Funday PawPet Show

Infobox Television
show_name = Funday PawPet Show


caption =
format = Improvisational comedy
creator = Randy "Yappy" Fox
writer =
director =
developer =
presenter =
starring = KuddlePup (K.P.)
YappyFox
JakRabbit (J.R.)
Scott Garron (Simba)
Liesl Muckey
Terry Sender
Herbie Hammil
language = English
num_seasons =
num_episodes = 387 (as of September 2008)
editor =
location = USA
cinematography =
runtime = 240 minutes (4 Hours)
network = Internet
picture_format = AVC (aka H.264)
audio_format = AAC
first_aired = November 1999
last_aired = present
website = http://www.pawpet.tv/

"Funday PawPet Show" is a internet show that is hosted by a variety of puppet characters. It was created by Randy "Yappy" Fox in November 1999 and is broadcasted over the internet Sunday nights from 17:00 to 21:00 EST from his home in Kissimmee, Florida. Before November 25 2007 the show aired from 19:00 to 23:00 EST but this was changed due to an increasing international audience. The show is also performed live at the Megaplex furry convention, held in Jacksonville, Florida as well as Anthrocon [cite news | coauthors = , et al.| title = Anthrocon 2007 draws thousands to Pittsburgh for furry weekend| language = English| publisher = Wikinews| date = 17 July 2007| url = http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Anthrocon_2007_draws_thousands_to_Pittsburgh_for_furry_weekend| accessdate = 2007-07-31 ] , held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The "Funday PawPet Show" has sparked a few imitations in the US and various other countries. Groups such as Fluff & Such Productions, PawPets West, and PawPet North Coast have been inspired by the show. Other puppetry events, such as "Lionel Scritchie's Dormitory" at Eurofurence were inspired in part by the Funday PawPet Show. [cite web| url=http://www.pawpet.de/lsd.html| date=July 3 2001| title=PawPet.de - Furry Pawpetry in Europe]

Cast and characters

* K.P. as Ezra (sheepdog), Tod Ferret (ferret), and Spoiler (donkey)
* Yappy Fox as Rummage (raccoon), Randy Fox (fox), and Scritch (ferret)
* J.R. as Poink T. Ferret (ferret), and Hugh manatee (manatee)
* Simba as Crappy Doo Shorts (sheepdog), Spider (cow), Cow (spider), Arthur Braunsweiger (bobcat), Carrot (vegetable), JavaFrog (frog), and Creepy
* Herbie as Mutt (sheepdog), Scream Guy (phantom), and Forrest (twig)
* Liesl as Puddin' Shorts (sheepdog), Lilly Voop (fox), and Audrey (ewe)
* Terry as Shak (shark), and Temp Ferret (ferret)
* Bandit a real Border Collie, (owned by the show's creator, Randy "Yappy" Fox) as himself

