GREG THE BUNNY - DVD review

I first discovered "Greg the Bunny" when the character and his fellow puppets were featured on the Fox television show "Greg the Bunny" that starred Seth Green, Eugene Levy and Sarah Silverman. The show was an absolute riot and a breath of fresh air for sitcom television. Fox canceled "Greg the Bunny" before the first season ran its length. I was mortified when Greg, Tardy the Turtle and Warren ‘The Ape' Montegue were given their walking papers and felt that Fox had missed out on a great intellectual property that could have given them many seasons of parody and laughter. "Greg the Bunny" made light at children's shows such as "Sesame Street," but it put puppets and muppets into very adult situations.

Thankfully, the fine folks at the Independent Film Channel (IFC) allowed the show's creators Dan Milano, Sean Baker and Spencer Chinoy to keep their creations alive by returning back to their ‘roots' and providing film parodies that were chocked full of curse words, sexual situations and belly-busting laughs. The characters returned with the reunion special "Fur on the Asphalt" and ran for two seasons, although the second season was a shortened series. While it doesn't appear that Greg and his friends will every return to television, the second IFC season is now available on DVD as "The Passion of Greg the Bunny: Best of the Film Parodies: Volume 2."

"Wumpus the Monster" (11:58) – This first episode contained on the "Best of the Film Parodies Volume 2" introduces the character called ‘The Wumpus' and has the new character having great difficulty making friends. He is mentally challenged and everybody dislikes the new muppet. After talking to Gilbert Godfrey, Greg is told to befriend the retarded Wumpus and Greg does so. Unfortunately, this causes great problems as the Wumpus kills or does great bodily harm to anybody that hurts Greg's feelings and when Greg tries to break his friendship off with the Wumpus, the retarded muppet makes Greg's life a living hell. This loose parody of ‘Monster' is funny, but one of the weaker episodes contained on this second volume.

"Sockville" (12:01) – "Sockville" is a Greg the Bunny parody off the film "Dogville" and finds Greg the Bunny being nearly killed after Pal Friendlies fumbles about the set. Greg awakes in an alternate existence where everybody that he remembers as his friends is actually a different person. The town of Dogville is a plain and boring world and Greg is allowed to stay as long as he works hard and earns his keep. Greg soon realizes that he is being used by the townsfolk and as he tries to make changes to make his own life better, Greg finds himself only being abused more by the townsfolk. This was another funny and unique little episode that was chocked full of deviant humor.

"Blue Velveteen" (12:01) – The third episode contained on the disc is a parody of "Blue Velvet." The episode contains an early loose parody of the film "Dune" that allows the volatile relationship between Greg and Warren to provide plenty of laughs. In this episode, the Wumpus is killed and Greg finds himself investigating to find out who killed the Wumpus when it appears that nobody else really cares about what happened to the retarded muppet. Greg first suspects that Warren is the murderer, but as more and more evidence starts to build up, the actual events that caused the Wumpus' death become apparent as Greg looks into the dark underbelly of the story.

"Plush: Behind the Seams" (12:13) – This episode moves away from movie parodies and pokes fun at the VH1 musical series "Behind the Music." In "Plush: Behind the Scenes," Greg and Warren are band mates of the band Plush and working to reunite and bring puppets to the top of the musical charts. There is a lot of funny moments where Greg and Warren ridicule one another, but in a little more positive sense than what is typical. While neither Greg nor Warren has any musical talent, this is a funny little episode that allows the two beloved puppets to do something other than parody film and poke fun at the music industry and not the film industry. I thoroughly enjoyed "Plush: Behind the Scenes" and found this to be one of the best titles on the DVD.

"Fur on the Asphalt" (29:06) – Although listed as a ‘Special Feature,' "Fur on the Asphalt" is the largest singular episode on the DVD and brings the IFC ‘reunion' special for the "Greg the Bunny" puppets to home video. This episode had been filmed and aired after Greg, Warren and his friends were axed by the Fox Network and Sarah Silvermen, Martha Plimpton, John Favreau, Lou Ferrigno and others make guest appearances as Greg and Warren must overcome their dislike of each other and collect the other puppets to appease the executives at IFC and find work making a reunion special. This ‘show within a show' style episode is a lot of fun and showcases just what makes "Greg the Bunny" a humorous experience. For me, this was the best reason to purchase the second "Greg the Bunny" collection.

