Weird Al is one of the funniest people in show business. So you'd assume this show would be a laugh riot because duh, it's WEIRD AL.
You would be very, very wrong.
It's hard to figure out how much of the show's problems come from its well-known bouts of Executive Meddling and how much of it is a problem with its very premise. Weird Al's usual material skews towards adults without being too over the line for children. Thus, while he's "family friendly", forcing him to make jokes entirely for children is handicapping him.
Going through the show as is, the cast of characters provided aren't really that funny and they don't play well off of each other, and they're far too underdeveloped beyond unusual occupations to really remember them. Probably the worst of the bunch is The Hooded Avenger, a self-righteous superhero that exists only to bash Al over the head with the day's moral.
Also, this universe's Al is a Jerk Ass. He's an unloveable little cretin that inexplicably attracts people to him. And he's rarely, if ever, funny.
The show's sense of humor is also incredibly banal. Sometimes a clever joke may be made, but it really seems to find the dullest things "funny", such as "Al Tries To Eat An Enchilada With The Wrapper On".
But easily the biggest issue with the show is its Anvilicious moralizing. You will hear the moral as often as possible until you want to hurl things across the room. And since the episodes spend more time telling you the moral than showing it, the morals are superficial at best. The better episodes tend to be episodes where the moral isn't one Al needs to learn...meaning only a handful of them.
It's not a total loss - pretty much any of the skits, such as the television shows, educational films, and Fatman, are actually genuinely funny and irreverent. Most likely because these are the only parts of the show that haven't been rigorously slapped into the moralizing of each episode. A particular highlight is Fred Huggins, whose bizarre pre-school show makes you wonder if Al wasn't using to subversively complain about his own show.
I'd really only recommend this to die-hard Weird Al fans. On the upside, the DVD release has a hysterical commentary track in which Weird Al eviscerates his own show. And that is funny.
Series Weird Al?! Not Funny!? Say It Ain't SO!
Weird Al is one of the funniest people in show business. So you'd assume this show would be a laugh riot because duh, it's WEIRD AL.
You would be very, very wrong.
It's hard to figure out how much of the show's problems come from its well-known bouts of Executive Meddling and how much of it is a problem with its very premise. Weird Al's usual material skews towards adults without being too over the line for children. Thus, while he's "family friendly", forcing him to make jokes entirely for children is handicapping him.
Going through the show as is, the cast of characters provided aren't really that funny and they don't play well off of each other, and they're far too underdeveloped beyond unusual occupations to really remember them. Probably the worst of the bunch is The Hooded Avenger, a self-righteous superhero that exists only to bash Al over the head with the day's moral.
Also, this universe's Al is a Jerk Ass. He's an unloveable little cretin that inexplicably attracts people to him. And he's rarely, if ever, funny.
The show's sense of humor is also incredibly banal. Sometimes a clever joke may be made, but it really seems to find the dullest things "funny", such as "Al Tries To Eat An Enchilada With The Wrapper On".
But easily the biggest issue with the show is its Anvilicious moralizing. You will hear the moral as often as possible until you want to hurl things across the room. And since the episodes spend more time telling you the moral than showing it, the morals are superficial at best. The better episodes tend to be episodes where the moral isn't one Al needs to learn...meaning only a handful of them.
It's not a total loss - pretty much any of the skits, such as the television shows, educational films, and Fatman, are actually genuinely funny and irreverent. Most likely because these are the only parts of the show that haven't been rigorously slapped into the moralizing of each episode. A particular highlight is Fred Huggins, whose bizarre pre-school show makes you wonder if Al wasn't using to subversively complain about his own show.
I'd really only recommend this to die-hard Weird Al fans. On the upside, the DVD release has a hysterical commentary track in which Weird Al eviscerates his own show. And that is funny.