Greg the Bunny’s wish comes true as he gets a job on his favorite show. Sweetknuckle Junction is a low rated children’s show that is populated by puppet and human actors. Along for the ride are Seth Green, Eugene Levy and Sarah Silverman. PBS was never this much fun!
Greg the Bunny – The Complete Series
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“I don’t want to sing this song with Dottie! I don’t want to sing this song with Blah! I want to sing it all by myself! Me, me, me, me, ME!”
“Warren, that’s not the message we’re trying to convey with the Sharing Song.”
Here’s something you might not know – puppets are real. There are 3.2 million puppets in the United States. Sesame Street and the Muppet Show are populated by real life puppet actors. A lesser known show is called Sweetknuckle Junction, a low rated kiddie show which includes a Count with a speech impediment, a pill popping orangutang, a retarded turtle, and a bunny with ADHD. Throw in the human element with Seth Green, Susan Silverman, and Eugene Levy and you have one hell of a show.
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| We’re Just Like You |
Gil Bender (Eugene Levy) is the director of Sweetknuckle Junction. The network executive Alison (Sarah Silverman) is looking for a fresh face for the show. Here enters the roommate of Gil’s son Jimmy (Seth Green), Greg the Bunny (voice by Dan Milano). Through a case of mistaken identity Greg accidentally lands the new role on the show. Greg and Jimmy join the show – Greg as the new star and Jimmy as a production assistant.
Sweetknuckle Junction isn’t exactly Sesame Street. The “talent” is a bickering backstabbing bunch of egomaniacs. There is also the undercurrent of puppetism (racial insensitivity towards the puppets by their human co-stars).
Let’s meet the Sweetknuckle crew:
Greg the Bunny – lovable if somewhat naive young bunny with ADHD. Joins the show to replace the aging Rochester Rabbit. Has a great song about snowflakes.
Warren Demontigue (voice by Dan Milano) – plays Professor Ape on Sweetknuckle Junction. Shakespearean trained actor with an assortment of problems including alcohol, pills, a series of ex-wives, and a weight problem.
Junction Jack (Bob Gunton) – The elder statesman of the class who enjoys his gun club, puppetist jokes, and on occasion dressing in women’s clothing.
Dottie Sunshine (Dina Spybey) – The ever cheerful happy camper / dumb blond of the group. Eternally perky and nice.
Count Blah (voice by Drew Massey) – In a constant feud with the Count from Sesame Street who he believes stole his act. Strange speech impediment which makes him add the word “blah” to every sentence.
Gil Bender – Director of Sweetknuckle Junction who tries to keep the chaos to a minimum every week while also trying to steal as much credit for himself as possible.
Jimmy Bender – Gil’s son and the new production assistant who is late with scripts and forgets to deliver tapes to editing. The best friend of Greg.
Alison – The mouth of the network on the show and the subject of Jimmy’s stalkeresk fantasies.
Tardy (voice by Victor Yerrid) – The slow dimwitted turtle who makes Dottie look like a nuclear physicist.
Susan (voice by James Murray) – The over-sized monster who just wants to be loved for the woman she is and is responsible for the disappearance of all the stray cats.
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| Sweetknuckle Crew |
The series had a 13 episode run on Fox (only 11 of the episodes actually aired). Here are few of my favorites.
Piddler on the Roof
Warren upset that Allison has dismissed his idea of Shakespeare monologues on the show gets drunk and pees in her car. Warren also finally gets the chance to audition to star with Gary Oldman. Great stuff here including some extremely funny moments as the crew winds down at the local bar. This episode was directed by Curtis Hanson. Great moments – Greg drunk, and Jack’s terrific joke to Blah and Warren about their jobs.
Jimmy Drives Gil Crazy
Jimmy is sent on one of many errands to clean up the dog crap off of Warren’s lawn. While there he is mistaken for the star by a Catholic school girl skinny dipping on her 18th birthday in Warren’s pool. As Jimmy lives the pr0n high life Warren’s neighbor (Corey Feldman, playing himself) steals Warren’s car (which Jimmy borrowed and still has Greg inside) leading to a high speed chase. The cast watches the news reports on TV as they believe Jimmy has finally snapped which puts Allison in heat and makes Gil finally admit to how much he loves his son. Great moments – Feldman and Greg in the car during the chase, and the entire sequence of Jimmy and the school girl.
The Jewel Heist
Jimmy starts seeing Chelsea (Lindsay Sloane) who comes between Jimmy and Greg’s friendship. Greg is also constantly attacked by her dog and calls in the help of Jack and Warren to solve the problem…their solution is original. The rest of the cast is in team paintball as the women try to prove to Gil they can be just as tough as the men. Great moments – the final fate of Senior Truck, and the final resting place of Sammy Davis Jr.‘s eyes.
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| Greg and Warren |
Father & Son Reunion
Jimmy learns that his mother is dating his high school gym teacher Coach Don Dinkins (Charles Rocket). Gil tries to smooth things over with Jimmy and spend some time with him, which includes sharing some of Jimmy and Greg’s “special” brownies, taking a trip to Warren’s new one man show, and throwing eggs at Dinkins car. Great moments – Gil’s “What’s Up” performance during Warren’s play, Warren’s line comparing Tardy to Keanu Reeves.
We get commentary for six episodes and the deleted scenes. For the pilot we get some background history and some of the nuts and bolts on how the show was put together, its look and sound, and how it differs from other puppet shows. For the other episodes, the commentaries with both Seth Green, Susan Silverman, and some of the puppet voices are the most interesting and entertaining of the bunch.
Also included is some of the original Greg the Bunny from the Independent Film Channel, deleted scenes, still galleries, a Tardy the Turtle episode, a wrap reel with intro by Warren Demontague, puppet auditions for the show, an extra on the puppeteers, and some very funny menu narration by Greg, Warren, Count Blah and Tardy.
It’s really too bad that Greg the Bunny only got to live for such a short time on Fox Television. The puppet characters have returned the the Independent Film Channel for shorts, but it’s not quite the same. A very funny show that I’d compare to the best years of The Muppet Show but with a more adult humor. A well thought out world that deals with deals with issues it creates – such as puppetism. There are a couple of stumbling blocks, among them the episode where Greg gets involved in puppet rights. Overall though the show works extremely well and gives us valuable information about puppets such as the rumor that Bert and Ernie might be straight, Oscar’s mob ties, and the fact that all puppets love tartar sauce.