Puppets Who Kill

Puppets Who Kill is a Canadian television comedy series produced by and broadcast on The Comedy Network.

The show is based on the premise that the puppets on television and in live entertainment are in fact all living creatures with their own independent personalities. In the case of the four puppet characters on the show, their careers have plummeted due to unseemly and even criminal behaviour. Although they have been through the justice system on numerous occasions, they appear to be incorrigible and, in a last ditch attempt at rehabilitation, they have been sent to a halfway house run by Dan Barlow.

Characters

• Rocko the Dog (voice of Bruce Hunter) - Rocko is a dog puppet. In reality, he is a hard-cursing, chain-smoking misanthrope, but he was required to tone down his language and behaviour on the children's television show (within a show) on which he worked. Eventually, the tension of trying to subordinate his personality overcame him and he went berserk on the set, ending his career. He is currently on medication to control his violent mood swings.
• Cuddles (voice of Bob Martin) - Cuddles is an adorable comfort doll. 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 (voice of James Rankin) - Buttons is an adorable teddy bear with eyes made of two different buttons. However, despite his innocent appearance, he is in fact 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" clause in his contract once his behaviour leaked to the press.
• Bill the Dummy (voice of Gord Robertson) - Bill is a ventriloquist's dummy, with an oddly menacing appearance, especially when he "smiles". 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, 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 Redican of the Frantics) - He runs the half-way house, and is a more-or-less competent but cynical social worker. 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. In some episodes it is stated that he is a virgin, the episode Cuddles the Demon in particular, yet other episodes clearly state that he has had sex.

The Show

The supporting characters are often portrayed as broad parodies. It has touched on several high brow themes, including the plot of Wuthering Heights (where Dan attempts to get Button's lover to believe he is dead) to The Most Dangerous Game (where a kid's TV show host has a pattern of inviting puppets to his private island where they are never heard from again).

The show is produced by John Pattison and Shawn Alex Thompson. The main writers are John Pattison and Dan Redican.

Location shots for the show are from its production home in Toronto, and the show makes great use of Canadian talent and has almost one cameo per show. News reader Bill Cameron 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 Thursday June 22, 2006, the show has completed its fourth season. The first and second seasons have been released on DVD.

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

DVDs

• Puppets Who Kill: The Complete First Season
• Two disc set
• Audio commentary: Director, Shawn Alex Thompson; writer, John Pattison
• Featurette: A Day in the Life of Puppets Who Kills
• Outtakes
• Character background information
• Cast and crew biographies
• Puppets Who Kill: The Complete Second Season
• Two disc set
• Audio commentaries: Dan Redican, Rocko
• Production Interviews: Canada AM puppet interview
• Cast and crew biographies

Episode Guide

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)

See also

• Adult puppeteering

External links

• Official website
• http://www.pwkproductions.com/ official production company website
• Rotten Tomatoes
• http://pwk.wetpaint.com/