The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on their bellies. Recognised throughout popular culture for the uniquely shaped antenna protruding from the head of each character, the Teletubbies communicate through gibberish and were designed to bear resemblance to toddlers.
The series rapidly became a commercial success in Britain and abroad. Though the original run ended in , [ 11 ] a rebooted series was green-lit in Channel in the United States. Channel on 17 August The original series returned to the United States on 25 May , when every episode was added to the Noggin streaming service, [ 15 ] including episodes that had never aired in America before.
The programme takes place in a grassy, floral landscape populated by rabbits with bird calls audible in the background. The main shelter of the four Teletubbies is an earth house known as the "Tubbytronic Superdome" implanted in the ground and accessed through a hole at the top or an especially large semicircular door at the dome's foot.
The Teletubbies co-exist with a number of strange contraptions such as the Voice Trumpets and the group's anthropomorphic blue vacuum cleaner "Noo-Noo". The show's colourful psychedelic setting was designed specifically to appeal to the attention spans of infants and unlock different sections of the mind while also educating young children of transitions that can be expected in life.
An assortment of rituals is performed throughout the course of every episode, such as the playful interactions between the Teletubbies and the Voice Trumpets, mishaps caused by the Noo-Noo, the footage of children displayed on the screens on the Teletubbies' stomachs, and the magical event that occurs once per episode. The event differs each time; it is often caused inexplicably and is frequently strange yet whimsical. Each episode is closed by the Voice Trumpets and the narrator.
