Yo Gabba Gabba! and Jack’s Big Music Show

One of the fun parts of being home for Thanksgiving is watching TV with my 16 month-old niece. In the same way the Muppet Show and Sesame Street featured celebrities our parents could enjoy, this new generation’s programming features special guests that are pretty hilarious for adults to see, too.

Debuting this past August, Nick Jr.’s Yo Gabba Gabba!, hosted by DJ Lance Rock, is hands-down the coolest new show for pre-schoolers. How insane is this segment where actor Elijah Wood teaches kids how to do his signature dance “the puppet master”?!



I always forget how small Elijah Wood is until he goes & teaches a scarily named “dancey-dance” to brightly-colored monsters. Oh, and if you liked that bit, check out this even more insane reoccuring segment from Biz Markie, titled “Biz’s Beat of the Day.”



So cool. Other hip guests appearing in the first season include the Shins, the Aggrolites, Cornelius, Shiny Toy Guns, Supernova, Mark Mothersbaugh, Rahzel, the Postmarks, Sugarland, Tony Hawk, Laila Ali, the Aquabats, and Mýa (I saw Mýa’s episode today; she taught kids “the peanut butter stomp” which was pretty adorable).

Another of my niece’s favorites (and mine) is Jack’s Big Music Show on Noggin, in which three puppets learn about different styles of music and dance (including hip-hop). They feature interesting guests as a bonus for adults watching, too. For instance, check out this segment with the ever-lovely Andrew Bird as Doctor Stringz!



So random, and so great!