Bamzooki
Contents |
Host
Jake Humphrey (2004-6)
Barney Harwood and Gemma Hunt (2009-10)
Co-host
Announcer/commentator: Richard Webb
Dave Skinner (as Dr Vigo, 2009-10)
Broadcast
CBBC, 8 March to 2 April 2004 (20 episodes in 1 series)
BBC One, 31 July to 15 August 2006 (10 episodes in 1 series)
as Bamzooki: Street Rules: CBBC, 11 November 2009 to 3 February 2010 (13 episodes in 1 series)
Synopsis
Children design Pokémon-esque creatures which are then rendered by computer. Two teams then set their creatures against each other in a series of games in a virtual studio, hoping to earn a time advantage in the exciting relay end game. A FightBox Junior, if you must.
After three years off the air, Bamzooki returned in 2009 with new presenters, significantly enhanced graphics, and a new format, called "Street Rules". Rather than taking a collection of 'zooks to the studio, teams now had just one creature, and guided it through a series of battles. The show began with a race along a street course and ended on top of Television Centre. Recurring features included a Zook Doctor giving advice on how to make a quality 'zook, and a motif that Bamzooki was a dangerous and prohibited organisation.
Typographic pedantry alert: the correct title is BAMZOOKi, as in iMAC, iPOD, iCARLY, iDONTCARE etc. but that makes our server's hard drive ache.
Catchphrases
"What's the first rule of Bamzooki?"
"Don't talk about Bamzooki!"
"Which show rules?"
"Bamzooki Street Rules!"
Inventor
Paul Tyler, who produced the shows until 2006.
Trivia
Here's something utterly obscure we found. Bamzooki has always been edited digitally, and was the first show to be made without a single handwritten note to say things like "use take 1 from 0:36:42" - these were all entered onto a computer system as the show went along. The BBC went on to enhance this production system, called it "Ingex", used it on such shows as Dragons' Den and Eastenders, and it won a Royal Television Society innovation award in 2009. The BBC's Research and Development blog explains further, with a video demonstration.
Champions
The 2004-6 series were self-contained shows, with no zooks returning from one show to the next. The 2009-10 "Street Rules" series was organised as a knockout tournament, won by Mean Green.
Web Links
Videos
Long-form trailer for Bamzooki. Caution: contains the terms "appointment to view" and "user-generated content"
See also
Weaver's Week review (2010)
