Five for 5: Puppet Shows

For the past few weeks, I have found myself up on Sunday morning watching a children's puppet show. There's something oddly enjoyable about watching puppets over your first cup of coffee in the morning. Anyway, this got me thinking about puppet shows for adults and children; and, I came up with my top 5 list of puppet shows:

• Sifl and Olly - This might be one of my favourite television shows ever. It had more going for it than "puppets doing naughty stuff". Yes, watching puppets do drugs/have sex/swear is funny, but the novelty wears off very quickly. This show probably would've worked with human actors, but the puppets made it funnier. Plus, it had some of the best original music on TV ever.
After two seasons, MTV pulled the plug; and the third season was released on a no longer available DVD. A lot of clips, and some full episodes were available on YouTube, but it seems that Viacom has been pulling them. Bastards. Nine years after the premiere, MTV still hasn't put the first two seasons out on DVD. Come on, bitches, the rights to "I Know What Boys Like" can't be that expensive.


• Avenue Q - Normally, I would rather have root canal than sit through two hours of musical theatre. However, this show--with its puppets and humans and Gary Coleman--appeals to me in a strange way. I got the soundtrack about a year after the show started its run, and thought that it might just be the greatest musical the world has ever had. Recently, through the magic of the internets, I acquired a shitty bootleg video and was able to see that it is the greatest musical that the world has ever had.
  While, officially, there is no affiliation with the Jim Henson corporation, it's essentially Sesame Street grown up. The cheery songs are about racism and schadenfreude. The cuddly puppets are closeted gay republicans and internet porn addicts. And, did I mention Gary Coleman?
  


• Wonder Showzen - Another puppet show from MTV. Another Sesame Street for adults. However, while Avenue Q recast the inhabitants as adults, Wonder Showzen keeps the kids and has them doing and saying wildly inappropriate things. It maintains all of the elements of Sesame Street (letter of the day, crappy animaions, weird stock footage bits, kids saying the darnedest things), but makes them more adult. Ever wanted to see the letter of the day binge drinking? Now you can.
The show tends to be a bit uneven, but the funnier bits are definitely worth it. Besides, how can you not like a puppet named "Chauncy"?


• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The only thing better than sassy puppets is sassy robot puppets. I was a big fan of this show when it was on TV, but in the years following its cancellation, I just sort of forgot about it. Then I checked YouTube and found this gem. And, this one. Ahh, the short films. These horrible, wonderful things would've languished in obscurity if not for this show.
If anything, this show speaks to the comforting power of puppets. Any one of these films would be enough to drive a man to suicide, but having a snarky shit-talking puppet nearby makes it all better.


• "The Altered State of Druggachusettes" from Mr. Show - If you're anything like me, you're thoroughly freaked out by the puppet shows of Sid & Marty Krofft. This Mr Show sketch seems to retain most of what makes the Krofft productions horrible, but manages to be completely funny. Rewatching the sketch, it occurred to me that the puppets were the least scary aspect of those shows. I can't bring myself to look up any actual Krofft shows, but I'm beginning to suspect that there were scarier puppets on Fraggle Rock.
Anyway, thank you, Mr. Show, for at least having the decency to attach a proper warning.