This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Adults and children can agree on a few things that appeal to both of them:
Baby animals at Utah's Hogle Zoo. Snow tubing. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
To those staples, you might want to add this entertainment option: The Nick Jr. TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba!"
If you don't have young children, it might be hard to believe that adults can enjoy a show designed for children. (But, then again, anything is better than watching "The Lion King" for the 2,000th time.)
But take a look at some of the guests who have made guest appearances since the show debuted in August 2007: Jack Black, The Shins, The Aggrolites, The Killers, The Roots, Weezer, Sugarland, Sean Kingston, Chromeo, Hot Hot Heat, MGMT and The Ting Tings.To those musicians, add a mix of live-action segments featuring cartoonish costumed characters (Muno, Foofa, Brobee, Toodee and Plex), and short animated sketches and musical numbers that include rapper Biz Markie's "Biz's Beat of the Day." That's how you end up with one of the most popular children's series on TV.
A two-time Emmy nominee, "Yo Gabba Gabba!" was voted as one of the best new shows on television by Time magazine, was awarded the "Outstanding Achievement in Children's Television" Award by the Television Critics Association and recommended as a trusted program for preschoolers by The Smart Television Alliance. All while infusing retro-style and beat-driven music to teach simple life lessons.
The show's creators — Christian Jacobs (lead singer of ska band the Aquabats) and Scott Schultz — are taking the show on the road, and DJ Lance Rock and his friends will stop at West Valley City's Maverik Center for two performances on Tuesday, Nov. 9. In keeping with the spirit of the show, popular ska band Reel Big Fish will perform a song during the show. (The band is also playing a show at Salt Lake City's In The Venue that same night, along with, coincidentally, the Aquabats.)"Our trombone player has a daughter who loves [the show]," said Reel Big Fish's frontman Aaron Barrett.
He's known Jacobs since 1994, Barrett said, so it was natural that Jacobs asked the band to play a "Yo Gabba Gabba!" show. "We perform in front of young adults, but never for little, little babies," Barrett said.
Markie, most famous for his 1989 radio hit "Just a Friend," will also be in West Valley City for the show. (Everyone, especially hipster parents, knows "Just a Friend," with the chorus, "You, you got what I need, but you say he's just a friend, you say he's just a friend, Oh baby …) "It's way more musical [than other shows]," Markie said in an interview. "My nieces and nephews love the show. I'm like Barney every time I come over."
Markie has been instant magic on the show. "People love Biz," Schultz said. "From the very beginning, I had a vision that Biz would be great on the show."
The reason why the show works is that its creators had no TV experience but were parents of young children. Schultz and Jacobs began dreaming up a show for kids that would be cool. "We knew we could do something way better than what was on," Schultz said.They produced a pilot financed by small loans from friends and family but didn't expect it to go anywhere. They tested it on their own children but consider it "way too weird" to pitch.
But Salt Lake City filmmaker Jared Hess, who was filming the Jack Black comedic film "Nacho Libre," found the pilot circulating on the Internet. He told his friend Brown Johnson, the executive vice president and executive creative director of Nickelodeon Preschool, to check it out. She loved it, too, and put the show on the air.
Parents and children end up watching the same shows, Schultz reasoned, so it makes sense to aim to entertain parents while entertaining and educating their children. " 'The Muppets' was a family experience," Schultz said. He and Jacobs used their music industry connections to book bands they liked.
As parents, they didn't want to create storylines that might be considered objectionable to children. (Case in point: Katy Perry's recent infamous duet with Elmo that "Sesame Street" axed because of her low décolleté.) "It can be a tightrope," Schultz said. "I don't want my kids seeing risque [content]."
So during the two performances in West Valley City, expect cleavage — on stage, anyway — to be out, while music, for both parents and children, will be in.
'Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! There's a Party In My City'When • Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.Where • Maverik Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley CityTickets • $36 at Ticketmaster outlets