If The Weird Al Show Continued For Another Season

[weird user]

If The Weird Al Show had continued for another season, what changes do you think would have happened? What types of episodes would you have liked to have seen? What kinds of parodies would you have liked to have seen? What Weird Al songs would you have liked to have seen included on the show, possibly in new music videos or live performances (a la Yoda in the Time machine episode)?

I wonder if Weird Al would have shaved his mustache. I think that if he had gotten lazer surgery while still being active on the show, he would have continued to wear his glasses, perhaps fake ones. I don't think any of the supporting characters are bad enough to have been written off the show, though The Guy Boarded Up in the Wall is a one-joke character who could have been gone. Maybe there could have been an episode where he finally got set free and we saw what he looked like. I think that the excersize instructor that Al played should have been retired, though.

I think there would have been more Fatman cartoons, and maybe also a new cartoon segment. Maybe there could have been episodes where other supporting characters had problems that Al had to help them solve. It seems like Corky and Harvey were the only supporting characters who had these types of episodes. Maybe there could have been epsiodes where The Hooded Avenger, Val, or Madame Judy had competition. It also would have been cool if JB Tobbersmith started comming to Al's home, instead of just being seen on a TV monitor. It also would have been cool if Weird Al had interracted with Fred Huggins. Maybe if Al talked to him on the phone while he was doing the show (just like how he called Uncle ralphie), or if Fred Huggins called on the video phone in the same way that JB did. Or maybe Al could have played both characters in a duel-role.

I also think that it should have either been a tradition to have a talent show every season, or have an episode similar to Talent Show, like a karaoke party or a magic show.

It would have been great if, while channel hopping, music videos for Airline Amy, Phoney Calls, Since You've Been Gone, Gotta Boogie, and Midnight Star were produced. Somehow I don't think CBS would have allowed music videos fro I was Only Kidding, Trigger Happy, or Melanie to have been made.

What do you think?

[anthontherun]

I think that the excersize instructor that Al played should have been retired, though.

Agreed; this bit got old really fast.

First off, if it continued another season, I would have liked to see it moved over to VH1 and become more Pee-wee's Playhouse and less Sesame Street.

A few episodes that might have been good:
*Al decides to clone Harvey, and soon there are hundreds of Harveys in Al's house.
*Al starts putting on a few pounds and has to diet. He utilizes The Hooded Avenger, Cousin Corky, and Val to help him resist any temptation, including a cupcake with a high-pitched voice that sings "Eat Me" to the tune of "Eat It."

[Bruce the Duck]

First off, if it continued another season, I would have liked to see it moved over to VH1 and become more Pee-wee's Playhouse and less Sesame Street.

Um. TWAS is NOTHING like "Sesame Street." For one thing, SS doesn't dumb itself down for its audience. And it doesn't bash kids in the head with often-convoluted morals. And "Sesame Street" is...uh...good!

But anyway, this is a great topic! I have often wondered what the second season would have been like. Here are my thoughts:

Characters which could have been broadened and used more often:

Val Brentwood
Madame Judy
Emo's Dr. character
Varna
Uncle Ralphie
Bobby (my favorite character on the show)

Characters which I could have lived without in the next season:

Mrs. Fesenmeyer (I really don't care for this character very much)
Tony Maloney

Songs I'd like to have seen made into mini-videos for Channel-Hopping:

"My Balogna"
"Theme From Rocky XIII"
"Yoda"
"I Want a New Duck"
"I Think I'm a Clone Now"
"Isle Thing"
"Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota"
"Spam"
"The White Stuff"
"Phony Calls" - though I don't think the network would have allowed this one

Some segments that I'd like to have seen continued, expanded, and shown more often:

Fatman
Educational videos
Commercial parodies
Fred Huggins
Got Milk parodies
Cutting room floor bits - if the season continued, they'd have more credibility and could likely gain permissions more easily
Al's mailbag - preferably with the mail being completely unrelated to plot and with letters that aren't so OBVIOUSLY taped to the back of the table

Segments I could live without:

Home movies (eh, these weren't that funny to me, with the exception of the brocolli in the Trick or Treat bag joke)
The educational objective at the beginning of the episodes


Also, I've always thought that it would have been a great running gag to keep the house band from "Because I Said So." They could have had JB carry over his nephew's idea and have Al spontaneously break into song at strange and inappropriate moments. I love that episode because of all the singing, and that's what Al's known for, so it would make sense to have that continue.

Also, although it would be asking a lot of Al, I think it would have been nice for each episode to include a NEW song parody, since again that's what Al's most known for. It wouldn't need to be a complete parody, just something simple like "Lousy Haircut."

Finally, I think for the second season that Al should have carried over his BEST ALTV segment, the mock interview. He could have a different interview with a famous celebrity each episode. They would have to be much more kid-friendly than the MTV ones, but they'd still be fun.

