Seth Green's Satirical Sesame Street-Esque Sitcom Is Perfect For Avenue Q Fans
Lost somewhere amongst the cavalcade of early '00s edgy TV shows, there lies a show that was so weird, not even Fox knew what to do with it. "Greg the Bunny" starred Seth Green, Eugene Levy, and Sarah Silverman, taking place in a world where puppets and humans co-exist. And just like the hit Broadway musical "Avenue Q," things got a little edgy at the turn of the century. While the sitcom won't make any list of the best shows to air on Fox, it deserved a longer run than it ultimately got.
"Greg the Bunny" revolved around Green's character, Jimmy, and his roommate, an adorable bunny named Greg, who ended up cast on Levy's fictional children show, "Sweetknuckle Junction." While everything was cute and innocent on camera, the puppets and humans led very sordid, very adult lives behind the scenes. The series shared a lot in common with "Avenue Q," by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty — a raunchy musical about puppets and people who dealt with adult problems. It and "Greg the Bunny" were part "The Muppet Show," part "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," and 100% not for children.
Although the concept of child-like characters doing naughty things had already been done through the likes of "South Park" and even another series starring Seth Green, "Family Guy," "Greg the Bunny" sought to carve out a niche for itself. Unfortunately, it aired on Fox at a time when the network was known for cancelling shows after just one season. Despite having "The Simpsons" as a lead-in at one point, the sitcom's ratings weren't high enough for Fox to give it a chance, and it was canceled after just 13 episodes, with the last two not even being deemed worthy to air.
Greg the Bunny has become very difficult to rewatch
It took "Greg the Bunny" a long time to make it to primetime television, and not long at all for it to leave. The concept started on a New York cable access show, which was later purchased by IFC. There, Greg and other characters would be involved in short sketches, and introduce upcoming movies. Those bits became so popular, Fox soon came calling and ordered it to series. Unfortunately, Fox couldn't seem to get out of its own way in its mishandling of the show. For starters, Fox aired the first six episodes out of order, confusing anyone who was trying to follow along.
They also shifted its time slot from Wednesday to Sunday, making it not only hard to find, but seem as though the show might be family-friendly when it very much was not. Following the cancellation, Greg and his friends returned to IFC for two years, appearing in more sketches lampooning movies. After that, their television careers ended as did almost any opportunity to re-watch them. Today, all 13 episodes of the Fox's "Greg the Bunny" sitcom can only be found on DVD or YouTube. If you're keen on re-watching their antics on IFC, you can find those for free on Tubi. While the series is hardly one of best TV shows to only last one season, there's definitely enough laughs to make it worth checking out.