Little Howard's Big Question



"Mother: The number 4 is considered highly unlucky in oriental cultures! Big Howard: But this is Purley! Mother: It's the end of the WORLD! Little Howard: Oh come on, Purley isn't that bad. How can I be lucky?"

Little Howard and Big Howard live together with Mother in a house in Purley where they examine the answers to questions posited by Little Howard.

Only a lot more awesome than it sounds.

You see, Little Howard is a 6-year-old cartoon boy, Mother is a highly neurotic computer and Big Howard is a struggling actor and stand-up comic.

The show tends to follow this format: First there will be a short sketch in which Little Howard will get his inspiration for the "Big Question" of the week, blow his klaxon, shout the question out loud and cause Big Howard to have an accident due to shock.

After the title song, "I Love Monkeys", Big and Little Howard use a range of techniques, from research and asking experts to dream sequences and songs to answer the question with a layer of absurdity, slapstick and pop culture references on top.

The show is notable for examining questions other than the standard edutainment fare, examining concepts such as scarcity, superstitions, love and TV production.


 * Affably Evil: Little Howard couldn't tell that Roger the Pigeon was the one who stole the money in How Did I Get Here. Subverted with Little Albert, who is a total nutcase.
 * Absent-Minded Professor: Mother
 * Big Bad: Little Albert has the potential to be this.
 * Butt Monkey: Big Howard and the monkeys.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: MOTHER and Little Howard
 * Cool Old Lady: Doris
 * Flanderization: Little Albert gets the opposite of most flanderizations, he's actually become a credible threat and possibly the future Big Bad of the show.
 * Genius Ditz: MOTHER.
 * Girl of the Week: Arguably, Little Susan.
 * Harmless Villain: Subverted with Little Albert who could have killed Little Howard, if he was not stopped
 * Jerkass: Roger the pigeon
 * Loveable Rogue: Little Howard.
 * Misplaced Wildlife: Subverted. There are no wolves in Britain; Little Albert is just a nutcase.
 * McGuffin: Big Howard's Sketchpad.
 * Somewhere a Paleontologist is Crying: "Could The Dinosaurs Ever Come Back" is a carnival of this, from a T-Rex with three fingers to Brontosaurus mentioned in the song. It lampshades the fact that most modern reptiles are often called dinosaurs, however.
 * Somewhere a Herpetologist is Crying: In the same episode as above, a bearded dragon is shown savaging Big Howard's neck. In Real Life, bearded dragons are actually quite placid.
 * Team Dad: Big Howard
 * Raised by Wolves: Little Albert claims he was this, but he was actually raised by squirrels.
 * Evil Plan: Little Albert tries to steal Big Howard's Sketchpad in an attempt to rule the world.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Little Howard grows 40 feet in Why can't I be bigger?.
 * Widget Series