Detective Tricky

Detective Tricky is a Kuboian preschool traditionally animated television series created by Lake Caters and produced by Kubokartoonz. The show premiered on Tiny Vision in 2004, running for a total of four series until it came to an end in 2007.

Premise and characters
The show focuses on, Tricky, a sentient teddy bear with a curious personality. Donning a beret hat, a waistcoat and a bumbag in which he holds a magnifying glass, he is often faced with some sort of conflict or difficult solution, and must use problem solving skills in order to resolve any task at hand. In addition to his analytical skills, Tricky is shown to have other skills and attributes, such as a strong sense of smell. Although he can understand human speech, Tricky is incapable of talking himself, though is capable of making high-pitched, robotic puppy-like noises.

A majority of episodes involve Tricky using his various skills and equipment to solve any problems at hand. Often times, he is acting on behalf of others as a detective, hence the show's title. Although the show has a mostly straightforward format in series one, later series showcase the difficulties Tricky often has to face when acting as a detective, such as falling for false evidence and respecting other people's privacy. There are also a few "breather episodes" that don't have a mystery or problem to solve and are instead feature more humorous storylines.

Creation
The origins of Detective Tricky trace back to as early as 1995, when Ashley Maverick and Lake Caters were coming up with ideas and characters for Magma Eye. One of the characters who appeared in said show, Mark "Munch", was originally going to have a stuffed teddy bear as a companion, though the idea was eventually dropped. Caters, however, got an idea for a new show in 1999 after seeing his niece play with her stuffed toys. He explained in an interview "She had them all being part of some great big mystery. Some of them were acting as detectives whilst others were being interviewed so the detectives could find clues to the crime. It was surprisingly in-depth for an introverted young girl."

Maverick and Caters produced a three-minute pilot in 2001 which involved the rejected teddy character from Magma Eye investigating a crime. For the series however, they decided to use a new character altogether. The name Tricky was chosen because as Maverivk said "it's tricky to solve a crime that's right on time", referencing the Run-D.M.C. song of the same name. There was some debate over whether Tricky should be able to talk - ultimately it was decided he would remain mute except for some sound effects in order to give the character a more "innocent" and "cute" nature. It was at one point suggested that Tricky and other animals present on the show would be able to communicate with each other, but not to humans, but Maverick dismissed the suggestion because she felt it was a "tired trope".

Production
Each episode of the first series of Detective Tricky lasted for twelve minutes including the opening and credits sequence, with some stories running across two episodes. Maverick explained that this was done because some stories needed "more time" than others. During the production of series two, however, Maverick felt that less than fifteen minutes was not enough runtime to write good storylines, so the runtime was changed to approximately twenty two minutes per episode, with a few episodes instead being made up of two stories.

A few international regions, as well as Nick Jr. Kuboia, aired two episodes of the first series of Detective Tricky together. These edits alter the two-part episodes to remove the cliffhanger in the first part and recap in the second part, and change the credits to reflect both episodes. Because of this, some sources cite the first series as having thirteen episodes instead of twenty six.

Telecast
After its premiere on Tiny Vision in January 2004, Detective Tricky began airing on Nick Jr. Kuboia in August that year. During the time period the show aired on both channels simultaneously, Tiny Vision aired the most current series at the time whilst Nick Jr. Kuboia aired earlier episodes. After Tiny Vision's closure in early 2008, the show was move to its replacement Junior Vision, where it continues to air as of October 2023. Reruns continued to air on Nick Jr. Kuboia until its closure in late 2010.

In the United Kingdom, the show was pre-sold to CITV, and debuted in the country round about the same time as its Kuboian premiere. Reruns were later aired on Tiny Pop from 2009 to 2018.

Detective Tricky had its United States debut on Noggin in January 2005. It aired on said channel until the autumn of 2008.