TV Funhouse (2000–2001)

Doug and the "Anipals" introduce animated segments, short videos and other wacky clips. Meanwhile, the other 'Anipal' puppets go on wacky adventures through the city.

Creator:

Robert Smigel

Stars:

Doug Dale, Robert Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos

Cast

Series cast summary:
Doug Dale	...	Doug the Host (8 episodes, 2000-2001)
Robert Smigel	...	Fogey (8 episodes, 2000-2001)
Dino Stamatopoulos	...	Chickie (8 episodes, 2000-2001)
Jon Glaser	...	Hojo (8 episodes, 2000-2001)
Tommy Blacha	...	Hank (8 episodes, 2000-2001)
David Juskow	...	Larry (8 episodes, 2000-2001)

Storyline

In this spin-off of the TV Funhouse cartoons on SNL, our host Doug (Doug Dale) hosts a show on a set that resembles Blue's Clues if it wasn't computerized. He picks a theme for the day (Caveman Day, Western Day, Spaceman Day, Mexicans Day) and encourages his "Anipals" (His animal puppets) to do stuff for the day that corresponds with the theme. Of course, they never do and get themselves in crazy situations like going to a Tijuanese Bordello and Doug is stuck on the set all alone. There's also Robert Smigel cartoons and mock-educational films!

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Plot Keywords:

puppet | animal | cult tv | cult tv | turtle | 

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Taglines:

You're not a kid anymore.

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Comedy Central: TV Funhouse

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 2000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comedy Central, Poochie Doochie Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Doug: I got my cowboy hat on!
Chickie: Good! Why don't you shove it up your ass?
Hojo: Boy, that was harsh!

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Connections

Spun-off from Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993)

User Reviews

A very funny show. With some weak spots

I really love TV Funhouse. Love the format and the irreverent humor and the politically incorrect nature of the whole thing. However, I think the basic problem with this show and why it never caught on is because the anipals grow tiresome after a while. After the third or fourth episode their sketches start to blur together and none of them are that interesting. They always do the same thing: take drugs, hump other animals, act like idiots, get into trouble, etc, etc. It's decadence piled on top of decadence and the characters are so thinly drawn that it becomes easy to lose interest.

The real genius of the show is in the animated bits. Stuff like the Dennis the Menace take-off where the Dennis character torments his neighbors because they're Jewish, and "Stedman", where Oprah's boyfriend uses the ruse of being a secret agent to escape from having to make love to Oprah. Also hilarious are some of the live-action bits like the ad for the doll that acts as a surrogate parent for the little girl.

I think if they had found a way to move the show along a little quicker it would have caught on with more people. But too many of the anipals jokes fall flat and sometimes the moments are very static. And some of the characters are simply not funny. Like the out of water fish who is always gasping and the dog who spends every episode chasing his tail.

One of my other favorite shows is Wonder Showzen, which certainly borrows a lot from TV funhouse. It uses the same kid's show format and is very politically incorrect, although Wonder Showzen has a slightly nastier edge to it. But I think one of the things Wonder Showzen does do successfully that TV funhouse doesn't is keep the pace clipping along so things never become static or tiresome.