo won a Troféu Nova Gente award in 1999. The show was later revived by the daily program Hora H.

Russia

In the Russian program Позвоните Кузе hosted by Inna Gomes and Andrei Fedorov, Hugo was voiced by Aleksander Lenkov and Dmitry Polonsky. Hugo was first renamed to Max and then to Kuzya, while Scylla was voiced by Aleksandra Ravenskih.

Slovenia

In Slovenia, Hugo was hosted by Gregor Krajc on TV Slovenija. It became the #1 entertainment show by 1996, reaching 38% TV ratings.

Spain

In Spain, 25% of the population tuned in to watch Hugo hosted by Carmen Sevilla on Telecinco, a viewing figure that has remained unsurpassed since 1994. The success of Hugo prompted the launch of Hugolandia, a spinoff program presented by Beatriz Rico, Luis Alberto Vazquez, and Roma and Eva Morales, and directed by Sebastian Junyent. Pepe Carabias voiced Hugo.

Sweden

In Sweden, the TV4 version of the Hugo show went on to become the best-rated children's show ever in 1996. The show's merchandise included a board game.

Turkey

In Turkey, Hugo became the highest ranking children's show and achieved a 12% share of the total market when the country was new to private channels. The program was enormously popular, especially in 1993, when it was watched by millions of children, thousands of whom would compete to play. The show was hosted by Tolga Gariboğlu. There was also a theatrical show and locally made merchandise. In the Turkish version, the popular character Scylla was kidnapping Hugo's family as she needs to drink troll sweat for eternal life and beauty. There is also a popular urban legend about a boy who hard cursed against Hugo and the show's host Tolga after losing, with many claiming they have witnessed it on live television even as it has always been denied by the host.

United Kingdom

In the UK, Hugo was played on What's Up Doc? and The Shiny Show, reaching up to 38% TV ratings on the latter.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the show was first aired in 2004 with the title Vui cùng Hugo on Ho Chi Minh City Television, it was hosted by Ngoc Linh and :vi:Thanh_Thảo_|Thanh Thao, with Hugo voiced by Quach Ho Ninh. Since December 2005, a Northern version of the show was aired on Hanoi TV along with HTV version. It was called Hugo và các bạn, hosted by Hoàng Thùy Linh, Le Duc Anh, :vi:Thanh Vân Hugo|Nguyen Thanh Van and Thu Hang, with Hugo voiced by Ke Doan. The show became one of the highest rated shows by 2008, receiving 20,000 phone calls per episode. The program became a household name and a favourite among both children and many adults. Hugo và các bạn was axed in 2008 as a part of Hanoi TV's gameshow cancellation spree, with almost every gameshow made by the station being discontinued and got replaced with HTV gameshows and a movie block.

Other media and merchandise

, including a series directly adapted from the 1990s show, and other media and assorted merchandise have been produced in Denmark to be distributed around the world. Some later video games and other adaptations would drop the Hugolina-kidnapping motif and Scylla would become always youthful by default, instead seeking revenge against Hugo, searching for an ultimate power to conquer the world, or even trying to make the trolls extinct, and some games like the Agent Hugo series even dropped her as a character altogether. There were also two attempts to adapt the show into an animated film, among other developments.