Musical episodes in TV series are thankfully few and far between. I say “thankfully” because, while ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Buffy’ may have made the rare technique look easy, the very idea of the characters of ‘24’ or ‘Lost’ singing and dancing their way through an episode is cringe-worthy. That said, when a show does decide to deliver a musical episode, it can be surprisingly entertaining and also a great way to further the plot without the usual dialogue.
Whether it is the show’s original score or an actual song playing, the right music can really set the mood for a scene in a TV show. Very rarely is music used to directly drive the plot forward, though. On occasion, a karaoke scene might pop up in an episode but that’s usually as musical as the characters will ever get. Take for instance last week’s episode of ‘Ugly Betty’ in which we got to see Daniel and Betty sing a few lines of “I Got You, Babe.” ‘Ally McBeal’ often had the characters singing on stage at their favorite bar and you’ll find the occasional musical number in animated shows like ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘South Park,’ but a full-on musical episode is something only a few shows have attempted.
After watching the most recent episode of ‘Scrubs,’ it got me thinking about the whole concept. What does a show need to make a musical episode work? Based on the musical episodes that ‘Scrubs,’ ‘Oz,’ and ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ have done, I’d say there needs to be great writing, catchy tunes and of course, enough musical talent among the cast to carry us through the episode without cringing. I’d like to say I was surprised by the musical abilities of the casts of the shows that have done musical episodes but to be honest, I wasn’t. I don’t think any of them would’ve even attempted to do musical episodes if most of the characters weren’t able to carry a tune. This could explain why the concept is so rare among TV shows. The other reason is probably that few other shows have been able to create a good excuse to explain why the characters are bursting into song.
‘Buffy’s’ “Once More With Feeling” provided the best excuse to justify the musical episode. Then again, ‘Buffy’ had the luxury of relying on the presence demons to provide a reason for any strange or mysterious occurrence in Sunnydale. The episode was written and directed by creator, Joss Whedon and it worked on a number of levels. Whedon managed to pay homage to the musical genre by including a pretty wide variety of song styles. For example, Xander and Anya’s “I’ll Never Tell” reminded me of a 60’s-style musical like Bye Bye Birdie while “Walk Through The Fire” had a more modern feel to it and was that quintessential song that gets the viewers pumped up for the big final act (like “One Day More” from Les Miserables or “Defying Gravity” from Wicked). Along with being an extremely entertaining episode, the musical also managed to push the plot forward quite a bit. What the characters weren’t able to say to each other in previous episodes came out in their songs. “Once More With Feeling” was nominated for an Emmy but an error in the ballots likely cost the episode a lot of votes and it didn’t win, much to the dismay of many ‘Buffy’ fans who believe its one of the best episodes of the series.
“I’ve Got A Theory” – Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The musical episode of ‘Scrubs,’ titled “My Musical” was a success. Similar to ‘Buffy,’ the show was able to find a built in excuse to justify the singing. A patient comes in with a psychological problem that’s causing her to view everything as though it were a musical. The lyricist and composer of the hit Broadway musical Avenue Q, Jeff Marx was brought in along with Robert Lopez to do the music for the episode. Though the lyrics were roughly drafted by the show’s executive story editor, Deb Fordham, Marx and Lopez tweaked her version of the songs and turned them into catchy musical numbers (this, according to a video blog done by Marx, posted at Quickstopentertainment.com).
Like “Once More With Feeling,” “My Musical” parodies the musical genre without mocking it. The songs are well written and some were quite catchy (I still have “Guy Love” stuck in my head). Also like the ‘Buffy’ musical, there was a familiarity to the songs. The song “Friends Forever” brought to mind “We Go Together” from Grease. Another similarity to the ‘Buffy’ musical was that the writers didn’t bother making “My Musical” a stand-alone episode, but rather used the music to further the plot of the story. The issue of whether Carla would return to work or stay home with the baby was one of the major themes in the episode as well as Elliot buying a house and figuring out how to break it to J.D. that she doesn’t want to live with him anymore. The final comparison I can make with “My Musical” and “Once More With Feeling” is that it will most likely become one of the most memorable episodes of the series.
“Guy Love” - Scrubs
‘Oz’ didn’t exactly have a built in excuse to get the characters singing and dancing. Instead, there was reportedly an issue of their narrator (played by Harold Perrineau Jr.) being unable to shoot the episode due to his involvement in the Matrix films. Rather than using another character to narrate, they replaced the narration with musical numbers. Normally the idea of seeing hardened criminals break into song would be ridiculous but the episode works once again because of the talent among the cast and solid writing.
“Last Duet” - Oz
There are a lot of people who dislike musicals but you’ve got to admit, there’s something to be said for seeing the characters in your favorite show deal with their conflicts through song and dance. There are some shows that I could definitely see being able to pull off a musical episode but honestly, I hope the concept remains rare in television. Of the few shows that have attempted to do it, all of them have been successful but sooner or later some show is going to try it and fail miserably. When that happens, I can only hope it happens to a show I don’t watch.
What show do you think would deliver a great musical episode?
’Grease: You’re the One That I Want’ (NBC) 8:00 pm
(New!) – The remaining contestants will go to California to attend “Grease Academy” and see if they can make the next cut of the competition. As much as I am starting to miss ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ I’m becoming addicted to this show.
’Desperate Housewives’ (ABC) 9:00 pm
Come Play Wiz Me - (New!) – Lynette continues to help Tom get his pizzeria ready for the grand opening, meanwhile Gaby cant get rid of Zach (ew.) and Alma reveals a devious plan. I’m also hoping we might get to see some of the backlash from Julie finding out her oh-so-dreamy beau was getting it on with Little Miss Van-de-tramp.
’Battlestar Galactica’ (SciFi) 10:00 pm
Rapture - (New!) – Dressed in its new timeslot, Battlestar returns and picks up where it left off last month. Lee tries to find a way to rescue Starbuck and the standoff between the humans and the cylons continues.
Watch: ’24’ (Fox) 9:00 pm
Day 6: 10:00 am – 11:00 am - (New!) – Jack Bauer discovers he has the ability to alter time. No, wait, I think I have my shows mixed up. This is where the duel-tuner DVR comes in handy. I suggest watching ‘24’ and DVRing ‘Heroes,’ but its your call. Either way, find a way to watch both shows and pray that one of the networks says “uncle” and moves their show to the 8 pm timeslot.
TiVo: ’Heroes’ (Fox) 9:00 pm
Godsend- (New!) – The season returns from reruns to reveal that Peter has been in a coma for weeks. Also, a new hero arrives (oooh!) and Hiro sets off to find the samurai sword he saw in the painting
’American Idol’ (Fox) 8:00 pm
Memphis – (New!) – There better be a lot more talent in Memphis than their was in Seattle.
”Veronica Mars” (CW) 9:00 pm
Show Me The Money (New!) – Mindy asks Keith to investigate her husband’s death because she believes he was murdered. Veronica and Mac go undercover at the campus animal rights group to find a missing monkey. This reminds me of the time Brenda joined the animal rights group on 90210 when she found out the stray dog she adopted had been experimented on. If they play an animal rights PSA after the episode, I’ll probably vomit. R.I.P Rocky.
’American Idol’ (FOX) 8:00 pm
New York City(New!) – Once again, two great shows are on at the same time. Damn you, American Idol! How are teenagers (and twenty-somethings who secretly watch both of these shows) supposed to watch both at the same time?
’Friday Night Lights’ (NBC) 8:00 pm
Little Girl I Wanna Marry You(New!) – Jason continues to deal with his relationship with Lyla, Smash’s mom discovers something that could ruin him.
‘Earl,’ ‘Betty,’ ‘The Office,’ ‘Scrubs,’ and ’30 Rock’ are all in reruns this week.
”Smallville” (CW) 8:00 pm
Labyrinth - (New!) – The previews for this episode reminded me of the ‘Buffy’ episode where she gets stung by that demon and hallucinates that she’s trapped in a mental institution and being told by her doctors and parents that her “Slayer reality” is actually the hallucination. In Smallville, Clark gets caught in an alternate reality that involves him being stuck in a mental institution. Hmmm….
’Grey’s Anatomy’ (ABC) 9:00 pm
Great Expectations - (New!) – Word gets around that the Chief is leaving and Bailey proposes the idea of a free clinic.
”Men In Trees” (ABC) 10:00 pm
Bed, Bat and Beyond - (New!) – Marin moves into her new house even though its not quite ready to be lived in. Sara helps run the Chieftain while Theresa takes care of Ben in the hospital. Perhaps she’ll do a great job and end up working there fulltime, creating a lot of awkward tension among the three.
Pageant School: Becoming Miss America(CMT) 8:00 pm
Watch as the finalists head to California to prepare for the Miss America pageant. Viewers will be able to vote for Miss Congeniality (which in all actuality, will probably be decided by the editors of the show long before viewers even get the chance to vote)
Dateline NBC (NBC) 8:00 pm
Subway PusherWhat every commuter in NYC fears the most (getting pushed onto the tracks) will be investigated in this episode – more specifically the show will look into an incident that took place on a subway platform in 1999.
__________________________________________
