Awhile back when reviewing the lost episodes of Ren and Stimpy, I had noted that in the original run of the series, the in-fighting between the show’s writers and the network’s censors had sparked a true burst of creativity from the writers, who had to circumvent the network notes and find less blunt ways to get their point across. In all of their anger and frustration, John Kricfalusi and crew managed to birth what many people consider a classic of “children’s” television.

But not every obstacle-ridden television show has managed to rise above its network-imposed faults. For example, here’s The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series. Now, “Weird Al” Yankovic isn’t the first name to pop in my mind when I think of the phrase “subversive anti-programming,” and his parodies seem to stick to a limited amount of subjects, mainly food and… well… Food. However, over the course of 13 episodes it’s obvious where Al’s trying to go with the format – take the recently deceased Pee-wee’s Playhouse aesthetic and add in Al’s own kid-friendly, though warped sensibilities and hope for Saturday morning gold.

Around the time the show was in production, a few things were forced upon the series by the network. At the time, the FCC was demanding educational shows to be broadcasted for hours at a time in order to balance the cartoon mind-rot. The Weird Al Show was one of the FCC’s casualties. Morbid jokes about death and superhero alcoholism were scaled back (though not removed entirely), and morals weren’t just inserted into each episode, they were positively crowbarred in. While every possible attempt was made to sidestep the whole “education issue,” The Weird Al Show buckled and quickly faded away after one season.

Though based on good intentions, the network’s constant re-tooling left the series a repetitive mess – and not just the morals, all which could be summed up as “don’t be a tool.” The format itself gets old after awhile: An unexpected event (talent show, breaking a promise, a mining accident, time travel, etc) causes Al to treat his friends in various unnerving ways. However, through things like television sketches, cartoons, “viewer mail,” gross food products and vintage educational videos, Al learns his lesson just in time for a musical segment before the end credits roll.

Would the show have become a classic if the network picked it up for a few more seasons? Would it have found a broader audience? Would the censors have lightened up and allowed Al to be more experimental? The answer is probably “no” on all counts; but even if you’re over the age of 12, there are still a few good moments to be had in the show, especially considering the network’s shortsightedness.  While concerning themselves with the educational and the darker content, “Weird Al” still managed to sneak in a lot of odd, imitable behavior that’s bound to make you double-take. Though CBS might have frowned upon the idea of puppet suicide pacts on a children’s show, a lot of imitative behavior snuck through – especially violence, either towards human beings or animals. But thankfully since no child bothered watching the series, there were no lawsuits involving pancakes and motor oil.


Presentation
Being a Saturday morning television show, The Weird Al Show is eye-bleedingly colorful, and the DVD gets this aspect of the series perfectly. Additionally, the sharpness is rather impressive; for example, a scene where Al takes off his shoe ends in a light cloud of sock lint. The cartoons made for the show are equally impressive, while vintage footage (along with sketches shot to resemble dated material) is expectedly degraded. The audio comes in a stereo track that isn’t as impressive as the video, but that’s due to the nature of the show – while “Weird Al” is known for his musical prowess, The Weird Al Show is more of a talky affair. There’s a lot going on in the soundtrack, but it’s not overwhelming. When musical guest segments do drop by to perform a number, the audio is quite decent.


Extras
For some reason, most of the extras center around the Fatman cartoon: Animated storyboards (along with informative commentary tracks, which are slightly dry) that includes an unfinished cartoon, and concept art (including concept art for the set, and logos for the show.)  The real crowning achievement for The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series, and a very good reason to check out this set, are the commentary tracks on every single episode of the series. To put it simply, these commentaries are exactly why you see disclaimers at the front of DVDs.

Full of jovial bitterness, creator/star Al Yankovic, producer Thomas F. Frank and director Peyton Reed treat the commentary tracks as a therapy session. They explain the excessive changes, apologize profusely and lament over their compromises that made the show marketable to nobody. Ironically enough, the commentaries get repetitive when talking about the show’s own repetition, but these are worth hearing in order to understand how television shows are easily sunk, even if you don’t like The Weird Al Show. Also briefly showing up on a few commentaries to defuse the aggressiveness and add a little more humor to the tracks are Judy Tenuta, Emo Phillips and Danielle Weeks.

Also, for those who like to get drunk and scream a lot, you’ll also find The Weird Al Show Theme Karaoke, which includes the theme song with and without vocals to guide you.


Overall
The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series is a great presentation of a flawed show. Suffocating under network notes and educational restrictions, though there’s a few shining moments of darkness in the series, the best attribute of the set are its scathing commentary tracks. “Weird Al” fans will find it essential. Non-fans who decide to check the show out might be irritated, but they should flip on the commentary tracks to find out the actual story behind it all.