Ear on TV: Week of 03.30.09: Yo Gabba Gabba

Yo Gabba Gabba, the kids show that's secretly for us adults, gets a special visitor this Friday in the form of Nickelodeon favorite Jack Black, who finds himself stranded in Gabba land when his mini-bike runs out of gas (for the episode "New Friends"). Black plays guitar with Muno, shows the Gabbas his Dancey Dance and even dons DJ Lance's orange jumpsuit for a bit. The appearance hits two of Black's target markets, that being kids and potheads. ”I’m hitting two birds with one stoner, as it were,” quipped Black recently to EW. Also appearing present another knock-knock joke are Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) and Paul Scheer (Human Giant).

Meanwhile, how did the French indie pop act Phoenix end up as this week's music guest on Saturday Night Live? I'm already a big fan of their new album, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but it doesn't come out until May 26, and the band is a few notches below in name recognition to other recent acts like Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio. It's a bold and unlikely choice, to say the least. Is this week's host Seth Rogen a big fan, or is Lorne Michaels just making up for the disaster that was Jason Mraz a couple months back?

Finally, This is Spinal Tap celebrates it's 25th anniversary this year, and to honor that achievement, Christopher "Nigel Tufnel" Guest, Michael "David St. Hubbins" McKean and Harry "Derek Smalls" Shearer are embarking on a tour. However, for this tour ("Unwigged and Unplugged" -- a play on KISS's "Unmasked" tour, no doubt,) they're leaving the wigs at home and going simply as themselves. On Wednesday, they'll appear to both perform and be interviewed on Leno, without getting into character -- which is something of a relief for the group. When they last toured, they also opened as The Folksmen (from A Mighty Wind) and "had the really unusual experience of being negatively received by the same crowd that couldn't wait to see us," McKean recently said. "We went off, changed our clothes, came back as Spinal Tap, and the same people were very happy."

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, March 30
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Pretenders (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Adele
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Glasvegas, The Roots
Tuesday, March 31
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Marianne Faithfull
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Gomez, The Roots
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Flo Rida
Wednesday, April 1
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ray LaMontagne
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Spinal Tap
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Stevie Nicks, The Roots
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Robin Thicke
Thursday, April 2
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Dr. Dog
Friday, April 3
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Lily Allen
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Cold War Kids, The Roots
NICKELODEON: Yo Gabba Gabba: Jack Black
Saturday, April 4
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: The Pet Shop Boys
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Phoenix
PBS: Austin City Limits: Arcade Fire (REPEAT)