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The Upside Down Show
Genre	Children's television series Comedy
Created by	Belinda Ward and David Collins & Shane Dundas
Written by	Billy Aronson, Judy Freudberg, Tony Geiss, Joey Mazzarino, Luis Santeiro, P. Kevin Strader, Belinda Ward, John Weidman
Directed by	Peter Cudlipp, Julie Money
Starring	David Collins, Shane Dundas, Amanda Bishop
Voices of	Mat McCoy, Adam Smillie
Narrated by	Adam Smillie
Composer	David Chapman
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Michael Bourchier Kurt Mueller
Producer	Wendy Gray
Production location	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Cinematography	Ian Jones
Editor	Simon Martin
Camera setup	both Single-camera and Multi-camera
Running time	24 minutes
Production companies	Blink Films Sesame Workshop Noggin LLC
Original release
Network	Noggin (US) Seven Network (Australia, Episodes 1–6) Nine Network (Australia, Episodes 7–10) Network Ten (Australia, Episodes 11–13)
Release	16 October 2006 (2006-10-16) – 2 February 2007 (2007-02-02)

The Upside Down Show is a children's television series produced by Sesame Workshop and Noggin LLC for Nickelodeon. It aired on Noggin, a cable channel that launched as a joint venture between Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop. The series is set in a strange apartment building where the doors and windows lead to a variety of unusual rooms. It is presented by brothers Shane and David (played by the Umbilical Brothers), who live in the apartment building with their sidekick Puppet, their neighbor Mrs. Foil, and a group of fuzzy creatures called the Schmuzzies. In each episode, David gives the viewers an imaginary remote control that affects the characters and their surroundings.

The series was inspired by the Umbilical Brothers' adult-oriented comedy act SpeedMouse, which was also based on the idea of an imaginary remote. Producers from Nickelodeon and Sesame saw the SpeedMouse act and ordered a pilot episode based on it, which became The Upside Down Show. The pilot was successful, and in 2005, and Nickelodeon ordered a season of 13 episodes. The show was written and produced in New York, and it was filmed in Sydney, Australia. The cast and crew featured a mix of Australian and American talent. While creating the series, the writers intentionally included jokes for adults as well as children; Shane Dundas likened The Upside Down Show to making "an adult show for kids."

In 2010, the Umbilical Brothers announced that they had completed a script for a special-length episode titled The Upside Down Movie, which would act as a proper finale for the series. Nickelodeon Australia provided funding for the movie's script development, but the project needed support from outside investors to start filming, which never occurred. As recently as March 2017, the Umbilical Brothers have stated that they are still interested in making the movie and trying to find support for it.

History

Production

The show's concept is based on SpeedMouse, a live comedy act that the Umbilical Brothers performed for adult audiences in the 1990s. The plot involved an invisible remote control that dictated the Brothers' actions on stage. Shane Dundas called the remote "a handy idea that we took directly from SpeedMouse and it all grew into a whole another animal." Producers from Noggin and Sesame Workshop enjoyed the remote control in SpeedMouse and believed that the physical comedy would lend itself to a family-oriented television show. Noggin and Sesame approached the Umbilical Brothers with plans to develop a series, and the Brothers accepted.

In developing the series, the creators set out to make an "adult show for kids"—adapting the adult-oriented SpeedMouse for a wider audience while also adding layered jokes for parents and older viewers. According to Shane Dundas: "with The Upside Down Show the mantra was 'Well, kids are going to love this but we really want to make sure there are gags in there for the grown-ups as well!'" David Collins elaborated, "The series is filled with gags that will fly over the heads of little ones and straight into the face of the parent stalking behind them. Some of these gags we had to fight for."

A half-hour pilot episode was produced from December 2004 to March 2005. It followed Shane and David searching for the beach, and this storyline was later reworked into a story for the main show. For the pilot, the show's art department glued the entire living room set to the ceiling to give the appearance of an "upside down" room; in the final series, the camera is simply turned around at various points to create the upside-down illusion. The character of Puppet had a different design, and he was named "Stretch" in the pilot. Shane and David also wore different costumes: simple T-shirts with swirl designs on them. In April 2005, the pilot episode was screened at MIPTV Media Market, but it was never aired on television.

The pilot was successful, and Noggin ordered a full season of 13 episodes in 2005. They aired in fall 2006. On 27 December 2006, in an interview with the New York Post, Shane Dundas stated he was unsure if the series would be renewed for a second season, and that Noggin/Nickelodeon would make a final decision in February about renewing the series. On June 1, 2007, the Umbilical Brothers announced on their website that the series would not be renewed for a second season, and that Nickelodeon USA had decided to end the series after a single season. Unlike Nickelodeon USA, the Australian branch of Nickelodeon was strongly committed to the series and wanted to continue it.

