At any rate, Al Yankovic brings his unique brand of zany and warped comedy to the kiddies in the 13 episodes of The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series. Some of the songs from the show, such as the Weird Al Show theme song and Harvey the Wonder Hamster were familiar from Al's CDs.
The Weird Al Show was basically Al's answer to PeeWee's Playhouse, without the talking chair. He did, however, have this strange and slightly creepy eyeball chair. At any rate, Al had a cast of regulars that showed up quite often, including The Hooded Avenger (Brian Haley), who lived in an adjoining cave to Al's, Madame Judy the Psychic (Judy Tenuta), Cousin Corky (Danielle Weeks), Bobby the Inquisitive Boy (Gary Gray) and Harvey the Wonder Hamster (as himself). Val Brentwood - Gal Spy (Paula Jai Parker) was another regular, who was typically sneaking in and out of view in a skin-tight black bodysuit and a cape and, for those of you who are familiar with Paula Jai Parker, yes, she was quite sexy back then, too. Al's parents, Mark and Nick Yankovic, also appeared in the show as Al's parents.
One interesting fact about The Weird Al Show is that when it was being pitched, the network was only buying educational programming... so, The Weird Al Show became a educational show... an educational that only Weird Al could make. Each episode does have an overriding theme, which is presented at the beginning of each show, but the educational films are more for comedic value than anything else.
In the 13 episode of The Weird Al Show, Yankovic had an impressive number of guests, including: Drew Carey, Dick Clark, Dr. Demento, Stan Freberg, Teri Garr, Gilbert Gottfried, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael McKean, Bill Mumy, Patton Oswalt, Dick Van Patten, John Tesh, Fred Willard, Dweezil Zappa, Emo Phillips, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and recurring appearances of Judy Tenuta, as well as live performances by Weird Al and his band, Barenaked Ladies, Hanson, All4One, Radish and others.
The only problem I have with The Weird Al Show is the fact that it depicts Harvey the Wonder Hamster in dangerous situations and stunts that would kill a hamster if actually performed, such as filling a container containing the hamster with over a foot of food, shooting him across the room or putting him inside of your mouth. These stunts are simulated using stuffed animals during the dangerous parts or camera tricks, but the young audience that the show was likely to be watched by were both less likely than the average person to realize that these stunts were being faked and more likely to have a pet hamster.
If you're a fan of Weird Al, then you'll want to check out The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series. If you watched the show, then here's a zany piece of nostalgia. If you, like me, managed to miss it, it's 13 episodes of wacky goodness from the prince of parody. What's not to like?
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