“We can sing and dance, and we don't need pants See, we're just like you We've got regular jobs, just with low doorknobs See, we're just like you Yes, we graduate from Harvard (At the head of my class!) But if they test sobriety (I may not pass!) There's no strings attached, and there's no hand up my (HONK!) We're just like you!" Being that I grew up watching “Sesame Street”, and spent the better part of my life wishing I could find a way to work for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, I guess its safe say that I love puppets and the art of puppeteering. When I was in school, I got involved in some puppet shows and found that I was pretty good at it. Since I never really went anywhere with that talent, I opted instead to watch any puppet shows or live theatre that I could, no matter the subject.

That’s why I can sit back and enjoy the family friendly antics of “The Muppet Show” as easily as I appreciate the NC-17 couplings of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s riotously funny “Team America.”

So it was a given that I was going to watch Fox’s “Greg the Bunny” when it first aired back in 2002. I knew that it was going to be irreverent, and the fact that Seth Green and Eugene Levy were part of the cast only made it more enticing. What I didn’t know was that Fox was going to treat the series so shabbily that finding it on any of the nights it was supposed to air was nearly impossible. It was bounced (hopped) all over the place over a five month period, only to be summarily cancelled with two episodes unaired. Until last week, when the DVD of the complete series showed up on my doorstep, I had yet to see a single episode. In all, thirteen episodes were produced and the day after the DVD arrived I set down to watch a couple. I had to see what I had missed. From the very first episode, “Welcome to Sweetknuckle Junction”, I was completely hooked and knew I was in store for an evening of big laughs.

The premise of the original “Greg the Bunny” series was that we currently live in a world where humans and puppets, preferably referred to as ‘fabricated Americans', live and work together as a part of daily life. Puppets are the forgotten minority, often having problems finding work because of their non-fleshy status. Enter Greg, the Bunny. Greg is a little brown sock puppet that lives with Jimmy Bender (Seth Green), who is also in need of a little direction in life. Jimmy’s current job as a pool boy is highly disappointing because his clients include people who actually want him to clean their pools, as opposed to being made up of horny housewives.

Greg decides that his days of unemployment need to come to an end, so he harasses Jimmy into calling his father, Gil (Eugene Levy), to see if there are any openings at the studio where he works. When Greg shows up to apply for an office job, he is mistakenly given an audition to take over as one of the stars of “Sweetknuckle Junction”, the children’s show that Gil directs. This leads to employment for Greg, as well as a spiffy little job as a production assistant for Jimmy.

Though I laughed long and hard throughout the episodes of “Greg the Bunny”, I can see why it might have had a hard time finding an audience. The networks horrible scheduling was only a part off the problem. The humor in “Greg the Bunny” is sometimes broad and easy to catch, but more often I found it to be a bit too smart for its own good. Today’s television audiences don’t like to have to think about a joke, they want it spelled out for them. A lot of the jokes in the series were brilliantly written, but perhaps a little too satirical for some audiences. Some of the best lines in the show were often asides that were probably missed if viewers weren’t paying attention. For example, you’d catch things like, “I heard a rumor that Ernie and Bert were straight”, or “They put Oscar on Prozac”. Or when Jimmy accidentally runs into the show’s new producer (Sarah Silverman) at a newsstand, he comments that he ‘comes here periodically.’ Great joke, but I doubt many people got it.

There was a lot to love about the series for smarter audiences, even from the cast of the show within a show itself. The puppet cast included Professor Ape (who is often drunk and has to remind people his real name is Warren Demontague), Count Blah (who is a shameless and self-professed rip-off of “Sesame Street’s” Count Count), and the aptly named Tardy the Turtle (who’s name could be highly offensive to some people if they really think about it). Of the human characters, there is Junction Jack (the great Bob Gunton), who hates puppets because of a traumatic (yet hysterical) experience he had as a child, and Dottie Sunshine (the also great Dina Waters).

There wasn’t a single bad episode amongst the original thirteen that were created for the Fox Network, but I gave especially high marks to “Sock Like Me.” In it, Greg secretly writes a very offensive comment about himself on the bathroom wall so everyone will think he can take a joke. When evidence points to Jack having written it, a specialist is brought in to help the cast deal with the ‘anti-puppetism’ that is running rampant at the studio. It’s a hilarious send-up of the whole racial issue that is taken way out of proportion in corporate offices these days. But again, some of the humor is just too darn smart, starting with the title. I doubt very many people will catch the take-off of the title of the anti-rasicm film “Black Like Me.”

Unfortunately the series was summarily cancelled and I thought that was the last we'd ever see of Greg. However, the geniuses at the Independent Film Channel decided they would pick it up, albeit in a slightly different format. Most of the human characters are gone, though Seth Green does make a bit of a cameo as Greg's friend. In this new series, there is still a show within a show format, but now it centers on "The Greg the Bunny Show", where the puppets create parodies of famous movies. We still get to see the behind the scenes antics of the show, only now the producers go even further into the realm of hilariously bad taste (as if that were possible).

This new version of the series is now available on DVD thanks to the folks at Shout Factory!, and like its predecessor, the set offers up all the new episodes as well as tons of extra features. Most focus on specific episodes and in many ways seem like episodes themselves. Rarely do you find a feature that is taken seriously. Best of all, there are commentaries on all 14 episodes by members of the cast and crew, and often these are just as funny as the episode itself. You'll also find the usual assortment of deleted scenes and a gag reel, but I wouldn’t suggest missing a single one of them.

I'm thrilled that “Greg the Bunny” saw a revival on IFC and I knew it would be great. It’s one of the funnier shows I’ve seen in a while and I’m sure it is reaching a much smarter and more appreciative audience there.

Episodes:
Dead Puppet Storage
Sleazy Rider
Bunnie Hall
The 13th Step
2001: Space N Stuff
Ya Know, For Kids
Blah
Sex, Button Eyes, and a Video Ape
The Addiction
The Blues She is My Friend
Martian Serum Seven From Mars
The Godpappy
Daddyhood
Natrually Sewn Killers

Extras: Affurmative Action, Ezekiel 25:17, Commentaries on all 14 Episodes by the Creators, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, Photo Gallery
Specifications: Full Frame
Studio: Shout Factory
Release Date: 10/2006
Region: 1
MPAA Rating: TV-MA (Contains Adult Content, Adult Language and Some Puppet sex)
Website

We'll give Greg the Bunny: Best of Film Parodies an A.