Here's a first look clip from the new upcoming "Yo Gabba Gabba" Christmas special, "A Very Awesome Christmas" (airing Saturday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. on Nick Jr.). I will forgive the Tori Spelling appearance because of DJ Lance's money line: "Cookie Me tastes awesome!"
(Read about our recent trip to the "Yo Gabba Gabba" live stage show here.)
The OC Weekly gives Yo Gabba Gabba! -- Franklin Avenue's current favorite TV show (well, the fave for two out of the three. Maria still prefers "Girlfriends" over the YGG!, but Evan and I are still working on that) -- the front page treatment.
Describing the show, the OC Weekly notes "YGG!'s" "decidedly and weirdly retro—Atari 2600-like animation coupled with live-action characters and hipster music acts who told kids to eat their veggies, be polite, make their beds and dance, dance, dance. H.R. Pufnstuf meets Pee Wee’s Playhouse, part Muppets and part MTV, an unabashed celebration of being young."
I soo wish I could have made it to one of the annual Aquabats holiday shows... which this year included a set by DJ Lance Rock and the Aquabats! (above)
Looking back now at 1980s Nickelodeon -- yep, the version of Nickelodeon that most of us grew up on -- it all seems kinda low rent. "You Can't Do That on Television" wasn't even produced by Nick, it was just shipped in from Canada. But hey, it was our Nickelodeon. And I'd take "You Can't Do That on Television" any day over "Drake and Josh." But I'm just nostalgic that way.
Of course, I'm not nearly as nostalgic for "Pinwheel" (above), which -- let's face it -- was a pretty crappy rip-off of "Sesame Street." In this case, of course, current fare like "Yo Gabba Gabba" blows it away. But since I've had this damn theme song in my head for nearly 25 years, I'm gonna shove it in your head now too. Enjoy.
A Nickelodeon station I.D., before the channel adopted its familiar orange-colored "splat" logo. Could these theme song be any cheesier? Why does 1984 (when this aired) suddenly feel so ancient?
The holidays, "You Can't Do That on Television" style. C'mon, an "A-Team" joke!
My brief mention earlier in the week of "You Can't Do That on Television" got me thinking more about the old show. Those of us who grew up in the 1980s fondly remember racing to Nickelodeon at 6 p.m. every day to catch an episode of the quirky Canadian-produced show. Sure, the jokes were lame and the acting, well, non-existent. But for a 12 year old, it felt pretty subversive. Watch the clip -- there were even jokes about hangovers. What ever happened to "Moose," Lisa or Alistair? We pretty much know what happened to Alanis.
Now in its fourth year, the Nicktoons Animation Festival seeks to honor the best animated shorts (10 minutes or less) around (or at least, entered). Every night at 10 p.m., the Nicktoons channel screens a short; on Aug. 31, the best ones will be compiled and telecast, along with the grand prize winning short (which comes with a $10,000 prize).
This weekend, the festival set up shop at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank... and on Saturday, we brought Evan along to the fest's annual Kids' Day.
The high-energy event included DJs and dancers, as well as surprisingly gourmet-style finger foods (including and excellent mac and cheese, a citrus-spiked chicken sandwich and quite tasty hamburger sliders), a booth where kids learned about the animation process; another in which Nick animators drew popular characters for the kids; and others where kids could decorate their own character.
Animators draw several of the more popular characters; Blogger Toddler settled on a Dora the Explorer sketch
Character is led away
Spongebob, made completely of Legos
Fountain in front of the studios; don't forget, Nickelodeon's love affair with everything colored slime originated with "You Can't Do That on Television"