"The Passion of the Easter Bunny" (14:06) – The title of the second collection borrows its name from this episode which parodies Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" and the documentary "American Movie." My favorite scene on the entire DVD is contained in this episode and finds Warren whipping Greg with a cat of nine tails that pokes humor at the vicious beating of Christ from Mel Gibson's film. "The Passion of the Easter Bunny" is the second funniest episode after "Fur on the Asphalt." This is one episode where each individual line of dialogue needs to be heard because so many great jokes come flying with each and every line.

"Wacky Wednesday" (14:00) – "Freaky Friday" comes under fire in the final episode contained on "Best of the Film Parodies Volume 2." The film "Being John Malkovich" is also parodied and Warren is hired to play Malkovich in the parody and Greg journeys to Chinatown to buy a trinket with mystical powers and finds himself a jewel crusted skull that he believes is an Aztec skull with ancient powers. The skull turns out to have some powers as Warren and Greg switch places ala "Freaky Friday" and they find themselves terrorized by having to inhabit each other's fur. Greg has to go to court as Warren and Warren must go to an important audition as Greg. This was a comical episode with a lot of references to other films, including Gilbert Godfrey returning a dead mogwai.

"Greg the Bunny" is an interesting little exercise in parody and the characters of Greg, Warren and Count Blah are memorable and well fleshed out by Milano and his crew. These episodes could be deemed to be quite filthy in content by those who are easily offended. The box art itself makes mention that this TV-MA rated show is rated as such because it ‘Contains adult content, adult language and extreme puppet violence.' This second season doesn't contain much puppet violence, but there is an abundance of extreme puppet sex found between the episodes and the special features and plenty of language that can rival anything produced by Quentin Tarantino. "Greg the Bunny" is and has always been for adults and while Fox didn't seem to understand that simply fact, the IFC does and this DVD is testament to the adult humor injected by Greg and Warren.

I thoroughly enjoyed the three-plus hours of material contained on the second collection of "Greg the Bunny's" IFC existence. While I enjoyed the more mainstream humor of the Fox television show, it ultimately comes down to the characters and Dan Milano's characters are deeply flawed, but well loved. It is a shame that Tardy the Turtle was unable to make the jump from Fox to the IFC, but watching Greg, Count Blah and Warren bicker and fumble through their acting careers is always funnier than hell and contains a hint of genius from Milano, Baker, and Chinoy and their fellow filmmakers. This second DVD may be limited in material, but the bonus materials and the reunion special make up for the thin six episodes from the second season.

Video:

"The Passion of Greg the Bunny: Best of the Film Parodies Volume 2" is brought to DVD with a full frame presentation. This is not a television show that was filmed with high definition cameras or benefitted from a full lighting crew and other elements that is required to make a glossy and high quality looking television show. No, "Greg the Bunny" looks visually as rough as the content it possesses. The shows contained on this DVD look clean and they are completely absent of any marring marks or flaws from the digital transfer, but each individual episode of "Greg the Bunny" features less than ideal resolution and muted colors. "Greg the Bunny" is a very low-budget production and as you watch each of the episodes on this DVD, you are quickly reminded of that fact as they look cheaply produced. They are clean, but look cheap.

Audio:

The audio of the six "Greg the Bunny" episodes doesn't make out much better than the visuals. The audio is provided in basic Stereo sound. "Greg the Bunny" is a show that is completely anchored in dialogue and aside from the opening credits that parodies "The A-Team," there is hardly any music. It is all about dialogue and thankfully, the spoken words of the puppets and the human actors always comes across loud and clear. Every once in a great while, the annunciation of one of the characters may sound a little off, but I have to believe this is more at fault of the odd dialects and vocal characteristics of the puppets and not from the transfer itself. The audio is just like the video, it is technically clean and clear, but the limited budget of the IFC "Greg the Bunny" episodes doesn't allow it to even come close to competing with the Fox Network episodes.

