TV20 is calling itself KOFY again and is returning to local, low-budget and often wacky programming that drew attention to the station from 1980 to 1998. That was before Channel 20 went corporate and became a WB affiliate.

As this parody of VH1’s “Behind of the Music” shows, former station owner Jim Gabbert is playing a key role in the rebranding. Gabbert sold sold Channel 20 in 1998 for $174 million. This video includes clips of Gabbert’s “Dance Party” show, a 3-D movie TV20 aired (KOFY bought 500,000 3-D classes for viewers) and a “smell-o-vision” experiment. Here’s a press release about the rebranding.

At left are stills from the video including a shot of “Dance Party,” a promo for “The Million Dollar Giveaway” and Gabbert urging readers to wrap their fish with the Chronicle.

As for local programming, recently fired Alice FM 97.3 host Brendan (“No Name”) Moran and Morris Knight of 98.1 KISS-FM will become regular staples on the station. KOFY is also looking for on-air talent.

And, of course, KOFY has brought back the idea of showing video of dogs during the station ID, something that was extremely popular during Gabbert’s tenure. The dogs actually returned in April, as the Press Club blog noted back then.