We've all watched game shows. We've played along with the Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Remember the days screaming "no whammy" at the television? Game shows have been a part of our culture for years. Part of creating and running a game show is bowing to very strict regulation from the FTC and being grounded in a general sense of honesty and reality. So what do you do if you want to create a game show with neither of those things? You call it Bunk and pitch it to IFC.
Now entering its fifth week on IFC, Bunk is the game show that thumbs its pinky finger at all those other game shows. Focusing on the surreal, on the weird and on the absolutely hilarious, Bunk doesn't fall under the regulatory eyes of the FTC because everything on the show is fake. The prizes are fake, the host is a comedian and the contestants appear to not know how they got there but play along quite nicely with comedic results.
Recently, IFC has become the home for irreverent, alternative comedy. Original shows like The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Portlandia and Comedy Bang Bang have added to their mission statement of being "Always On, Slightly Off." Bunk fits this mold perfectly, offering irreverent comedy laced with silliness, bizarre dark humor and improvisational brain spasms.
Hosted by comedian Kurt Braunohler, Bunk gathers three contestants each week, comedians and comedy writers primarily, and lines up several irreverent games controlled by a giant wheel that does nothing. Games such as "Top This Lie," "Shame That Puppy," and "Name That Horse" challenge the quick wit and improvisational skills of the contestants. Other interactive games require them to draw new genitals on the statue of David or create new street signs.
When it comes to the prizes, there is no money changing hands. There is no charity involved. Contestants are playing for things like the ability to ride a bike, to meet their birth parents and talk to the dolphins. Throughout the show, and depending on how Kurt randomly chooses winners, these prizes are put into peril. Like when the birth parents met their other child. The show is smoothly executed and carried by Kurt Braunohler, who has a very keen sense of comedy and a quick wit to carry out even the most ludicrous of jokes.
Bunk is the brain child of comedy writer Ethan T. Berlin, who appeared as himself on the first episode. I recently sat down with Ethan (well, I was sitting at my desk, he sounded through the phone like he was test driving golf carts) to discuss the rough path of getting a show like Bunk on the air, shaming puppies and why Kurt never wears shoes.
GeekDad: How did Bunk come about? A night of watching Double Dare and eating mushrooms?
Berlin: Unfortunately there were no mushrooms involved, which would have been way better. I was writing a pilot for MTV which was supposed to be a comedy game show, but it was a legal game show. All the game shows on TV are overseen by the FTC and have to follow all the rules to make sure there is nothing illegal going on. But this also prevented anything funny from happening, as every time we pitched something that was funny they were like "no, that's a violation of the rules" so then I was like what if we make a show that is all about being funny with no rules?
So I brought in my friend Eric Bryant, we've worked on a lot of stuff over the years, and then we brought in a bunch of our other friends and started writing it and then we put on live shows to figure out more what we were actually making. Then we made our pilot with our own money and now we're RICH AND SUCCESSFUL!!
GeekDad: That's what I hear what happens when you make up pretend game shows, the money starts flowing in.
Ethan: I had to buy another house, just to put all the money in. I call it the money house.
GeekDad: I figured by now you'd be living off that George Lopez money from writing on Lopez Tonight.
Ethan: That's where I got the first house from.
GeekDad: Did you pitch to other networks before IFC?
Ethan: We made it on our own and we got it into this festival called the New York Television Festival and from there we just wanted to attract any attention. We made something that was wonderful and wanted to get any attention. IFC was one of the sponsors and we started talking and we thought "oh my god this would be the perfect home for it!" It's clear that IFC is the new home for alternative comedy and that was an ideal situation. We actually pitched at one point to Comedy Central, they kind of gave us a lukewarm "maybe in the future."
GeekDad: It's not disgusting enough for Comedy Central.
Ethan: I agree, I don't think it would have been a good of an experience making this show at Comedy Central or another network. IFC is very much cool with being weird and bizarre. Even down to casting: we can have people who are funny, but not the biggest stars but if we did it somewhere else they would have dictated us to have big stars just cause.
GeekDad: You don't have your own Wikipedia page. Are you sure you exist?
