Warren the Ape
Encyclopedia
Warren the Ape is an MTV
reality show parody
which premiered on June 14, 2010 at 10:30 p.m. The series is a spin-off
of the IFC
and Fox TV
show Greg the Bunny
, and follows the titular character's life as he tries to get his life back together following the cancellation of Greg the Bunny.
Warren has paid more attention to drugs, booze, and women than his career, which has degenerated into a series of seedy exploitation film
s, obscure industrials, low-rent theater productions, and a regrettable string of skin flicks. With the help of his addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Warren tries (and often fails) to clean up his act, patch up his relationships, and claw his way back into the Hollywood limelight.
The series was created by Sean S. Baker
, Spencer Chinoy, and Dan Milano
, and is produced in association with MTV, Freestyle Entertainment, and Picture Shack Entertainment.
On November 19, 2010, the official Greg the Bunny/Warren the Ape website confirmed that there would be no season 2, and the show was in fact cancelled.
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 p.m. Warren did not appear on Junktape, but when the show's main character, Greg the Bunny
, caught the attention of the Independent Film Channel
(IFC) and was hired to introduce their independent films, the creators realized they needed someone with a little more intellectual focus to present their trivia segments. This is how Warren "The Ape" DeMontague was born.
The Greg the Bunny Show on IFC followed Greg, Warren, and other characters introducing independent films via a series of puppet-acted parodies. Warren and Greg were both performed and voiced by Dan Milano
.
Warren and Greg then moved on to Fox TV
in their biggest incarnation yet. The Fox show made its debut in March 2002 and its last episode aired in August 2002, with two episodes unaired. Despite its brief run, the series acquired a significant cult following
, and was released on DVD in 2004.
In August 2005, Warren the Ape along with Greg the Bunny returned to the IFC, in a series of short segments, both old and new, spoofing 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 Frederick "Count" Blah, puppet agent Pal Friendlies, and The Wumpus. Tardy the Turtle and Susan the Monster were unable to appear on IFC because they were created solely for the Fox series. This incarnation lasted for two seasons and is also available on DVD.
, which aired in 2002. In it, Warren appears alongside guest host Sarah Silverman
.
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
reality show parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
which premiered on June 14, 2010 at 10:30 p.m. The series is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of the IFC
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
and Fox TV
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
show 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,...
, and follows the titular character's life as he tries to get his life back together following the cancellation of Greg the Bunny.
Warren has paid more attention to drugs, booze, and women than his career, which has degenerated into a series of seedy exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s, obscure industrials, low-rent theater productions, and a regrettable string of skin flicks. With the help of his addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Warren tries (and often fails) to clean up his act, patch up his relationships, and claw his way back into the Hollywood limelight.
The series was created by Sean S. Baker
Sean S. Baker
Sean Baker is an American film/TV director and co-creator of Greg the Bunny.- Biography :A New York based filmmaker, Baker received his BA in Film Studies in 1992 from New York University....
, Spencer Chinoy, and Dan Milano
Dan Milano
Dan Milano is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer, and director. He was one of the creators of the Fox sitcom Greg the Bunny and performed the title character Greg as well as Warren the Ape...
, and is produced in association with MTV, Freestyle Entertainment, and Picture Shack Entertainment.
On November 19, 2010, the official Greg the Bunny/Warren the Ape website confirmed that there would be no season 2, and the show was in fact cancelled.
History
Greg the Bunny was a franchise that began with Junktape a half-hour, bi-weekly cable TV Public-access televisionPublic-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
show created by Sean S. Baker
Sean S. Baker
Sean Baker is an American film/TV director and co-creator of Greg the Bunny.- Biography :A New York based filmmaker, Baker received his BA in Film Studies in 1992 from New York University....
, Spencer Chinoy, and Dan Milano
Dan Milano
Dan Milano is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer, and director. He was one of the creators of the Fox sitcom Greg the Bunny and performed the title character Greg as well as Warren the Ape...
. The show aired on New York City's Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Manhattan Neighborhood Network is a non-profit organization that broadcasts programming on four public-access television cable TV stations in Manhattan, New York and provides a community media center that enables individuals and groups to produce shows for its network.-History:It has operated...
, Monday nights at 11:30 p.m. Warren did not appear on Junktape, but when the show's main character, 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,...
, caught the attention of the Independent Film Channel
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
(IFC) and was hired to introduce their independent films, the creators realized they needed someone with a little more intellectual focus to present their trivia segments. This is how Warren "The Ape" DeMontague was born.
