Let's Wiggle

Let's Wiggle was the Wiggly Television series by The Wiggles. It first aired on the 31st July 1998.

Every episode contains three songs, and the segments Kaz the Cat, Wigglehouse, a Henry the Octopus puppet show, and Captain Feathersword's Pirate Show. Kaz the Cat segments were replaced by Dorothy narrating scenes taking place in a kindergarten in later versions of these episodes.

It was filmed in 1997, following the production of The Wiggles Movie, and as such the sets are very similar, especially Wigglehouse, Wags World and Captain Feathersword's Dockyard. The exterior of Wigglehouse remains pink and orange in the episode Muscleman Murray, but was repainted to blue and orange in all its other appearances.

The songs used in the series are primarily taken from the remakes of Wiggle Time! and Yummy Yummy, with every studio song from both videos appearing once, in addition to one song from their newest video, Toot Toot!. Some music videos especially filmed for the series also appeared infrequently, as well as songs filmed live in concert.

Episodes

 * 1) Anthony's Friend
 * 2) Foodman
 * 3) Murray's Shirt
 * 4) Building Blocks
 * 5) Jeff the Mechanic
 * 6) Lilly
 * 7) Zardo Zap
 * 8) The Party
 * 9) Wiggle Opera
 * 10) Haircut
 * 11) Muscleman Murray
 * 12) Spooked Wiggles
 * 13) Funny Greg

Format
Every episode was structured to a specific format, which consisted of the following

Opening Intro
The shows theme was a special recording of the second verse of Get Ready To Wiggle. Each Wiggle and their friends get their own introduction. It includes a lot of alternate takes or unused footage, most notably a "Balloon Chase" scene and a video for Romp Bomp A Stomp which looks to have been filmed at the same time as other music videos used for the series.

The opening was unchanged throughout the series. Although a single frame of an alternate character card for Captain Feathersword can be seen at the end of his updated one in every episode, it was never used in its entirety, as even the original airing of the first episode is like this.

Songs
There are three songs in every episode, one after the opening theme, one after the Wigglehouse scene, and one before the credits. The first seven episodes feature songs only from the 1998 versions of Wiggle Time! and Yummy Yummy, while the next two also feature exclusive music videos for Dorothy's Dance Party (ep. 8), Wake Up Jeff!, and O Epoe Tooki Tooki (ep. 9). Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car from The Wiggles' newest video at the time, Toot Toot!, was featured in the 10th episode, while the last three episodes only feature songs performed live at a concert.

By the end of episode 10, all songs from Wiggle Time! and Yummy Yummy were used once. The only songs to appear twice in the series were Hot Potato and Captain Feathersword Fell Asleep on His Pirate Ship (Quack Quack), although their later appearances are different versions performed live (in fact, Captain Feathersword Fell Asleep On His Pirate Ship is in a lower key).

Songs from Yummy Yummy have their title cards appear exactly as they do in that video. For most of the songs from Wiggle Time!, as well as two of the music videos made for the series, an exclusive S.S. Feathersword title banner was used, while concert songs had simple text floating across the screen. Dorothy's Birthday Party, Here Comes a Bear and Rock-a-Bye Your Bear received Big Red Car banner titles, just like the ones from Yummy Yummy. Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car and Wake Up Jeff! were the only two songs not to feature a song title card at all.

Kaz the Cat (original) / Kindergarten segments (later versions)
Kaz the Cat featured new characters, including Kaz herself, Max Mouse, Benjamin Bird and their friend, Carolyn. It is the simplest segment, mostly featuring the characters talking in the same location, as well as the shortest. It has its own unique theme song, sung by The Wiggles and Carolyn Ferrie.

Possibly due to poor response of the Kaz characters, or wishing for Dorothy the Dinosaur to have a greater presence in the show (perhaps a bit of both), Kaz the Cat segments were dropped after the initial run on Seven/Prime Network, and all networks to run the series afterward, as well as all home video releases of the show replace them with segments showcasing kids doing things like painting and reading in kindergarten, as Dorothy tells of her visit to the school to Wags (neither character is seen, and Wags is never heard). These segments have no official title.

As the Kaz the Cat segments were used so rarely, they were largely considered lost for some time. Recently, 12 of the 13 Kaz the Cat segments have resurfaced online, in the form of VHS recordings of Seven and Prime Network airings of the original episodes. The only one that remains lost as of 2019 is the segment from Lilly.

