Al TV
| Al TV | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | "Weird Al" TV |
| Genre |
Comedy Music |
| Written by | "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| Directed by |
Jay Levey Robert K. Weiss |
| Presented by | "Weird Al" Yankovic |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60-240 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
MTV VH1 |
| Original release | April 1, 1984 – December 12, 2006 |
Al TV is an American comedy TV series created by and starring singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Several AL TV interviews have been uploaded to a YouTube Playlist.
Overview
The premise of the show is that Yankovic uses his private satellite transmitter to commandeer the airwaves of a music video station in order to show the videos that he wants to watch.
The program is primarily a parody of MTV itself, including that of MTV's moon landing image sequence. The show features commercials for imaginary products, fake interviews with celebrities, comments on the latest music news, letters from fans, and bizarre non sequiturs. For fake interviews, the show edits footage from unrelated outside interviews and manipulates it such that Al appears to be interviewing the celebrity in a silly or mocking way.
Al TV's main focus is music videos, especially his own, as well as others of an unusual or surreal comedy nature. Al's own work consists of song parodies and "cover polkas", which essentially edit together the videos from the original artists with Al's music and vocals synchronized to the video segments. Al occasionally uses this tactic for certain song parodies for which no video was made.[1]
A similar show has been broadcast in Canada, under the name Al Music. In addition, Yankovic appeared as a guest VJ on MTV on February 22, 1984, using much the same format he would later use on Al TV.
Clips from Al TV are shown during costume changes in Yankovic's live shows.
When Weird Al released The Compleat Al, it included clips from AL TV.
Episode list
The following is a list of Al TV episodes. The first eight specials were broadcast on MTV. The ninth and tenth specials were broadcast on VH1:
- Al TV #1 - In 3-D; April 1, 1984; four hours
- Al TV #2 - In 3-D; September 3, 1984; four hours
- Al TV #3 - Dare to Be Stupid; July 7, 1985; four hours
- Al TV #4 - Polka Party!; February 3, 1987; two hours
- Al TV #5 - Even Worse; April 20, 1988; two hours
- Al TV #6 - Off the Deep End; April 26, 1992; three hours, plus one hour sneak peek
- Al TV #7 - Bad Hair Day; May 23, 1996; two hours
- Al TV #8 (Al 2K) - Running with Scissors; December 4, 1999; two hours
- Al TV #9 - Poodle Hat; June 17, 2003; one hour
- Al TV #10 - Straight Outta Lynwood; December 15, 2006; one hour
See also
- Nerdist, hosting the series called Face to Face where Al conducts fake interviews in the style of Al TV.
References
- ↑ "Weird Al" Yankovic (February 1999). ""Weird Al" Yankovic : The Ask Al Archive". Archived from the original on January 13, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2007.