Puppets Who Kill is a Canadian television comedy

Television comedy

Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...

 programme

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 co-produced by The Comedy Network

The Comedy Network

The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....

. It premiered in Canada on the Comedy Network in 2002, and in Australia on The Comedy Channel

The Comedy Channel

The Comedy Channel is an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television.-History:...

 in 2004.

In Puppets Who Kill, Rocko the Dog, Cuddles the Comfort Doll, Buttons the Bear, and Bill the Dummy are four live, anthropomorphic puppet

Puppet

A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....

s with a history of delinquency

Juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...

 and recidivism

Recidivism

Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior...

. Canadian courts sent each of them to a halfway house

Halfway house

The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...

 for puppets, operated by a man named Dan Barlow (played by Dan Redican

Dan Redican

Dan Redican is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, The Frantics. As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the Frantic Times radio show, Four on the Floor TV show...

).

Rocko the Dog

Rocko is a dog puppet puppeteered by Bruce Hunter

Bruce Hunter (actor)

Bruce Hunter is a Canadian actor and comedian from Calgary, Alberta. He has appeared in television shows such as Puppets Who Kill and The Red Green Show. Hunter received a Canadian Comedy Awards nomination in 2002 for his work on the television series After Hours...

. He is a hard-cursing, chain-smoking

Chain smoking

Chain smoking is the practice of lighting a new cigarette for personal consumption immediately after one that is finished, sometimes using the finished cigarette to light the next one. It is a common form of addiction.-Causes:...

 misanthrope who formerly worked on a children's television programme. The job required him to modify his language and behaviour, but eventually a berserk outburst on-set ended his career. He takes medication to temper his violent mood swings

Mood Swings

Mood Swings is an album by Koby Israelite released in 2005 on Tzadik.- Track listing :# "Dror Ikra" - 3:03# "Return of the Idiots" - 2:19# "It Is Not a War Here" - 7:05# "Ethnometalogy" - 5:08# "Europa?" - 2:49# "Hiriya On My Mind" - 4:53...

.

Cuddles the Comfort Doll

Cuddles is a comfort doll puppeteered by Bob Martin

Bob Martin (comedian)

Bob Martin is a writer, actor, and comedian from Toronto, Ontario, Canada born in England circa 1963. He has both performed in and written many TV shows. He also provides the voice of Cuddles the comfort doll on the Canadian TV show Puppets Who Kill, aired on The Comedy Network.He starred in the...

. However, he is a clear example of a passive-aggressive personality. He used to help people with their problems, but now he's the problem. His subordination of his own needs for those of others eventually led him to grab a rifle and start sniping at people on the ground from a high perch. Cuddles is generally the best behaved of the group, but his naivete often gets him and his compatriots into trouble. It is also apparent that he can't handle pressure well. It is also suspected that he is bi-sexual (as revealed in the last episode of season 3).

Buttons the Bear

Buttons is a teddy bear

Teddy bear

The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...

 with eyes made of two different buttons. He is puppeteered by James Rankin. Despite his innocent appearance, Buttons is a promiscuous womanizer with no sense of sexual propriety. He lives by the motto "if it feels good, do it". He once had a lucrative corporate sponsorship deal with the fictional Happy Elf Peanut Butter Company (ironic, considering that Buttons is actually a bear), but the sponsor exercised the "moral turpitude

Moral turpitude

Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States that refers to "conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals." It appears in U.S. immigration law from the nineteenth century...

" clause in his contract once his behaviour leaked to the press.

Bill the Dummy

Bill is a ventriloquist's dummy with a menacing smile. He is puppeteered by Gord Robertson. Fifty-six of his partners have died in "accidents". He is in fact a psychopath, whose misbehaviour includes cutting off men's testicles to collect them, cannibalism

Cannibalism

Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...

, cold blood killing and placing explosives in toilets. His arch nemesis is the Rasputin-like Curious Bob (John Hemphill) a former partner who has survived four murder attempts. In an episode showing Bill's trial, we learn some of Bill's past, and his apparent insecurities. His adopted mother, told the court of his past. We learn that Bill had some bowel problems as a child and would often defecate in his pants, thus earning him the nickname "poopy pants" from his peers. It was also revealed that Bill has a small penis and oddly shaped gonads which his creator gave him in order to make him humble but it was quite the opposite. He also is currently a eunuch.

Dan Barlow

Dan Barlow is a social worker who runs the half-way house where the puppets live. Although he is well trained and often cares about his charges, his primary concern is insuring the flow of funding that keeps the half-way house alive. It has also been mentioned that the only reason why he still keeps his job as a social worker, after all his screw ups, is because he is paid poorly. Dan even mentions that a cleaning lady that Corrections Canada hired for him, is paid more than him.

Location shots for the show are from its production home in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, and the show makes great use of Canadian talent and has almost one cameo per show. News reader Bill Cameron

Bill Cameron

William "Bill" Cameron was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A Gemini Award winner, he was a news anchor, television producer, columnist and author...

 appeared (as himself) semi-regularly, often foreshadowing the show's plot by reporting on bizarre crimes that could only have been committed by Dan's charges.

