Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing 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 W!LDBRAIN. The series premiered August 20, 2007 on Nick Jr. and began broadcasting February 23, 2008 on Noggin, now Nick Jr..

On April 30, 2008 the television show received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling.^[1]

Overview[link]

Popular artists appearing on the show include Enon, The Clientele, Datarock, Devo, Joy Zipper, Of Montreal, Chromeo, My Chemical Romance, Weezer, Hot Hot Heat, The Faint, Mates of State, MGMT, Jack Black 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.^[2]

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. The concerts were produced by Australian promoter, Entertainment Store Group.

History[link]

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.^[3] 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 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.^[4] Yo Gabba Gabba finally found its home on Nickelodeon on August 20, 2007.

Characters[link]

• DJ Lance Rock – A male DJ who is the narrator and a friend of the other characters. When the Yo Gabba Gabba live production played Coachella in 2010, a video was played to the crowd before the group took the stage. The video detailed the origin of DJ Lance Rock. Lance stumbled upon the magic boom box while walking. He was then magically transformed into DJ Lance Rock and given his costume.
• Muno – A male friendly red cyclops. He's the tallest and is somewhat clumsy and he 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 and he has his own pet horse. He has three stomachs as seen in the X-ray in the Season 1 episode "Halloween" (#13).
• 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 summer meadow.
• Brobee – A male little 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 forest. It is mentioned he is four years old.
• 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 an arctic realm, with icicles.
• 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.

Regular segments[link]

• 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 beats
• The Super Music Friends Show, featuring musical guests
• Dancey Dance Time, featuring celebrity guests (which Plex brings down to Gabbaland using his special ray) performing dance moves with the characters
• Cool 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 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, and etc. (repetitively saying that "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 she 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 she 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[link]

Pilots: 2006[link]

Season 1 : August 20, 2007 – September 21, 2008[link]

Season 2 : September 22, 2008 – February 1, 2010[link]

Season 3 : March 8, 2010 – May 9, 2011[link]

Season 4 : December 18, 2011-[present][link]

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Peter, Bjorn and John "I wish I was a Spy" (Super Music Friends Show) |}

Cast[link]

DJ Lance in his Yo Gabba Gabba! outfit posing for a photo with a young fan.

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[link]

CDs[link]

Three 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)

ABC for Kids released a CD in 2010 titled Yo Gabba Gabba! Party In My Tummy.

Critical reception[link]

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.^[11] In November 2008, the Yo Gabba Gabba! production team won a BAFTA Children's Award, International.^[12] The show has also become popular among some college-age young adults because of the artists often featured.^[13] Due to the show's popularity amongst both adults and children, they performed at Coachella 2010 as special guests.^[14] Their live touring show also won a Creative Content Award at the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards.^[15]

In other media[link]

• In 2009, the cast was featured in their own float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Muno was featured in a commercial for the Kia Sorento that aired during the 2010 Super Bowl and a subsequent Kia commercials in 2011.
• The cast appeared in the Big Time Rush episodes "Big Time Audition" and "Big Time Halloween."
• Yo Gabba Gabba! appeared in True Jackson VP in the episode "Trapped in Paris."
• Garry Lyon, of the The Footy Show, an Australian Football League panel show, performed an interpretive cycle (Yo Gabba Gazza!) based on the Yo Gabba Gabba! dancing style after losing a humorous bet. The choice of the Yo Gabba Gabba! dance was based on a number of physical similarities to Brobee, including Bushy Eyebrows and Excessive Androgenic Hair.
• In the Mad episode "So You Think You Can Train Your Dragon to Dance/Yo Gagga Gagga," Lady Gaga hosts Yo Gagga Gagga! featuring her dolls – Taylor Swift, T-Pain, Miley Cyrus, and Triple H – and the cast is seen watching a monster movie at the end.
• In 2011, the cast appeared in the Raising Hope episode "Sabrina Has Money."
• The title of the Futurama episode "Yo Leela Leela" parodies this, as does the show in the episode, known as "Rumbledy Hump".

References[link]

External links[link]

Channels

• Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. Australia
• Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. Italy
• Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. UK
• Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. US
• Yo Gabba Gabba on Treehouse TV

Others

• Official website (Flash-enabled browser required)
• Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!: There's a Party In My City! Website
• Yo Gabba Gabba! at the Internet Movie Database
• Yo Gabba Gabba! at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Yo Gabba Gabba! at TV.com
• Yo Gabba Gabba website on Treehouse TV