The Brothers Grunt

The Brothers Grunt
The Brothers Grunt titleboard
Genre Dark humor
Surreal humor
Off-color humor
Created by Danny Antonucci
Written by Dennis Heaton
Danny Antonucci
Rod Filbrandt
Voices of Doug Parker (1993-1995)
Jennifer Wilson (1994)
Theme music composer Patric Caird
Composer(s) Patric Caird
Country of origin Canada
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 31 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) a.k.a. Cartoon
Broadcast
Original channel MTV
Original run August 15, 1994 – March 12, 1995
Chronology
Related shows Ed, Edd n Eddy

The Brothers Grunt is a Canadian animated comedy television series that originally aired from August 15, 1994 to March 12, 1995 on MTV. The series centered on Frank, Tony, Bing, Dean and Sammy, an ensemble cast of pale, rubbery humanoids distantly related to human beings, all of them ostensibly male, wandering around in their underpants, in search of their lost brother Perry.[1] The series had a short run and was met with generally negative reception. Its creator, Danny Antonucci, however, went on to create the hit Cartoon Network series Ed, Edd n Eddy.

Overview

Premise

The series centered on an ensemble cast of pale, rubbery and constipated-looking humanoids with prominent varicose veins distantly related to human beings, all of them ostensibly male, wandering around in their underpants. Their main food staple is cheese; nevertheless they are able to eat other foods and dishes (at least potatoes: see episode #23, "Not My Potato"). Their single parent is a giant, mute aquatic individual, called Primus Gruntus Maximus, to whom they are born as embryos inside skin warts, much in the way of the Surinam Toad (see Pipa pipa). They live in a monastery in the wilderness. A group is formed, composed of most of the survivors of their species. in a quest to bring back one of their kind, Perry, who has abandoned his involuntary position of "Chosen One" (leader of their order) and is now living the "high life" among human beings (who seem to deal with the bizarre nature of the grunts by ignoring them and pretending everything is normal).

Characters

The main characters were named after famous vocalists of the 1950s: Frank (Sinatra), Tony (Bennett), Dean (Martin), Bing (Crosby), Sammy (Davis Jr.), and Perry (Como) all voiced by Doug Parker (1993-1995).

Main

Major

The characters that would become The Brothers Grunt were first seen in one of MTV's numerous 30-second promos. This particular promo consisted of close-up shots of the at-the-time-unnamed character's faces who seemed to be straining to do something (veins in their heads would bulge, the characters would squint and grunt) until the scene cut to the MTV logo landing in a pool of sludge followed by a satisfied "Ahhhhh" (suggesting that the characters were suffering from constipation and the MTV logo was the 'turd' as it were). It is unclear when this promo aired if the storyline and characters for The Brothers Grunt had been developed already or if it had been developed into its own show after the success of the promo, in the wake of Beavis and Butt-head.

Network run

The show began in 1993 when the MTV ad for The Brothers Grunt aired. At the time Danny Antonucci had animated several MTV ads to find work outside of International Rocketship Ltd., who he had worked for since 1984. Although Danny enjoyed the success of Lupo The Butcher, he wanted to leave International Rocketship Ltd. and start his own animation company. The result was a.k.a. Cartoon, which began on April 1, 1994. The studio began as a way to locate his work for The Brothers Grunt after an MTV executive liked his MTV ad so much he asked him to turn it into a television series.

Reception

The Brothers Grunt had a short run and was met with generally negative reception from critics. Kenneth R. Clark of the Chicago Tribune said that with the series, MTV "created the most repulsive creatures ever to show up on a television screen" and "accomplished the seemingly impossible."[2] Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times called the show "an effortful, sophomoric half-hour that leaves the viewer longing for the refined good taste of Alice Cooper."[3] In their book North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980, William Beard and Jerry White called the series a "failure".[4] The show was often compared to Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, an animated series that aired on MTV's sister channel, Nickelodeon. Gabor Csupo, co-creator of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, rejected these comparisons, claiming that his show was more character driven, while The Brothers Grunt was an idea driven series, also pointing out that both shows have different visual styles.[5] When looking back on the series, creator Danny Antonucci stated that the series "didn't really do too well", also saying that the show has since become MTV's "dirty little secret".[6]

Episodes

Note: All episodes directed by Danny Antonucci

No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title·
Season 1 (August–September 1994)
11"The Ceremony (August 15, 1994)"
22"Make Mine a Grunt (August 22, 1994)"
33"The New Fish (August 29, 1994)"
44"Where Angels Fear to Grunt (September 5, 1994)"
55"Viva Grunt Vegas (September 12, 1994)"
66"Scrub Me Sammy (September 19, 1994)"
Season 2 (September–October 1994)
71"The Detective (September 26, 1994)"
82"If I Could Grunt to the Animals (October 3, 1994)"
93"Paging Dr. Grunt (October 10, 1994)"
104"Perry's Appliance Repair (October 17, 1994)"
115"Timmy's Best Friend (October 24, 1994)"
126"No Quest Today (October 31, 1994)"
Season 3 (November–December 1994)
131"Grunt Moments in History (November 7, 1994)"
142"Perry Molo (November 14, 1994)"
153"Tony and Salsa (November 21, 1994)"
164"A Call to Grunts (November 28, 1994)"
175"Clean Up in Aisle Grunt (December 5, 1994)"
186"Land of the Midnight Grunt (December 12, 1994)"
197"Close Encounters of the Grunt Kind (December 19, 1994)"
208"The Scent of Grunts (December 26, 1994)"
Season 4 (1995)
211"Eat My Grunt (January 2, 1995)"
222"They Stole Tony's Veins! (January 9, 1995)"
233"Not My Potato (January 16, 1995)"
244"Squeal Like A Grunt (January 23, 1995)"
255"The Big Crapple (January 30, 1995)"
266"Sammy in a Varicose Vein (February 6, 1995)"
277"Grunt Fare (February 13, 1995)"
288"To H*ll with Bing (February 20, 1995)"
299"Cream Style Tony (February 27, 1995)"
3010"The Ugly Gruntling (March 5, 1995)"
3111"5 Card Grunt (March 12, 1995)"
3212"The Stench of Grunts (March 19, 1995)"
3313"Grunt Games (March 26, 1995)"
3414"Requiem for a Sammy (April 2, 1995)"
3515"Smells like Dean Spirit (April 9, 1995)"

32 - The Stench of Grunts - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKs98Psy2ug

33 - Grunt Games - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALF0FI8YSA8

34 - Requiem for a Sammy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2v1m_tyt4U

35 - Smells Like Dean Spirit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3GF9zCNmCg

36 - Perry Come Home

37 - Bring Me the Head of Perry the Grunt

38 - Black Balled Grunt

39 - Perry's Day Off

40 - Tony & Lace

41 - The Filling of the Shorts

42 - Poobah Blues

43 - Hunt for Grunts

44 - Friends! Romans! Grunts!

45 - The Wedding

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 162. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
  2. ↑ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1994-08-15/lifestyle/9408120967_1_beavis-and-butt-head-adult-animation-adult-cartoons
  3. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1994-08-15/entertainment/ca-27371_1_brothers-grunt
  4. ↑ http://books.google.si/books?id=iLNhHWfarosC&pg=PA63&dq=the+brothers+grunt&hl=sl&sa=X&ei=RQkEUcS7BayL4gTP-4CACw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20brothers%20grunt&f=false
  5. ↑ Mendoza, N.R. (October 30, 1994). "Nickelodeon offers monsters in training". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ http://www.alivingdog.com/Antonucci_.html

External links