When I worked at Ubu Productions, we were told that Ubu meant underdog in Latin. When Dr. Diana Meehan-Goldberg (Gary David Goldburg's wife) started an all-woman production company in 1990, she named it Vox Uburis for "voice of the underdog".

The word Ubu is not listed in one dictionary, Latin or otherwise that I have been able to find. The first use seems to be Alfred Jarry's Ubu Plays of the late 19th century, where the character of Pa Ubu is anything but an underdog.

Ubu was the name of Gary David Goldberg's black Labrador retriever. The photograph at the end credits of all Ubu Productions' shows (Family Ties, Spin City, Brooklyn Bridge, and American Dreamer are a few) is of Ubu in front of the Louvre museum in Paris. The voice saying "Sit Ubu, sit! Good dog." also belongs to Mr. Goldberg.

Ubu died a long time ago but his memory shall live on at the end of stupid sitcoms for generations in syndication.

Incidentally, Shana Goldberg-Meehan is the daughter of Diana and Gary. Look for her credit on Friends as a producer/writer.