Wigglehouse
The Wiggles have adventures at their home, from throwing a party for the new schoolteacher, to famous actress Lilly Lavender searching for a new star, and even meeting the alien Zardo Zap. Simpler stories include Anthony having fun with his "imaginary" friend Morty the invisible giant turtle, Murray staining his red shirt and finding a new one, Jeff having to fix the Big Red Car before a concert, and Greg losing his sense of humor.

The theme song is a brief part of Get Ready To Wiggle, similar to the intro to the show, but in a different key.

Henry the Octopus
Henry's life in the sea, as he conducts his underwater big band, teaches his friend Jacques about the stars, holds a sea circus, and plays a rhyming game with all his friends. Henry's friends in the show include The Fishettes, Joey the Crab, The Catfish Brothers, Jacques the Shark, Tom the Purple Trout and Sam and Michael the Sea Snails, with all characters portrayed as puppets. It is narrated by Greg Page.

Its theme song is a short rendition of the song Henry the Octopus.

Captain Feathersword's Pirate Show
Featuring Captain Feathersword and Wags as they go to places like Pirate Park for a picnic, Slow Street while on a treasure hunt, and the Beach to have a swim. The primary locations of the segment are Wags World and Captain Feathersword's Dock.

The theme song is adapted from It's A Christmas Party, On The Goodship Feathersword.

The Chase (end credits)
As the credits roll on, we see a character be chased by the others after they take something, such as Wags running off with a pink towel that had been hung up to dry, a butterfly flying away with a net after Wags tried to catch it (accidentally getting Dorothy in the process), and Captain riding away on a bike with a ball The Wiggles were playing a game of tennis with.

The segment has never officially been given a title, but has been named by after the instrumental song The Chase which plays throughout it. An extended version of the song would appear on the North American release of the Yummy Yummy album in 1999. Part of the Chase segment used in the episodes Murray's Shirt, Wiggle Opera and Funny Greg, where Captain takes Jeff's keyboard, was used in versions of the video Wake Up Jeff! released outside of Australia/New Zealand, replacing the song Everybody Is Clever, without the credits text over it. The sequence is presented in a manner similar to chase sequences in the sketch comedy series, The Benny Hill Show.

Trivia

 * The series was shown each week on Channel 7, first airing on Friday at 3:30pm and then repeating on Saturday at 10:30am.
 * It was shown later on the ABC in 1998 and on the Disney Channel in 1999, around which point Kaz the Cat segments began to be replaced by the kindergarten scenes.
 * This was the second Wiggles series aired in America, specifically in 2002, after TV Series 2 debuted on Playhouse Disney first in 2001.
 * Every episode is named after its Wigglehouse segment.
 * Paul Field voices the trivia announcer during Wigglehouse segments.
 * Footage of Murray in the theme song is taken from Big Red Car, specifically from Can You (Point Your Fingers And Do The Twist?) and his introduction to Georgia's Song.
 * Wigglehouse now has a garage attached. The garage's inside was never shown in the series, though it was in the original 1998 version of Toot Toot!.
 * Clips from an unused Chase segment with balloons, and an exclusive version of Romp Bomp A *Stomp are shown in the theme song, but neither appear in any episode.
 * It's worth noting that these are the only clips from Chase scenes or music videos to appear in the opening. This could mean they may have been shot just for the theme song, or that full versions of each were made but intentionally scrapped, and to make use of the footage, shots were put in the intro.
 * Although Muscleman Murray and Funny Greg were among the last episodes put together and aired, their segments were likely filmed first.
 * The Wiggles all wear socks matching their skivvy colours in these episodes, but black socks in all others.
 * Anthony's hair is longer and curlier in both episodes.
 * Greg is seen wearing a watch in both, the same one that he wore since the beginning of The Wiggles in 1991, but never after these were shot in 1997.
 * Wigglehouse's exterior appears pink in Muscleman Murray, like it was in The Wiggles Movie, despite being blue in other appearances in the series.
 * Perhaps the most notable evidence that it was shot first, the Pirate Show segment of Funny Greg has Wags appear in his 1995-1996 costume at the beach, and after Captain tells him to go into the dressing shed to dry off, he comes out in his new costume, and proceeds to show off his new look as Captain appears amazed.