Crank Yankers

[Fozzie Bear]

I'm ashamed to say so, but I saw this show on Comedy Channel at 10:30 pm CST and it was funny in my very tired state...well, one part of the show was funny.

They took prank phone call tapes they made and performed them out with pupepts. It was funny when I realized what they were doing.

Really well-made puppets, and kind of funny that they have these kind of shows starting up now, what with the Muppets coming out with a movie in the winter, and a series next year, right after the network demise of Greg the Bunny, which I actually warmed up to after my complaints, but keep in mind this show is very much for the adults.

Just a heads up for the grown up folks here on the boards.

 

[Crazy Harry]

I liked it as well. It's not great, but it's off to a good start. I do think the skit about the guy calling the sex hotline for his deaf friend got a little to nasty.

 

[radionate]

It's getting really bad reviews from the critics too. I haven't seen it yet, but then again, I never get to watch TV much at all.

 

[scarylarrywolf]

Well, speaking from my experience with the show (which consists of watching the advertisements), I believe that the show is a disgrace to puppetry itself. I give credit to the puppet builders alone. The puppeteers, from what I have seen hardly know what they're doing with a piece of fabric on their arms, and are spurred on with their performance only by their filthy humor (which is not actually humor, but sexual inuendos meant to make people squirm into laughing and takes no talent whatsoever to enforce). Now, I admit that I have only seen the previews, but, usually being made up from the parts of the show which are considered the best parts, I can infer that the rest of the show is most likely more disgusting. Their advertisments are a complete turn off to me. I hope the Muppets will bring the world back to the moral humor (which IS actaully humor) with their next big hits -- so let's hope disney DOESN'T buy them!

-"Scary" Larry Wolf

 

[Crazy Harry]

I know I said I like the show somewhat in my last post. But after seeing yesterday's episode, my opinion has dropped greatly. This show tries to use so many good things, well built puppets, tallented comidians and amusing IDEAS for their prank calls. But when they put it all together, it all just went so horribly wrong. How did they convince Denis Leary to do something this stupid?

 

[Thom]

- scarylarrywolf: The puppeteers, from what I have seen hardly know what they're doing with a piece of fabric on their arms, and are spurred on with their performance only by their filthy humor...

Please don't discredit the puppeteers. I have worked with a couple of them and they are some of the best around (some have worked with Henson). I agree that the material is harsh but that's not the puppeteers' fault. If you want to judge the puppeteering, watch their work (see an episode) and try not to concentrate on the content.

I'd like to see more shows with puppets. Let's hope that Greg and Crank Yankers are paving the way for more shows and more opportunities to see more puppets on TV!

 

[scarylarrywolf]

Thom:

I tried to stress that I had merely seen the previews. I admit this does not give me the right to criticize the puppeteers, and I'll try not to do it in the future with so little evidence, but that's what it looked like to me from those edited portions of the show. Still, I am saddened that anyone that had ever worked for Henson would be involved in something like that. I see your point about "more shows involving puppets", but I just see this show as another vehicle to promote filthy "humor". If they would keep that out, I'm sure it would be great.

By the way, what do you mean by "that's not the puppeteers' fault"? I thought the shows were impromptu.


--"Scary" Larry Wolf

 

[Thom]

The shows are recordings of actors (?) calling prank calls in New York and Nevada (where it's not illegal to record phone conversations) and the puppeteers are just lipsynching the recordings to turn them into a skit. The puppeteers are not the ones generating the calls. They're just reinacting them.

There hasn't been much going on for second and third string puppeteers at Henson so I'm glad to see my friends getting work and exposure (even if it isn't the same kind of exposure they've gotten in the past).

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I have to say that I enjoyed most of the show by this point. Most. I think they have an incredible idea, but (as with Greg) I think they're using puppetry as a shock tool to gain a much sought after laugh (not the puppeteers, the show's creators). I think the show could have the same effect for humor sans dirty words and such.

That's just me, and I agree: we need more puppetry on TV.

FOZ

 

[Crazy Harry]

After my last post I feel that I should say at least one nice thing about this show. Here it is. I did find Special Ed to be very funny.