Fur TV: More Sex & Puppets
Good-natured serial self-abuser Mervin J. Minky is one of the dysfunctional puppet characters in MTV UK's Fur TV .
Fur TV is a new British puppet series for adults based on an award-winning short by filmmakers Chris Waitt and Henry Trotter. The show revolves around three puppets named Lapeño, Edward and Mervin who share a flat together and spend their time drinking, fighting, and chatting up (and sleeping with) women.
The is being billing as "Puppets Behaving Badly" and the fact that even the tagline isn't original tells you right away this may not be nearly as new or ground breaking as the producers would like you to believe. The basic "puppets behaving badly" concept goes all the way back to Meet the Feebles and has been seen at work since with shows like Puppets Who Kill, Pets and MTV's own Wonder Showzen. Even the viral marketing for the show is unoriginal, relying in part on the tired "fake sex tape" gimmick (in this case one featuring one of Fur TV's puppets and Chanelle Hayes, who seems to be aspiring to be the British equivalent of Paris Hilton).
Despite it's somewhat unoriginal premise and marketing, what Fur TV does have going for it and what sets it apart from most of the other rude, crude adult puppet shows out there is quality. If the sexual content doesn't bother you - and believe me, there is a lot of sexual content in this show - it's fun to watch. It also features good writing, great directing and a team of top-notch team of British puppeteers that bring to life appealing, believable puppet characters (I don't know who all the puppet people involved in this are, but at least one of the characters was built by Darryl Worbey Studios).
Fur TV airs in the UK on MTV One on Sundays at 10 p.m. There's a selection of clips available to watch online here and if you live in the UK or Ireland you can watch the first episode of Fur TV online.
