Tom Turbo

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Long-running Austrian kids' show based on a long-running kids' book series. A talking bicycle named Tom Turbo can do "101 tricky things", including shrink, enlarge, see through walls, pop his head out like a jack-in-the-box for use as a weapon, and other weird stuff. So what does he do with all these abilities? He teams up with various kids and helps them solve mysteries and catch crooks. And I mean weird "mysteries", like a villain using the singing of a kidnapped chorus to summon a great treasure, or an evil toymaker who freezes people solid and tries to sell them. It's fantastical fare, and doesn't take itself very seriously.

Tropes used in Tom Turbo include:
  • A Boy and His X - a boy, a girl, a group of kids, whatever, and their magic talking bicycle
  • Bound and Gagged - happens all over the place, to everyone: adults who have to be rescued, kids who have to be rescued, and particularly the kid heroes themselves
  • The Danza - all kids play "themselves", using their real name in the show. And of course, Thomas Brezina, host of the show.
  • Kid Detective - part of the premise
  • Non-Interactivity - there are various moments where the viewer has to "help" the characters with something
  • Snooping Little Kid - essentially part of the premise. Oh yeah, and a snooping magic bicycle too