The Greg the Bunny Show on IFC followed Greg, Warren, and other characters introducing independent films via a series of puppet-acted parodies. Warren and Greg were both performed and voiced by Dan Milano
Dan Milano
Dan Milano is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer, and director. He was one of the creators of the Fox sitcom Greg the Bunny and performed the title character Greg as well as Warren the Ape...
.
Warren and Greg then moved on to Fox TV
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in their biggest incarnation yet. The Fox show made its debut in March 2002 and its last episode aired in August 2002, with two episodes unaired. Despite its brief run, the series acquired a significant cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, and was released on DVD in 2004.
In August 2005, Warren the Ape along with Greg the Bunny returned to the IFC, in a series of short segments, both old and new, spoofing movies such as Annie Hall
Annie Hall
Annie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and co-starring Diane Keaton. One of Allen's most popular and most honored films, it won four Academy Awards including Best Picture...
, Miller's Crossing
Miller's Crossing
Miller's Crossing is a 1990 American gangster film by the Coen brothers and starring Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, Jon Polito and John Turturro...
, Barton Fink
Barton Fink
Barton Fink is a 1991 American film, written, directed, and produced by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a movie studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie, the insurance salesman who...
, Fargo
Fargo (film)
Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy-crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides, William H...
, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
and Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
. The cast for these segments primarily features puppets Greg and Warren DeMontague, with appearances from Frederick "Count" Blah, puppet agent Pal Friendlies, and The Wumpus. Tardy the Turtle and Susan the Monster were unable to appear on IFC because they were created solely for the Fox series. This incarnation lasted for two seasons and is also available on DVD.
Characters
- Warren DeMontague (voiced by Dan MilanoDan MilanoDan Milano is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer, and director. He was one of the creators of the Fox sitcom Greg the Bunny and performed the title character Greg as well as Warren the Ape...
) is the main character on the show, a veteran stage actor trying to make a new name for himself while having several substance-related vices. Frequently drunk and hardly ever prepared, Warren desperately tries to project an air of dignity (while wearing a ridiculous helmet).
- Dr. Drew Pinsky (as himself) is Warren's advisor whom Warren visits to update him on his progress.
- Cecil Greenblatt (played by Josh SussmanJosh SussmanJosh Sussman is an American actor, best known for his role as Hugh Normous in Wizards of Waverly Place and his role as Jacob Ben Israel in Glee.-Biography:Sussman grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey...
) is Warren's personal assistant whom he verbally abuses, also serving as his driver.
- Raquel (played by Mary K. DeVault) is Warren's "girlfriend."
- Laura (played by Laura Kachergus) is the leader of Warren's AA group, who has little patience for Warren's disruptive outbursts.
- Greg the Bunny is a side character, the title character of Greg the Bunny. He acts mostly as comic relief, and jokes are made at his expense (particularly by Warren) about how he cannot act and that he is just there to look cute.
- Seth GreenSeth GreenSeth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
played Jimmy Bender on the Fox version of Greg the Bunny, bearing a grudge against Warren for sleeping with his girlfriend. At Warren's attempts to patch things up between them, resulting with him accidentally having sex with Clare GrantClare Grant-Career:While at the University of Memphis she met director Craig Brewer who cast her in two indie films in Memphis before casting her in the film Black Snake Moan and later as the lead in his MTV series $5 Cover....
, Seth ended up heavily hospitalized when accidentally hit by Cecil's car. By the time Warren visits him to borrow some money, Seth manages to regain use of his left hand to give a gesture as his way of saying no.
- Sarah SilvermanSarah SilvermanSarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
is one of Warren's former co-stars, hates Warren for an unknown reason and changing her number to get away from him. When Warren arrived to her studio to borrow some money, she went out in a rage until Warren seduced her and they had aggressive sex. But in doing so, Warren got their sex scene, though barely filmed from outside the building, on live television while forgetting all about the money in the heat of the moment.
Episodes
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|
Appearances in other shows
Warren the Ape made a guest segment on Talk SoupTalk Soup
Talk Soup was a television show produced for cable network E! that debuted on January 7, 1991, and aired until August 2002. Talk Soup aired selected clips of the previous day's daily talk shows—ranging from daytime entries like The Jerry Springer Show and to celebrity interview shows like The...
, which aired in 2002. In it, Warren appears alongside guest host Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
.