''Neil's Puppet Dreams'' is a

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

created by

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

under its Henson Alternative banner and released on The Nerdist Channel. The series stars

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...

who helped to create the series.

Plot

This web series features

who lives with his partner

David Burtka David Michael Burtka (born May 29, 1975) is an American actor and professional chef. He is known for his acting roles in theatre and television shows such as ''How I Met Your Mother'' and '' The Play About the Baby''. After his role on ''How I Met ...

. Neil sleeps a lot and has strange dreams featuring puppet characters. Neil opens each episode by directly telling the audience "Hi, I'm Neil. I sleep a lot and when I dream, I dream in puppet." He then promptly falls asleep and has a puppet dream.

Episodes

# The Lullabye (November 27, 2012) - Neil has a dream where he is falling through the sky in a dream world and a few puppets show up and sing a song to comfort him which only increases Neil's panic. # Doctor's Office (December 4, 2012) - Neil visits a doctor named Dr. Mayfair (played by

Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on ''Firefly (TV series), Firefly'' and its film continuation ''Serenity (2005 film), Serenity'', ...

) to talk to him about the puppet dreams that he has been having lately. Neil falls asleep and dreams that he is visiting a puppet doctor named Dr. Feltman where his unique physiology causes a stir in the puppet medical community. # The Restaurant (December 11, 2012) - Neil grapples with pushy customers and punny puns when he dreams that he is a waiter at a restaurant. # To Catch a Puppeteer (December 18, 2012) - Neil's questionable dream moral gets him into a handful of trouble when Puppet Chris Hansen shows up in Neil's dream called "To Catch a Puppeteer." # Dream Bump (January 8, 2013) - The dreams of Neil and David collide when David's dream consists of dancers, drag performers (played by Willam Belli and Detox Icunt), and an appearance by

Joe Manganiello Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...

. # Alien Abduction (January 16, 2013) - Neil dreams that he has been abducted by

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

and tries to get them to probe him. # Bollywood (January 22, 2013) - While watching a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

film with David, Neil falls asleep and dreams that he is in a Bollywood musical where he is in love with a cow named Bessie (voiced by Daniele Gaither).

Cast

- Himself *

- Himself

Puppeteers

* Brian Clark -

Rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...

(ep. 1), Winky the Trouser

Weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

(ep. 2), Puppet Chris Hansen (ep. 4),

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

(ep. 6) * Nathan Danforth -

Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

(ep. 3),

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

(ep. 3), Health Inspector

Mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

(ep. 3),

Turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

(ep. 7) * Brian Henson - Jumper (ep. 1) * Donna Kimball - Doll (ep. 1), Female Nurse (ep. 2), Wife (ep. 3) *

Drew Massey Drew Massey (born April 4, 1972) is an American voice actor, puppeteer and director for Nickelodeon and the Jim Henson Company. He has worked extensively with the Muppets and has performed in many films, television series, and commercials. He ha ...

Squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...

(ep. 1), Male Nurse (ep. 2),

Caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as "simian" or " ape-like" by Marcellin Bo ...

Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a ki ...

(ep. 3), Husband (ep. 3) * Colleen Smith -

(ep. 1), AbbyCadable2 (ep. 4), Anne (ep. 5),

(ep. 6) *

Allan Trautman Allan Trautman (born May 25, 1955) is an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Jim Henson Company. Early life He is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Trautman has a B.A. in Physics and Drama from Washington University in St. Lou ...

(ep. 1), Dr. Feltman (ep. 2),

Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

(ep. 3), Shelley Oceans as the Drag Queen (ep. 5),

(ep. 6) * Victor Yerrid -

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

(ep. 1),

Warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly con ...

(ep. 2), Old Man (ep. 3), Hot Dog (ep. 3), Alan (ep. 5)

Reception

Awards and nominations

In April 2013, ''Neil's Puppet Dreams'' was nominated for a

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...

in the "Best Comedy: Long Form or Series" category.

External links

''Neil's Puppet Dreams''
on

The Nerdist ''ID10T with Chris Hardwick'' (formerly ''The Nerdist Podcast'') is a weekly interview show "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Chris Hardwick, once usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The audio podcasts are typicall ...

's YouTube channel * {{The Jim Henson Company American comedy web series American LGBT-related web series Nerdist Industries 2012 web series debuts 2013 web series endings Web series featuring puppetry YouTube original programming Dreams in fiction