Altube Chit-chat

[JEDM]

I'm really enjoying all the AL-TV interviews Al is putting up. I hope he gets around to putting up the rest of the ones from AL-TV2K, Madonna '96, and Paul McCartney up.I'm sure he will.

[amzo39]

A glimpse of Al on Yo Gabba Gabba

http://bit.ly/aIGlJ6

Circus, parade! I kind of love this for some reason.

[Killingsworth]

A glimpse of Al on Yo Gabba Gabba

http://bit.ly/aIGlJ6

Circus, parade! I kind of love this for some reason.

wow...this looks like it's gonna be somewhat tolerable...I mean, it certainly doesn't look as wretchedly, horrifyingly unwatchable as Fred made it out to be last fall...Al is obviously more mellowed out that we're accustomed to seeing him here...

[Mystik Tomato]

I mean, it certainly doesn't look as wretchedly, horrifyingly unwatchable as Fred made it out to be last fall.

Does anything?

[FredHuggins]

Okay....I admit, this doesn't look TOO terrifying. A much smaller fraction of my colon shriveled up and died than I anticipated. Anybody know when it premieres?

By all means, check this thing out. I have no choice - I MUST check it out, if only to preserve my AL-Tube completist cred. I gotta say, Al ALONE made that clip tolerable IMO, with his fantastic singing, accordion playing and strange reactions.

By the way, I'm not against weird puppets and bright colors - "Wonder Showzen" is one of my favorite shows of all time. I guess what REALLY bugs me about Yo Gabba Gabba is that, on the surface, it feels SO MUCH like a Wonder Showzen-esque parody of overexcitable children's programming, that it breaks my brain a little to NOT see it accompanied by adult-friendly absurdist dark jokes about war, religion and meat. That's how smurfed up I am.

[TMBJon]

I understand your concern, however as someone who is intimately familiar with the Aquabats material I can assure you that Christian Jacobs has always delivered the goods. I think it's the same part of me that enjoys Weird Al which got me into the Aquabats. This guy really knows what he's doing, and the clips of the show that I've seen (all of which have involved the guest of the week) have not yet disappointed.

[FredHuggins]

I just realized why I find that Gabba clip so familiar. Maybe I stand alone here, but it reminds me quite a bit of THIS appearance from over a quarter-century ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYXlkBtD600

...Right down to the way Al subtly "winks" at us with his vocal cadence half the time, as if to say, "I know this is dumb as dogsmurf, but play along. It's for the kids."

[TMBJon]

...Right down to the way Al subtly "winks" at us with his vocal cadence half the time, as if to say, "I know this is dumb as dogsmurf, but play along. It's for the kids."

I continue to disagree with you, Huggins. I really really don't think he thinks Yo Gabba Gabba is dumb. I think the whole point of the show is that kind of wink at the audience that you describe, and therefore Al is playing along with the tongue-in-cheek nature of the show, not suggesting in any way the show is dumb.

[FredHuggins]

I don't think we really disagree THAT much. By that logic, if the entire SHOW is winking at us about itself like that, then Al is just following protocol. Okay, I'll buy that.

But the thing is, the show doesn't give us ANY hints that it was written by grownups besides those winks. They never throw in a single joke or line that might go over the head of a three-year-old. It's like the CBS executives' wet dream of what they WANTED The Weird Al Show to be. And since three-year-olds are naturally - let's face it - kinda dumb, having yet to gain knowledge about most things, that means the show is kinda dumb as well. And all that winking means, to me, is that everyone involved is trying to scream "HAAAAAAAAALP! WE'RE STUCK IN A DUMB KIDS SHOW!!!"

All I'm saying is, Yo Gabba Gabba is unquestionably dumb ON THE SURFACE. Where we differ, I guess, is whether it has any actual depth beneath that surface. My opinion is that if it has any depth, it's hiding it a bit too well.