Greg the Bunny: Independent Film Channel version

Will_B · 02-15-2006, 01:15 PM

A DVD release of the Independent Film Channel's "low tech" version of Greg the Bunny is coming in early 2006! But first, for those who do not subscribe to the Independent Film Channel, those who may have thought that the Fox series was all there ever was of Greg, some background from the Greg the Bunny FAQ written by series creator Dan Milano that will help explain what the new DVD is.

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Greg the Bunny started as a character on our New York City public access show, JUNKTAPE. Soon after, we were hired by THE INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL (IFC) to do short films for their network with our puppet characters.

After about two years of doing short movies and other content for IFC, we were given the chance to do a sitcom for the FOX NETWORK, which was unfortunately canceled after it's first season.

Since then, we have returned to THE INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL (IFC) to do a half-hour special (called "Fur on the Asphalt: A Greg The Bunny Reunion Special") and a whole season of "Greg the Bunny Parodies", which recently aired in 2005 and are being rerun this year. This season consisted of six, brand-new shows and six of our old shows which were shot before the series on Fox.

So now that you're up to speed... Evan Shapiro, General Manager of the Independent Film Channel, posted an update on January 7, 2006:

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ok, ok....some updates!!! We're really close on all of our Greg the Bunny plans for 2006 - including a DVD (198 minutes of existing and new Greg madness), downloads, and... duh-duh-duuuuuh... a new season.

BUT, we don't have all of the i's crossed or t's dotted, and Greg's attorney is a real animal - more like a fabricated animal - so I can't go into too much detail here.

Rest assured - there will be WAY MORE Greg in 2006...So GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES and stay tuned!!!

e

Elsewhere in the Greg the Bunny forum, IFC's Evan gave a few more details about the upcoming DVD. These are just excerpts - to read the entire forum visit IFC's Greg the Bunny forum:

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We are working with Netflix to put out a Greg DVD... The series on IFC actually is a combination of new stuff (spoofs of Fargo, Natural Born Killers, Easy Rider and more) and classic Greg (Bunny Hall, God Pappy, Down By Law)...

...a mix of both on the new DVD.

...The DVD is coming...198 minutes of content, including classic stuff, directors commentary and even a commentary by Warren!

On a personal note, I'll add that the Independent Film Channel's version of Greg is not at all like the Larry Sanders-esque show that was on Fox. These IFC parodies are more shocking, rather brief, and the low-tech look takes some getting used to. Voices are different. Greg and Warren are still voiced by Dan Milano, but different nonetheless -- Milano explained in an interview that "the voices were different on the network than they were on IFC. Greg sounds a lot more like me and Warren lost a lot of his higher pitch." Milano also now does the voice for Count Blah. They also went back to the original "looks" of the puppets.

Also, as a fan who loved Tardy the Turtle, I was sorry to see that Tardy is not in the IFC series. "Fox gave us the rights back to Count Blah, Warren the Ape and Greg, who we brought to the show," Milano told TV Zone, but not (thus far) Tardy, who I'd like to imagine is off having adventures of his own.

Will_B · 02-15-2006, 01:26 PM

Both Greg and Warren have blogs on MySpace, by the way. Check out Warren's - it's totally offensive.

AndyMcKinney · 02-15-2006, 02:54 PM

Bah, I was originally excited when I heard Greg was coming back to IFC with new episodes, but I guess I got so used to the Fox sitcom format that I much preferred it to the IFC version. Asphalt was a big disappointment for me, though the one where Greg and Warren do "puppet porn" got a few laughs.

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They also went back to the original "looks" of the puppets.

I wonder if this has anything to do with copyrights? I do know they were able to buy back all of the puppets from the Fox show (except Susan the Monster and Tardy, both of whom were "missing"), but maybe as those puppets were constructed for the Fox show, that Dan and Co. aren't allowed to use them in the IFC shows without permission/royalties? I can't imagine why they'd want to ditch the marvellous Fox Blah puppet if they would've had rights to use it. Looks much better than the IFC one, but maybe that's the whole point.

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Milano also now does the voice for Count Blah.

Well, since Milano was the original voice for Blah, it might be more appropriate to say that Milano returns to the role of Count Blah, who was performed by Drew Massey in the Fox series. Maybe he did this to make the IFC shorts more uniform, or to save money? I preferred Massey's vocals, personally.

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"Fox gave us the rights back to Count Blah, Warren the Ape and Greg, who we brought to the show," Milano told TV Zone, but not (thus far) Tardy, who I'd like to imagine is off having adventures of his own.

According to the DVD release of the Fox show, the Tardy puppet (along with Susan the Monster) was apparently stolen anyway, so even if Dan and Co. did get the rights back to Tardy, they'd have to build a new one.

Rick P · 02-16-2006, 02:04 AM

so frustrating.. I was so happy to get the FOX Greg on DVD... and now.. it's showing on HDNet... in WIDESCREEN (the FOX DVD is 4:3)

AndyMcKinney · 02-16-2006, 07:27 AM

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so frustrating.. I was so happy to get the FOX Greg on DVD... and now.. it's showing on HDNet... in WIDESCREEN (the FOX DVD is 4:3)

This show was broadcast in both4:3 and 16x9, so the show had two aspect ratios.

Has it ever been stated by the production staff what the intended aspect ratio is? Maybe the show's true aspect ratio is what we got on the DVD and the 16x9 version is simply "widescreen safe."

I know a lot of Buffy fans got bent out of shape because those releases weren't widescreen, but the show's creator responded and said the show's intended ratio was 4:3. Even this didn't please some widescreen advocates.

Just because it's the wider picture doesn't always make it the correct picture (takes you back to the pan-n-scan days, doesn't it?).

Don't get me wrong: if a show was originally composed for widescreen, then by all means, that is what we should get, but just "opening up the sides" on a picture composed for a square shape isn't any more right than opening up the mattes on a widescreen movie for a "fullscreen" presentation.

HDNet

Isn't everything widescreen on these HD channels, whether they were originally widescreen or not? I know a lot of old TV shows, when being remastered for HD, are also being cropped to "fit the rectangle." Some of these travesties are even making it to DVD (Dark Shadows and the first season of Kung Fu, for instance). Let's hope this doesn't become more widespread (at least, not on home video formats).

**HTF Ads**

Ethan Riley · 02-16-2006, 03:35 PM

Everybody knew Greg would be cancelled because Seth Green was in it, and Seth Green always gets shows cancelled. Greg's better off without him.

Rick P · 02-16-2006, 03:36 PM

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Maybe the show's true aspect ratio is what we got on the DVD and the 16x9 version is simply "widescreen safe."

Well, the widescreen version looks better composed to me, less crowded more 'balance'.

Antony James · 02-16-2006, 04:33 PM

Can't wait to see this G the B IFC DVD...being down under, we don't get the channel, and it's not being offered on any of those 'less than reputable' avenues. Not that I've been able to find, at least.

But that reunion special from late 2005 was great, so I want more, MORE!

Ric Easton · 02-16-2006, 06:50 PM

So any word on the availability of the "Fur on the Asphalt: A Greg The Bunny Reunion Special"? I couldn't quite get it from the link.

I laughed my ass off at that and would love to get it on DVD.