Ultimately though I think the biggest change that I would have made for the second season would be to have the main storyline take a back seat to the humor and the unrelated segments. They'd be more of a bridge between the various bits than the driving force of the show. In effect, the show should actually HAVE been more like "Sesame Street," in that it be mostly comprised of several short comedy bits and segments that have NOTHING to do with the story or with each other, with equally short story segments coming in every once and a while to tell the main story.

[anthontherun]

When I compared it to Sesame Street, I meant in the educational aspect...whereas Pee-wee's Playhouse was pretty much all about all-out entertainment (although not totally).

I agree; it probably would have been better if it was all about jokes and less about plot (probably the only show I'll ever say this about!). Even though it really isn't Al's fault, the storylines were all predictable once you knew the lesson. And frankly, a lot of the storylines felt too forced when stretched out to 22 minutes. They could have done it like Robot Chicken, with one big story (5-7 minutes long) and then just a bunch of jokes to round up the remaining time.

[Themagic#27]

Bruce, I agree with you 90% of the time, buuut... I kind of liked the episodes being plot-oriented, as opposed to random segments of jokes. But that may just be my writer side speaking. ^^

(For the record, I did enjoy the show itself, in spite of it's issues with the morals.)

Everything else you said, though, I'm with you completely.

[Yankovic Farley]

The like the always present house band idea. It could have been sort of like the secret word segment on PeeWee's Playhouse - everytime a certain word is said Al would have to sing about what he's doing at the time. Any other time they could just stand in the back. Hehe.

[weird user]

You know, it would have been funny if there was an episode where Al channel surfed for 95 percent of the show, have it filled with several small segments, and maybe also expand on fred Huggins and the news, and also include maybe a full music video (as opposed to an abridged version of a song as a music video). The lesson could be something to the effect of "Don't spend all of your time watching TV". This could have made a good season premier episode (though it might be bad to have an experimental epsiode like this open the season, because it might make people think that the format has changed). It could begin with Al saying, "Well, we made it to a second season. I feel like celebrating. Do you know what should I do to celebrate the secodn season? Wacth TV!" Then, after channel hopping a bit, the show could cut to Al saying, "Channel hopping sure is fun. Hey, do you know how it could be funner? We could watch more TV!"

The plot could revolve around Al's friends trying to get Al away from the TV, to do more, but Al wouldn't learn his lesson untill maybe the third act. Perhaps he could sit too close to the TV and go blind.

[weird user]

Um. TWAS is NOTHING like "Sesame Street." For one thing, SS doesn't dumb itself down for its audience. And it doesn't bash kids in the head with often-convoluted morals. And "Sesame Street" is...uh...good!

Both shows are good. Though Al has complained about CBS having a lot of ridiculous censorship and dumbing it down too much, the show isn't really that bad, and there are a lot of moments that I am surprised CBS didn't cut.

[Bruce the Duck]

You know, it would have been funny if there was an episode where Al channel surfed for 95 percent of the show, have it filled with several small segments, and maybe also expand on fred Huggins and the news, and also include maybe a full music video (as opposed to an abridged version of a song as a music video). The lesson could be something to the effect of "Don't spend all of your time watching TV". This could have made a good season premier episode (though it might be bad to have an experimental epsiode like this open the season, because it might make people think that the format has changed). It could begin with Al saying, "Well, we made it to a second season. I feel like celebrating. Do you know what should I do to celebrate the secodn season? Wacth TV!" Then, after channel hopping a bit, the show could cut to Al saying, "Channel hopping sure is fun. Hey, do you know how it could be funner? We could watch more TV!"

The plot could revolve around Al's friends trying to get Al away from the TV, to do more, but Al wouldn't learn his lesson untill maybe the third act. Perhaps he could sit too close to the TV and go blind.

That's an interesting idea, but I think "Channel Hopping" works best in short blocks, like they did on the show. Plus, whenever a kids' television show tries to preach that watching TV is bad for you, it always comes off as hypocritical, which is probably why few shows attempt that message.

[Themagic#27]

You know, it would have been funny if there was an episode where Al channel surfed for 95 percent of the show, have it filled with several small segments, and maybe also expand on fred Huggins and the news, and also include maybe a full music video (as opposed to an abridged version of a song as a music video). The lesson could be something to the effect of "Don't spend all of your time watching TV". This could have made a good season premier episode (though it might be bad to have an experimental epsiode like this open the season, because it might make people think that the format has changed). It could begin with Al saying, "Well, we made it to a second season. I feel like celebrating. Do you know what should I do to celebrate the secodn season? Wacth TV!" Then, after channel hopping a bit, the show could cut to Al saying, "Channel hopping sure is fun. Hey, do you know how it could be funner? We could watch more TV!"

The plot could revolve around Al's friends trying to get Al away from the TV, to do more, but Al wouldn't learn his lesson untill maybe the third act. Perhaps he could sit too close to the TV and go blind.

Oh man, that would've been a cool episode. Haha!

And, I'm with you-- TWAS doesn't get much credit for being as good as it was, all things considered. As I've said a few times before, I did actually enjoy the show.