Die Hugo Show

***Die Hugo Show*** or ***HUGO-Show*** (originally ***HUGO - Die interaktive Gameshow***) was a TV show that run in Germany on kabel eins (Kabel-1) between 1994 and 1997. The program eventually turned into ***Hugo und Hexana*** with a spin-off titled ***Hexana***.

## History

In 1993, ITE began the development of a program and games for Germany. At the same time a TV station was sought, which should broadcast this format. The transmitter Kabelkanal, which emerged from ProSieben since 1992, had no specific target group at that time and adopted this format.

On 18 April 1994, the program started as *HUGO - Die interaktive Gameshow* on German television. The first program was moderated by presenter Judith Hildebrandt. For the then 16-year-old, it was the entry into the TV world. Sonja Zietlow and Minh-Khai Phan-Thi also made the jump into show business from this show. The live broadcast lasted half an hour.

On the 3 December, *HUGO-Show* was broadcast for the first time. The one-hour program, which was aired every Saturday, showcased the best of the week. On 24 December, the transmitter was changed from Kabelkanal to Kabel-1. At the same time, spectators from Austria and Switzerland were able to play. After one year, Judith was succeeded by Yvette-Ablanvi Dankou.

Due to the change to the virtual studio on 26 May 1995, the regular program was then extended to full hour. Since 20 October, in addition to the human presenters, Hugo also moderated for the first time (first Michael Habeck, followed by Oliver Grimm and Sven Blümel). Along came the "HUGO-Mobile" with Guido Kellermann and Klaus Dittrich, who toured all over Germany in a TV van to get people to play along. The games were being sent to the studio and from there to the screen. In the same year, the program was awarded the Golden Cable award for the Best Children's Program.

At the end of 1995, Minh-Khai left the tream and Tania Schleef came after her in February 1996. In the autumn of 1996, the transmission time was then switched back to half an hour. Since the end of 1996, *HUGO* was limited to to be aired only on Saturdays, still moderated by Tanja. Since 13 December 1996, the program ran six to seven times a week for about 10 minutes between animated series. It was moderated by Julia Haacke in the role of the witch Hexana (Scylla) and by Hugo himself as a computer-controlled character in Hexana's castle. In addition to *Hugo*, a spin-off program *Hexana*, dedicated to the PlayStation, involved only Julia Haacke as a Hexana.

The show came to end on 27 December 1997, taken off the air by the new Kabel-1 managing director as part of changing the station's offering to only mature audience. *Hexana* was discontinued with a New Year's Eve special on 31 December 1997.

There was a total of 2,011 broadcasts (including repetitions) of all the programs. On average, 500,000 spectators watched the adventures of the little troll. The peak was 600,000 spectators. With a market share of 14 percent on average, *HUGO* enjoyed great popularity among its 3-29-year-old viewers. For all viewers aged 3 and over, HUGO reached a peak of around 11 percent market share. For the children (3-13 years) the market share averaged 30 percent.

## External links

### Online

* *Die Hugo Show* at Hugo-Troll.de
* German Wikipedia article
* *Die Hugo Show* on Facebook
* Video archive on YouTube

### Articles

* 1995 *ASM* article including an interview with Judith Hilderbandt
* 1996 *Amiga Joker* article