Broadcast

In the United States, the series was first shown on the main Nickelodeon channel as a "sneak peek" on 13 October 2006. Afterward, the series was shown exclusively on Noggin, which aired the show's 13 episodes over a month-long period from October to November 2006. Noggin aired the episodes slightly out of order; it showed "Art Museum" and "Farm" (episodes 3 and 11) as the premiere episodes, then aired the remainder of the show in its original production order. In Australia, Nickelodeon premiered the episodes on a more sporadic schedule; the series debuted on 25 August 2006 and did not air the last episode until February 2007.

Unfinished finale movie

In September 2008, the Umbilical Brothers announced that "there is a script in development for a movie version of The Upside Down Show." In January 2010, David Collins announced that the script had been finished, and that the project would be titled The Upside Down Movie and act as a series finale. Collins also confirmed that Nickelodeon Australia was "hugely supportive of trying to get the film made and have been partially funding the script development." The Umbilical Brothers started an online petition to demonstrate public support of the movie, but the project did not receive enough support from outside investors to start filming. In March 2017, Collins stated that he was still trying to find support for the movie.

Summary

Shane Dundas and David Collins, The Umbilical Brothers, play brothers who live together in a strange house with a variety of unusual rooms en route to a place they go to for the very first time. When they arrive at their destination, a fast-motion sequence of them visiting the place is shown.

Characters

• David – Played by David Collins. He has super-sensitive hearing and a super-sensitive sense of smell. He plays the drums in The Talking Airheads band with an imaginary cowbell attached to an imaginary cow named Clarabelle The Clinking Clanking Cowbell Cow.
• Shane – Played by Shane Dundas. He is David's brother. He plays the guitar in The Talking Airheads Band.
• Mrs. Foil – Played by Amanda Bishop. She is the boys' neighbor. She is blonde and wears brightly-colored clothes. She can play the tuba.
• Puppet – He lives with the brothers and often assists them in their antics. He sometimes appears to be more rational than Shane and David but is often just as silly as the boys. He has a cousin named Mary Annette. Puppet is performed and voiced by puppeteer Mat McCoy. Puppet was built by Puppet Heap. He is the song writer for The Talking Airheads Band. He speaks in American English accent.
• The Schmuzzies – They come in a wide range of bright colors and speak a language called Schmuzzish ("Schmello, Schmuzzies!"). Shane sometimes appears to be apprehensive of the creatures, while David maintains a good rapport with them and is fluent in their language (which he studied for seven years, "part-time"). They sing and play the marimba in The Talking Airheads Band. The Schmuzzies were built by Puppet Heap and are performed and voiced by Emma de Vries, Virginia Goodfellow & Alice Osborne.
• Fido the Fly – Fido is Shane's imaginary pet fly who lives behind a tiny door in the boys' apartment. Fido communicates to Shane by buzzing (voiced by Shane). He is an avid tennis player. He plays the trumpet in The Talking Airheads Band.
• The Voice – Voice of Adam Smille. An authoritative male voice sometimes speaks to Shane and David, generally reminding the duo to knock before entering a room. The Voice sometimes demands specific types of knocks before giving the boys consent to enter a room.
• Action Fingers – Occasionally Shane and David need to call upon the resources of two rough-and-tumble figures, Knuckles (on Shane's left hand) and Pointy (on David's right hand). These two-digit adventurers are performed by Shane and David when they "let their fingers do the walking" over various props and scenery. They serve as the show's superheroes. Their name is also a pun on "action figures", the male version of a doll.
• Bob the Blanket – Bob is a small, white blanket belonging to David (who also performs his voice). He speaks in a rough voice with an American accent and employs a sardonic wit. Bob only appears in "Barbershop" and very briefly in "Camping."
• Spot the Chair – Spot is David's pet chair who plays a game called, "Fly on the Chair" with Fido, who he is good friends with. He only appears in "Pet Shop" and very briefly in "Picnic."