Frequently occurring show activities

; ArtJam: The viewers are asked to contribute some self-made artwork on a chosen theme. The Funday PawPet Show website has an archive of all art submitted since 1999 [cite web| url=http://pawpet.tv/index.php?art| title=Funday PawPet Show: Art Jam] ; Picture Captions: The viewers are asked to send in a suitable caption for a picture that is shown. The captions are broadcast towards the end of the show. [cite web| url=http://pawpet.tv/index.php?caption| title=Funday PawPet Show: Picture Captions] ; Roll Call: One of the cast members or guests reads the nicknames of those in the show's IRC channel while the "Jarabe tapatío" is played. For some broadcasts, such as ones with notable guests or notable upcoming holidays, a song matching the guest or holiday may be used instead.Fact|date=March 2007; Spits-or-Swallows: The cast eats or drinks something their viewers have sent in, often consisting of a food or drink that is generally displeasing or may be an acquired taste.; Subservience: Inspired by Burger King's The Subservient Chicken, this segment consists of a cast member who appears on camera and performs actions based on suggestions from the audience. [cite video|people = Mutt, Ezra, EagleBeagle, Blue|year = 2007|date = March 25|title = Funday PawPet Show #326|url = http://pawpet.tv/index.php?show|format = H.264, RealMedia|medium = Television production|accessdate = 2007-03-28|time=1:29:45] Usually featuring fursuiters, there have been exceptions, such as Episode 315's Subservient Rasvar [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgph9rsUqkk Episode 315] ] , Episode 362's Subservient Captain Jack Sparrow, and Episode 369's Subservient BassMan.; The Pink Flamingo Challenge: Show visitors are treated to some sort of pastry (preferably of a chocolatey nature) which they are encouraged to eat while viewing a short clip from the ending to the movie "Pink Flamingos" (in which "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" is played, while Divine chews and swallows dog feces). Since this portion of the film is disturbingly graphic, only the audience's reaction is shown to viewers. On some occasions, a substitute food item (such as a burrito) is offered; on rarer occasions, such as a fursuiting guest, no item is offered.Fact|date=March 2007; Shout Outs: Announcements, such as birthdays or shout-outs, sent in by viewers are read aloud. This usually takes place late in the show to allow time for submissions to be made. [cite web| url=http://pawpet.tv/index.php?shouts| title=Funday PawPet Show: Live Show Shout Outs] ; Garrison Skunk's Top 60 Quotes of the Night: A weekly listing of the current episode's funniest/oddest statements read by Poink, who alternates even/odd numbered quotes with others including Simba, Yappy, Ezra and Liesel. The feature was begun by long time viewer and contributor Garrison Skunk who wanted to preserve some notable quotes when it was announced that episode 324 was not being taped due to a machine error. As a joke, the feature retains the number 60 in its title despite growing in size to over 80 quotes a week, although there have been two alterations. In honor of episode 350, the name was changed to 'Top 350 Quotes of the Night', leading Ezra and Poink to rush through the first page's quotes 350 - 342, only to find quotes 341 - 61 consisted of a picture of cast member Eaglebeagle saying "Bloop!", with page 3 continuing as normally. The second time occurred, when after a three week hiatus while the cast were on vacation, Garrison presented the 'Top 20 Things Said in Channel Over the Past Three Weeks'.

Memorable shows

Unreferenced|date=March 2007The Funday PawPet Show has had many shows with unusual or memorable topics. Frequent themed shows celebrate major holidays such as Christmas, New Years, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July and Christmas in July.Fact|date=March 2007 On many occasions, the cast has gone out to various sites to film sequences. Some of the most memorable include trips to conventions such as Fx and MegaCon to interview many of the guest celebrities. The cast has done interviews with the children (now grown up) from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In that show, "Mutt" keeps getting thrown from one star to the next for asking them "stupid questions".Fact|date=March 2007 Other celebrities that have been interviewed on the show include: Jason Marsden (Max Goof from "A Goofy Movie"), Jay North (Dennis the Menace), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett from "Star Wars"), and Noel McNeal (Bear from "Bear in the Big Blue House"). [cite web
last = Fox
first = Yappy
title = Fps-list: Wiki
url=http://lists.pawpet.org/pipermail/fps-list/2007-February/000879.html
date = 2007-02-07
accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] The show also has "bumpers" or intros done by various individuals including the accapella group, Toxic Audio.Fact|date=March 2007

The show has many recurring gags. On the Easter shows, the viewers are challenged to find new and creative ways to destroy chocolate rabbits in "Chocolate Bunny Deaths".Fact|date=March 2007 During the Christmas and Christmas in July shows, the cast takes part in white elephant gift exchanges on the air, from which some cast members have gone home with things like edible underwear, half of a sub sandwich, and a 5 pound container of lard.Fact|date=March 2007 The Halloween show has recently featured video of purple monsters attempting to scare the Trick or Treaters that appear at the front door of the house where the show is filmed.Fact|date=March 2007

; "The Ferret Takeover Show": Inspired by the movie Being John Malkovich, the cast one by one enter a strange back door in the stage and transform into ferrets. [cite web
last = Taylor
first = Rob
title = Funday PawPet Show #173 - Flashbacks - June 22nd, 2003 - Timeline
url=http://www.blackfootferret.name/PawpetShowTimelines/OldTimelines/Timeline173.html
date = 2003-06-22
accessdate = 2007-03-27 ]