As of June 22, 2006, the show has completed its fourth season. The first and second seasons have been released on DVD.

A "Best Of Seasons 3 & 4" DVD is to be released September 20, 2010. This DVD will have 13 of the show's greatest hits, including such popular episodes as "The Joyride" and "The Rival House".

As confirmed by the PWK website, there will indeed be a movie released on Puppets Who Kill.

Dan Redican

Dan Redican

Dan Redican is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, The Frantics. As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the Frantic Times radio show, Four on the Floor TV show...

 (known as Dan Barlow on the show) is currently touring with the comedy group The Frantics around Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Season one

1. "Pilot" (October 4, 2002)
2. "Buttons, The City Councillor And The City Councillor's Wife" (October 11, 2002)
3. "Cuddles Goes To Jail" (October 18, 2002)
4. "Buttons Goes To Court" (October 25, 2002)
5. "Bill's Brain" (October 31, 2002)
6. "The Island Of Skip-Along Pete" (November 8, 2002)
7. "Rocko's Telethon" (November 15, 2002)
8. "Cuddles The Safety Mascot" (November 22, 2002)
9. "Dan's Crush" (November 29, 2002)
10. "Dash The Greeter" (December 6, 2002)
11. "Cuddles Gets Laid" (December 13, 2002)
12. "Dan's Umbrella" (December 20, 2002)
13. "Mr. Quigley, The Asshole Next Door" (December 27, 2002)
14. "The Payback" (January 3, 2003)

Season two

1. "Bill Sues" (January 30, 2004)
2. "Portrait Of Buttons" (February 6, 2004)
3. "Prostitutes For Jesus" (February 13, 2004)
4. "Cuddles The Demon" (February 20, 2004)
5. "Buttons The Geriatric" (February 27, 2004)
6. "Dead Ted" (March 5, 2004)
7. "Cuddles The Religious Icon" (March 12, 2004)
8. "Bill's Got The Blues" (March 19, 2004)
9. "Pizza Boys Are Missing" (March 26, 2004)
10. "Rocko Gets A Lung" (April 2, 2004)
11. "Dan And The Necrophiliac" (April 9, 2004)
12. "Rocko And The Twins" (April 16, 2004)
13. "The Twilight Place" (April 23, 2004)

Season three

1. "Buttons On A Hot Tin Roof" (February 11, 2005)
2. "Cuddles The Manchurian Candidate" (February 18, 2005)
3. "Buttons The Dresser" (February 25, 2005)
4. "Gus The Arsonist" (March 4, 2005)
5. "Rocko's Politician" (March 11, 2005)
6. "Buttons And The Paternity Suit" (March 18, 2005)
7. "Dan And The Bird Flu" (March 25, 2005)
8. "The CBC Is Killing Again" (April 1, 2005)
9. "The Lovely Fred" (April 8, 2005)
10. "The Amazing Bill" (April 15, 2005)
11. "Button's Big Fat Greek Wedding" (April 22, 2005)
12. "Cuddles The Artist" (April 29, 2005)
13. "Dan And The New Neighbour" (May 6, 2005)

Season four

1. "The Joyride" (March 2, 2006)
2. "Dan And The Garden Shears" (March 9, 2006)
3. "Mr. Big" (March 16, 2006)
4. "Dan Is Dead" (March 23, 2006)
5. "Bill And The Berkowitz's" (March 30, 2006)
6. "Oedipus Dan" (April 6, 2006)
7. "Buttons And The Dying Wish Foundation" (April 13, 2006)
8. "Bill's Wedding" (April 20, 2006)
9. "The Rival House" (April 27, 2006)
10. "The Hostage" (May 4, 2006)
11. "A Few Feuds" (May 11, 2006)
12. "Dan's Ideal Woman" (May 18, 2006)
13. "Buttons The Ghost" (June 22, 2006)

DVD

DVD releases include Puppets Who Kill: The Complete First Season, Puppets Who Kill: The Complete Second Season, and Puppets Who Kill: Best of Season 3 & 4.

See also

• Adult puppeteering
  Adult puppeteering
  Adult puppeteering is the use of puppets in contexts aimed at adult audiences. Serious theatrical pieces can use puppets, either for aesthetic reasons, or to achieve special effects that would not otherwise be possible with human actors...
  
  
• Greg the Bunny
  Greg the Bunny
  Greg the Bunny is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Fox TV in 2002. It starred Seth Green and a hand puppet named Greg the Bunny, originally invented by the team of Sean S. Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano. Milano and Chinoy wrote and co-produced the Fox show. In the show,...
  
  
• Magic realism
  Magic realism
  Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
  
  
• Meet the Feebles
  Meet the Feebles
  Meet the Feebles is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets assembled together as members of a theatre troupe...
  
  

External links

• puppetswhokill.com, official website
• pwkproductions.com, website of the production company
• Puppets Who Kill on Rotten Tomatoes
  Rotten Tomatoes
  Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
  
  
• pwk.wetpaint.com, a Puppets Who Kill fansite
  Fansite
  A fansite, fan site, or fanpage is a website created and maintained by a fan or devotee interested in a celebrity, thing, or a particular cultural phenomenon...