Greg The Bunny - History

History

Junktape was a half-hour, bi-weekly Public-access television show created by Sean S. Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano. The show aired on New York City's Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Monday nights at 11:30 pm. Eventually, the show got the attention of the Independent Film Channel and given its own series of regular segments starring one of Junktape's main characters, Greg the Bunny. The Greg the Bunny Show on IFC involved Greg and other characters introducing independent films being screened by using skits that parodied the films.

The Fox show made its debut in March 2002 and its last episode aired in August 2002, with two episodes unaired. Its failure was largely ascribed to the show runner and networks' seeming cluelessness as to the direction they wanted the show to take. The network promoted Greg the Bunny as a puppet show for adults, but within the show itself, they insisted on toning down its edgier aspects. The creators felt these changes caused the show to lose something, and gave it much more of a traditional sitcom feel. The show runner and network also wanted to focus the show more on the human cast, while the creators maintained that the puppets were the heart of the show. Despite these problems, the series acquired a significant cult following, and was eventually released on DVD in 2004.

In August 2005, Greg the Bunny returned to the IFC, in a series of short segments, spoofing both old and new movies such as Annie Hall, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider and Pulp Fiction. The cast for these segments primarily features puppets Greg and Warren Demontague, with appearances from Count Blah, new character Pal Friendlies, and returning character The Wumpus. Tardy the Turtle and Susan were unable to appear in the IFC series because they were the property of Fox.