''Neil's Puppet Dreams'' is a

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

created by

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company, Inc., 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 kn ...

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 List of awards and nominations ...

who helped to create the series.

Plot

This web series features

who lives with his partner David Burtka. 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 Christopher Fillion (born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian and American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on ''Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on ''Castle''. , he sta ...

) 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 Christopher Edward Hansen (born September 13, 1959) is an American television presenter, journalist, and YouTube personality. During his tenure as a correspondent for ''Dateline NBC'', he hosted the program's segment ''To Catch a Predator'' (20 ...

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 Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...

and Detox Icunt), and an appearance by Joe Manganiello. # Alien Abduction (January 16, 2013) - Neil dreams that he has been abducted by aliens 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, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film with David, Neil falls asleep and dreams that he is in a Bollywood musical where he is in love with a

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

named Bessie (voiced by Daniele Gaither).

Cast

- Himself * David Burtka - Himself

Puppeteers

* Brian Clark -

Rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

(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

(ep. 4), Alien (ep. 6) * Nathan Danforth -

Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

(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 Nort ...

(ep. 3),

Health Inspector An environmental health officer (EHO), also referred to as an environmental health practitioner (EHP) or public health inspector, is a person responsible for carrying out measures to protect public health, which includes the administration and en ...

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 reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

(ep. 7) *

Brian Henson Brian David Henson (born November 3, 1963) is an American puppeteer, filmmaker, and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson. Early life Henson was born on November 3, 1963 in New York City, th ...

- Jumper (ep. 1) * Donna Kimball - Doll (ep. 1), Female Nurse (ep. 2), Wife (ep. 3) * Drew Massey -

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

(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 B ...

Chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

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

(ep. 1), AbbyCadable2 (ep. 4), Anne (ep. 5), Alien (ep. 6) * Allan Trautman -

(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 simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

(ep. 3), Shelley Oceans as the Drag Queen (ep. 5), Alien (ep. 6) * Victor Yerrid -

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly 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 ...

(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 cons ...

(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 (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

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

External links

''Neil's Puppet Dreams''
on The Nerdist's YouTube channel * {{The Jim Henson Company American comedy web series American LGBTQ-related web series Nerdist Industries 2012 web series debuts 2013 web series endings Web series featuring puppetry YouTube original programming Fiction about dreams Television series by The Jim Henson Company