Puppet Power is a 2013 web special from Joseph Scarbrough Productions. The special draws inspiration from The '90s Nicktoon KaBlam!, where instead of a showcase featuring different styles of animation, the showcase was of different styles of puppetry.
Hosted by Steve D'Monster , the special featured other YouTube puppet acts starring in their own short segments; these include Zook and Max - an alien and a "meanie" who are Vitriolic Best Buds; Harmony Barker - a roaring twenties-inspired showgirl dog; Casey the Muppet - the self-proclaimed world's biggest Muppet fan; and ScrapsTV - a Boston-based puppet troupe comprised of Muppet-inspired characters.
Their respective segments featured in the special are as follows:
- Zook and Max: Zook and Max meet their blind dates (two literal Sock Puppets named Loose and Imogene) at a coffee shop
- Harmony Barker: Harmony Barker performs "Goody Goody"
- Casey the Muppet: Casey and Charlie the Muppet lip-sync to KISS's "Shout it Out Loud"
- ScrapsTV: The ScrapsTV cast acts in various different humorous vignettes
Despite heavy promotion and enthusiasm for the special, it was met with little fanfare upon its initial release on October 4, 2013. The special can be watched here
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This special provides examples of
- Aside Glance:
- Zook and Max do this after Zook tells Max that the both of them only have one expression, as Max told him to put on his sad face.
- Steve does this after Easter Egg blows a raspberry at him for insulting her.
- The Cameo: Stephen J. Hitman and the Barista from Wowie Kazowie Productions' Wasted film series appear in Zook and Max.
- Celebrity Star:
- Inverted. Steve invites viewers to tune in next time for such names as Doug Walker, Lindsey Stirling, Adam the Woo, and Leif Garrett; only their names appear.
- A KISS member (or rather, someone in a KISS costume) appears in Casey the Muppet.
- Clumsy Copyright Censorship: Months after its release, YouTube removed "Shout it Out Loud" from the special on the grounds of copyright infringement; the song itself is instead reduced to a rather low and echoy distortion.
- Creator Cameo: Angela Altomare and Casey Daron - the creators of Harmony Barker and Casey the Muppet - appear briefly in their respective segments.
- Crossover: Steve D'Monster, Zook and Max, Harmony Barker, Casey the Muppet, and ScrapsTV were all separate puppet acts on YouTube; this special brings them all together in one show.
- Easter Egg: The character of the same name appears briefly as a script consultant while Steve questions his contract.
- Harmless Electrocution: Happens to Casey when he attempts to hook up an amplifier; the results send him flying across the room, and leaves him in a daze of confusion.
- Hurricane of Puns: Steve's hosting segments and Zook and Max are filled with these; most of the ones in the latter are of the stealth variety.
- It Makes Sense in Context: Loose and Imogene, Zook and Max's blind dates, are literal Sock Puppets.
- KISS: Casey and Charlie the Muppet lip-sync to "Shout it Out Loud," of which a KISS member actually watches online and remarks, "Did we really just get ripped off by a Muppet?"
- Meaningful Name: Imogene invokes this, as she says it's an appropriate alias for herself since she's "Imogenary."
- One-Steve Limit: Played for Laughs as Steve introduces the ScrapsTV segmenmt, pointing out the following act contains a Fred, followed by various different Freds (Flintstone, Mertz, Sanford, Armisen, the Wonder Horse, the annoying YouTube celebrity) flashing on screen before correctly displaying Freddie the Frog.
- The Roaring '20s: Harmony Barker is a 20s-inspired showgirl.
- Running Gag: In ScrapsTV, Kaite Monster continually refers to the "awesome volume," in her pigtails.
- Sour Grapes: In a vignette from the ScrapsTV segment, Frugal Monster hawks a cereal called Fuzzos, which he says he loves and thinks are awesome... until he actually has to eat some in the end.Frugal Monster: Ugh! They're no good!
- Tuckerization: In-universe, Loose is named after her father, Tooloose.
