Homme family retrieves Friendly Giant puppets in skit spat
Rusty and Jerome, the two puppets from beloved CBC children’s TV show The Friendly Giant, have been returned to the family of late star Bob Homme after a ruckus over their appearance in a satirical skit last month.
Homme’s son Richard and daughter Ann picked up the puppets Tuesday from a display at the public broadcaster’s downtown Toronto headquarters that also included The Friendly Giant’s tunic, boots, castle set and mini furniture.
“I’m sorry this whole thing happened, but we felt we had no choice,” Richard Homme told CBC Radio’s As It Happens on Tuesday.
“I think it was time for us to take the display back.”
The family objected to use of the rooster and giraffe puppets in a videotaped skit that aired during the Gemini Awards broadcast from Regina on Oct. 28. The skit turned up on the video-sharing website Youtube on Tuesday and commentary online about the footage has ranged from indignation to praise for its “daring.”
Seemingly created in the vein of Comedy Central’s TV program Puppets Who Kill and the hit stage show Avenue Q, the satirical Gemini skit depicted a fictional charity appeal in support of a retirement home for puppets from defunct TV shows.
Featuring a cameo by Canadian actress Camilla Scott, the skit shows a series of children’s show puppets ó including Rusty and Jerome ó complaining of being forgotten. At one point, an actress in the skit adds that the puppets are “bored. All they do is drink and smoke and have sex.”
Any media use of the puppets must be approved by the family, Homme said, adding that he felt the skit was “misrepresenting the puppets. They seemed like aliens to me with their different voices. It occurred to me that this is not anything we would have approved of, as far as the script goes.”
Homme said that a new employee working at the CBC Museum who didn’t know about the permission requirement allowed the puppets to be used.
The CBC apologized to the Homme family on Nov. 2, when they first contacted officials to express their displeasure, according to CBC spokesman Jeff Keay.
“We sincerely regret they feel any trust was breached,” Keay said.
“The Friendly Giant pieces will be missed, but we respect the family’s decision to have the items returned to them.”
He added that as the CBC proceeds with plans to redevelop the Toronto building’s main floor space, “we fully intend to include displays, objects and information that will represent CBC’s rich history, its programs and its people.”
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