Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
All Music Guide:
Yo Gabba Gabba! is a television show for children produced by Christian Jacobs (of the ska-punk band the Aquabats) and Scott Schultz, two dads who didn't care for most kids' shows and wanted to create an alternative that was fun, educational, and creative. Yo Gabba Gabba! follows the adventures of DJ Lance Rock (played by Lance Robertson), a man with a magic boom box, and his pals, a handful of friendly robots and monsters -- tall red Cyclops Muno, yellow robot Plex, blue feline creature Toodee, green and striped Brobee, and pink, bubbly, and flower-topped Foofa. The show's voice cast includes Christian Jacobs (Plex), Adam Deibert (Muno), Erin Pearce (Toodee), Emma Jacobs (Foofa), and Amos Watene (Brobee); the show is dubbed with British-accented voices for broadcast in the U.K., featuring actors Simon Feilder (Plex and Brobee), Bob Golding (Muno), Jonell Elliot (Toodee), Teresa Gallagher (Foofa), and Ortis Deley (Lance). Music plays a big part in the show, and Yo Gabba Gabba!'s regular characters sing and play music, with Munro on guitar, Brobee on drums, Plex on keytar, Toodee on bass, and Foofa on percussion.
Regular guests on the show include rapper Biz Markie, who demonstrates the art of beatboxing in the segment "Biz's Beat of the Day," and Devo founder Mark Mothersbaugh, who brings drawings to life in "Mark's Magic Pictures." Yo Gabba Gabba! has also attracted a wide range of musical guests who perform original songs on the show, including the Roots, Of Montreal, the Flaming Lips, Jimmy Eat World, Rocket from the Crypt, Money Mark, the Killers, Jack Black, Weezer, and Paul Williams. Debuting in 2007, Yo Gabba Gabba! has become a popular success in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, developing a following with youngsters, their parents, and a growing number of music fans attracted by the show's noted guests, and in addition to the usual toys, videos, and live shows, the series has spawned a handful of albums featuring songs from the show; several volumes in the Music Is...Awesome! series have been released in the United States, while Party in My Tummy, Hello Friends!, and Super Music Friends were issued in Australia.
Wikipedia:
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show that airs on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTÉjr in Ireland. Created by Christian Jacobs (lead singer of the Aquabats) and Scott Schultz, the show is produced by The Magic Store Productions and Wild Brain. The series premiered August 20, 2007 on Nickelodeon as part of it's Nick Jr. block, and began broadcasting in reruns on February 23, 2008 on the Nick Jr. TV Channel.
On April 30, 2008 the television show received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling.
Overview [edit]
Popular artists appearing on the show include The Killers, Enon, The Clientele, Jimmy Eat World, Solange Knowles, Taking Back Sunday, Datarock, The Aquabats, Devo, Joy Zipper, Of Montreal, Chromeo, My Chemical Romance, Weezer, Hot Hot Heat, The Faint, The Roots, Mates of State, MGMT, Jack Black, Tony Hawk, Elijah Wood, and The Ting Tings.
Among the varied animation sequences during the show is Super Martian Robot Girl, designed by indie cartoonists Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer.
The show also featured regular use of visuals reminiscent of retro video games and TV shows.
The toy models of the characters that appear at the beginning and end of each show were made by Kidrobot.
MP3 demos were available from an official Yo Gabba Gabba site as early as June 2006, before a network had picked up the show.
The world premiere live concert tour of Yo Gabba Gabba took place in Australia in May 2009. DJ Lance Rock, Muno, Foofa, Brobee, Toodee and Plex performed in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney with an indie house-band and secret, special guests at each show.
History [edit]
Unlike most children’s shows, Yo Gabba Gabba was not developed by network executives. Instead the show was developed by two Southern California fathers with no previous experience writing for television let alone children’s broadcasting or education. They simply shared a mutual disappointment in kids' television. They both wanted to design a kids' show that was entertaining while featuring real artists and real performers. The pair first started working together as teenagers, producing and directing skateboarding videos. After doing some odd jobs here and there, Jacobs (also known as the MCBC of The Aquabats) and Schultz decided to try something different.
In 1999, after becoming parents themselves, the pair started playing around with ideas for children's television. They later produced a pilot independently financed by small loans from friends and family. Even after producing the pilots, Yo Gabba Gabba did not get much attention until it started circulating on the Internet. It happened to get viewed by Jared Hess, the director of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, who then phoned Brown Johnson, the executive vice president and executive creative director of Nickelodeon Preschool and told her to check it out. Yo Gabba Gabba eventually found a home on Nickelodeon and premiered on August 20, 2007.
