I remember AL TV from way back when I was a wee lad and a pretty huge Weird Al fan and I can still vividly remember some parts of this puppy. It actually aired on MTV for a few years, not just '89, with a show coinciding with the release of a new AL-bum. The premise was that Weird Al hacks into MTVs broadcast and takes over the airwaves for an hour, and it's one of my favorite things the guy has ever done. The funniest thing he would do was play a cheeseball music video and provide a hilarious and often mocking running commentary to it. This preceded both Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Beavis and Butthead, both of which sort of borrowed this schtick. I don't know if Al was really the first to do this, but it's the first time I can remember seeing something like that. He would also take an interview with a big star or musician, like Sting, and re-edit it, adding footage of himself in as the interviewer. Like at one point in the REAL interview, Sting wiped his nose, then a second later moved some hair out of his face, so Al adds himself in saying, "Ok Sting, pick your nose then wipe it in your hair." Cut to Sting doing this very thing. It's a lot funnier than how I make it sound, really. That's just the only example I could think of (I saw it MANY years ago). Then of course he played a lot of Weird Al videos, and other wacky videos as well, like "Beautiful World" by Devo and the immortal classic love song, "Fish Heads". Eat them up, yum. There are also dead-on parodies of the 80's era MTV promos, complete with celebrities like Billy Idol going "I want my AL TV!" Not to mention the skits, like the one where he horribly smashes his adorable pet "Harvey the Wonder Hamster" to death with a mallet. You can forget how dark and mean Weird Al's humor can really be sometimes. In short, AL TV is a really funny experience that I wish was available on video. If any of you rabid Al fans out there know where I could get my hands on a copy, lemme know. Viva Yankovic.
