by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
For parents, most preschool TV is the entertainment equivalent of Chinese water torture. Cheesy characters, awful music and cutesy, cookie-cutter lessons make it almost impossible for someone over the age of seven to sit through it without wanting to physically hurt someone. With a little more than five years of parenting experience under my belt, I’ve seen more than my fair share of preschool television and have, at every turn, been unimpressed with what I’ve seen- that is until late last month, when Yo Gabba Gabba premiered on Nick Jr.
Incorporating new wave, rock, dance music, and hip-hop, Yo Gabba Gabba is a musically-driven kid’s show that mixes live action with animation, practical lessons with fun, and childlike silliness with grownup cool. The show is hosted by DJ Lance Rock (Lance Robinson), a colorful, energetic character whose gigantic boom box is filled with toy monsters that come to life at the utterance of the magic words: “Yo Gabba Gabba.” Once alive and kicking, Muno the Cyclops, Brobee the little green monster, Foofa the flower, Toodee the cat-dragon and Plex the robot sing, dance and learn about the importance of playing nicely and eating all your veggies, among other things.
One of the things that makes Sesame Street tolerable for parents is seeing celebrities and musical guests show up every now and then and act silly with the muppets. Yo Gabba Gabba embraces this concept, with probably a little more success than the Master. Eight episodes have aired thus far and The Aquabats, The Aggrolites, Smoosh, The Salteens and Supernova have all performed during the Yo Gabba Gabba’s “Super Music Friends Show.” In upcoming episodes The Shins, Cornelius, Shiny Toy Guns, The Postmarks and Sugarland are scheduled to make appearances.
During the regular segment “Dancy Dance” celebrity guests teach viewers kid-friendly dance moves. Elijah Wood was a Dancy Dancer, demonstrating his YouTube-worthy moves dubbed “The Puppet Master” in the first episode. Nacho Libre’s Héctor Jiménez taught kids the “Jumping Jellyfish” a few shows later. Tony Hawk, Laila Ali and others are lined up to do future “Dancy Dance” segments.
The famous faces fun doesn’t stop there. The “Clown Prince of Hip-Hop” Biz Markie teaches kids how to beatbox during “Biz’s Beat of the Day” and Devo founder Mark Mothersbaugh ditches his goofy hat in favor of a paintbrush in “Drawing with Mark.” Both of these are regular segments and big hits with parents as well as kids. Each show ends with a complete remix of all of the songs that were sung and the lessons learned, recapping the message in a fun, engaging way. On top of exposing children to different types of music, Yo Gabba Gabba also features a different guest animator each episode, allowing kids to see something new each time they tune in.
This is exactly the kind of show I would set out to create for my kids, so it’s no small wonder that a couple of Gen-X dads came up with it, no doubt out of the same frustration all parents have felt when choosing between Barney and Teletubbies. Christian Jacobs (also known as The MC Bat Commander, lead singer of The Aquabats) and Scott Schultz teamed up, took out second mortgages and put everything they had into creating Yo Gabba Gabba. Once a pilot was made, they sent out copies to everyone they could think of and never heard a peep. So the duo posted their creation on the web where it soon garnered so much buzz that Nickelodeon sat up and took notice. The series got picked up and the rest is TV history.
In all the interviews Jacobs and Schultz have done since their show premiered, they’ve maintained that the whole point of Yo Gabba Gabba is to give parents a show that will allow them to have fun with their kids. Having watched all the episodes with my 3-year-old son, I’m confident they have succeeded. Each day, my little boy and I dance around the living room, sing along with the silly monsters and talk about our favorite characters (he loves Toodee while I am partial to Brobee). During lunch and dinner we sing “There’s a Party in My Tummy,” a recurring song on the show that encourages cleaning your plate. At night he happily brushes his teeth since hearing Plex’s song “It’s Fun to Brush Your Teeth.”
It’s great to be able to watch a show with my son that isn’t mind numbingly boring and sticky sweet. Yo Gabba Gabba succeeds where no other kids show has, at least in my home. Tune in this week and give this mom-approved series a chance! Yo Gabba Gabba airs weekdays at 10:30 am and 1 pm on Nickelodeon.
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