Gabba Gabba

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Gabba Gabba is a Swedish children's program with definitely-not-children's humor. It stars Jesper Rönndahl among others. Not related to Yo Gabba Gabba! in any way or The Ramones.

Tropes used in Gabba Gabba include:

Dealer: How many cards?
Player 1: One.
Player 2: Two.
The Brother: (confidently) NONE.
Dealer: Alright, how much do you bet?
Player 1: One.
Player 2: Two.
The Brother: EVERYTHING.
The Sister: Yeah--are you really sure? 'Cause that's everything we have--
The Brother: Yes--I'm--sure. (pointing to the cards, conspiratorically)
Player 1: I call.
Player 2: I fold. (throws cards down)
Dealer: And, yeah, we already know which cards you have...
The Brother: Exactly! I win! (throws the cards down, backs up) Full match with these crazy patterns! Hah hah hah...hey, (motioning to Player 2) you should have been in, you had some great cards!

    • Also, The Sister. When visiting a psychiatrist, the Brother says this:

The Brother: Once, she said I was a bathroom. Then she tiled me.

  • Depraved Dentist: The Dentist. Although he seems more like he just wants some friendly conversation and some respect.
  • Drop the Cow: In the beginning of the first episode, no less. One of the members of the cast thoughtfully warns us by pointing up.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Quite literally, having gotten the Swedish word 'skit' ('crap') past the ever-present censor radar. Not to mention that the humor is highly unorthodox for a children's show.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Johnny and the Fish.
  • Jerkass: Jesper Rönndahl -- thus very satisfying that he gets vast comeuppance in most his sketches.
  • Lucky Translation: Eric Saade -- 'huvudvätare'. In Swedish, just a silly joke. In English, becomes...'headwetter'.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Again, the Dentist. Plus, the high-pitched screaming that Bosse gives.
  • Silly Walk: A very memorable use by an interviewer who just can't seem to get it right. When he's told to just stand still, the nuclear power plant that they're reporting about explodes.
  • Stop Having Fun Guy: Stephan from the Office sketches. Also, Majken and Dorotea from the scouts.
  • That Reminds Me of a Song: Subverted -- Kringlan has a message for Jesper and Amelie. He can't find the words to describe it, so Jesper suggests he sing it...before Kringlan points out that he can't sing, so he dances it out with interpretive dance in a simple choreography to 'Boom Boom Pow'.

Jesper: ...So...you're shy?
Kringlan: ...Yeah.

  • This Is a Drill: The Dentist's drill. It...it's a drill. A real, live, construction drill. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
  • Too Dumb to Live: The Siblings. A fire occurred, and they saved three things -- a runner (that is, the partially-covering-table-cloth thing, not an athlete, that might have been slightly more worth saving), a furbolero, and 'food' (a miserable, charred plate with an ashy burger on). They also don't seem to have grasped, after the accident, that the burnt things do not come back.
  • Very Special Episode: Their installment 'Dark Secrets About Swedish Celebrities'. Starred Eric Saade with his 'very unusual handicap' of him being a 'headwetter' -- a reference to his performance in Melodifestivalen.