Ethan: I've been mentioned in a few other Wikipedia pages. I don't know who I'd have to bribe to get a page.
GeekDad: You know you can make your own, right?
Ethan: WHAT? I feel like that would be too vain.
GeekDad: You were on the first episode of the show; I gotta ask, how's that puppy doing now? It appeared pretty shamed.
Ethan: It ran into some trouble, the bad shaming brought up some early childhood trauma. It went on a bender for a couple of weeks. It has since checked into rehab. I visited it this past weekend and it seems to be back on four feet.
GeekDad: Some in the Bunk fan community (one dude on Twitter) believe that the show wouldn't be as funny as it was without host Kurt Braunohler. Is he real or a construct of our collective imaginations?
Ethan: Hmm... yeah. Kurt is whomever you imagine is hosting the show. Each of us sees it differently. There is a voice. Then the image that appears is whatever your mind thinks it is. He is definitely a construct - if you view him as a he - in some cultures he's viewed as a she, in others as a he-she. He is definitely a construct of our minds.
GeekDad: Kurt has this great energy on the television that we haven't seen for a while. He carries the show in a fantastic way.
Ethan: He has an uncanny ability to deliver such horrible lines in such a pleasant way that makes us laugh. He's amazing at drawing out answers from contestants. Either through justification or pointing out how ludicrous whatever the contestant just said. He's this jovial and bitter character all at the same time.
GeekDad: More on Kurt, did you take his shoes or was that elective?
Ethan: I like that idea that it was a punishment. During the first pilot that we shot Kurt asked us if he could not wear shoes and we didn't give a s–t. By the time episode five or six rolled around he realized it was a mistake, started complaining that his feet were numb. That TV studio floor is unforgiving, cold cement.
GeekDad: There is a heavy reliance on improvisation on the show, and so far the guests have met the challenge. Do you foresee having guests on the show that aren't as versed in improv?
Ethan: We had an idea that there would be, I'm trying to think of an example of who I'm thinking, people who are funny actors but not known for improv and stand-up. In the first season we didn't go in that direction, but we would definitely be open to those kind of people that just make us laugh. No matter what anyone says, Kurt is so good at converting things into laughs so someone can just blurt something out and he can make it funny.
GeekDad: The social interaction during the show has been spot on. How imperative do you feel that is to getting new fans?
Ethan: It's super f–ing heavy, man. So heavy. I will be honest and say I joined Twitter the day after the first episode aired. Before that I was very much an old man. To their credit, the IFC digital department came up with the idea of the play at home game. At first I thought it would distract people from watching the show and all the precious jokes we made, but it's a great way to get viewers involved and having them feel invested in the show. It's been funny just watching the Twitter feed during the show. I'm super impressed by the lines the fans are coming up with, they've been very funny and it shows that they get the show and want to be part of it.
GeekDad: How about a quick game of "Top This Lie"?
Ethan: Sounds good.
GeekDad: I invented skeletons.
Ethan: My bones are made out of Good 'n' Plenty's.
GeekDad: I once saw a mummy dream.
Ethan: I dream in 3D movies and 3D movies make me nauseous.
GeekDad: I won Wrestlemania III via teleconference.
Ethan: The chair I am sitting on is made mostly of cottage cheese but a little bit of nylon.
GeekDad: I filled the Grand Canyon with homemade jellybeans.
Ethan: I ate those jelly beans!
GeekDad: I was the sixth Jackson.
Ethan: I am Michael Jackson!
GeekDad: Fantastic job, Ethan. Well, thanks for chatting about Bunk. Any final words for the fans, possible fans and confused children?
Ethan: Keep watching, keep tweeting, keep your genitals inside the ride at all times... those are terrible last words.
Bunk airs at 10:30pm EST on IFC network. If you have Dish network, then you won't be watching Bunk. Be sure to follow Kurt Braunohler and Bunk on Twitter to play along every week!
Header Image: Episode 7 (l to r) Bunk contestants Nicole Parker, Ethan Berlin and Michael Che with host Kurt Braunohler. Credit: J. Ryan Roberts/IFC
