Al Tv Information
Al TV is a series of comedy/music video specials created by and starring singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic.
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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, complete with slogans like "Al-TV: putting the vid in video and the odd in audio!" (Yankovic also continued to make fun of MTV's "moon launch" inserts well after the network had discontinued the original versions.) There are also commercials for imaginary products (many using the tagline "You Won't Look Like A Jerk!"), fake interviews with celebrities, comments on the latest music news, letters from fans and bizarre non-sequiturs.
But Al-TV's main focus is music videos: his own, and others of an unusual bent, many of whom would never elsewise be seen on MTV or any other network. Al's own work consists of song parodies and "cover polkas", which merely edit together the videos from the original artists with Al's music and singing 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.
Al TV episodes
The following is a comprehensive list of his Al TV specials to date, with the album being promoted, original air date, and program length. 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
Al Music episodes
The following is a comprehensive list of his Al Music specials to date, with the album being promoted, original air date, and length. All specials have been broadcast on MuchMusic:
- Al Music #1 - Off the Deep End; August 14, 1993; two hours
- Al Music #2 - Alapalooza; Possibly December 11, 1993, two hours
- Al Music #3 - Bad Hair Day; May 15, 1996; two hours, thirty minutes
Due to disagreements with MuchMusic (who didn't want Yankovic to do fake interviews or music video narrations without the artists' written consent), Al was not able to produce an Al Music special for Running with Scissors; a music video compilation called The "Weird Al" Yankovic Video Collection aired instead.
Fake interviews
One of the highlights of the show is the fake celebrity interviews. Yankovic takes footage from old interviews and edits it such that he appears to be interviewing the celebrity. The questions and answers are often of a silly nature, or they often mock his interviewees. The following is a comprehensive list of his fake interviews to date:
Al TV #1
- Boy George
Al TV #2
Al TV #3
- Madonna (first interview), Paul McCartney (first interview)
Al TV #4
Al TV #5
Al TV #6
- Paula Abdul, Def Leppard, George Harrison, Paul McCartney (second interview), Vince Neil, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty
Al Music #1
- Paula Abdul, Def Leppard, Paul McCartney (first interview), Vince Neil, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty
Al Music #2
- James Brown, George Harrison, Madonna (first interview), Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Sting
Al Music #3
- Mariah Carey, Mick Jagger, Billy Joel, Madonna (second interview), Paul McCartney (second interview), Robert Plant, Keith Richards
Al TV #7
- None
Al TV #8
Al TV #9
Al TV #10
Availability
Al-TV is not available on an official DVD release, and due to rights issues involving the videos is not likely to be any time soon. However, fan-recorded versions, complete with original (real) commercials, have traded among fans and on the internet.
References
- ^ "Weird Al" Yankovic (February 1999). ""Weird Al" Yankovic : The Ask Al Archive". http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm#0299. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
External links
[[Category:American music television series
Categories: 1984 television series debuts | 2006 television series endings | 1980s American television series | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | American comedy television series | Music television series | English-language television series | MuchMusic television series | MTV television series | VH1 television series | "Weird Al" Yankovic
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