How A Classic Kids Show Paved The Way For Gen V's Puppet Massacre [ATX Festival]

"The Boys" season 4 will soon be upon us, but we'd be remiss to forget the spin-off series "Gen V." I was skeptical about the college-set superhero show, but it proved to have the same audacious spirit as its parent program ("Gen V" has pluckier leads too). 

One of the most memorable "Gen V" scenes is the "puppet massacre" in episode 5, "Welcome to the Monster Club." Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), a super-strong teenager who's been locked in a lab, goes berserk and tears some attacking soldiers apart. But due to his loose grip on reality, he imagines himself and the others as Muppets, leading to a scene where Sam disembowels men but we only see puppet blood and bones. "The Boys" and "Gen V" are not shy about violence, so this altered reality has nothing to do with censorship. Rather, it explores Sam's character and his childish outlook on violence he inflicts; mixing hilarious gore with genuine pathos is a trademark of "The Boys." 

Much of the scene's craft fell on "Gen V" make-up department head/puppeteer Colin Penman. Among other tricks, he used red glitter bombs to represent puppet blood splatters. 

/Film's Ryan Scott recently attended the ATX Film Festival, including the "Art of Worldbuilding" panel hosted by Sony Pictures Television. Penman was one of the panelists and discussed his first puppeteering work, which couldn't be more different from "Gen V": the PBS nature edutainment program "Zoboomafoo."

"Zoboomafoo" first aired from 1999-2001 on PBS, and then in reruns for several years afterwards. I, born in 1999, was exactly the right age for it to be my first "favorite show." It inspired my love for animals, which led me to nature documentaries, which ultimately led to my passion for film. Maybe if Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" hadn't stolen my grade school heart, I'd be a biologist right now, not a journalist, and crediting "Zoboomafoo" for that path.

The show was hosted by zoologist brothers Martin and Chris Kratt. They had previously hosted the PBS program "Kratts' Creatures," and "Zoboomafoo" was a spiritual sequel. The show was set at "Animal Junction," where new animals would arrive every episode so the Kratt brothers could teach viewers about the animal.

So, what does all this have to do with puppets? The Kratts' sidekick, the titular Zoboomafoo, was a talking lemur (a Coquerel's sifaka, specifically). "Zoboo" was played by both a real lemur (named Jovian) and a puppet controlled by Gord Robertson. 

As Penman explained, "They wanted [the lemur puppet] to have a slightly more realistic face. The company was used to making sort of the Muppet style puppets ... So I helped them with that, and in doing so I was introduced to their world of these puppets." Penman didn't sign onto "Gen V" knowing the show needed his puppet expertise, but it proved invaluable. "It was like that show was in my future," he said, "and everything that I had worked on just led to this point."

As for the rest of the "Zoboomafoo" crew, the Kratt brothers have made two shows since: National Geographic's "Be The Creature" (this one was aimed at educating adults) and animated show "Wild Kratts." Jovian the lemur passed away in 2014, but the spirit of "Zoboomafoo" lives on — including in, of all things, "Gen V."