It's true that, occasionally, a show will be re-imagined into something completely different. This is what happened here, twice, as a matter of fact. I have discovered that Greg the Bunny started out as a parody series pre-FOX.

From the early series, it was reinvented as a sitcom, which had a world where puppets were real beings and co-existed with humanity. I thought it was funny, but not many other people did and the show ended up as another casualty of FOX meddling. Once it was passed back to oblivion, it returned to its roots as a parody show airing on IFC. I am not ashamed to admit I was unaware of the pre- or post-FOX life prior to this DVD release.

This two-DVD set compiles 13 of those parodies, meeting with mixed success. Some of them were laugh out loud hilarious, while others were more of a chore to sit through. Even with the disappointing episodes, there is something definitely intriguing about them.

Some of the episodes are straight-up parodies of independent films, while others are more of a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the films. Whichever the case is, it is a pretty funny insider look at life on a movie set and the different attitudes the performers have.

The primary characters are Greg the Bunny (of course), Warren the Ape, Count Blah, and then there are occasional appearances by Pal Friendly and the Wumpus. Each one brings a different element to the table. Greg is all innocence and naivete, always willing to please whoever needs it. Warren, on the other hand, is the B-actor who is stuck on himself — if he isn't the center of attention, it is not even worth his time. Count Blah is a straight-up parody of Bela Lugosi, only without the A-list movie career, more like starting out with Ed Wood and working his way in the wrong direction. Pal Friendly is like the used car salesman who fancies himself an agent, and only shows up a couple of times. The Wumpus reminded me of Animal from Sesame Street, some kind of crazy monster.

Everything you'd want in a puppet show is here in one form or another. Cursing, drug use, gratuitous puppet sex, they're all here, making this a DVD set you do not want to get for the kids. Sure, the stars are cuddly and washable, but what makes them dirty is much, much more than just the sticky stuff on the surface.

Among the parodies that work are "Dead Puppet Storage," a Pulp Fiction parody, which has Warren complaining about his position in the cast while Greg has a little trouble in the gimp suit; "Daddyhood," which has Greg raising a baby in disturbing Eraserhead style; and "The Addiction," which parodies the film of the same name, and has Greg thinking he is becoming a vampire. Each of the episodes clearly has its roots in improv, as it seems like the characters just go off on tangents, which may have been the result of on-set ad-libbing, and they liked it enough to switch gears and use that for the actual episode.