While some series like Glee show the characters rehearsing a presenting a song or two throughout the episode, most shows feature little to no singing at all. However, there is a trend of normal, non-musical shows occasionally having a "musical" episode where the characters are suddenly bursting into song!
What are your favorite "musical" episodes of shows?
And alternately, what do you think are the worst "musical" episodes, and why?
One of the first shows (that I know of) to do a musical episode was Xena: Warrior Princess. This worked amazingly well, because Lucy Lawless (actress who plays the main character) actually got her start in musicals playing Rizzo in Grease, and has an amazing singing voice!
The episode (titled "The Bitter Suite) uses a thematic element of Tarot cards woven throughout the episode, and serious songs are interspersed with comedic songs.
(It's really hard to find good-quality clips from the series but) Here is a commentary video which has some nice short clips of the songs at the beginning, to give an impression of how the episode looked & sounded.
The costumes were amazingly elaborate, the voices were beautiful, the use of music made sense for the story, and its use aided the telling of the story, including developing the plot and leading up to the climax, etc.
BUFFY
I also have to include the Buffy musical episode, One More Time With Feeling. (I may actually like this one way more than the Xena one.) This one came about because, during some of their offscreen hangout time, the cast sang & performed music together just as a fun activity and the director Joss Whedon recognized that many of them had significant musical talent. He then went on to write an entire musical episode, which featured almost every character singing extensively, with the exception of a couple whose actors had requested minimal singing on their part (namely Nicholas Brendon's character Xander & Amber Benson's character Tara Edit: She gets her own lovely song to sing, I was thinking of Emma Caulfield's character Anya, who gets a duet but mostly just talk-sings in the episode).
This episode is amazing because the singing and music are all impeccable (even the actors who can't sing well like Sarah Michelle Geller make a huge effort & are still pleasant to listen to), the plot is driven and the use of music for it makes sense, the characters are given an in-world motivation for them to be singing (even if it is a literal demon making them sing & dance), and the music itself is used (as in proper musicals) to explore the internal world of the characters & reveal thoughts & feelings that they would otherwise have trouble expressing verbally. Besides that, there is much humor & small moments of fun. (Like how the entire town breaks into song about a drycleaner being able to get a mustard stain out!)
Honestly, every song is amazing (including the short joke songs that are only a few seconds long), but I will only share a couple of favorite tracks that show off well what the episode is like & how well-produced it is.
"Rest In Peace": Spike (the vampire-with-a-soul)'s rock ballad about his (semi-)unrequited feelings for the vampire slayer: [Includes the opening credits, just skip 20 seconds in when you're ready to swoon over James Marster's voice]
"Walk Through the Fire": Multi-character rallying anthem, after they find out that a demon has cursed the entire town to sing & dance to their deaths & kidnapped the slayer's little sister. Note how Sarah Michelle Geller mostly sing-talks, but still manages to put great emotion into her voice. Note the heavy use of symbolism & how the thematic elements of the show & these characters' arcs are all written into the song (Buffy's depression & detachment from her life, her sister's uncertainty with where she stands in Buffy's eyes, Giles' desire to protect Buffy, her friends' efforts to rally behind her,etc). (Edit: The part about Buffy's sister is in another song entirely, whoops!)
[Also note Anthony Stewart Head (Giles)'s amazingly-sexy heart-melting voice @ 1:35 *swoons at his vocal range* ]
COMMUNITY
Perhaps not as "deep" & "thematic" as the others, I still have a really fond place in my heart for the musical episode of Community where the characters are convinced to join the Glee club and get caught up in its associated pageantry. What makes this one good is the way that each song is an ironic commentary about each character's personality - their good & bad traits and what it is about them that is either susceptible to being convinced to join in (such as Shirley being convinced by a choir of children singing to her about how religion has been taken out of public schools), or what they can offer by way of convincing other characters (such as Annie throwing her morals out of the window in order to use her sexuality to convince Jeff). The songs are musically diverse, featuring classic 60s rock, modern rap/hip-hop, choir/choral music, remixes/mashups, and classic "Christmas-y" songs. The costumes are simple but fun, the songs are catchy & memorable. There is a reason for the characters to be singing (getting caught up in the joy of musicals) and even characters who would not normally sing are given reasons to do so.
Annie (Alison Brie)'s character is normally uptight, responsible, & studious. The excitement of the holiday makes her break down & rely on her sexuality to entice Jeff (Joel McHale) into joining the Glee Club, even dumbing herself down & pretending to be stupid.
Abed (Danny Pudi) grew up celebrating Christmas every year & does not need much convincing to join the Glee Club. But his best friend Troy (Donald Glover) grew up Jehovah's Witness and was taught not to celebrate holidays this way. Abed convinces Troy that they can partake in Christmas without getting him in trouble with a rap that explains how they will go undercover as "Christmas spies".
And now for the worst...
