Yes, again!
October 22, 2022 7:04 PM   Subscribe

The Creatures of Yes (previ-yes-ly, previ-yes-lier), the strange and supremely endearing puppet show made using 70's technology, just keeps returning - this time with The Midnight Special.
posted by BiggerJ (7 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Confused at first (had parsed it as "made in the 70s") but realised quickly that this is what today's analog TV would be like if we hadn't made the leaps in technology. Some wierd-ass show like this would have come along in the early '00s...
posted by not_on_display at 9:41 PM on October 22, 2022 [2 favorites]


Thank you so much for this! I hadn't seen anything about this show, and it is exactly what I love.

not_on_display: it kinda did! Sifl and Olly came along in the late '90s on MTV. They did use lots of '90s video technology, but they had a similar cheapass puppet aesthetic that I loved then and now. I feel like it should be as legendary as MST3k or at least Space Ghost. I miss their songs! See "Dude's House."
posted by Countess Elena at 6:35 AM on October 23, 2022 [2 favorites]


Interesting. I dig the idea of using period tech to garner the retro aesthetic. I think adding the common trope of “film” dust and scratches does a disservice, though. Most of 70s tv was done on tape, not film, so there wouldn’t be dust or scratches. Nonetheless, this was pretty cool.

And, yeah, Countess Elena, props to you for the Sifl and Olly callback. I’d all but forgotten them. I loved them.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:30 AM on October 23, 2022 [1 favorite]


Thorzdad:Countess Elena, props to you for the Sifl and Olly callback.
Countess Elena: I miss their songs!

Previouscent fresh — (oof so many dead links) yeah, this is my first watch-through of these Yes videos, and my brain often thinks, "This is like Sifl & Olly without the songs but with weird music. Wait, this is like 70's PBS and Sesame Street in particular... mashed up with Sifl & Olly. What's with the thatched roof?"and then the special effects machine goes nuts. I think it's the mix of the absurdity, the psychedelic, the lovely banality of every day moments (Tom ironing his shirt), and so on. Sifl & Olly was one of the last shows done public-access-level lo-fi before everything went digital. (Tim & Eric kinda recaptured some of this vibe after the digitization of everything as well, but they weren't as earnest as S&O or Sesame Street or these Yes Creatures.)

As for The Creatures of Yes, I have been tearing through these about four at a time so I don't go through all of them at once—but I have already recommended this to three other of my friends. Who are all like, "Oh! I would/will watch this." Thanks again for posting this, BiggerJ!
posted by not_on_display at 12:11 AM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]


...how does this channel have so few views and subscribers? how hasn't this this caught on?
posted by not_on_display at 12:18 AM on October 24, 2022


...also not to be confused with this "Yes" youtube moment (NSFW) that occupies neurons in the same neighborhood as these but in a completely different lane.
posted by not_on_display at 12:33 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]


Wanted to jump in here and say "thank you" for posting this...I hadn't seen any of the previous posts, and now I'm working my way through the entire YouTube channel, because it's fantastic.
posted by Ipsifendus at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2022 [1 favorite]


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