For mega-fans, “Weird Al” Yankovic is as much beloved for his parody music as he is for his forays into television with The Weird Al Show and Al TV. Now, the comedic mastermind is making a return to the boob tube, as IFC has announced Yankovic will serve as co-host and band leader on the next season of Comedy Bang! Bang!.
Last year, Kid Cudi took over as the show’s bandleader halfway through season four when Reggie Watts moved on to join James Corden on the Late Late Show. The rapper was only a temporary replacement, however, and now Yankovic has signed on for the 20-episode fifth season of the late night mock talk show.
(Read: “Weird Al” Yankovic and Jay Levey: 25 Years of UHF)
In a statement, Comedy Bang! Bang! creator and host Scott Aukerman expressed his full understanding of the unreality of the situation. “If you would have told me, when I was a teenager, listening and laughing along to Al’s In 3-D album, that one day I would partner up with him, I would have asked who you were and how you got in my room,” he said. “Then I would have politely shown you the door. Because that’s how I was raised.”
Yankovic is enjoying one of the most successful periods of his storied career, with his latest album, Mandatory Fun, earning him his first No. 1 record and his fourth Grammy. Season five of Comedy Bang! Bang! enters production today, with IFC targeting a spring premiere date.
