Penelope Princess of Pets

Last updated

Penelope: Princess of Pets is a comedy series by comedy duo Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal, in which Schaal stars as Penelope, a woman who can talk with animals. On a mission to save the world by killing a legislator named Stone before it's too late, Penelope is accompanied on her quest by her pet bird Ruby, and orphan friend Kyle (played by Braunohler). The theme song is written and performed by comedian/musician Reggie Watts. Originally a web series of 3- to 5-minute webisodes edited by Dan Mcnamara for comedy website Super Deluxe, Penelope premiered online in March 2007, with nine webisodes released [1] before the site was shut down in December 2008. It was picked up soon after to be adapted into a television show for the United Kingdom broadcaster Channel 4. [2]

Produced by Avalon Television and billed as a "one-off special", the half-hour television format backdoor pilot was first broadcast on Comedy Lab [3] on 21 April 2010. [4] Although including various elements and bits from the original web series, the television show has a number of key differences, including altered character back-stories. Whereas the web series title sequence states that Penelope has 3759 hours to save the world, the title sequence for the television show states that Penelope has 3769 hours. The television show features a legislator named Stone like in the web series, but since the TV show is set in the UK rather than the United States, Stone is a Member of Parliament (MP) rather than a senator. While Senator Stone is played by Ali Reza Farahnakian in the web series, in the television show MP Thomas Stone is played by Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh . The henchmen played by twin comedians Todd and Adam Stone in the web series are replaced by MP Stone's adopted sons, played by twin actors Sam and Matt Kennard. These secondary characters play a more prominent role in the television series, with MP Stone given main billing in the title sequence.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Mighty Boosh</span> British comedy troupe

The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which aired from 2004 to 2007, and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the United States. The first television series is set in a zoo operated by Bob Fossil, the second in a flat and the third in a secondhand shop in Dalston called Nabootique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Fielding</span> British actor and comedian

Noel Fielding is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off since 2017. He is known for his dark and surreal comedic style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Kitson</span> English comedian and writer

Daniel John Kitson is an English comedian and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Barratt</span> British comedian and actor

Julian Barratt Pettifer is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside comedy partner Noel Fielding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Fulcher</span> American comedian, actor and author (born 1968)

Richard Fulcher is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, and Edward Sheath in the American series Jon Benjamin Has a Van. He has also appeared in Noel Fielding's more recent show, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. His other appearances include Unnatural Acts with Julian Barratt and Fielding of The Mighty Boosh and he starred in and wrote the TV series Snuff Box alongside Matt Berry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Berry</span> British actor

Matthew Charles Berry is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box, What We Do in the Shadows, and Toast of London, the last of which he also co-created. The series earned him the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. As a musician, he has released nine studio albums.

Comedy Lab is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isy Suttie</span> English comedian and actress

Isobel Jane "Isy" Suttie is a British musical comedian, actress, and writer. She played Dobby in the British sitcom Peep Show, and in 2013 won the gold Sony Radio Academy Award for her radio show Pearl And Dave. She also provides narration on the UK television show, Posh Pawn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Braunohler</span> American comedian

Kurt Braunohler is an American comedian and co-host of the podcast Bananas on Exactly Right Podcast Network. He was previously the host of IFC's comedy game show Bunk and has appeared on Comedy Central, This American Life, and Radiolab. Braunohler is a frequent collaborator with Kristen Schaal, with whom he created the web series Penelope Princess of Pets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Schaal</span> American actress, comedian, and writer

Kristen Joy Schaal is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on Bob's Burgers and Mabel Pines on Gravity Falls. She's also known for playing Mel on Flight of the Conchords, Hurshe Heartshe on The Heart, She Holler, and Carol Pilbasian on The Last Man on Earth. She provided several voices for BoJack Horseman, most notably for the character of Sarah Lynn, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. Other roles include Amanda Simmons on The Hotwives of Orlando, Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock, Victoria Best on WordGirl, Trixie in the Toy Story franchise, and Anne on Wilfred. She was an occasional commentator on The Daily Show from 2008 to 2016. She voiced Sayrna in the 2019 EA video game Anthem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Deluxe</span> Entertainment company

Super Deluxe was an entertainment company owned by Turner Broadcasting. The company's main output was in online video, television series, and documentaries. Super Deluxe was headquartered in downtown Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Farnaby</span> English actor (born 1973)

Simon Farnaby is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series Horrible Histories, Yonderland and Ghosts. He has written and appeared in films such as Mindhorn and Paddington 2, and in the BBC sitcom Detectorists.

