Soon after it's premiere in 2007, Nickelodeon's Yo Gabba Gabba! transcended the world of kids' TV. With friendly toy monsters that came to life, plus hip musicians and celebrities, the Emmy-nominated series combined music, live action and animation to teach big lessons and inspire imaginations. The show easily lured in pre-schoolers, but its cool factor even drove adults to dress as host DJ Lance Rock on Halloween.
Now, almost a decade after it ended, creators Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz have introduced Apple TV+ viewers to a whole new world of imagination — not to mention young Kamryn Smith, who has updated DJ Lance’s uniform to host the reboot, Yo Gabba GabbaLand! The season’s 10 episodes will feature such guests as Reggie Watts, Sam Richardson, Gillian Jacobs, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lauren Lapkus, Diplo, Flea, Thundercat and Chelsea Peretti.
Emmy contributor Deanna Barnert sat down with Jacobs, Schultz and Smith to discuss the new series.
What inspired you to create Yo Gabba Gabba!?
Jacobs: Scott and I grew up together. We surfed, skate-boarded, went to concerts, were in bands together and then had kids at the same time. We wanted to be able to watch shows with our kids and bond with them, but there wasn’t anything that spoke to us. That’s where the idea hatched.
Schultz: We loved the weird ’60s Japanese kids’ shows and the stuff we grew up on, and we thought, “Let’s jam-pack everything wonderful into this show so we can have a party with our kids.”
Smith: I remember watching it with my brother. We would play that song “Hold Still” on repeat. My mom would record us, and we’d have a party in our house.
What’s it like to step in as the new host, Kammy Kam?
Smith: Incredible! DJ Lance is an icon. I’m excited for kids to see my magic and what Kammy Kam has to bring.
Jacobs: Lance is still a big part of the family, but as the host, he was like the ringmaster. Kammy is like this big sister the audience can look up to. She’s empowering kids to imagine, do their own thing and be their own person.
Amid the familiar faces and segments, how is this version different?
Jacobs: We didn’t think there was a lot wrong with Yo Gabba Gabba! The question was, “What can we do that’s different?” The answer was to just make it huge and have it mirror the imagination we have as children, which is endless.
This reboot has been in the works since 2019. Why the delay?
Schultz: Gabba has always been bigger than just me and Christian. It’s a collaboration we are allowed to have with bands, musicians, actors and everybody else. In that vein, it waited for Kammy to show up and all the pieces to align.
Jacobs: [Head of children’s programming] Tara Sorensen at Apple TV+ was another key piece. Unfortunately, with the pandemic and everything, it’s been tricky. But the show looks insane, and we couldn’t have done it before. It would have been so much money. It’s like Star Wars for preschool! Now the technology is there, and it’s attainable. Everything came together, just like it always does with Gabba!
