Children's Programming

The Aquabats! Super Show! Nominated for a Daytime Emmy; Christian Jacobs Talks About Being Family Friendly

How goes our favorite skankin', live-action TV superheroes? The last time we saw the Aquabats, they were performing at the Great Park for a 2012 summer season-ender, and there were suspiciously a ton of kids in the audience. (Maybe it has something to do with the first season The Aquabats! Super Sho ... More >>

GOGO13 Are Right Where They Want to Be . . . Finally

After 20 years, OC's most underrated ska band release their debut album

OC Color Dash

Irvine Lake

Top Five "Sesame Street" Musical Cameos You Didn't Know Existed

Yesterday, children's television staple "Sesame Street" entered its 43rd season. Along with providing groundbreaking educational programming that kids have been able to watch with their parents for decades, the show's also provided some of the most surprising musical television cameos in history. Wi ... More >>

Hot Snakes Have Reunited

And no, Coachella has nothing to do with it

Sleigh Bells

Glass House

MC Bat Commander's Head Explodes!

Christian Jacobs' 15-year journey from leading the ultimate OC cult band to 'The Aquabats! Super Show!'

Aquabats: Watch the Original Five Minute Pilot from 1999!

​This week's cover story on the Aquabats and their new TV show for the Hub, The Aquabats! Super Show! will debut this weekend on Saturday, 8 a.m.Now, the Aquabats are no stranger to many OC fans, having been crucial part of the third-wave ska revival of th 1990s. But more than that, the band's fro ... More >>

Gustavo Dudamel Appearing on Sesame Street

​LA Philharmonic's dashing music director Gustavo Dudamel is guesting on PBS' Sesame Street on Monday, Feb. 6 for the first time ever. Dudamel and Elmo are going to play together by "conducting a sheep playing a violin, an octopus playing the drums and a chorus of penguins singing opera."

Why Doesn't Mexico Participate in the Olympics

[¡Ask a Mexican!!] And why do some Mexicans hate their dark skin?

Five Disney Tweens to Become the Next Selena Gomez in 2012

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​If there's one thing we learned in 2011, it's that Selena Gomez is one of a kind. SIKE! She's a product of the Disney "empire" and if there is one thing we know, it's that Disney pumps out the singing talents of kids faster than Kim Kardashian switches athletes. It's ... More >>

Aquabats

Glass House

Rocket From the Crypt Reunites--For One Episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.​If there was one good cause to reunite for--that is, other than the fans, of course--it's Yo Gabba Gabba!. Rocket From the Crypt singer John Reis posted this awesome photo on his official Facebook account Friday, along with this caption: AP-ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT REUNITE! ... More >>

Poor Muppet to Debut on Sesame Street

​Sesame Street announced that a new, "poverty-stricken Muppet" will talk about hunger struggles on Sesame Street. Named Muppet Lily, her family deals with "food insecurity,"  and will part of a prime-time special with country singer Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams Paisle ... More >>

The History of 'Mahna Mahna': From a Swedish Sex Film Soundtrack to the Muppets and Beyond!

​Mahna mahna...You couldn't help yourself, could you? It's alright. It's almost impossible to hear someone say (or in this case, read) the words "mahna mahna" and not follow it up with a "doo doo doo-doo-doo."This childhood classic was recently re-imagined for the upcoming album Muppets: The Green ... More >>

D23 Expo Announces Arena Schedule

​The annual D23 Expo (or "Disney Expo" for all you non-Disnerds out there) hits the Anaheim Convention Center this August 19th through the 21st.Disney just announced the arena schedule for the three-day event which includes feature screenings, celebrity panels, autograph signings and more.Look fo ... More >>

Nickelodeon Child Stars: Where Are They Now?

​ Whatever happened to all the Nickelodeon stars of our childhood? Oh No They Didn't has answers: They track down Michael C. "Mike" Maronna (Big Pete on The Adventures of Pete n Pete), Michael Bower (Eddie "Donkeylips" Gelfen on Salute Your Shorts) and Jason Zimbler (Ferguson W. Darling on Clariss ... More >>

[UPDATED: Subcomadante SquarePants?] SpongeBob SquarePants Utters "¡Viva La Raza!" On Radio

​[UPDATE] Reader Steve Reyes has found proof that SpongeBob is actually a Mexican revolutionary--photographic proof after the jump. And faithful reader Culichi1967 finds even more Mexican attributes in who we Mexicans call Bob Esponja (Bob the Sponge): I just knew t ... More >>

Sesame Street Presents: The Body

Discovery Science Center

Local Record Review: The Aquabats

Beat Blvd. is Heard Mentality's weekly review of local releases. If you're an OC musician or band with something new to offer--vinyl single, full-length album, CD, cassette--we want to hear from you! Send copies, along with any photos and PR material, to Beat Blvd., c/o OC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill Ave. ... More >>

An Interview with Aquabats Singer The MC Bat Commander

​After a five-year hiatus, the perennially goofy Orange County ska-punk band the Aquabats will be releasing a new album. Unless you've been living under a rock in the interim, you know lead singer MC Bat Commander (aka Christian Jacobs) has been busy creating, writing and directing the hugely succ ... More >>

Reel Big Fish to Tour with Goldfinger and Aquabats!