<i>The Mighty Boosh</i> (TV series) British television comedy series

The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy television show created by Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding and others. A surreal comic fantasy, it often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk, and rap. The show is known for popularising a style called "crimping"; short a cappella songs which are present throughout all three series. Julian Barratt wrote the music within the show, and performed it with Noel Fielding. Fielding also designed many of the show's graphics and artwork.

Unnatural Acts is a sketch comedy series written by Julian Barratt, Seán Cullen, Rich Easter, and Rich Fulcher fist broadcast in 1998 on the Paramount Comedy Channel, now known as Comedy Central.

Dan McNamara is an American artist and humorist who works primarily with video and special effects. McNamara's works include the animated web series The Bear, The Cloud, and God, which appeared on Comedy Central, G4 TV, and Channel Frederator. Four of his projects have been screened at the New York Television Festival, including Redeeming Rainbow, featuring performances by Kristen Schaal and Ellie Kemper.

The ECNY Awards were created by Derrick Gordon to honor rising stars in the New York Comedy world in various genres, including sketch, stand up, improv, musical comedy acts, and video. The awards ran from 2003 to 2011, with the exception of a hiatus in 2006. Nominees are selected by New York audiences and an Industry Committee, and the general public votes online to determine the winners, who are announced at an awards show gala each year.

<i>Snake n Bacon</i> American TV series or program

Snake 'n' Bacon is a comic book and cartoon duo created by American cartoonist and illustrator Michael Kupperman. Originally only in print comics, the characters were brought to television on May 10, 2008, when they were broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in a Snake 'n' Bacon animated show, but after its pilot the show was not picked up by Cartoon Network for Adult Swim. The Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Vol. 1 collection was published in 2009 by Fantagraphics.

Stone and Stone is an American comedy duo consisting of twin brothers, Adam and Todd Stone.

Funny as Hell is a Canadian television comedy series, which aired on HBO Canada from 2011 to 2017. Hosted by Jon Dore, the series featured stand-up comedy performances recorded at the annual Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, and marketed itself as an uncensored platform for edgier and more adult comedy than could be aired on a terrestrial channel such as CBC Television. The series originally ran from 2011 to 2016, when it was cancelled by HBO Canada; Seeso then stepped in as a new production partner, resulting in the creation of one further season which aired in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ McCarthy, Sean L. (27 October 2008). "Penelope: Princess of Pets, the finale?". the comic's comic. Retrieved 13 May 2010. The final three episodes of web series, Penelope: Princess of Pets, finally went online at Super Deluxe this morning.
  2. ↑ Emma Kat Richardson (12 January 2009). "Kristen Schaal: Indie comedy goddess". Punchline Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2010. Well, this just came up recently, but me and my friend Kurt Braunohler made this web series called Penelope: Princess of Pets, and it looks like we're going to turn it into a pilot for Channel 4 in London. So yeah: this year, it's going to be me trying to figure out how to make a pilot in London.
  3. ↑ "Penelope Princess of Pets". Avalon Television. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2010. Edinburgh Comedy Award nominees Kristen Schaal (star of BBC Four's Flight of the Conchords and US Esquires 'Funniest Woman on Television') and Kurt Braunohler are joined by The Mighty Booshs Julian Barratt in Penelope Princess of Pets, a one-off special for Channel 4's Comedy Lab
  4. ↑ "Penelope Princess of Pets". Comedy Lab. Channel 4. Retrieved 13 May 2010. First shown: Wednesday 21 April 2010: 11.05pm: Channel 4


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.