Poodle Hat is the eleventh studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on May 20, 2003.

Aside from the aforementioned "Couch Potato" and "eBay", the album also spoofs "Hot in Herre" by Nelly, "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, and "Piano Man" by Billy Joel.

Poodle Hat was released as an Enhanced CD, meaning that when the disc is placed in a computer, bonus content (including alternate song mixes, short videos, and photo galleries) is viewable.

In a GQ interview, Yankovic opted not to reveal the identity of the original parodied musical artist, explaining that if he did, the factoid would end up as a Wikipedia entry.

[2] "Wanna B Ur Lovr", a pastiche of Midnite Vultures-era Beck, consists of pick-up lines which become steadily more ridiculous and suggestive.

[6] According to music critic Nathan Rabin, the song "amplifies the noxious self-absorption of the American character to hilarious extremes" by describing a narrator who, upon hearing about a number of horrible tragedies, only complains about the (minor) inconveniences that affect him.

[2][8] Rabin argues that the song's lyrics "sound cryptic enough to be genuine Dylanesque, but are in fact palindromes deliver in an uncanny re-creation of Dylan's nasal whine.

[1] The album opens with the parody "Couch Potato", a play on Eminem's "Lose Yourself", the critically acclaimed single from the film 8 Mile (2002).

In Yankovic's version, the singer describes his obsession with watching television; the song references many TV shows, as well as cable and network channels.

In this song, the narrator discusses the filthiness of his house and bemoans the titular day wherein people place their garbage outside of their living quarters to be picked up by a waste collector and brought to a landfill.

The song is composed of three vignettes: in the first, the singer laments that he is constipated, in the second, he discovers that he and his girlfriend are related, and in the third, he expresses regret that he was recently decapitated.

[2] "Ode to a Super Hero" is a play on Billy Joel's song "Piano Man", and recounts the plot of the 2002 Spider-Man film.

This content includes several of Yankovic's real home videos and his commentary on them, as well as synchronized lyrics and instrumental or acoustic versions of some songs.

[15] A music video for "Couch Potato" was to be shot shortly after the album's release, but Eminem denied Yankovic permission to shoot it.

We believed that it was just a formality, that Eminem just wanted to hear the final mix of the song... And then we got a phone call saying he was not going to give permission for a video.

[16]According to Yankovic, Eminem worried that a parody of his video might "detract from his legacy [and] that [...] would somehow make people take him less seriously as an important hip-hop artist".

[17] Musicologist Lily Hirsch noted that, while race was not mentioned by either party, the powerful visual impression of a Weird Al video could have undermined Eminem's efforts to be seen as a serious rap artist instead of a "wigger".

While he felt that "Couch Potato" was, musically, up to par with Eminem's original, he noted, "It's hard to imagine today's tough tykes choosing" to listen to the somewhat tame parody.

[24] Serpick also felt that the Nelly and Avril Lavigne parodies were "full of noisome effects and clownish voices that would make even the widest eyes roll.

"[24] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic claimed that the album was evidence that "pop culture [was] ahead of Weird Al".

", and "Genius in France" (for being "complicated" and "intricate"; a "sensitive piano pop tune with a good send-up of narcissistic lyrics and nice, layered vocal harmonies"; and "the most ambitious and weirdest thing here, which counts for a lot," respectively).

[30][31] Poodle Hat has not been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it one of only a handful of "Weird Al" Yankovic albums to not receive the honor.

Nathan Rabin, in Weird Al: The Book (2012), argues that this is because "Couch Potato" never had a music video, resulting in the album stumbling commercially.

[29] In late 2013, Yankovic sued his label, Volcano, and its parent company, Sony Music, for unpaid publishing royalties from several of his albums and singles, including Poodle Hat.