Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz and developed by Kay Wilson Stallings. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock (Lance Robertson). It is co-produced by the Magic Store and Wildbrain Entertainment. Its first episode premiered on Nickelodeon on August 20, 2007, as a part of its Nick Jr. block. Its original run ended on November 12, 2015.
Yo Gabba Gabba!
- Christian Jacobs
- Scott Schultz
- Bradley Zweig
- Matthew Fackrell
- Dan Clark
- Jason deVilliers
- Tiffany Campbell
- Sarah Dyer
- Evan Dorkin
- Jordan Kim
- Craig Windes
- Joel Fox
- Kevin Sukho Lee
- Parker Jacobs
- Sean Mortimer
- Lance Robertson
- Matt Chapman
- Mike Chapman
- Julia Vickerman
- Tyler Jacobs
- Bryce Clark
- Brent Johnson
- Nathan Fackrell
- Scott Schultz
- Christian Jacobs
- Jason deVilliers
- Matthew Fackrell
- Matt Chapman
- Mike Chapman
- Joel Fox
- Julia Vickerman
- Tyler Jacobs
- Craig Windes
- Brent Johnson
- Jordan Kim
- Nathan Fackrell
Lance Robertson
- Adam Deibert
- Christian Jacobs
- Amos Watene
- Erin Pearce
- Emma Jacobs
Yo Gabba Gabba! Theme
Closing Theme
United States
Canada
English
4
66 (list of episodes)
Michael Polis
Jon Berrett
Justin Lyon
Ritamarie Peruggi
25 minutes
- The Magic Store
- Wildbrain Entertainment
Nickelodeon (2007-11)
Nick Jr. Channel (2011-15)
August 20, 2007
November 12, 2015
A single topic is addressed in each episode (such as "Adventure", "Friends", or "Dance") through songs and short storylines. Additionally, the show teaches children life and social skills, such as sharing and trying different foods. It also encourages viewers to move along with and dance with the characters in the program. The show is noted for its indie-culture guest stars and bands, and for drawing visual inspiration from 8-bit video games and H.R. Pufnstuf, among other television shows. Created by Jacobs (lead singer of the Aquabats) and Schultz, the show's learning process has parents, older siblings, and younger children watch the show together rather than letting it act as a babysitter. The television program spawned a touring live stage show, several toys, and branded clothing.
For the first season, Jacobs and Schultz both served as writers and alternated as directors for each episode, with Bradley Zweig serving as the story editor for the entirety of the season. Before the second season, Zweig stepped down from his position as story editor to work as a writer for the first season of another Nickelodeon television series, The Fresh Beat Band (2009-13). Dan Clark was brought in to fill Zweig's position, and also served as a writer for that season, alongside Jacobs, Schultz, Matthew Fackrell, Jason deVilliers, Tiffany Campbell, Sarah Dyer, Evan Dorkin, and Jordan Kim. Fackrell and deVilliers also joined the directing staff for the second season.
The third season saw Jacobs, Schultz, Fackrell, deVilliers, Dyer, Dorkin, and Kim all return, joined by new writers Craig Windes, Joel Fox, Kevin Sukho Lee, and Jacobs' older brother Parker. Fox was also added to the directing staff. For the fourth and final season, the Jacobs brothers, Schultz, Fackrell, deVilliers, Kim, Windes, and Lee all stayed on, with Kim and Windes also added as directors, joined by several new writers, including brothers Matt and Mike Chapman, Sean Mortimer, Julia Vickerman, Christian and Parker's younger brother Tyler, Bryce Clark, Brent Johnson, Fackrell's brother Nathan, and series star Lance Robertson. The Chapmans, Vickerman, Tyler, Johnson, and Nathan also served as directors.
For the entirety of the show's run, Justin Lyon and Ritamarie Peruggi served as producers, with Peruggi also serving as supervising producer for several episodes. Michael Polis and Jon Berrett were executive producers of the series.
On September 10, 2021, WildBrain announced that the series would be revived for 20 new episodes, which will be produced in collaboration between WildBrain and Yo Gabba Gabba LLC (the co-owners of the Yo Gabba Gabba! brand).[1][2] The new episodes will premiere on Apple TV+, which also acquired the previous episodes and specials for its service.
Overview
Hosted by a musician named DJ Lance Rock, the series features live-action segments featuring 5 costumed toys: Muno (a red cyclops), Foofa (a pink flower bubble), Brobee (a green broccoli bee/monster), Toodee (a blue cat-dragon), and Plex (a yellow robot). In between the main segments are many short animated sketches and songs.[3]
Among the varied animation sequences during the show was "Super Martian Robot Girl", designed by indie cartoonists Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer.[4] The title character of the segment was voiced by Ariela Barer in season one and Caroline Jacobs in season three.
Kidrobot made the toy models of the characters that appear at the beginning and end of each episode. The title of the show pays homage to "Gabba Gabba Hey" by the punk rock band Ramones.[5]
History
Yo Gabba Gabba! was developed by two Southern California fathers and punk rockers, Christian Jacobs (best known under the stage persona The MC Bat Commander in The Aquabats) and Scott Schultz, who first started working together as teenagers, producing and directing skateboarding videos. Their goal was to design a kids' show that was entertaining while featuring real artists and real performers. Both had no past experience writing scripts for television, let alone children's broadcasting or education.[6] In developing the show they took inspiration from a number of classic children's series including Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Pee-wee's Playhouse, Zoom, as well as Sid and Marty Krofft puppet shows The Banana Splits and H. R. Pufnstuf.[7]
In 1999, after becoming parents, Jacobs and Schultz started playing around with ideas for children's television and produced a pilot independently financed by small loans from friends and family. Yo Gabba Gabba! did not get much attention until it started circulating on the Internet.[8] Jared Hess, the director of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, saw the pilot online and recommended it to Brown Johnson, the executive vice president and executive creative director of Nickelodeon Preschool.[9]
Four albums have been released featuring songs from the show performed by the cast and the "Super Music Friends Show" segment.
ABC for Kids released a CD in 2014 titled Yo Gabba Gabba! Party In My Tummy.
Critical reception
On April 30, 2008, the television show received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling.[11] 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.[12] In November 2008, the Yo Gabba Gabba! production team won a BAFTA Children's Award, International.[13] The show has also become popular among some college-aged young adults because of the artists often featured.[14] Due to the show's popularity amongst both adults and children, they performed at Coachella 2010 as special guests.[15] Their live touring show also won a Creative Content Award at the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards.[16] 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.[17] In February 2013, Yo Gabba Gabba! won two Kidscreen Awards for "Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series 2013" and "Best Music 2013".[18]
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