Original title
Theodore Tugboat
Released
7/5/1993
Origin country
CA
Genre
Animation
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
2
Number of episodes
52
Theodore Tugboat is a Canadian children's television series about a tugboat named Theodore who lives in the Big Harbour with all of his friends. The show originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as a co-production between the CBC, and the now defunct Cochran Entertainment, and was filmed on a model set using radio controlled tugboats, ships, and machinery. Production of the show ended in 2001, and its distribution rights were later sold to Classic Media. The show premiered in Canada on CBC Television, then went to PBS, was on Qubo in the US, and at one time, had appeared in eighty different countries. The show deals with life learning issues portrayed by the tugs or other ships in the harbour. Most often, the tugs have a problem, or get involved in a struggle with each other or another ship, but they always manage to help one another resolve these problems and see them through. Their main focus however, is to always make the Big Harbour the friendliest harbour in the world, and to always do a good job with their work related tasks.
A new oil rig called Tex is very rude to Theodore and Hank and he simply just doesn't want their help. However, when a terrible storm puts Tex in grave danger will he then accept the tugs' help?
Theodore insists on finding a little rowboat a new home all by himself. Things though don't quite turn out right.
Hank loses his lifeboat in a spooky cove one day. If the lifeboat isn't found then Hank can't leave his dock due to safety reasons. Theodore decides to help out his friend and find the lost lifeboat. When he arrives at the cove, Theodore is quite surprised.
Foduck is soon to earn his 'v-word'. This means he will be allowed to travel in the open ocean. However, he is having a spot of bother picking a name so he turns to his other tug friends for help.
The Dispatcher chooses Theodore to teach Hank how to tow barges. When Hank tries to tow a barge from the side during his towing test, Theodore says that you're supposed to tow a barge from the front. The result at first is a disaster, but at the end of the day luck is on Hank's side.
Hank says that he has seen a mermaid beneath the water but no one believes him, at first.
George is scared that his hull checkup will hurt so he tries to hide behind a barge but gets stuck. So it's then Theodore to the rescue.
Foduck celebrates by continuously bumping into Theodore. Theodore doesn't like getting bumped but instead of telling Foduck that, he makes the mistake of avoiding Foduck all together.
Theodore gets his first try at welcoming ships into the harbor but isn't sure what to say to them.
The Dispatcher assigns Theodore to be the tug in charge of an incoming cargo ship called Julia. However when Theodore actually meets up with her, Julia questions his ability to handle her and Theodore is not so sure himself either.
A big freeze slows the productivity of the harbor right down. The pilot boats are restricted to their docks so Theodore and his other tugboat friends are left in charge to make sure that the harbor is kept safe.
One night, Theodore has a bad dream about a sea monster and when he wakes up he is scared that the dream will come true. But with a little help from his friends Theodore finds out that dreams are 'just pretend' and he will be alright.
A grand ocean liner named Queen Stephanie visits the harbor. When she tries to pass beneath Benjamin Bridge though she gets severely stuck. Theodore however, quickly comes up with an idea on how to free her.
Bluenose the old sailing ship saves Foduck when his propeller becomes clogged with seaweed.
Theodore thinks that the pilot boats who patrol the harbor never seem to listen to anybody, and they don't. But soon though, the pilot boats learn a valuable lesson about not listening.
It is found that Sandy beach is terribly polluted and Emily and George notice this. They then have an argument about which one of them is causing the pollution. Theodore soon reminds them that all the tugs make pollution. Later on, all the tugs agree on the great idea of a 'Big Harbour Clean-up Contest' to be held.
All the tugs seem to have a very big plan in terms of what part of the harbor they are each going to clean up in the contest. However, once Theodore has heard each tug's 'big plan' he can't seem to think of one himself. So he has to settle for a 'little plan'.
Theodore tells all the tugs that they are his best friend. Later, they get angry at him when they find out Theodore has said the same thing to all of them. They then demand to know which one of them truly is his best friend.
It's Theodore's first day in The Big Harbor and he is completely astonished at how different everything is compared to where he used to work. It takes a few lessons for him to take it all in.