Characters [edit]
DJ Lance Rock – A DJ who is the narrator and friend of the other characters. He is portrayed by Lance Robertson.Muno – A friendly male red cyclops. He's the tallest, is somewhat clumsy and has a close bond with Foofa (though she also bonds with Brobee in the same way). He is also the band's guitarist. In the episodes "Family," "Circus," and "Baby" his family makes an appearance. During Super Bowl XLIV, he appeared in a commercial for the Kia Sorento. His realm resembles the moon or another planet or a desert and he has a pet horse. He has three stomachs as seen in the X-ray in the Season 1 episode "Halloween" (#13). However another X-ray in the Season 1 episode "Imagine" (#20) shows him with one stomach, a normal heart and lungs. He is voiced by Adam Deibert.Foofa – A female flower bubble character who's "pink and happy." She loves flowers, rainbows and unicorns and can play the tambourine. Her realm is a spring or summer meadow. She is voiced by Emma Jacobs and Jody Pinsent.Brobee – He is the smallest and the youngest of the gabbas, a small male green monster. He is the drummer for the Gabba band. He is the only "primary" character whose facial expression changes depending on the situation; his usual smile turning into a frown, and vice-versa. He is often subjected to trying new foods. His realm is a vast autumn forest. It is mentioned that he is four years old. He is voiced by Amos Watene and Jack Thompson.Toodee – A blue female arctic cat-dragon who likes to have fun. She has a close bond with Plex and is the bassist for the Gabba band. She lives in a winter arctic realm, with icicles. She is voiced by Erin Pearce and Patty Wirtz.Plex – A male magic yellow robot. He is portrayed as being smart and as the leader of Gabba Land. Plex usually teaches lessons to his friends and is a father figure to the gang. He can also use his special ray to bring things into existence. He plays the keytar. He has no realm in particular, though he seems to have a "docking station" between Foofa and Brobee's realms. In "Gabbaland Begins, Plex is the youngest in DJ Lance's original creations after he goes through Muno, Foofa, Brobee, and Toodee, although, Brobee is supposedly a 4-year-old in the show. He is voiced by Christian Jacobs.Regular segments [edit]
Mark's Magic Pictures, featuring Mark Mothersbaugh, drawing simple pictures that often come alive at the end of the segment.Biz's Beat of the Day, starring Biz Markie, demonstrating new beatboxing beatsThe Super Music Friends Show, featuring musical guestsDancey Dance Time, featuring celebrity guests (which Plex brings down to Gabbaland using his special ray) performing dance moves with the charactersCool Tricks, in which a child or adult demonstrates a special talent (e.g. gymnastics, breakdancing, playing a theremin or cup stacking)Storytime, where a child narrates a story (e.g. Goon Fishin, Goodnight Moon')Super Martian Robot Girl, featuring a helpful comic book-style superhero who saves the day, but only solves problems, everyday and fantasy, instead of battling crime.Learn with Plex, a solo segment in which Plex teaches basic daily skills like brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, getting changed, etc. (repeatedly saying "it's fun to" do whatever he is teaching) in songs, using four repeated steps.Play Pretend with Muno, in which Muno encourages viewers to pretend along with him, as he imagines himself as various creatures and objects.Listen with Toodee, in which Toodee listens to sounds and encourages the viewer to help her identify them.Color with Brobee, in which the viewer guesses what color Brobee is thinking of by the examples he gives.Play Games with Foofa, in which Foofa solves simple puzzles, such as mazes, and encourages the viewer to help her find the solution.DJ Lance Dance, in which DJ Lance Rock teaches the viewers a different dance.Funny Faces, in which DJ Lance Rock encourages viewers to make funny faces.Knock-Knock Joke of the Day, a segment where Jack McBrayer and Paul Scheer tell knock-knock jokes. This segment first appeared in season two.Look Back At Today, each episode ends with a music video recap of that episode, featuring special effects, and a remix of every song featured in that episode. (Season two and Season three have DJ Lance remembering the things he and the gang did in that episode before the music video starts.)Jingles, each episode has animated music videos featuring music by a guest musician and animation by guest artists, designers, and animators. They always happen after the first Gabba Gang and "My name is ... I like to dance" segments in an episode. (One episode does not have the segment.)Episode guide [edit]
Pilots: 2006 [edit]
Season 1 : August 20, 2007 – September 21, 2008 [edit]
Season 2 : September 22, 2008- February 8, 2011 [edit]
Season 3 : March 8, 2010 – April 20, 2013 [edit]
Season 4 : December 18, 2011-[present] [edit]
Cast [edit]
Note that the voice cast is ordered by US and UK versions.
DJ Lance Rock – Lance Robertson (voice overdubbed by Ortis Deley in UK version)Muno – Josh Bally / David Crespin (voiced by Adam Deibert/Bob Golding)Foofa – Emma Jacobs (voiced by Emma Jacobs/Teresa Gallagher)Brobee – Erin and Tara Pearce (voiced by Amos Watene/Simon Feilder)Toodee – Melissa Rossiter / Charme Morales (voiced by Erin Pearce/Jonell Elliot)Plex – Lindsay Kraus / Amos Watene (voiced by show creator Christian Jacobs/Simon Feilder)DVDs [edit]
CDs [edit]
Four albums have been released featuring songs from the show performed by the cast and the "Super Music Friends Show" segment.
Music is… Awesome! (2009)Music is… Awesome! Volume 2 (2010)Music is… Awesome! Volume 3 (2011)Music is… Awesome! Volume 4 (2012)ABC for Kids released a CD in 2010 titled Yo Gabba Gabba! Party In My Tummy.
Critical reception [edit]
While it has yet to win an award or recognition for educational content or effectiveness, the show has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy in both 2008 and 2009 for Best Costume Design. Time magazine's James Poniewozik, who said the show "will convince you someone slipped something into your Fruity Pebbles" named Yo Gabba Gabba! one of the Top 10 new TV series of 2007, ranking it at #8. In November 2008, the Yo Gabba Gabba! production team won a BAFTA Children's Award, International. The show has also become popular among some college-age young adults because of the artists often featured. Due to the show's popularity amongst both adults and children, they performed at Coachella 2010 as special guests. Their live touring show also won a Creative Content Award at the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards. The Television Critics Association Awards have nominated Yo Gabba Gabba! for Outstanding Achievement in Children’s/Youth Programing. The years include 2008-2012. Yo Gabba Gabba! won for the year 2009 and 2010. In February 2013, Yo Gabba Gabba! won two Kidscreen Awards for "Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series 2013" and "Best Music 2013"