Extras:

This Shout Factory DVD release boots up with trailers for a few other releases from Shout Factory, but the disc contains a nice array of supplemental features for all "Greg the Bunny" fans. Under "Extras," there are nine bonus materials and the Wumpus provides commentary while resting on this screen. The six Deleted Scenes are culled from three episodes; "Blue Velveteen," "The Passion of the Easter Bunny" and "Fur on the Asphalt." They can be played collectively or separately and runs for roughly five minutes. The disc does not provide ‘time remaining' functionality, so I cannot provide the exact times for every supplement. The deleted scenes are typical GtB fare and if you find the show funny, you'll easily enjoy these.

There are more features than the deleted scenes. The Supper with Friends – Warren's Uncut Pilot (18:53) is a mock show featured in the episode "Fur on the Asphalt" and is provided here as a full episode. It can be played with optional commentary from the show's commentary. This parody of John Favreau's "Dinner with Five" is funny enough and would have made for an interesting offshoot of the "Greg the Bunny" show and I thought this feature was a riot. Loose Stitching: On the Set of GtB (8:30) is a short making of feature that gives a nice little look at how the episodes were made and throws in a few finished scenes for quick contrast. There are some outtakes and other humorous moments that makes this a worthy watch.

Each of the seven episodes is also provided with Episode Commentaries and they may be activated through the extras menu (as well as the Episodes sub-menu). The commentary tracks feature creators Dan Milano, Spencer Chinoy and others talking about the ins and outs of the IFC episodes. Some references are made to the canceled FOX television show and the commentaries easily extend the viewing length of this short collection. They can be just as brash and filthy humored as the episodes themselves, but this makes the commentaries all the more worthwhile.

The features return to the ‘Extras' menu after the commentaries with six Webisodes. I found the menu commentary by one f the puppets, Pal Friendlies, to be very funny and you'll want to listen to it all before actually selecting one of the six webisodes or choosing the ‘Play All' feature. Each runs for just a few short minutes, but provides a little ‘insight' into the world of "Greg the Bunny." To give insight into the content of some of the webisodes, one joke is that Greg's father was a man who ejaculated into a sock and was surprised when the sock asked to stay until the morning. They are very funny, but unflinching in their humor. I had previously seen this footage and was happy to see it included on this DVD.

There are four more brief features contained on the DVD under ‘Extras.' Greg the Bunny's Early Days on Public Access (6:36) looks at some video footage from March 1998 that was among the earliest work featuring the Greg character. Greg has really come a long way since his early days, but the humor of the character and his ‘hosting' duties on "Junktape" was apparent from early on. A Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery is included and worth gendering at. Dirty Socks 2: Electric Boogaloo (3:11) is a series of outtakes from the show that isn't for the weak at heart, but funny for anybody with a touch of sexual deviance in their humor acceptance. Finally, Dignity on Ice (2:24) is a music video featuring Greg and Warren. Funny stuff.

Closing:

I loved the "Greg the Bunny" characters and instantly fell in love with the lovable little bunny and his friends. Whether it be the drunken and grizzled Warren DeMontegue or the old and disgruntled Count Blah, there was something about Dan Milano's creations that immediately had me hooked. Those at Fox only allowed "Greg the Bunny" to last less than a full season and while I feel a number of executives need flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails for their insanely stupid decision, I am happy that the fine folks at IFC gave Greg another two years of life. Where are the characters now? That I cannot answer, but at least another DVD collection of "Greg the Bunny" is available and "The Passion of the Easter Bunny" contains six episodes, the reunion special and a wealth of bonus materials. It may not look or sound like a lot, but this is a wonderful little set that hopefully can sell enough copies to bring Greg and Warren back for another season to show Laurel and Hardy how a slapstick tandem should operate.