Thursday, July 28, 2011

Bad TV: The Brothers Grunt (1994)

Before he hit the gold mine with Cartoon Network's Ed, Edd, & Eddy, animator Danny Antonacci's 1st series aired on MTV in 1994.

The Brothers Grunt attempted to merge together the irreverent humor of Beavis & Butt-Head with a homage/parody of old school crooners like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and so on. In fact, the missing brother who escapes in the following open, Perry, is an analog for Perry Como.

Following is the episode, "The Detective":



Just for kicks, Beavis & Butt-Head actually guest-starred in one episode, but it didn't help. The Grunts didn't last very long, a little more than a year, and their inclusion in the archives is because the series did air early on Saturdays (6 am ET, as I recall) at the end of the run. I believe Antonacci also did some interstital animation for MTV as well around the same time frame. If he has reacquired the rights to his earlier creation, I'd not be surprised if he shopped it to Cartoon Network for future use. It'd be a surprise, though, if they turned it down.

Rating: D.

No comments: