my favorite weird al story is he would take dates to the theater when naked gun was playing. then when his cameo happened he'd just be like "oh hey im in this movie."
I am also part of the "This appeared in my recommended" club and it's an absolutely stellar first video. Weird Al is a massive part of my childhood and was a massive cultural stepping stone for me growing up alongside the early days of TH-cam and a reasonably unrestricted internet access in North West England. Now I'm 25 but listening to some of Al's work always takes me back to being a child and showing my friends each new parody i discovered and trying and failing to make our own I managed to snag a dvd copy of the Weird Al show on eBay many years ago and watching each episode as a child was great but growing up and understanding some of the more adult based humor and learning more about the US culture of the time makes rewatching it an absolute treat. Fred Huggins still makes me cackle like a hen all these years later
@@robcoz98 Fred Huggins is one of the funniest bits ever. There was originally supposed to be a joke where the Boolie puppets end themselves because it’s the only escape from Fred that’s left, but it was cut for obvious reasons. A great loss in my opinion.
@@enter_the_phantom I love the renactment they did on the commentary for that one but the mental institution ending they went with still makes me laugh and makes Fred's character the slightest more unhinged. I still want to know why they called him Billy The Chicken though...
The one thing I couldn't stand about the show is how Al often had to act like some sort of jerk, to try to pull off whatever the moral of the story was supposed to be. And, Al is terrible at being a jerk.
This seems to be a running gag for him - I recall some mini-mockumentary in the early 2000s where he played "himself" and played up the entitled, fickle movie star trope. I don't remember much of it, but I do recall him demanding a bust of some person's head made of an unlikely material. I always remembered it as cottage cheese, but have never been able to find the video/show again to confirm it.
I never thought about that but maybe its on purpose, like his Cameo in Halloween II, I thought he seemed very unlikeable in that but maybe that was just Rob Zombies directing where every character was unlikeable.
This show was actually my introduction to Weird Al as a kid. I had no idea he had a backlog of albums and media to explore until the show was canceled and I was like "I need more Al!"
funnily enough it was the other way for me; i only found out about the show when i came across the theme tune and realized it was an actual theme tune and not a parody of theme tunes XD
The algorithm knows I can't resist Weird Al content. I was gifted my first walkman at a young age and it came with two cassettes, a greatest hits of Hall and Oates(the eighties were a complex time) and Weird Al's first album. Been a fan ever since and I'm really old now but the show was one of things I know the least about. Thanks for the great video!
In a couple of years i will brag about how i followed this 1M+ sub channel when it was still under 300 subscribers. This is an excellent first video essay.
Agreed wonderful first video. Keep it up! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Keep doing what you enjoy! I enjoyed watching you enjoy yourself! That’s what art should be right? Expressing oneself? I also love Weird Al and never knew about this show. If I ever have kids I’m gonna convince them it’s a conspiracy theory and everyone is ripping off Weird Al.
37:23 I now have this mental image of Weird Al doing the shifty-eyes thing before crouch-walking in an exaggerated fashion around the studios. Then he's walk up to a celebrity from behind, catch them in a butterfly net, yell "YOINK!" and then run off with them back to his own set.
I've heard people talk about Weird Albums, and UHF, but I've never heard anyone talk about the tv show. This channel is already a gem. Excellent script and excellent visual editing.
I think I found another gem of a TH-camr. That hard cut clothing change punctuation is my kind of humor. I will look forward to seeing your career progress. Another girl like me on TH-cam is a good thing. Love the video.
The algorithm seems to know my aesthetics because this hits all of them. This is really your first video? You did a fantastic job! You've earned a subscription from me.
This video was recommended to me and as a 25 year Weird Al fan who has seen him live 15 times in 3 different states and almost nearly worships the ground Al walks on I must say “WOW!! That’s just your first video!?!?” That video was EVERYTHING! I even enjoyed the Peewee Herman parts and laughed because yesterday as I was watching your video it was the 33rd anniversary of the event and you said what I’ve been saying since I was 5, what was he suppose to be doing at an adult theater, I mean come on! I very much enjoyed the deep dive and I can’t wait to see more deep dives. I rarely subscribe to people anymore and I’m definitely going to sub because I can’t wait to see what other things you cover. I really thought I knew all there was to know from The Weird Al show but this was even more. THANK YOUUUUU!!!
This is a fantastic video!! When I was 9 years old I had the opportunity to speak with Al at a Q&A event promoting Alpocalypse in LA. Everyone was asking perfectly normal Q&A questions, though my question of choice for him- from a little 9 year old, 15 years after the show’s run- ‘Why was the Weird Al Show cancelled’? I imagine nobody’s asked him that since. He gave a very quick but genuine answer about poor ratings and bad timeslots. Amazing to finally have an in-depth answer!!! I’ve also had the DVD set since then, I need to go back and hear the commentary!
I had trouble understanding what he was saying (and wondered if the special episode was about stuttering), I then searched "mr. belvedere special episodes" to see what the deal is.
I cant wait for your follow up: ALtv: When MTv got Weird. The algorithm knows who to send this too. I hope you are graced with many Al fans who also loved this show.
@@MikeKarv I DEFINITELY plan to do a video on AL-TV! I also have ideas for a UHF video touching on the cultural context of the film. I’ll be doing a lot of Weird Al content hopefully, clearly I can talk about this man forever ❤️
This is cool. Love the old windows pop ups. So many channels take a while to figure out their style but wow you knocked it out of the park with your first video on here!
Hey! I think that the "educational germ video" on the ok/not ok section is talking about a video that Al made called "Germs and you". He used it a lot on the break section between costume changes on the Mandatory Fun tour, it even is up on his official channel
This is great!!! Rando Recommendation Reply, But I loved everything about this. I grew up watching Pee Wee’s PlayHouse and somehow missed the Weird Al show, And I was watching Saturday Morning Cartoons back then, but if you liked a certain show, you were missing at least 2 others while you watched it. If this is something you enjoy doing, keep it up!! 👍🏻
oh this is fantastic. The intro and music, the 4:3 oh MAN. I need you to know how much I miss that aspect ratio for things that arent movies. its also so well edited, feels and looks genuinely professional.
As an older Gen X nerd, a big part of my childhood was listening to Dr. Demento, where I discovered the inimitable Weird Al. Even when I hit my teens and became a metalhead, I still listened to Al's music (and read comic books, and watched sci-fi, etc.). As popular as his music became, I was always sad that his other endeavors weren't appreciated by everyone. UHF is an absolutely brilliant movie, and The Weird Al Show was so great.
I was a huge Weird Al fan as a kid and got the series as a Christmas present. Now knowing the history (and the fact it's out of print) makes it even more special.
I was honestly not expecting this to be THIS polished. You did a fabulous job! Also: I really need to go watch this. I grew up on Peewee's Playhouse and was just old enough to kind of "miss" the Weird Al show. I love Al even if he is trying to take all of our jobs and overthrow society and has a bunch of weird names now like "Gemini" and "Grok" and "ChatGPT".
My dad got me the DVD box when I was about 15 years old, and we watched it together and it was really special for us thanks for bringing back that memory
I’ve considered myself a casual fan of Weird Al, and I’m surprised I never knew about this. I’m a huge fan of all things sketch comedy and I can’t wait to check this out (thanks for linking it in the description). I really like how the script flowed and that it didn’t feel like the 47-minute runtime. Also appreciate all the editing that went into this. Can’t believe this was your first video, and I’m excited to see what else you make.
Great video. I recently picked up the DVD for this at a record store, and hearing the commentary really adds to the story. CBS clearly had no set of rules for the show and seemingly just approved things based on what they were feeling at the time.
Absolutely loved this video! You did a fantastic job going over 80s media culture that set up the conditions for the Weird Al Show and talking about the influence the show had in becoming a notable pop cultural reference.👏🏾 Looking forward to more videoes! 😄 Edit: Also forgot to add how creative I thought your formatting for this video was!
clicked as soon as I read the title. I'll subscribe to anyone who makes such a long video about this gem. I don't have time to watch the whole video right now but I will be back. I love Weird Al. I still have my tickets from the Alpocalypse tour. I was given the entire series on DVD for my 11th birthday and have seen this entire series multiple times. Weird Al was my obsession and as soon as I found out he had a tv show and a movie I had to have both. This show is so funny and well "weird" I still quote this show as an adult. It'll be interesting if after all this time I manage to learn something I didn't know.
@@FritzMonorail Let me know if you do learn something! ❤️ I’m a HUGE Al fan, I actually just bought a working Yamaha accordion so I can learn to play for my upcoming Al cosplay. I’m kind of known as The Weird Al guy in my circles. Can confirm this video is staunchly pro-Al and I talk about him too much.
@@enter_the_phantom This was a wonderful video. I didn't know that it was being filmed so close to the tonight show. It's been a long time since I watched The Weird Al Show and honestly the nostalgia is unreal. I'm excited to rewatch it with your commentary tracks. It's such a shame this wonderful piece of art only lasted thirteen episodes, and your right that it really was a labor of love. Thanks for the great retrospective.
@@FritzMonorail I’ll come back here and update once I have the tracks uploaded to TIA, I’ve got to figure out tech stuff first! Fun fact I forgot to mention regarding The Tonight Show: filming hours were also terrible. One reason they were always close to the Tonight Show is because their filming hours were scheduled very late, sometimes until 2 or 3 am.
I never saw The Weird Al Show until the DVD. I'd heard some Weird Al stuff in the 90s, but I didn't really become a fan until probably the year 2000. in 1997 I got into Beast Wars, which led me to seeking out VHS tapes of the 1980s Transformers cartoon, including the movie. The movie used "Dare to be Stupid". I bought the movie soundtrack, and this ended up leading me me buying almost all his albums on CD in the early 2000s when I was in high school. I think from his first album through Poodle Hat, the only ones I didn't have were 'Bad Hair Day' and 'Off the Deep End', and only because I never found them at the local stores. Of course, during this time I also bought UHF & a collection of his music videos on DVD. So when they released the series on DVD, I of course grabbed it.
90's Dic productions were great at abusing loopholes to fulfill that quota too. That's what gave us stuff like the "Sonic Sez" segments or the "Sailor Says" bits at the end of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sailor Moon respectively.
I saw him in concert decades ago. It is still the best concert I've ever witnessed. Unmatched energy. His band was amazing. Like 12 seamless costume changes. The whole time he had a huge smile on his face. So did everyone watching and singing along.
I remember listening to Running With Scissors as a kid and hearing the theme song (it’s track 4 on the album) and immediately Googling “the weird al show” and saying “WEIRD AL MADE A KIDS SHOW!? Sign me up!” And as a kid who’s television habits mostly involved Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Futurama and Monty Python’s Flying Circus, it fit in nicely (I asked for the DVD for christmas) with my TV habits. It wasn’t until about 2 years ago I learned about the show’s troubled history from another small channel called Media Mementos (check him out too, he’s kinda similar). I say you did a fine job talking about this show. Keep up the good work!
Damn you were introduced to some really great stuff as a kid! I'm glad Monty Python made it on your radar since I'm assuming you must have been a kid in the late 2000s/early 2010s if you grew up with Adventure Time and Regular Show
I am a Weird Al fan plus this showed up in my recommended but man...this is my kind of video. I love your weirdness and the fact that I'm not the only one who loved this show. This video is an 11/10.
The saddest thing is that Al wasn't the only group who were forced to change the band name Barenaked Ladies. Kids WB did a whole "Barenaked Ladies week" on it and half way through the advertising for it to BNL, too.
Really enjoyed this! I remember watching this when I was a teen and absolutely loving it, but no one seemed to appreciate it as much as I did. This was a nice refresher/appreciation summary of his work and this show.
I find myself in disbelief to finally learn that there is at least one person who, unlike everyone else, won't look at me like a dog being shown a card trick after hearing Wayne White mentioned, who is easily my favorite name in the realm of high art. Though I have a hunch you've already seen the film "Beauty Is Embarrassing," I could not more highly recommend it if you haven't because to quote the man himself, it's so beautiful it hurts my feelings.
Love Wayne White. I’m a big fan of his modified thrift store paintings. That almost uncanny space-age retro-futurism thing he’s got going is something we don’t see enough.
I salute him for taking the piss out of the world's pretentious art wankers and rejecting the presumption that levity is antithetical to the pursuit of crafting works of "high" or "fine" art. He summed it up during his TED talk saying something to the effect of "Comedy is sacred, so people put it on a pedestal, which we then must ironically attempt to knock off that very pedestal."
Thanks Abby for publishing a first video that "knocked it out of the park". I grew up as a child in the 80's, and was (okay, still is) very weird and eccentric myself. I've laid flowers and lit candles at the altar of Yankovic, so this hits hard right in the feels. While I never watched this show (although I watched plenty of Al TV), it's great to see something so comprehensive! Can't wait to see what more you have in store for us. I'm glad the algo recommended this one. Best of luck and cheers, mate!
FUN FACT! you spent this video dead naming Normal Al Yankovic as in his review of Gravity Falls the Book of Bill he said that the novel of bill cipher's design was so weird he had to change his name to Normal Al Yankovic!
I was a fan of The Weird Al Show during its original run, and I bought the DVD (two copies, actually) as soon as it was released by Shout Factory. I found the commentary so fascinating that when the topic of commentaries came up in movie forums and such, I always recommended this one in particular. I’d like to believe I played some small role in making this one aspect of Weird Al’s history more well-known. Incidentally, I still have both copies of my DVDs. I’m glad I hung onto them after all these years.
The commentaries really are fantastic. Well worth the money I had to spend to get them. I’ve got them all up on the Internet Archive now for anyone wanting to hear them!
I saw a weird al video essay, and I was intrigued. Saw it was from a new channel, and I was more interested. Heard the words "broadcasting history and government oversight" and I was full blown excited. Great video!
This video was so much fun! I grew up listening to Weird Al and would search out for anything I could find, so seeing someone talk in depth about the show that NOBODY I've known has ever even heard of is awesome. Right off the bat, this was incredibly interesting and entertaining. I hope you keep making more videos!
Your first video and you managed to check nearly every box for me. Weird Al? Free space, obviously. Windows 95/98/AOL Instant Messenger designs? Double check. Animorphs books in the background? Checkcheckcheckcheck. You did an amazing job! Looking forward to your future output. My biggest regret in life is I owned The Weird Al Show on DVD but somehow lost it in my last move. Now it's going for wild prices online. :( I didn't get to watch it when it was airing (I was entirely unaware of it's existence when it aired! Darn you CBS! ...And my addiction to Fox Kids and WB Kids, I guess. Never really did much channel surfing beyond those too in the 90s. Oops.) But the second the DVD set came out, I ordered it and must've watched it front to back a hundred times. Thankfully, you can watch it on youtube for free now! All hail the digital streaming overlords. I'm still crying over my loss. :(
I pretty much came out of the womb watching the Weird Al Show and as a small child it was the ONLY live-action show I enjoyed. Rewatched the entire thing as an adult and it's incredible. Thank you for making this! It was fascinating and I feel like we should be friends tbh
"Since the 1950s advocacy groups were calling for tighter regulations on violence and sexuality in TV." It was right there. You could have said it seems today that all you see, is violence in movies and sex on TV.
Friend who happily stayed to the end here; genuinely quality and enjoyable video- the kind I will highly recommend to others and can’t wait for the next to come out. Seriously well done!!!
Great first video! I just subbed and I eagerly await more! One MINOR nitpick at the 20:47 mark - Al did not direct UHF, that was his manager/co-screenwriter Jay Levey. He didn't direct the "Like A Surgeon" video either, the first video he directed was "Christmas At Ground Zero" in '86, then he didn't direct another until "Bedrock Anthem" in '93.
@@TonyGoldmark Ooh, thank you! Once I figure out how to do those little TH-cam edits, I’ll add in an annotation. I appreciate it, my notes for this mess were all over the place!
I wouldn't call incorrect credit a "minor" nitpick, it's really important! Weird Al already has a history of being credited for songs he didn't write or perform, particularly ones he finds detestable and resents being associated with. Don't feel bad about pointing that stuff out! Proper information is king! 😊
As a proud owner of "The Weird Al Show" on DVD who has seen Al in concert five times now, I must say I am pleased that TH-cam queued this up to me. I am now subscribed and look forward to seeing what else you like.
Finally!! Even among Weird Al fans, this show seems to fly under the radar-- Good to see someone show it the love it deserves. This show was my childhood-- Even if I got to it oh, 10 or so years late :p
This was fantastic! I'm a more-than-casual Weird Al fan, but my knowledge of the Weird Al Show was a glaring hole in my otherwise adequate store of enthusiastic trivia, so I very much enjoyed this deep dive and am looking forward to exploring more. And OMG I squeed when I saw radio/voiceover/comedy legend Stan Freberg as JB Toppersmith!
@@coffeeedobrien I watched most of these shows after the cultural context had come and gone, so I loved learning about why they were the way that they were!
I remember I first heard about this show through the special features on the Weird Al Ultimate Music Video Collection DVD. It wouldn't be years before I was actually able to watch the show, but the theme song stuck with me like crazy alongside the snippets of songs like "Bad Haircut" and "Lasagna"
I love listening to people talk about things that they have a lot of passion and enthusiasm for. It makes me realize that there is so much out there that I never knew about, and is worth knowing. Great work on this video, can’t wait to see what you put out next!
aaaaa it’s so awesome seeing a video like this about something I love! I watch a lot of video essays while I draw/write/clean, but most of them are about random things I don’t care about that much. can’t wait to watch this!
If I recall, Al did SORT OF have a one-sided beef with Prince and nobody quite knows why. Prince didn't like him to the point that he didn't even want to sit in the same row as him at the Grammies, having his lawyer ask Al to move to a different one.
@@enter_the_phantom In truth, Prince absolutely seemed like the type of person who would look down on satire/parody musicians. From what I've heard (and I can't confirm it), while he was nice and funny, he was fairly vain and arrogant about his own talent. Someone like Al (who is VERY talented, I might add, but Prince probably didn't see him that way) getting so famous probably rubbed him the wrong way.
@@fennecwolfoxhe actually liked Al’s work. There’s audio of him talking about the Fat video. Prince just took his music seriously and didn’t want anyone tampering with it
He didn’t ask Al to be moved, he sent a telegram asking him not to make eye contact. Al got a lot of mileage out of that story, but found out in the last few years that everyone in the area of Prince got the same telegram, he was just the only one that talked about it
This is an incredibly impressive first video! I’m a fellow early 2000s kid, and I got into Weird Al around 2009 at age 11. I remember using my iPod Touch to try and locate pirated episodes of the Weird Al Show, either on TH-cam or whatever other sketchy website I could. I desperately need to see Al in concert next time he comes to my town.
This was genuinely one of the most enjoyable video essays I've seen recently, both in terms of content and your editing style. Keep at it, you've got that special something to go far in this format! Looking forward to your next one.
my favorite weird al story is he would take dates to the theater when naked gun was playing. then when his cameo happened he'd just be like "oh hey im in this movie."
Don’t forget, he also wore the same shirt on the date that he wore in the movie
I am also part of the "This appeared in my recommended" club and it's an absolutely stellar first video.
Weird Al is a massive part of my childhood and was a massive cultural stepping stone for me growing up alongside the early days of TH-cam and a reasonably unrestricted internet access in North West England. Now I'm 25 but listening to some of Al's work always takes me back to being a child and showing my friends each new parody i discovered and trying and failing to make our own
I managed to snag a dvd copy of the Weird Al show on eBay many years ago and watching each episode as a child was great but growing up and understanding some of the more adult based humor and learning more about the US culture of the time makes rewatching it an absolute treat. Fred Huggins still makes me cackle like a hen all these years later
@@robcoz98 Fred Huggins is one of the funniest bits ever. There was originally supposed to be a joke where the Boolie puppets end themselves because it’s the only escape from Fred that’s left, but it was cut for obvious reasons. A great loss in my opinion.
@@enter_the_phantom I love the renactment they did on the commentary for that one but the mental institution ending they went with still makes me laugh and makes Fred's character the slightest more unhinged. I still want to know why they called him Billy The Chicken though...
+
The one thing I couldn't stand about the show is how Al often had to act like some sort of jerk, to try to pull off whatever the moral of the story was supposed to be. And, Al is terrible at being a jerk.
@@MSLVLog Yes!! You’re 100% right, and I actually had that in my original notes-Al’s character is completely awful, and it’s hilarious.
@@enter_the_phantom Isn't the audio commentary on the DVD like 50% Al talking about what an unlikeable cretin his character is?
This seems to be a running gag for him - I recall some mini-mockumentary in the early 2000s where he played "himself" and played up the entitled, fickle movie star trope. I don't remember much of it, but I do recall him demanding a bust of some person's head made of an unlikely material. I always remembered it as cottage cheese, but have never been able to find the video/show again to confirm it.
@@christopherwall2121 A good amount of it, yes! I just couldn’t fit everything in here!
I never thought about that but maybe its on purpose, like his Cameo in Halloween II, I thought he seemed very unlikeable in that but maybe that was just Rob Zombies directing where every character was unlikeable.
Mentioning being able to film over a few days and have multiple takes having an entirely unacknowledged shirt swap was masterclass lmao.
I enjoyed that too!
Thirded!
Sometimes the TH-cam home page injects The Good Stuff directly into my veins. Really dig this !!!!
@@KyleWall There’s an “IV: Informative Video” joke in here somewhere. Thank you!
Al even made a joke about being forced to explain a PHD to Bobby. After Al explains what a PHD is, Bobby just says “duh, I’m not a moron”.
This show was actually my introduction to Weird Al as a kid. I had no idea he had a backlog of albums and media to explore until the show was canceled and I was like "I need more Al!"
funnily enough it was the other way for me; i only found out about the show when i came across the theme tune and realized it was an actual theme tune and not a parody of theme tunes XD
The algorithm knows I can't resist Weird Al content. I was gifted my first walkman at a young age and it came with two cassettes, a greatest hits of Hall and Oates(the eighties were a complex time) and Weird Al's first album. Been a fan ever since and I'm really old now but the show was one of things I know the least about. Thanks for the great video!
@@jasonsalisbury7965 I do love me some Hall and Oates! Caught them at a double concert with Tears for Fears when I turned 18.
In a couple of years i will brag about how i followed this 1M+ sub channel when it was still under 300 subscribers. This is an excellent first video essay.
@@Alvietronic How kind! I don’t know about all that but we’ll see what happens ❤️
Same, but 12 days later and she's already at 2.2k🎉 great success!
This is a stellar first video! It's well-scripted and engaging. Plus, kitty cameo at the end!
@@laprimanerda7333 Thank you!! I think Sev will always make cameos ❤️
Agreed wonderful first video. Keep it up! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Keep doing what you enjoy! I enjoyed watching you enjoy yourself! That’s what art should be right? Expressing oneself? I also love Weird Al and never knew about this show. If I ever have kids I’m gonna convince them it’s a conspiracy theory and everyone is ripping off Weird Al.
@@raymondjack “This artist stole this from Weird Al” is one of my favorite jokes. And thank you! I plan to!
@@enter_the_phantom Least you got a plan. Well I’m here with you. Weird and obscure history is the best kind.
37:23 I now have this mental image of Weird Al doing the shifty-eyes thing before crouch-walking in an exaggerated fashion around the studios. Then he's walk up to a celebrity from behind, catch them in a butterfly net, yell "YOINK!" and then run off with them back to his own set.
@@DarknessIsTheTruth Can confirm that’s exactly what happened. I was the butterfly net.
I've heard people talk about Weird Albums, and UHF, but I've never heard anyone talk about the tv show.
This channel is already a gem. Excellent script and excellent visual editing.
Thank you! ❤
Incredibly niche content that is 100% up my alley, very well executed. Well done!
@@MidnightMurdrSho Thanks! ❤️
I think I found another gem of a TH-camr. That hard cut clothing change punctuation is my kind of humor. I will look forward to seeing your career progress.
Another girl like me on TH-cam is a good thing. Love the video.
@@janedoe3043 Not exactly a girl…but I appreciate it! Thank you! ❤️
Wow! That was awesome! I was a photographer for Al for the Running With Scissors Tour. I can attest to the fact he's a really nice, gentle soul.
The algorithm seems to know my aesthetics because this hits all of them. This is really your first video? You did a fantastic job! You've earned a subscription from me.
@@steffisaidwhat thank you so much!! ❤️
This video was recommended to me and as a 25 year Weird Al fan who has seen him live 15 times in 3 different states and almost nearly worships the ground Al walks on I must say “WOW!! That’s just your first video!?!?”
That video was EVERYTHING! I even enjoyed the Peewee Herman parts and laughed because yesterday as I was watching your video it was the 33rd anniversary of the event and you said what I’ve been saying since I was 5, what was he suppose to be doing at an adult theater, I mean come on!
I very much enjoyed the deep dive and I can’t wait to see more deep dives. I rarely subscribe to people anymore and I’m definitely going to sub because I can’t wait to see what other things you cover.
I really thought I knew all there was to know from The Weird Al show but this was even more. THANK YOUUUUU!!!
This is a fantastic video!! When I was 9 years old I had the opportunity to speak with Al at a Q&A event promoting Alpocalypse in LA. Everyone was asking perfectly normal Q&A questions, though my question of choice for him- from a little 9 year old, 15 years after the show’s run- ‘Why was the Weird Al Show cancelled’? I imagine nobody’s asked him that since. He gave a very quick but genuine answer about poor ratings and bad timeslots. Amazing to finally have an in-depth answer!!! I’ve also had the DVD set since then, I need to go back and hear the commentary!
The cut educational video about germs was included on either the Ultimate Video Collection DVD or the Weird Al: Live DVD.
You could not tell this was your first video! Great job, can't wait to see what's next.
Thank you so much!
The “French Prince of Bel-Air” bit during Channel Hopping has been living in my head rent free for several decades now.
For some reason that one had me on the floor. It’s just so stupid.
"Well, I got AIDS but other than that I'm really good. " Oh god. Oh thank you. Yes, that is exactly what I needed in my life.
@@orvilleredenpiller338 I was trying to find the worst Very Special Episodes and when I found that one, I knew I’d found my winner.
I had trouble understanding what he was saying (and wondered if the special episode was about stuttering), I then searched "mr. belvedere special episodes" to see what the deal is.
I F'ing lost it. lmfao.
That's fucking unhinged! Really just a perfect little gem
I cant wait for your follow up: ALtv: When MTv got Weird.
The algorithm knows who to send this too. I hope you are graced with many Al fans who also loved this show.
@@MikeKarv I DEFINITELY plan to do a video on AL-TV! I also have ideas for a UHF video touching on the cultural context of the film. I’ll be doing a lot of Weird Al content hopefully, clearly I can talk about this man forever ❤️
I have it on VHS.
@@janedoe3043 The dream one day 🙏🏻
@@enter_the_phantom really? well ill sub for the weird al content and the peewee herman content
This is cool. Love the old windows pop ups. So many channels take a while to figure out their style but wow you knocked it out of the park with your first video on here!
@@ElTomTom87 Thank you so much! I’m glad they fit well, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go that route at first but I think I’ll stick with it!
Hey! I think that the "educational germ video" on the ok/not ok section is talking about a video that Al made called "Germs and you". He used it a lot on the break section between costume changes on the Mandatory Fun tour, it even is up on his official channel
@@ishkar5k Oh, score!! Thank you!! 🙏🏻
This is great!!! Rando Recommendation Reply, But I loved everything about this. I grew up watching Pee Wee’s PlayHouse and somehow missed the Weird Al show, And I was watching Saturday Morning Cartoons back then, but if you liked a certain show, you were missing at least 2 others while you watched it. If this is something you enjoy doing, keep it up!! 👍🏻
@@B-Nice I greatly enjoy it and plan to! Thank you! ❤️
oh this is fantastic. The intro and music, the 4:3 oh MAN. I need you to know how much I miss that aspect ratio for things that arent movies. its also so well edited, feels and looks genuinely professional.
@@OrangutanJCalliope Thank you so much! The aspect ratio is just my phone’s camera, I’m glad it comes across well!
As an older Gen X nerd, a big part of my childhood was listening to Dr. Demento, where I discovered the inimitable Weird Al. Even when I hit my teens and became a metalhead, I still listened to Al's music (and read comic books, and watched sci-fi, etc.). As popular as his music became, I was always sad that his other endeavors weren't appreciated by everyone. UHF is an absolutely brilliant movie, and The Weird Al Show was so great.
@@calebleland8390 UHF is getting an essay eventually, as is AL-TV!
@@enter_the_phantom "Red snapper! Very tasty!!!"
I was a huge Weird Al fan as a kid and got the series as a Christmas present. Now knowing the history (and the fact it's out of print) makes it even more special.
found this in my recommended, and it did not disapoint. been on a big weird al kick lately!
@@Bandinthesky Haven’t we all.
Unnecessary?! This is one of the MOST necessary deep dives I've ever come across! Harvey the Wonder Hamster would be so proud of you
@@kyleelton7923 I thought it was necessary too. Thank you, Harvey! 🙏🏻
5 min in and I can already tell I'm going to enjoy your content!
I was honestly not expecting this to be THIS polished. You did a fabulous job!
Also: I really need to go watch this. I grew up on Peewee's Playhouse and was just old enough to kind of "miss" the Weird Al show. I love Al even if he is trying to take all of our jobs and overthrow society and has a bunch of weird names now like "Gemini" and "Grok" and "ChatGPT".
My dad got me the DVD box when I was about 15 years old, and we watched it together and it was really special for us thanks for bringing back that memory
@@TheOnkeyomay Aw, I love that. ❤️
This video was so good! Few people have this polisbed of a delivery in their first video. I cant wait to see what you upload next ❤
Thank you so much!
I’ve considered myself a casual fan of Weird Al, and I’m surprised I never knew about this. I’m a huge fan of all things sketch comedy and I can’t wait to check this out (thanks for linking it in the description). I really like how the script flowed and that it didn’t feel like the 47-minute runtime. Also appreciate all the editing that went into this. Can’t believe this was your first video, and I’m excited to see what else you make.
@@gelp6801 I’m hoping to have a link to the episodes with commentary once I’ve got them up on the Archive, too!
@@enter_the_phantomThank you!
Great video. I recently picked up the DVD for this at a record store, and hearing the commentary really adds to the story. CBS clearly had no set of rules for the show and seemingly just approved things based on what they were feeling at the time.
@@Season411 100%. It was a madhouse.
1:10 The outfit change for multiple takes got me good
@@Stevoisiak I’m so glad someone laughed at that, it’s the dumbest joke I’ve made in a long time.
@@enter_the_phantomwhen I saw that myself I was cracking up
This was an absolutely necessary deep dive
Absolutely loved this video! You did a fantastic job going over 80s media culture that set up the conditions for the Weird Al Show and talking about the influence the show had in becoming a notable pop cultural reference.👏🏾 Looking forward to more videoes! 😄
Edit: Also forgot to add how creative I thought your formatting for this video was!
Thank you friend!! I appreciate you!
Possibly the most creative way to make script corrections in a TH-cam essay I’ve ever seen
clicked as soon as I read the title. I'll subscribe to anyone who makes such a long video about this gem. I don't have time to watch the whole video right now but I will be back. I love Weird Al. I still have my tickets from the Alpocalypse tour. I was given the entire series on DVD for my 11th birthday and have seen this entire series multiple times. Weird Al was my obsession and as soon as I found out he had a tv show and a movie I had to have both. This show is so funny and well "weird" I still quote this show as an adult. It'll be interesting if after all this time I manage to learn something I didn't know.
@@FritzMonorail Let me know if you do learn something! ❤️ I’m a HUGE Al fan, I actually just bought a working Yamaha accordion so I can learn to play for my upcoming Al cosplay. I’m kind of known as The Weird Al guy in my circles. Can confirm this video is staunchly pro-Al and I talk about him too much.
@@enter_the_phantom This was a wonderful video. I didn't know that it was being filmed so close to the tonight show. It's been a long time since I watched The Weird Al Show and honestly the nostalgia is unreal. I'm excited to rewatch it with your commentary tracks. It's such a shame this wonderful piece of art only lasted thirteen episodes, and your right that it really was a labor of love. Thanks for the great retrospective.
@@FritzMonorail I’ll come back here and update once I have the tracks uploaded to TIA, I’ve got to figure out tech stuff first!
Fun fact I forgot to mention regarding The Tonight Show: filming hours were also terrible. One reason they were always close to the Tonight Show is because their filming hours were scheduled very late, sometimes until 2 or 3 am.
I never saw The Weird Al Show until the DVD. I'd heard some Weird Al stuff in the 90s, but I didn't really become a fan until probably the year 2000. in 1997 I got into Beast Wars, which led me to seeking out VHS tapes of the 1980s Transformers cartoon, including the movie. The movie used "Dare to be Stupid". I bought the movie soundtrack, and this ended up leading me me buying almost all his albums on CD in the early 2000s when I was in high school. I think from his first album through Poodle Hat, the only ones I didn't have were 'Bad Hair Day' and 'Off the Deep End', and only because I never found them at the local stores.
Of course, during this time I also bought UHF & a collection of his music videos on DVD. So when they released the series on DVD, I of course grabbed it.
19:10 This is why the Animaniacs had the "Wheel of Morality", it was a comment on kids cartoons that had no lesson that try to force one in the end
@@jackbergman4724 Fantastic bit, that!
@@enter_the_phantom also, great video
90's Dic productions were great at abusing loopholes to fulfill that quota too. That's what gave us stuff like the "Sonic Sez" segments or the "Sailor Says" bits at the end of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sailor Moon respectively.
@@LordArikado I almost used a couple Sailor Says segments. Those cracked me up.
It adds boring educational value to what would otherwise be an almost entirely entertaining program!
I saw him in concert decades ago. It is still the best concert I've ever witnessed. Unmatched energy. His band was amazing. Like 12 seamless costume changes. The whole time he had a huge smile on his face. So did everyone watching and singing along.
I remember listening to Running With Scissors as a kid and hearing the theme song (it’s track 4 on the album) and immediately Googling “the weird al show” and saying “WEIRD AL MADE A KIDS SHOW!? Sign me up!” And as a kid who’s television habits mostly involved Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Futurama and Monty Python’s Flying Circus, it fit in nicely (I asked for the DVD for christmas) with my TV habits. It wasn’t until about 2 years ago I learned about the show’s troubled history from another small channel called Media Mementos (check him out too, he’s kinda similar). I say you did a fine job talking about this show. Keep up the good work!
@@user-yr8mu1ce1m I will, I love any small channel that talks about media! Thank you!
Damn you were introduced to some really great stuff as a kid! I'm glad Monty Python made it on your radar since I'm assuming you must have been a kid in the late 2000s/early 2010s if you grew up with Adventure Time and Regular Show
I am a Weird Al fan plus this showed up in my recommended but man...this is my kind of video. I love your weirdness and the fact that I'm not the only one who loved this show. This video is an 11/10.
@@ZiddersRooFurry He truly is a wonderful soul. ❤️
The saddest thing is that Al wasn't the only group who were forced to change the band name Barenaked Ladies. Kids WB did a whole "Barenaked Ladies week" on it and half way through the advertising for it to BNL, too.
@@daniexists6 That’s nuts!
Really enjoyed this! I remember watching this when I was a teen and absolutely loving it, but no one seemed to appreciate it as much as I did. This was a nice refresher/appreciation summary of his work and this show.
the paul reubens joke earned my sub
@@ThatTaiwaneseBrianCheng The only way I’d want to earn a sub.
This dug up some nostalgia out of the dark recesses of my memory. Thank you.
I find myself in disbelief to finally learn that there is at least one person who, unlike everyone else, won't look at me like a dog being shown a card trick after hearing Wayne White mentioned, who is easily my favorite name in the realm of high art.
Though I have a hunch you've already seen the film "Beauty Is Embarrassing," I could not more highly recommend it if you haven't because to quote the man himself, it's so beautiful it hurts my feelings.
Love Wayne White. I’m a big fan of his modified thrift store paintings. That almost uncanny space-age retro-futurism thing he’s got going is something we don’t see enough.
I salute him for taking the piss out of the world's pretentious art wankers and rejecting the presumption that levity is antithetical to the pursuit of crafting works of "high" or "fine" art.
He summed it up during his TED talk saying something to the effect of "Comedy is sacred, so people put it on a pedestal, which we then must ironically attempt to knock off that very pedestal."
Thanks Abby for publishing a first video that "knocked it out of the park". I grew up as a child in the 80's, and was (okay, still is) very weird and eccentric myself. I've laid flowers and lit candles at the altar of Yankovic, so this hits hard right in the feels. While I never watched this show (although I watched plenty of Al TV), it's great to see something so comprehensive! Can't wait to see what more you have in store for us. I'm glad the algo recommended this one. Best of luck and cheers, mate!
FUN FACT! you spent this video dead naming Normal Al Yankovic as in his review of Gravity Falls the Book of Bill he said that the novel of bill cipher's design was so weird he had to change his name to Normal Al Yankovic!
many such cases. sad!
I was a fan of The Weird Al Show during its original run, and I bought the DVD (two copies, actually) as soon as it was released by Shout Factory. I found the commentary so fascinating that when the topic of commentaries came up in movie forums and such, I always recommended this one in particular. I’d like to believe I played some small role in making this one aspect of Weird Al’s history more well-known.
Incidentally, I still have both copies of my DVDs. I’m glad I hung onto them after all these years.
The commentaries really are fantastic. Well worth the money I had to spend to get them. I’ve got them all up on the Internet Archive now for anyone wanting to hear them!
I saw a weird al video essay, and I was intrigued. Saw it was from a new channel, and I was more interested. Heard the words "broadcasting history and government oversight" and I was full blown excited. Great video!
@@RustedOrange Government oversight is pretty sexy. Thanks!
From one Weird Al superfan to another, well done! Fascinated to see where you go from here.
@@TooManyTapes Thanks! ❤️
This video rules! I’ve been looking forever for a video this comprehensive about the weird Al show
@@toastcrumch I was too! Sometimes when you want to see something you just gotta make it yourself.
This video was so much fun! I grew up listening to Weird Al and would search out for anything I could find, so seeing someone talk in depth about the show that NOBODY I've known has ever even heard of is awesome. Right off the bat, this was incredibly interesting and entertaining. I hope you keep making more videos!
In depth obscurity is my favorite thing. Glad you enjoyed!
Good move to upload this shortly after Polkamania was released
Also this video gives me Hypnospace Outlaw vibes
@@joshy9857 It was actually a total coincidence and not planned at all 😅
@@enter_the_phantom LOL That’s awesome. Well, keep up the good work👍
Your first video and you managed to check nearly every box for me. Weird Al? Free space, obviously. Windows 95/98/AOL Instant Messenger designs? Double check. Animorphs books in the background? Checkcheckcheckcheck. You did an amazing job! Looking forward to your future output.
My biggest regret in life is I owned The Weird Al Show on DVD but somehow lost it in my last move. Now it's going for wild prices online. :( I didn't get to watch it when it was airing (I was entirely unaware of it's existence when it aired! Darn you CBS! ...And my addiction to Fox Kids and WB Kids, I guess. Never really did much channel surfing beyond those too in the 90s. Oops.) But the second the DVD set came out, I ordered it and must've watched it front to back a hundred times. Thankfully, you can watch it on youtube for free now! All hail the digital streaming overlords. I'm still crying over my loss. :(
Only a couple minutes in and already love this video. I can tell you're gonna make some great stuff. An honor to be in the first hundred subscribers.
@@Braincain007 Thank you so much!! I’m glad to have you!! ❤️
Great video. Very informative. Phantom cat tail at 45:36 vacated me of my bejeezuz.
@@jamesmontgomery7074 I didn’t even notice Sev’s tail until I start editing. He spooked me, too.
i was recommended this by "the algorithm" and i can't believe this is your first video. you are a natural, keep up the good work
@@SkronkJappleson Thank you!
I pretty much came out of the womb watching the Weird Al Show and as a small child it was the ONLY live-action show I enjoyed. Rewatched the entire thing as an adult and it's incredible.
Thank you for making this! It was fascinating and I feel like we should be friends tbh
@@slorglord Thank you for watching! I’m glad it reached the right audience! ❤️
"Since the 1950s advocacy groups were calling for tighter regulations on violence and sexuality in TV."
It was right there. You could have said it seems today that all you see, is violence in movies and sex on TV.
@@Ramonatho Oh my god you’re right. I have failed.
The transitions were like this nostalgic breath of air between segments.
@@halifax87 Glad they worked well!
lol, love the intro! I love the pop-ups and outfit changes. The video has a really nice tone/vibe. 🥰
Thank you so much!! ❤️
I loved Paul Reubens. ❤😢
@@melaniesheldon8013 Didn’t we all. ❤️
Friend who happily stayed to the end here; genuinely quality and enjoyable video- the kind I will highly recommend to others and can’t wait for the next to come out. Seriously well done!!!
@@jayli6423 Thank you friend!! ❤️
I both like Weird Al AND had this in my auto-play. You are truly reaching Al fans.
Great first video! I just subbed and I eagerly await more!
One MINOR nitpick at the 20:47 mark - Al did not direct UHF, that was his manager/co-screenwriter Jay Levey. He didn't direct the "Like A Surgeon" video either, the first video he directed was "Christmas At Ground Zero" in '86, then he didn't direct another until "Bedrock Anthem" in '93.
@@TonyGoldmark Ooh, thank you! Once I figure out how to do those little TH-cam edits, I’ll add in an annotation. I appreciate it, my notes for this mess were all over the place!
I wouldn't call incorrect credit a "minor" nitpick, it's really important! Weird Al already has a history of being credited for songs he didn't write or perform, particularly ones he finds detestable and resents being associated with. Don't feel bad about pointing that stuff out! Proper information is king! 😊
Awesome video! Weird Al was a HUGE part of my childhood.
Seems the algorithm favors Weird Al, as should we all. Excellent first video!
@@sanitytheorist8221 It apparently does, an amazing stroke of luck.
As a proud owner of "The Weird Al Show" on DVD who has seen Al in concert five times now, I must say I am pleased that TH-cam queued this up to me. I am now subscribed and look forward to seeing what else you like.
Thank you so much!
Finally!! Even among Weird Al fans, this show seems to fly under the radar-- Good to see someone show it the love it deserves. This show was my childhood-- Even if I got to it oh, 10 or so years late :p
@@moogandacasio It deserves so much love! ❤️
And now it's on Peacock AND a bunch of free streaming services too!
Probably here because I watched a video about UHF the other day. Already love your presentation and aesthetic
@@scootinand Thank you!
I have never been more appreciative of the TH-cam algorithm. I loved the video. I loved seeing your cat. Keep up the amazing work.
@@richardbecker7421 Thank you so much!
Stumbled upon this by complete accident and had a blast! Can't wait to see what you make next.
Crazy that this is your first video. I’m so glad the algorithm decided to recommend me this
This was fantastic! I'm a more-than-casual Weird Al fan, but my knowledge of the Weird Al Show was a glaring hole in my otherwise adequate store of enthusiastic trivia, so I very much enjoyed this deep dive and am looking forward to exploring more. And OMG I squeed when I saw radio/voiceover/comedy legend Stan Freberg as JB Toppersmith!
@@libbyweber Thank you!! There were some great cameos in this show. Billy West playing such a large part gets me every time.
As a weird al fan, and a long form video essay fan, great job. Look forward to your future works.
@@CmotDribbler Thank you so much!
this was awesome!!! so good - i came here from the 80s and 90s , my childhood tv makes more sense. now i know, and knowing is half the battle!
@@coffeeedobrien I watched most of these shows after the cultural context had come and gone, so I loved learning about why they were the way that they were!
I remember I first heard about this show through the special features on the Weird Al Ultimate Music Video Collection DVD. It wouldn't be years before I was actually able to watch the show, but the theme song stuck with me like crazy alongside the snippets of songs like "Bad Haircut" and "Lasagna"
I feel very educated by this video!
@@noellatrix Delivering the knowledge people need.
I love listening to people talk about things that they have a lot of passion
and enthusiasm for. It makes me realize that there is so much out there that I never knew about, and is worth knowing. Great work on this video, can’t wait to see what you put out next!
@@emib.4275 This is why I love it too, I love just hearing people talk about the things they love!
I’ll be real this doesn’t seem like a first video, it’s extremely well done!
@@terminalyellowfever2980 Thank you!! ❤️
Without yet seeing the whole video, I need to mention that the "60% Chance of Rain" sketch still enjoys quoting and rewatching in this house.
@@TSDT That one is brilliant!
holy shit!!! youtube serving me the good shit hot and fresh!!! amazing work
OH MY GODDDDD I'm such a huge fan of this show its so neat to find a video essay about it!!!!
You were recommended! Instant sub
@@DannyCoombs709 Thank you for the support!
3:41 YES if the man were Weird Al I'd DEFINITELY choose him over the bear
If the weird al show has no fans I’m dead
aaaaa it’s so awesome seeing a video like this about something I love! I watch a lot of video essays while I draw/write/clean, but most of them are about random things I don’t care about that much. can’t wait to watch this!
If I recall, Al did SORT OF have a one-sided beef with Prince and nobody quite knows why. Prince didn't like him to the point that he didn't even want to sit in the same row as him at the Grammies, having his lawyer ask Al to move to a different one.
@@fennecwolfox Which to be honest does make me laugh. I theorize that Prince was jealous of Al’s fashion sense.
@@enter_the_phantom In truth, Prince absolutely seemed like the type of person who would look down on satire/parody musicians. From what I've heard (and I can't confirm it), while he was nice and funny, he was fairly vain and arrogant about his own talent. Someone like Al (who is VERY talented, I might add, but Prince probably didn't see him that way) getting so famous probably rubbed him the wrong way.
@@fennecwolfoxhe actually liked Al’s work. There’s audio of him talking about the Fat video. Prince just took his music seriously and didn’t want anyone tampering with it
He didn’t ask Al to be moved, he sent a telegram asking him not to make eye contact. Al got a lot of mileage out of that story, but found out in the last few years that everyone in the area of Prince got the same telegram, he was just the only one that talked about it
@@mike_minnick Oh, okay. Thanks a lot! I hadn't heard the actual story for a long time, so I probably (READ: definitely) got some details wrong, lol
This is an incredibly impressive first video!
I’m a fellow early 2000s kid, and I got into Weird Al around 2009 at age 11. I remember using my iPod Touch to try and locate pirated episodes of the Weird Al Show, either on TH-cam or whatever other sketchy website I could. I desperately need to see Al in concert next time he comes to my town.
Appeared in my recommended, and this is a nearly perfect storm of my niche interests. Great job!
This was genuinely one of the most enjoyable video essays I've seen recently, both in terms of content and your editing style. Keep at it, you've got that special something to go far in this format! Looking forward to your next one.
Wow, thank you!
i'm so glad you made this video, I was hoping someone would shine a light on this amazingly strange and great program at some point. You rule!!
@@mattthomastaylor Thank you so much! It really was a great show! ❤️