NBC smells blood in the water, orders its own show about TV-making puppets

By William Hughes | August 14, 2015 | 10:51pm

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Roughly six seconds after ABC’s new version of The Muppets started garnering positive buzz for its blend of felt-based comedy and writer’s room shenaningans, NBC has leapt into action, commissioning a puppet-focused workplace comedy of its own. Titled Bumbleberry Lane, the new show comes from Gary Janetti, one of the minds behind the Ian McKellan-starring British sitcom Vicious, which airs in the U.S. on PBS. Apparently forgetting George Santayana’s famous quote, “Those who cannot remember Greg The Bunny are condemned to repeat it,” the show focuses on the “politically incorrect” backstage antics of a children’s puppet show.

From the description of the show reported on Deadline, it doesn’t look like Bumbleberry Lane will feature puppets as people, walking around and talking, but instead focus on the puppeteers who operate them, finally giving viewers a peek at their glamorous, sexy world. Bumbleberry is the second office-set comedy announced by the network today, with the other being the DC Comics-based Powerless, just one more step in the network’s ongoing efforts to distill all aspects of human existence into a series of confession cams and single-camera conversations held across cubicle walls.