With ‘Milo Murphy’s Law,’ “Weird Al” Yankovic Remains Awkward America’s Hero

Parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic, 57, has had a four-decade-long music career. In 2014, he achieved newfound fame with young audiences when he released eight music videos in as many days for “Mandatory Fun,” his first number one album and an eventual “Best Comedy Album” Grammy winner. He is less-known for his work as a voice actor; in the past year, he guest-starred on five animated series: Mr. Pickles, Bojack Horseman, Voltron: Legendary Defender, The 7D, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. The latter two entertain pre-teen audiences on Disney XD, where Yankovic plays the lead in another show, Milo Murphy’s Law, which returns this week for season two (naturally, he sings the theme song).

From Phineas and Ferb creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, Milo Murphy’s Law introduces Milo, a Middletown Middle School student who, in the words of his friend, Zack (Mekai Curtis), has a “cycle of calamity that follows [him] everywhere [he] goes.” On the way to school, he’s abducted by aliens; during a pep ralley, his bleachers collapse; while his classmates tour a museum, his derailed subway car crashes into a dinosaur skeleton. Milo’s bad lucky is seemingly hereditary—he’s related to the aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy, Jr., who inspired the “anything that can go wrong will go wrong” axiom with his malfunctioning inventions.

But here’s what’s great about Milo: he never, ever panics or feels bad about himself. Every adventure is worthwhile, and he’s earned every scar. He’s conditioned to expect unforeseen obstacles and considerate of those around him, even carrying posters in his backpack to distract others should they find themselves in a claustrophobia-inducing situation. Mere proximity to Milo is a risk for countless unknowns, and treacherous encounters provide chances for his peers to be brave.

Milo’s world is filled with fun and unusual specifics. For example, the vendors at a school football game only sell French food (Crepes Suzette, beignets, crème brûlée, “stinky cheese,” popcorn bags full of snails). The best recurring joke involves the esoteric name of Milo’s pet, spelled “D-O-G” and pronounced “Dee-oh-gee.” And the more you watch, you start to realize that you’ve heard many of these voices emitting from your screen before, such as Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), Christian Slater (Mr. Robot), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Mackenzie Phillips (One Day at a Time), Laraine Newman (Saturday Night Live), and John Hodgman (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart).