I don’t know how many Under the Umbrella Tree fans there are out there (hopefully none) but if you’re one of them, this one’s for you. Your parents must have hated you.
Under the Umbrella Tree is a show about a woman, Holly, who lives with three puppets—Gloria the gopher, Iggy the iguana, and Jacob the blue jay or blue bird or whatever. They have a huge Umbrella tree in their house and they all hang out in the room where the tree is. It’s weird to name a show after an object in a room, but it was the 80’s and they were probably trying really hard to be cool. Under the Umbrella Tree is also really hard to say if you’re a young child watching the show. Couldn’t they have called it Holly’s Place or something easy? I should really be in charge of all TV shows.
Okay so Holly was kind of like the caretaker of these animals. She was sort of a bitch. Actually, she wasn’t very likeable at all, which is misleading because she looks really nice. Holly always had sweet 80’s clothes though, I’ll give her that. One time when Gloria, Iggy, and Jacob were sick she bought them all handkerchiefs and they were the size of table cloths. It was so retarded. She’s obviously not capable of doing the most minor tasks. And she always seems annoyed by how much work these animals are to take care of. But in reality, they’re animals, with human characteristics who can talk and wash dishes and play together. They’re less work than babies or animals. She’s very condescending and puts on a weird fake voice. Unless that’s her real voice, in which case, yikes. Let me also mention that Holly is in her late thirties and single so she’s basically unlovable.
She looks young here, but on the show she has wrinkles.
I don’t know why anyone would want a gopher as a pet, but whatever. Gloria has mentioned that she has a burrow somewhere in the house which is weird because if that’s the case, shouldn’t she just live outside with other gophers and have a normal life? She wears clothes, collects hats, and has human hair that she wears in pigtails. If they hadn’t mentioned that she was a gopher in one episode, I wouldn’t have a clue what she was. I kind of feel bad for her though because she’s the only girl amongst two guys a la Lamb Chop with Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse.
I would describe Iggy as the leader of the pack. They all have strong personalities, but Iggy is the most likeable. His eyes bulge out of his head and he has weird fuzzy hair. Iggy kind of got shafted in the name department since that’s the go-to name for iguanas. I know this because I’m pretty sure there’s a Beanie Baby named Iggy who’s an iguana. And one of the Rainforest Café friends on the kid’s menu is named Iggy and he’s an iguana. JUST SAYIN’. Anyway, Iggy is cool but he always has to overly explain things to the audience. For example, if they all decide to go on a bike ride Iggy would totally say something like, “Yeah! Bike rides are fun and a good way to exercise!” It’s like, okay cool. We get it.
Iggy bossing everyone around.
Jacob is just kind of there. He looks the most like the animal that he’s supposed to be. He usually wears sporty clothes which makes one assume that he likes sports even though he shouldn’t because he’s a bird. I also remember him saying something about collecting baseball cards which is totally lame. But it’s a step above Iggy who didn’t have a collection. Iggy ended up trying to collect balloons, but originally he wanted to collect sandwiches—an iguana after my own heart.
Overall, Under the Umbrella Tree is a dumb show and I regret watching it when I was two years old.
Kidz Showz 
This show seems so familiar yet I know nothing about this.
Two best lines and I’m going to paraphrase because copying and pasting hurts my carpal tunnel
-The thing about the Rainforest Cafe’s children menu (like who remembers that?)
-Iggy’s not cool because he doesn’t collect anything
Holly seems crazy. Get a man.
When I was typing the thing about Rainforest Cafe, I was like, Wow this is embarrassing but too good not to include. Iggy was a loser for sure. I feel bad for any man that dates Holly because she’s super annoying. If you watch the youtube videos, you’ll get what I mean.
I think I’m just shocked somebody has been to the Rainforest Cafe enough to remember what’s on the kid’s menu.
Hahaha I used to love Rainforest Cafe. They randomly had one in my hometown mall which is weird because they usually have them in big cities. I always take note of kid’s menu themes. It might be wrong, but I’m almost positive I’m right about Iggy the Iguana.
I am really showing my chops now as a Kidz Showz fan because I remember this show and I recall really loving it. I think this was because nothing stressful ever really happened on the show and I’m the kind of person who can’t watch TV shows that give me a headache. I’ve never made it through an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm for this very reason.
I was hoping someone besides me would appreciate this. Did you ever watch Sharon, Lois and Bram Elephant Show? It was super 80’s and I don’t know why I watched these shows when I was two, but I did. You bring up a good point of this show not being stressful. I would get a lot of anxiety watching shows as well. PS. you need to write a Reading Rainbow post and show it to LaVar. He would appreciate it.
It’s just a kid’s show. Get over it.
I don’t think you understand the point of this blog.
I’m sorry I missed this show, it looks like a real jewel!!! Lol! I do remember the elephant show with Bram, Sharon and Lois. Omg, I haven’t thought about that in such a long time!!!
How did I kind of remember this show, but you don’t? I was probably 2 or 3 when it was on! Weird. Lol The Elephant Show. OMG I need to do Silly Ville AHHHH.