; "The Drunk Show": Inspired by an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati and intended to celebrate the show's 21^st episode (the drinking age in Florida, although for various reasons the topic was ultimately pushed back to the 23rd show), the cast (all of whom agreed to give up their car keys and spend the night in the studio) took one shot of Rumplemintz for every half hour of broadcast time. This show is arguably the most controversial episode of PawPets.Fact|date=March 2007

; "The Sinkhole Show": Another controversial show. This Halloween show ran a quick disclaimer at the very beginning of the broadcast stating that "the show is a dramatization." The disclaimer was run only once. During the course of the broadcast, cast members began talking about a sinkhole that had really formed elsewhere in Orlando. Later, the cast began to describe a fictitious sinkhole forming in the front yard of the house that was threatening to destroy it. At the end of the program, the cast tipped over the stage and severed all connections and feed lines, making it appear as if the house had indeed fallen into a sinkhole.

Portions of this episode were repeated in show # 352 (November 4th 2007) where Mutt explained "Yappy had literally ripped all of the plugs and power out of the wall (except for one in the bedroom) so no matter how techie you were, it looked like the entire show just dropped, there was no server, there was no nothing."

Ezra: "JR and I tipped the stage forward, Rasvar moved the lighting truss and Simba dropped a piece of drywall and a couple other things in front of the stage to make it look like everything was happening. Yappy had every single connection in the house yanked out of the wall, except for one, and that was the one that we had in the kitchen, and we were all huddled around one laptop, watching everyone's reaction when everything went dark."

Ezra continued: "Within about two minutes, every cellphone in this house started ringing, asking us how we were doing."

Poink: "They were pissed for weeks."

Mutt: "But about a month later, that was voted the best show ever."

; "The Arthur Awards": Named after the PawPet Show character Arthur Bronswager, this is a parody of the Oscars held on the Sunday night closest to the show, and features categories such as "Best Running Joke" and "Best Song they Never Play on the Show Anymore". Topics are selected about two months prior to the show, and viewers were able to vote on them from the PawPet Show website. [cite web
last = Taylor
first = Rob
title = Funday PawPet Show #163 - Arthur Awards! - June 22nd, 2003 - Timeline
title = PawpetShow#163-Arthur Awards!-Timeline
url=http://www.blackfootferret.name/PawpetShowTimelines/OldTimelines/Timeline163.html
date = 2003-04-16
accessdate = 2007-03-27 ]

; "9/11 Special": On the night of September 11 2001 the cast quickly assembled for an impromptu show to help calm people and find out who in the community was directly affected by the 9/11 attacks. This is the only show that was intentionally never made available for the weekly download. Viewers sent the cast thank you letters and awards for their efforts.Fact|date=March 2007

; "2007 Telethon": On November 11 2007, the show raised $10,052 by the end of the show. This count does not include the auctions that were still going on or the donations being sent in via mail. The goal for this years telethon was $6,000. Also, a new audience record was set with 225 viewers in the chat room.

References

External links

* [http://www.pawpet.tv/ Official web site]
* [http://community.livejournal.com/pawpet/ Official LiveJournal]
* [http://www.livejournal.com/users/poinktferret/ Poink's LiveJournal]
* [http://www.livejournal.com/users/todferret/ Tod's LiveJournal]
* [http://www.pawpet.tv/index.php?press Internet puppet revue draws a worldwide audience] . Orlando Sentinel. (2000-10-08).
* [http://www.folkmanis.com/ Folkmanis, Inc.] (Maker of most of the puppets on the show.)
* [http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/Music/2-pawpet_song.htm PawPet Song] , an original song composed for the cast of Funday PawPet Show by in 2003.
* [http://www.blackfootferret.name/PawpetShowTimelines/MainTimelineIndex.html PawPet Timeline Index] , features timelines of several episodes.
* at WikiFur