Theodore doesn't like his high-pitched whistle tone so he tries to change the sound of it. He only ends up badly damaging it and Theodore is then unable to do one of his favourite jobs. Later though, he gets a pleasant surprise.
Theodore says that he has seen a ghost at Shipwreck Rock. George though doesn't believe Theodore until he actually sees the ghost for himself, and what a surprise it turns out to be!
George says that Theodore can sleep with the ocean tugs on the other side of the home dock while Emily is away. Theodore agrees because sleeping on the ocean tugs' side of the dock makes him feel more important. Hank though is then left all by himself on the other side of the dock and feels very lonely.
The Dispatcher assigns Theodore and Hank to do the night shift because the other tugs don't want to stay up all night. When it comes for Theodore and Hank to actually do the shift, they find the darkness a little scary.
Theodore finds a whale called Walter who is trapped in seaweed and logs.
The Dispatcher has assigned Emily to lead the tugboat parade. Hank suggests to her that she should recite 'The Tugboat Pledge' as well, except he has tricked Emily and there is no such thing!
George finds a ship that can't talk but little does he know that he could be putting himself in serious danger.
The Dispatcher can't hear properly due to a bad cold, this situation unfortunately leads to some confusion because he is not entirely sure what everyone else is saying exactly.
No one wants to play with Hank or even let him help. He at first feels very angry but a little later he feels very depressed. The other tugs soon join together to formulate a plan on how to apologize to Hank and make him feel better.
Theodore and Emily see a large light travelling across the sky one night. They at first think that it's a shooting star but it is later found out that it is something much, much bigger.
Foduck is chosen by The Dispatcher to be the Big Harbour's safety tug. While he is happy about this, he is also very dissapointed that he won't be able to go out on the open ocean.
Theodore runs into a spot of bother with Northumberland Submarine.
Theodore ends up in the middle of an argument between Emily and George.
Carla encourages Emily to cause trouble in the Big Harbour, will Emily build up the courage to say that she doesn't want to?
A weird ship named Snorri arrives in the Big Harbour. He seems to be rather rude but Theodore soon finds out that in fact, he is not.
George is sad that he didn't win the ""Tug of the Year"" contest, and he had practiced so hard for it too. His other tugboat friends decide to give him a big surprise to cheer him right up.
At first everyone laughs when Theodore accidentally makes a joke. Theodore likes this so he then tries to tell another joke, but on purpose. He can't figure out why nobody laughs at him again, so he tries to find out.
Emily has a full day of work to do but she really wants to meet a fishing trawler who has come from Russia. So she attempts to rush all her jobs but unfortunately she is just a bit too hasty for her own good.
Theodore requests to the Dispatcher for some time off which is agreed upon but soon gets very, very bored.
A string of unexpected, sudden changes to Foduck's routine deeply upset him because he liked the way his original routine was.
The Dispatcher loses his temper and makes an order to the other tugs to be as quiet as possible.
Theodore has to rescue a severely stranded Digby.
Theodore and Barrington Barge decide to play a joke on everyone by hiding from them. But they stay hidden too long and this causes everyone else in the harbour to be worried about them.
Theodore, George and Hank find an enormous ice sculpture floating in the water but can't tell what the object inside it is.
It's ""Big Harbour Fools' Day"" but unfortunately George doesn't take a liking to any of the jokes being played.
Guysborough the garbage barge turns Theodore's normal mood of being a bright and cheerful scamp into an old scrooge.
The Dispatcher sends Theodore out on a job where it is vital that he hugs the coast. Unfortunately he becomes distracted and disobeys orders.
Hank has a severe case of the hiccups that interfer with his work assigned to him.
Hank doesn't like his old name and makes himself a new one, that being 'Henry'. But this sudden name change leads to confusion among the harbour.
One night, Theodore and his friend Foduck get to experience the beautiful Northern Lights.
It's Theodore's birthday but everyone in The Big Harbour seems to have forgotten this special day.
While working Theodore's engine breaks down thus resulting in him only being able to go backwards. This incident makes him feel embarrased and so decides to try and hide from everyone the fact that he can't go forward.
This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.