Episode structure

Before title sequence

Each episode begins with a cold opening showing one or both brothers in the middle of an activity. David introduces "The Remote" by pretending to be holding a remote control. He explains that The Remote can control the action on-screen. He demonstrates by pressing various buttons, which control Shane's actions. The remote also has buttons such as "Humongous" and "Minute" that cause some strange and/or undesired effects. David offers The Remote to the viewer and "hands it over" by reaching off-screen downward. The brothers direct the viewer to "press the Play button" to start the episode. This results in the viewer accidentally pressing the wrong button and putting the brothers in a bizarre situation. The brothers encourage the viewer to fix the situation by pressing a button for the opposite effect and then press Play. Shane (and sometimes David) will commonly say "Whatever you do, don't press the (same wrong button the viewer pressed before)," resulting in a repeat of the same bizarre situation before the viewer is again encouraged by the brothers to press the same opposite button as before for the same opposite effect. Finally, the boys encouraged the viewer to press play which they do, starting the show.

Title sequence

The Action Fingers perch on the title, which is flipped upside down. Pointy reads the title as "Down Upside", realizing the mistake, they turn the title the right way up. After jumping off the title, Pointy and Knuckles run and jump over the words "Starring David Collins and Shane Dundas" then the words "Created by Belinda Ward and Shane Dundas & David Collins" drop as the Action Fingers continued running before kicking the words and running up to the red door, Knuckles knocks the door and Pointy opens it showing Shane and David's apartment.

Plot structure

The central objective of each episode is for Shane and David to get to a certain location. They spend the episode adventuring through the various red doors in their apartment, as well as searching other places. The brothers occasionally request help from the viewers, asking them to press buttons on their remote. Their journey takes them to "Wrong Turn" rooms. In at least one of the rooms, they encounter a child who teaches them something and sets them on the correct path. Eventually, they locate their destination "for the very first time" and visit the place in fast motion.

Ending

The show ends with the brothers back in their apartment. During the last few minutes of the show, they give the viewer an imaginary souvenir to thank them for their help throughout the episode.

Running gags

There are a few running gags in the show. The main one is the "Upside-Down" button; when this button is pressed the viewpoint shifts to an upside-down shot. One of the boys asks the viewer to press the "Right Side Up" button, at which point the viewpoint rights itself.

Episodes

Home media

The complete series DVD was released on a two-disc set on 19 January 2012 as a manufacture on demand Amazon exclusive.

References

1. ^ "The Umbilical Brothers – Speedmouse: The Return Of The Roadie at Royalty Theatre – Adelaide Fringe Interview". The Clothesline. 25 February 2016.
2. ^ Kaplan, Don (27 December 2006). "Quitting Kids TV – 'Upside' Duo Talk About Getting Out Just As Hit Series Is Getting Started". New York Post.
3. ^ Collins, David (30 January 2010). "Grab Your Remotes and Click for an Upside Down Movie!". This petition will show investors with insight and imagination that there is a great love of the show and they should join forces with Nickelodeon Australia (who by the way has been hugely supportive of trying to get the film made and have been partially funding the script development, but I digress).
4. ^ Collins, David (9 March 2017). "The Umbilical Brothers on Facebook". Out of curiosity - How many of you would like to see an Upside Down Show Movie? I have 2 hrs to collate likes and shares. Aaaand go.
5. Collins, David (18 January 2019). The Upside Down Show: 'Camping' Fun Fact.
6. ^ Collins, David (3 September 2019). "The Upside Down Show pilot photos".
7. ^ "Sesame, Nick go Upside Down". C21 Media. 17 March 2005. New York's Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon Australia and local prodco Blink Films are coproducing a new preschool series, The Upside Down Show.
8. ^ "Noggin Orders 'Upside Down'". TVWeek. 6 December 2005.
9. "The Umbilical Brothers - Home". 19 June 2007. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 19 June 2007 suggested (help)
10. "TV Listings: Friday, October 13, 2006". Newspapers.com. Boston, MA: The Boston Globe. 8 October 2006.
11. ^ "Preschoolers Take Control of Their Own Virtual TV Remote on NOGGIN's New Original Series, The Upside Down Show Premiering Monday, October 16". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020.
12. "The Upside Down Show - Starts August 25th @ 6:35PM on Nick Jr". Nickelodeon Australia. ViacomCBS. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006.
13. "The Umbilical Brothers on Facebook". 21 September 2008. There are no new episodes for the Upside Down Show...there is a script in development for a movie version of the Upside Down Show.
14. https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Down-Show-Season-Discs/dp/B005XE00M6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546963730&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Upside+Down+Show%3A+Season+1

External links

• The Upside Down Show on Nick Jr. (Australia)
• The Upside Down Show at IMDb
• Umbilical Brothers

• 2006 Australian television series debuts
• 2007 Australian television series endings
• Australian children's television series
• Australian preschool education television series
• Australian television shows featuring puppetry
• Australian television shows featuring anthropomorphic characters
• Nick Jr. original programming
• Noggin (brand) original programming
• Television series by Sesame Workshop