Rapid T. Rabbit and Friends is an independently produced puppet and variety show created and produced by Richard J. Concepcion (September 16, 1957 – August 1, 2017). The show was broadcast weekly on public-access cable TV in New York City from 1983 to 2017. The show ran on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Queens Public TV, and aired online every Sunday afternoon over the Pawpet Broadcasting Network before the Funday Pawpet Show.
The show, which is based in Rapid Transit Rabbit's hometown of New York City, followed him, and his friends Cuppy, Rupert and Mejeep, both in town, and around the country on their adventures. This could be in the form of puppets interacting with each other via a traditional puppet stage, or in the form of a video documentary.
Throughout the years, the Rapid T. Rabbit character has attended many events such as the Doo-Dah Parade in Ocean City, New Jersey, and the Long Island Ducks Mascot Day among others, including the New York City Easter Parade. While Rapid T. Rabbit was a very involved with local events in the New York City area, he was commonly mistaken as the "Easter Bunny" by kids according to an interview with Concepcion in The New York Times.
Rapid also made appearances on various other television shows including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 1999 and with local fandoms including the Chuck E. Cheese and ShowBiz Pizza fandom (from 2004 until 2013) at "Cheesevention", as well as in the furry fandom at conventions such as Anthrocon and Midwest Furfest as a Guest of Honor in 2000.
In 2011, the program was the subject of a featured exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image.
Production Background Concepcion was born in Upper Manhattan in New York City, to a family that had emigrated from the Philippines. In the mid-to-late 1960s, he watched Jim Henson and the Muppets on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1973, he wrote a letter to the Sesame Street character Big Bird, which earned him an invitation to the series' filming at Reeves Teletape Studios by puppeteer Caroll Spinney. He attended Hunter College of the City University of New York, where he worked as a technical aid in the college's television classroom studio during his senior years. During college, Concepcion interned in Manhattan Cable TV's (now Time Warner Cable) programming department. Notes He graduated with honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Media. Following his graduation, he began working as a master control room operator at Manhattan Cable. Concepcion was fascinated by the rise of public-access television, and volunteered as a camera operator at ETC Studios (later Metro-Access Studios).
Production of Rapid T. Rabbit In 1983, Concepcion started developing his own public-access television program, choosing to use puppetry for the show as he did not have graphic arts training for animation. He cited Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, The Banana Splits, the Muppets, and his invitation to Sesame Street as his influences for the show. Concepcion chose a rabbit character as the host of the show, inspired by his favorite cartoon rabbit characters, including Bugs Bunny, and purchased a floppy-eared rabbit puppet from a magic shop in Midtown Manhattan to use for the show. He named the character "Rapid Transit Rabbit", in reference to his frequent use of the New York City Subway system. The show was initially shot in black and white, but was later changed to color photography. In the summer of 1984, Chuck E. Cheese appeared as a guest on the show, hosting a party with a live audience of children. The children's happy reaction inspired Concepcion to make a walk-around fursuit costume for Rapid T. Rabbit. In 1986, Concepcion started wearing a costume built by Tony Guastella. A better costume was built by Stagecraft Inc. and funded by Caroll Spinney in 1990.
In May 2010, Concepcion began writing Riding With The Rabbit, a monthly column in the Carousel News and Trader magazine. He died on August 1, 2017.
Main cast Rapid Transit Rabbit – Host Cuppy – Co-host Mejeep the Meeping Ferret – Co-host Rupert – Supporting character and Rapid's puppet nephew
Special guest appearances T.H.E. Fox Greg the Bunny Cody Coyote Dr. Demento Looney Bird Frank Sidebottom Tenderheart Bear and Bedtime Bear of The Care Bears Orwin Raccoon Mr. Rat from The Mr. Bear Today Show Rattus T. Rat Sandy the Seagull of the Brooklyn Cyclones Scooter the Holy Cow of the Staten Island Yankees Reggy from the Mascot Hall of Fame Soupy Sales Larry Storch Joe Franklin Arnold Stang Blitzer T. Wolf Bugs Bunny Chuck E. Cheese Paddington Bear Telly Monster from Sesame Street Kermit Love Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street
References
External links Official website Rapid T. Rabbit's channel on YouTube Rapid T. Rabbit's "RTRX" channel on YouTube Rapid T. Rabbit's "RTRTV" channel on YouTube Rapid T. Rabbit's entry on WikiFur Rapid T. Rabbit's LiveJournal