​ The press release called the event an "all-out bash of the ska punk titans," and we'd have to agree. In a previous interview with OC Weekly, Reel Big Fish front man Aaron Barrett said they'd performed in Brazil with Goldfinger earlier this year; it was so much fun they decided to set out and do ... More >>

Much Ado About Boobs: Parents Complain About Katy Perry Showing Too Much Skin on Sesame Street

Sesame Street​It had to happen sooner or later: the inevitable Boob Backlash.After the skirmishes and scuffles of the summer, the innocent bystanders of the Boob Wars have risen up, and they've set their sights on their first targets: Katy Perry on Sesame Street.

Sesame Street vs. Yo Gabba Gabba! The Musical Battle for Your Kids' Coolness

Sesame Street​Sesame Street wants your kids to be cool. And not by learning the alphabet, easy addition or "good government bullshit" (sorry, it's the 20th anniversary of the release of GoodFellas).No, they're doing it through pop music.This week, The Street (I hear that's what the cool toddlers a ... More >>

Yo Gabba Gabba Party it Up with MGMT

Andrew Youssef/OC Weekly​MGMT wrapped up a two-night stand at Radio City, with Tuesday's opening night documented in full by NYC Taper (download it here). Too bad they didn't tape last night's show, when, according to PopCandy, MGMT started playing Kids as the last song of their proper set. About ... More >>

Today in Music News: Against Me!, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Pavement

Florida rockers Against Me!, one of my faves, dub upcoming album White Crosses. I'm pretty sure the cover art, via front man Tom Gabel's blog, is a joke.The KyleGreen Day goes Broadway with American Idiot, which makes the band officially about as "punk" as Sesame Street. That's OK. I like Green Day ... More >>

"Consuming Kids" Screening Launches Mothers Against Nickelodeon

​Two Orange-based moms launch The Mothers Against Nickelodeon, which is critical of the cable channel's marketing to children, with a free Chapman University screening Thursday of a film critical of "the commercialization of childhood."

Incoming: Selena Gomez at the House of Blues, Rooney at the Glass House

​Miley Cyrus is so 2008. (And 2006, and 2007. And OK, 2009, too, but still.)

Before it Gets Old: Lazytown/Lil Jon Mashup

UPDATE: The original video has disappeared, thanks to "a copyright claim by Lazy Town Entertainment." What, they don't like lines like "grab a dick, it's yours bitch" associated with their kids' show? Bizarre! I put up another (still-extant as of 4:26 p.m. PST on Dec. 4) upload of it, but I doubt th ... More >>

Backyardigans

Backyardigans

On-Sale Saturday: Coldplay, Los Lobos and More

Sure, you're probably still reeling from yesterday's news that Chinese Democracy actually has a - gasp! - release date (insert joke about unlikelihood of that date being met, Best Buy exclusivity or free Dr. Pepper here), but there's plenty of shows with on-sale dates tomorrow if you manage to compo ... More >>

No Strings Attached

The Muppet Movie

Panic! DJ Night At The Continental Room

Not panic-inducing at all but rather jovial (and free!), The Continental Room in Fullerton has dubbed Monday nights the place to be for incredibly eclectic DJ showmanship. How eclectic you might ask? A veritable shmorgasborg of music genres that spanned the decades. Like this: - Primus - Data Rock ... More >>

Bert & Ernie: Masters of Blastbeats

What were the producers of Sesame Street thinking when they allowed this utterly mad, apocalyptic drumming exhibition by Bert and Ernie to get transmitted to the fragile, eggshell minds of American youth? How many delicate child constitutions were traumatized by this percussion inferno? I dunno, but ... More >>

Celebrity Fave-Raves Edition

The year in music

Yo Gabba Gabba contract -officially- renewed

Feature writer Shawn Smith has the latest on the psychedelic kiddie show scene: The gamble paid off. Yo Gabba Gabba creators Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz (our cover boys a few weeks back) got the news they’ve been waiting for. Yo Gabba Gabba, the frenetically fun kids show with the dancing ... More >>

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Elmo's Birthday

DVDish

WEB EXCLUSIVE! The Kids Were Alright

Excuse Me, but Is That Your Fist Up My Ass?

It’s worth a trip down the I-5 to watch the fur fly on Avenue Q

Mickey Mouse: Member of Hamas?

Disney is a notoriously litigious corporation that defends what it feels belongs to them, whether intellectual property rights or the city of Anaheim. So it'll be interesting to see what, if any, reaction, they'll do after this children's television show aired on Hamas' Palestinian television networ ... More >>

Mixed Breed

The Number 12 Looks Like You

Discovering Yourself

Sesame Street Presents the Body

Talk to the Hand

Its time to meet the Muppets, other puppets and the people behind them

Timothy Leary Meets the Muppets

Wonder Showzen is back. Be afraid. Be very afraid

This Week in 'Hey, You Guuuuyyyyyys!'

OnDVD: The Best of The Electric Company

For a Good Time . . .

Ren & Stimpys John Kricfalusi really wants you to see his show. R-e-e-e-ally

!ASK A MEXICAN!

Yeah, Songs!

Corrupted Youth

Is Dora the Explorer turning baby minds to crap?

Alices Got a Brand New Bag