DJ Lance
Why I Love Yo Gabba Gabba
Let’s get this straight: I am not a fan of kid’s TV programming. Through the years, I have had friends who thought that Pokemon and the Powerpuff Girls were fantastic, and the Power Rangers and Dragon Ball Z were awesome (we’re talking about adults, here, folks). Not me. Outside of a deep appreciation for Ren and Stimpy, the Simpsons, and Family Guy (which are patently NOT kid’s TV shows), I have not even been much of a fan of anything animated or developed for kids.
So I thought that when I had my own kids, TV programming would be something I’d have to endure. I dreaded the mere thought of having to watch a single episode of Barney or the Teletubbies. I stocked up on DVD sets of old school 70s Sesame Street and Electric Company, just to have something I once adored to add to the mix. What ended up happening, and what my childless self didn’t anticipate, is that you love your kid and you end up loving it when he is enjoying himself. Even when that means he enjoys watching Barney. You’re watching him watch it, and that’s pretty cool. So I did it. I watched all those shows that I dreaded, and anything he enjoyed: new Sesame Street (Elmo and all), Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go…….and it was OK. Perhaps thankfully, he just never got into Barney OR Teletubbies.
And then one day an orange hat glided past on our TV set.
And in the half hour that followed, my ideas about what is possible in children’s programming changed. The specific episode that I watched, Episode 8 of season 1. What I saw: Yo Gabba Gabba characters Muno and Brobie doing a countdown to launch their new rocket, followed by a chorus of “up, up up, down, down, down”, done with enough childlike enthusiasm to smash to smithereens an entire season’s worth of Dora’s screechy forced-happy speak. Biz Markie (Biz freaking Markie!) doing a short beatboxing segment called “Biz’s Beat of the Day”, encouraging kids at home to follow along with his beats. The band Supernova doing a rendition of “Up and Down”, wearing space suits and jumping on trampolines while performing on stage, for the series’s regular feature, the ‘Super Music Friends Show’, which is always followed by DJ Lance calling out “listening and dancing to music is………awesome!”. And I felt what I hadn’t felt since I was watching shows I loved as a kid: a rush of excitement.
So many of the kids shows that I had been watching were awfully formulaic: identify problem in the beginning, set up a plan for fixing problem, follow through with plan, do dance at the end. And I understand that the task-based, problem-solving approach is de rigeur now in pedagogy, but sometimes it kinda feels like doing chores. Even the “unexpected” twists that the shows sometimes do feel just the opposite — planned. And the interactive element that is also such a prominent feature of pretty much everything that came after the success of “Blue’s Clues” also usually strikes me as hokey. Like Dora insisting that if you do an upwards motion with your hands, you’re actually “helping” her onscreen friend to climb a tree. Hokey and also a little……..misplaced and creepy? And you know what? Her onscreen friend always makes it up that tree even though my Little One doesn’t lift a finger. What sort of strangeness is being taught here? It’s OK not to respond when someone’s asking you for help, ’cause they’ll get by perfectly fine without it?
Despite the edgy underpinnings of Yo Gabba Gabba’s surface image, the values and skill set that it is promoting through its segments are just as basic and wholesome as any PBS show: Sharing, brushing your teeth, making new friends, being scared, taking naps, counting, loving your family and friends, being generous, caring for the earth, and above all…….playing and having fun. At its core, isn’t that what childhood should be about? (our next generation needs another My Baby can Read program like it needs a hole in the head). And the interactiveness that it aims for is a very old and organic formula: through guessing games, teaching new dance moves, encouraging kids to make a funny face. No voice-overs of kids shouting out answers to clueless characters necessary.
The celebrity cameos on YGG alone are worth tuning in for. Aside from the regulars Biz Markie and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, such diverse talents as Jack Black, Laila Ali (Laila freaking Ali!), Elijah Wood, Paul Williams, Andy Samberg, Jack McBrayer have graced the show, always at unexpected turns. That’s one of the main themes with YGG: you never really quite know what to expect. And that turns out to be really, really fun for everyone in our household. The Little One has embraced YGG into his daily life like no other show: He has his own set of ‘cool tricks’, does Biz’s beats, and often breaks out into song that he’s heard on the show. And he’s only two. Take that, My Baby Can Read. My baby can have great, goofy fun.
Wikipedia describes the coining of Yo Gabba Gabba’s title thusly: “Some claim the title of the series is derived from the chant “Gabba Gabba Hey“, first coined by punk rock band Ramones, but any similarities to the Ramones end at the title”. I, for one, disagree. The Ramones came to popularity in the late 70’s with a sound that took its cues from the fast tempo and edgy guitar sound of punk rock, but rose high above both punk and the bubblegum pop radio tunes of the era by delivering music that was basic and accessible and consistently jump-up-and-down fun. Much, I would argue, like Yo Gabba Gabba.
If you’re reading this, and you haven’t actually seen the show yet, I might suggest watching the following clip, which I believe is one of the best to sum up the overall mood of the show: The Aggrolites sing “Banana”. And even if you know the clip and you’ve seen it a hundred times already, go ahead and watch it again……you know you want to.
Yo Gabba Gabba is shown commercial-free on Nick Jr., currently in the noon and 12:30 time slots (cst).
