Product Details

• Actors: 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Harvey the Wonder Hamster, Brian Haley, Billy West, Beau Weaver
• Directors: Keith Alcorn
• Producers: 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Brad Bishop, Brooke Karzen, Dick Clark, Jay Levey
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout! Factory
• DVD Release Date: August 15, 2006
• Run Time: 330 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000EQ5UVE
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,680 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Those who remember Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted festivals might also recall that the creators of No Neck Joe, Peyton Reed and Keith Alcorn, were simultaneously dosing The Weird Al Show with a similar bizarre humor. Not until one revisits this freakish TV series does one realize how "Weird" Al Yankovic really was. Like Jerry Lee Lewis, he perfected the art of being corny, with his frizzy, long hair, gaudy Hawaiian shirts, and nerdy voice. Known mostly as a musician who spoofed radio hits, Weird Al's show placed Yankovic in stand-up situations, albeit scripted, involving props like x-ray spray or an electric toenail-cutting machine. Each episode was thematically established for kids, with lessons like, "Be Yourself," "Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep," and "Settle Conflicts with Peaceful Communication," setting Al up for comedic failure. Watching a grown man turn infantile harkens back to Pee Wee's Playhouse, as do The Weird Al Show's colorful, kitschy sets. In "One For the Books," Al accidentally microwaves his best friend, Harvey the Wonder Hamster, turning Harvey into a "grotesque radioactive mutant." When Harvey gets into the Guinness Book of World Records for Largest Rodent and gains several groupies, Al gets jealous and begins searching, in vain, for his own records to break. Al learns that it isn't record-breaking that counts, but the effort that goes into a given task. Each of the 13 episodes showcase classic Weird Al, at best when he sinks into his Skull Chair to watch self-invented commercials on TV, like one for Pirate Roofers, or for a barber who gives terrible haircuts. Random guest-appearances, like those from John Tesh and Alex Trebek, add mystery, and the commentaries by Al & cast are authentically entertaining. The Weird Al Show is so stupid it's funny. --Trinie Dalton

Product Description

Ever since his 1983 self-titled breakthrough album, "Weird Al" Yankovic has been unsurpassed as a proven purveyor of parody. His classic film UHF, a string of Grammy awards® and his undisputed fanbase made his 1997 television series on CBS a cosmic inevitability.

For the first time EVER on DVD, The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series pulls together all 13 episodes in one expansive 3-DVD box set. Yankovic’s signature warped comedy, original songs, TV and movie spoofs, twisted animation and ability to attract a wonderful and motley collection of special surprise guests are what make this a treasure chest of all things Al.

TONS Of Guest Appearances From Comedy Favorites…
• Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap)
• Patton Oswalt ("The Comedians Of Comedy", "The King Of Queens")
• Judy Tenuta
• Emo Philips
• Drew Carey
• Fred Willard (Best In Show)
• Victoria Jackson ("Saturday Night Live")
• Gilbert Gottfried
• Dr. Demento

…And Some Guest Appearances That Are Just Plain WEIRD:
• Fabio
• John Tesh
• Alex Trebek

With Musical Performances By:
• Barenaked Ladies
• Hanson
• Radish

Al’s Weird Special Features:
• 13 Commentaries with Weird Al, Cast & Crew
• The Evolution of "Fatman" - Original Concept Art Gallery
• Concept Art Galleries
• Animated "Fatman" Storyboards with Commentary by Keith Alcorn ("Fatman" Animator and Director), Animator Paul Claerhout and Production Artist Tim Hatcher
• "Weird Al Show Theme" Karaoke

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth it for the wrong reasons!, August 31, 2006

By	Rebo Valence "rebochan" (Satellite Beach, FL United States) - See all my reviews

Let me first state that I love, worship, and adore Weird Al. I went through a great deal of trouble to get VHS copies of this show off the internet, and remember being simultaneously joyous and disappointed by the incredibly uneven show that resulted. While on the one hand, hey, it's Weird Al, on the other, it was painfully obvious where the hand of the network was tooling our friend around. I noticed that the wonderful person I knew was, in the show, an unlovable jerk who constantly screwed over his friends who strangely kept coming over anyway. I noticed the lessons were often weak, contradictory, or a lie. And yet, there were the shining spots - the rare Fatman cartoons, the home movies, the riotously funny phony educational films, Fred Huggins, the brief song parodies sprinkled in. Basically, any moment where Al wasn't getting stomped on by a network censor and allowed to just be himself is pure gold.

Then a funny thing happened - this DVD came out and every episode had a commentary track from the director, the head writer, and oh yea, Weird Al. And I learned that not only were they aware of every single thing I noticed that was wrong with this show, they hated it as much as I did. They mercilessly assault their own program and take no prisoners. The network censors, the educational mandates, the lost sketches, the ridiculous changes...they list them and lambast them all. It proves that Al's excellent UHF commentary was not a fluke - he's very good at keeping these amusing. There's a few guest stars from his close personal friends, but the real highlight is how savagely Al attacks his own program and the difficult working environment that his show was filmed in. And ss one last snub, material such as bloopers and cut scenes are not included because Dick Clark Productions threw out everything except for the master tapes themselves.

This show belongs on every Weird Al fan's shelf - for the commentary, and to remember the few sparkling moments when this show shined inspite of the network's desperate attempts to snuff it out.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've missed this show, April 19, 2006

By	Daniel M. Silverstein (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a kid I used to watch the Weird Al Show every Saturday on CBS. When it was taken off the air I was heartbroken. I have most of the episodes on tape but the tapes are dying. Now, finally, I'll be able to watch them again without fear of the tapes biting the dust.

In case you've never seen the show, it stars none other than Weird Al himself. In case you don't know who Weird Al is, take your head out from under that rock already. Al has been hired by J.B. Koopersmith to host a television show, which of course J.B. watches as it's going on and sometimes throws in his own creative input, like a Giant Banana. After all, it's his money. Al's next door neighbor is The Hooded Avenger, who often gives Al the very obvious advice which Al somehow couldn't figure out himself, thus leading him to a moment of self-discovery in every episode. Other characters include Val Brentwood, Gal Spy, Al's cousin Corky, and lots of other characters played by Al, my favorite of which being Fred Huggins, another kid's show host who has a love for everything in this universe and is accompanied by his grumpy two best friends / puppets, Papa Booley and Baby Booley.

Really, you don't have to be a kid to enjoy this show. The writing is sharp and of a quality just sappy enough for even adults to find hilarious. The show also includes many cameo appearances, including Alex Trebek, John Tesh, and Gedde Watanabe (thankfully reprising the role of Kuni from UHF ["YOU ARE SOOO STUPID!"]). Every episode follows a different life lesson, like "Don't make promises you can't keep," as this was Al's way of making it "educational." Each show loosely follows these lessons, but for the most part the show is driven by the jokes, the gimmicks, and the educational films which have nothing to do with the episodes themselves ("Where Does Dirt Come From?").

Some of the best humor in the show, however, comes in the form of Al's new parodies. Not songs, these parodies come between the show and the commercial. These ad parodies will keep you cracking up at just how genius and/or rediculous they are (like "Camp Superfun, the perfect camp for shapeless, tall, furry animals between the ages of 6 and 13."). Personally, these were my favorite parts of the show, and I get the feeling that if Al had not had the restriction of making the show educational, most of the show would have been like these.

If you've never seen the Weird Al show and are a fan of Weird Al, you will want to get this DVD when it comes out. However, if you don't like Al's music, you won't find too much too different about his show. The jokes are of the same variety, poking fun at 1997 pop culture (my god is it almost 10 years old???) and how we act on a day to day basis. The show even includes some unreleased Al songs ("Lousy Haircut," a parody of Prodigy's "Firestarter," as well as "I Like You" sung by Fred Huggins, "The Cheese Song" and more). If you've never heard of Weird Al in general, you'd be better off getting to know his music before jumping into the show, as starting on the show could be a little awkward if you are unfamiliar with Al's affinity for parody, of which the show is ripe. Me? I'm getting this the DAY it comes out, "or my name isn't Weird Al SHOELACEovich!"

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Commentaries Essential, September 29, 2006

By	Louisville Ed (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

Most DVD's I get that come with commentaries are watched without them until much later as the content of the DVD is much more entertaining than the usually self-serving and boring reminiscences of the participants. In this case the opposite is the rule. The shows are OK as kids' fare and hint at Weird Al's peculiar talents. The commentaries, with Al, his producer and director and occasional guests give an insight into the agonies of trying to do something original in the constipated world of network television. Virtually everyting they wanted to do was censored or banned entirely and every episode was twisted into a mealy mouthed "educational" experience which blunted every attempt at original humor. Especially funny in the commentaries are the network's obsession with "imitatable behaviors", ie, anything dangerous depicted on the show that the tykes might try at home. But they never said a word when poor Harvey the Wonder Hamster was shot out of cannons or catapulted around the stage. This ends up a a course in Dealing With Idiots.