Funnybones was a kid’s TV show from Wales which emotionally scarred (in a good sort of way) young ones back in the early 1990s. Gosh, but we’re all grown up now!
However, back then we were snotty nosed brats aged around seven who liked playing with toy dinosaurs and robbing banks (with the toy dinosaurs, a plan which was often a dismal failure).
Weirdly, despite our memories of this show, it only ran briefly in late 1992 and never had anything else supporting it (such as a film starring Brad Pitt, a video game adaptation, or a great novel commemorating it by Solzhenitsyn).
There were 12 brief episodes in all, which were voiced by Griff Rhys Jones, a man renowned for his name. So we’re here to praise it today, even though we wrote contempt up above… we’re just messing with you.
What is Funnybones?
It was a TV show that ran in the UK about two cool skeletons who lived with their equally skeltal dog.
Along with Sam’s Sandwich and Danger Mouse (amongst others), it was a regular part of our TV viewing and book reading.
But what the hell is it with a name like that? This show, with it’s terrifying opening sequence, has haunted our esteemed editor, Mr. Wapojif, to this day.
Often he wakes at night screaming in unbridled terror, whilst chortling a small bit as well (the show was a comedy, after all).
The thing about giant talking skeletons, such as with Bananas in Pyjamas, is it may appear like a cute and cuddly concept for adults, but for the mind of a young one it’s the facinorous creation of a madman.
You watch the cartoon, as a wee one, and head off to bed later wondering if skeletons can talk and move about. Such is the stupidity of kids.
Anyway, the show involved three central characters:
- Big
- Little
- Dog
The first two are brothers, with the former being the elder of the two. He says, “Good idea!” That’s when Little thinks of something.
Thanks to this show, to this day we’re not really sure if skeletons are inanimate or not.
We presume, being emaciated, moving around must be greatly tiring, so they don’t often bother doing anything for most of the time.
Which is fair enough. Perhaps they have great bursts of activity at arbitrary intervals… it’s difficult to determine.
Okay… but What About the Show?
You can watch an episode above (if you missed it, perhaps get your eyes fixed), but episodes typically revolved around the adventures of Big, Little, and Dog.
Janet and Allan Ahlberg wrote the books, but the TV series had a gloriously brief life.
Funnybones would have slipped into obscurity. But for one of the internet’s more bizarre websites (us) to come forward and hoist it aloft!
Indeed, we’re proud we spent a few hours of our lives following the adventures of walking, talking skeletons. We learnt a lot from life.
We can’t say the show ever deserved an Oscar or anything, but it’s one of those kid’s TV shows you remember when you’re all grown up.
It reminds you of one’s youth, in other words. By this we mean as follows—sitting vacantly before a TV with one’s mouth hanging open like some fatuous slob.
It’s been marginally uphill ever since! We think…
Professional Moron 