WHEN Weird Al Yankovic, the enduring musical satirist, appears in the season premiere of IFC’s “Comedy Bang! Bang!” to introduce himself as the new bandleader of this ersatz talk show and settle in for his first steady television gig in nearly 20 years, this is the heartfelt welcome he receives from its host, Scott Aukerman.

Mr. Aukerman gives a sideways glance to the camera and says: “Eh. Fine.”

As Mr. Yankovic, 56, explained later in an interview, he has become accustomed to this mix of recognition and indifference in a career of almost four decades as a composer and pop-song parodist.

“It’s usually, ‘Oh, him,’” he said with a giggling laugh. “There’s not a lot of, ‘Who’s this guy?’”

That modest approach to his work makes Mr. Yankovic — who achieved his first No. 1 album only two years ago, with the release of “Mandatory Fun” — an ideal fit for “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” a quietly successful show that begins its fifth season on Friday.

Mr. Yankovic, a Grammy Award winner who still seems startled that a mass audience enjoys his music, said that the show suited him particularly because “it’s not an extremely popular mainstream show.”