The Charge

Don't pull the rope!

The Case

And on the eighth day, God created the Doodlebops, and He immediately regretted it, and they were banished into the dark nether-regions of the abyss and reverted back to a seven day work week. But, billions of years later, the Doodlebops have returned, having clawed themselves from the horrid maw, shaking free the clawing hands of the damned, and now, donning their musical instruments, they intend to bring joy to the children of the world, until their role in the Apocalypse comes to fruition.

The Doodlebops are comprised of three freakish adults in heavy make-up and synthetic hair named Rooney, Deedee and Moe. Each episode follows them as they wake up in their weird little house, try to find Moe who hides all the time, roll with the subject of the day's show, pull a rope that dumps water, rhyme a bit with Mazz (Kim Roberts) run around the community creeping out children and animals, hopping the bus with Bus Driver Bob, and, finally, ending up at a live show, which appears to be a splicing together of audience footage with studio stage performances. Plan for tons of singing and dancing and jumping around and demonic moose heads.

The four episodes on this collection:

• "Tap Tap Tap"
Deedee wishes for some tap shoes and gets them. The thing is, they force her to tap dance forever! Can her friends figure out a way to free her from this hellish torture?

• "Jumpin' Judy"
To spice up their show, the D-bops enlist the aid of Jumpin' Judy, a girl named Judy who jumps.

• "The Move Groove"
Transportation is fun! The Doodlebops are forced to find another conveyance to get to their show when they learn Bob's bus has broken down.

• "Wobbly Whoopsy"
Moe and Rooney scramble to give Deedee the greatest birthday bash.

Is it me, or is preschool-oriented entertainment getting crazier and crazier? LazyTown, The Toy Castle, f-ing BooBah: those are righteously cuckoo. But I think The Doodlebops might have them all beat for sheer insanity. I think the costume department made a bet among themselves on who could come up with the character that could give kids the most nightmares. My vote: probably Moe, who looks like a cross between Animal from The Muppets and Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer.

But it's bright, bursting with kinetic energy, crammed sideways with movement and songs , and there is zero cleavage. Safe for kids, and probably engaging, but adults will likely prefer having their eyebrows waxed.

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