Greetings,
I seem to remember a time that, when you wanted to watch a TV show with music, you would have to watch Solid Gold, or Fame, or the cool cousin of Saved by the Bell, California Dreams. You would usually only get music on other shows with the theme music. But times have changed. Most shows no longer even have theme songs, which has seemed to prompt music loving producers to utter those infamous words, "Let's do a musical episode!". In my experience, this has the possibility to be a good thing, or a very not good thing.
I'm not certain where the idea of doing this started, but I think some of this can be credited to The Drew Carey Show, though I believe music had infiltrated the average show a few times before. The 1995 debut of The Drew Carey Show began a somewhat lackluster in the ratings first season. By season two, they had an idea to open some episodes with the cast singing and dancing in the tradition of a music video. It did not happen every time, and it seemed to be a crazy idea. Still, this is what caught people's attention and caused the ratings to go up. They never actually did a full on musical episode, save the season seven Back to School special which featured performances by different musical artists. But they never did one where the cast would sing and dance throughout to music that came out of nowhere. Still, this seemed to lead people to believe that, when in doubt, make your actors sing and a reaction will come from the audience.
A few years later, the season three finale of Ally McBeal came along, and it was an episode entitled "Ally McBeal: the Musical, Almost". I can understand why this show decided to delve into making a musical episode. Whether it was Vonda Shepard and the characters singing at the bar in a realistic sense, or fantasy scenes, like that with the infamous and a little creepy Dancing Baby, Ally McBeal was always a series that drenched itself in music. It mostly dealt with a singing version of whatever Ally may have been thinking or feeling, but with the musical episode, all the characters got a chance to perform. Now that was fine with actors like Jane Krakowski or Lisa Nicole Carson, who have fabulous voices, but, for the most part, the actors here should not give up their day jobs. Though listening to Peter McNichol warble out a tune with all the sincerity in the world was quite amusing.
In 2001, we were treated to Buffy the Musical. Of all the musical episodes I've ever seen, I think this one was the most well-done. First, since Buffy the Vampire Slayer is based in a world of fantasy anyway, having people burst into song out of nowhere would not seem particularly shocking. Ironically, the point of the episode was the characters trying to figure out why they were bursting into song, and, since that is never an issue in musicals, that made the whole concept really funny. Second, while this plot was episodic, they managed to keep within the thread of the story line that was going on at the time. And, most importantly, the music was genuinely very good. All the songs were written by creator Joss Whedon, and I have no idea why he's not a go to writer for every artist in the industry. Go figure, and thumbs way up.
Oh, and let me add one more thing about the Buffy musical. I seem to remember a section in the TV Guide called Close-Up where they would inform you of something that should definitely be seen. This episode was featured and whomever wrote this little preview felt the need to inform us that all the actors were using their own singing voices. None of us were very far into the viewing of this episode before we responded to this info with a resounding, "Yeah, no kidding!". Trust, not all of the actors could sing as well as Anthony Stewart Head. Much love, Giles.
Now the intrigue of a musical episode has, at times, prompted me to watch shows that I normally never would. This was the case, recently, with Grey's Anatomy. My curiosity was peaked here, because I just wanted to know how they were going to do it since the show is, I'm assuming, based in reality. A warped reality, in my opinion, but reality, nonetheless. So I checked it out. Turns out, the whole episode was centered on the character of Callie being in a life and death limbo after a car accident, so she was seemingly having some kind of out of body experience. I pray I am never in this position if it includes listening to my co-workers singing pop songs. Anyway, the character of Callie is portrayed by Sara Ramirez, the one actress on the show who is a professional singer and Broadway star. What a coincidence. I suppose they wanted to utilize her talents and milk her for all she's worth, perhaps, to compensate for a recent salary increase. Still, as much as I loathe what I've seen of this show and many of the people on it, Sara Ramirez does have a beautiful voice, so I guess I can let it go, this time.
Several other series have made an attempt at this gimmick. Some I have seen, like That 70's Show, a series so kitschy that we let them get away with it. Many I have not seen, but only heard about, such as Scrubs and Chicago Hope. Wow, there is a lot of singing going on in hospitals. No wonder I steer clear of them. And, of course, many shows that I wish would have done this never did, like Lost or House or Law and Order. Come on, we all know Jesse Martin was begging for it.
I don't know if this unpredictable tradition will continue into the future of television, but what with the recent, disturbing success of Glee, I fear that we may see more. Or perhaps the cast of that particular show will continue to annoy enough people that we will remain safe.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