DARIA (THE WORST)
I absolutely love Daria. This show and its main character were the poster child for 90s cynical, disaffected youth. So why the writers thought it would be a good idea to shoehorn in a random musical episode into the middle of their show filled with dark humor which makes fun of exactly that? I have no idea, but it was a disaster. To this day, I have incredible trouble watching this episode when I re-watch the series. With the "clever" title of simply "Daria!" (I guess meant to reference the music Oklahoma!) the entire episode centers around a big storm hitting the town & how everyone copes with the stress. There is no reason or motivation given as to why the characters are singing; the episode literally just begins with one of the main characters bursting into song with no reason, explanation, or motivation. A reason is never given throughout the entirety of the episode. The first several songs of the show sound the same, making the episode boring and repetitious. Rather than describe their feelings or inner motivations, most of the characters simply describe their thoughts & actions & comment on what is happening around them. There are no layers added by the music existing, and for a show with an incredibly good soundtrack, featured on MTV when it still showed music, the music for the episode is incredibly bland, forgettable, and even downright annoying. The poor actors cannot sing, and almost every one of them is forced to sing-talk the entire time, begging the question why a musical episode was ever made in the first place. (It's difficult to comprehend that a show entirely about railing against the status quo would do something just because it is "trendy" and "popular", which having a musical episode in your show WAS in the 90s). While the writers could have used it as an opportunity to make fun of musicals, or make clever commentary on the use of flashy song-and-dance in media, or had a character surprise us by being skilled, or used the then-modern music of the 90s the influence their sound, or more heavily featured the characters who could actually sing & play music in the episode, yet they did none of that.
Here is a clip where all the kids are stranded on the roof of the school during the storm. Note the flat, bland music as well as the flat, bland singing and the flat, bland lyrics. For a show known for its clever wit, and sharp tongue, this clip does not seem to show it.
One of the few redeeming moments of the episode is when a mother-daughter duet is performed by Helen and Quinn, which casually reveals that the two of them may both suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is why they are the way they are, why they act the way they do, why they are successful in their fields (Helen as a lawyer, Quinn as a sociable fashionista), as well as the actual challenges this obsessive-compulsive need to be perfect can present to them in their lives. (I still feel the singing is flat and the musical composition is boring, but at least here the music is used as a tool to reveal the deeper motivations of the character. And honestly... they never really bring up or address this issue of them having OCD and being challenged by it.. ever again, after this episode.)
There is also *one* more song I find redeeming, which is when Jake & Trent sing together about how, as men, them reacting to situations with their emotions & feelings is treated as abnormal, but the both of them rejecting society's notion of masculinity & choosing instead to express themselves the way they most feel comfortable.
HONORABLE MENTION:
IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA
Listing this one separately because the series itself in general and the content of this musical episode specifically are very controversial, but I would like to mention the Always Sunny episode "The Gang Turns Black." This is a quirky, fun, commentary-filled episode where, once again, the characters are actually given an on-screen reason for breaking into song and dance (in this case an electrical storm that propels them into the scenario of switching bodies with some African-Americans), and then having to spend the episode trying to comprehend & understand the musical scenario in which they find themselves. It's clever, it's fun, it's funny. Many of the actors can actually sing well (especially Glen Howerton, who plays Dennis & Charlie Day, who plays Charlie), and even the actors who cannot sing well (such as Danny Devito, who plays Frank) make their songs so fun that it doesn't even matter that the singing is not very good.
Here is a long, extended clip with the "medley" song that is recited throughout the episode, where they try to figure out "the rules" of their body-switch & "of being black in America."
(Especially fast-forward to 2:35 in where Charlie Kelly does a song where he demonstrates his vocal range pretty well. Also enjoy @ 4:45 where Scott Baio from Quantum Leap, playing himself, shows off he actually has a great set of pipes!)
I didn't know this happens across tv shows surprised
I dont watch tv shows consistently enough for it to happen but I was pleasantly surprised when it happened for Flash (CW tv show) but I've accepted it as well because the singing cast members were from Glee.lol
Opening Song
Other Songs in the show...but I like the opening and ending better~
It's been a while since I've watched actual TV but I remember enjoying the Scrubs musical episode.
OMG I totally forgot they did one! IIRC, it was very quirky and cute, just like the rest of the show, but probably had some deeper poignant moments about the human condition. 3nodding
Good ol' Scrubs. heart
OMG I totally forgot they did one! IIRC, it was very quirky and cute, just like the rest of the show, but probably had some deeper poignant moments about the human condition. 3nodding
Good ol' Scrubs. heart
You nailed it. The helpful Lady Venger was kind enough to post "Guy Love," and the Rant Song was also fun, but then there's "Gonna Miss You Carla," which deals with not just Carla's need to be involved but also how so many people come to rely on her. And "What's Going to Happen?" hits pretty hard especially given how difficult it is to actually know everything will turn out okay in the end.
I liked the Musical episode of Lucifer, though I love Lucifer in general so I’m biased, lol
There was a reason for people to be breaking out in song, God (Lucifer’s dear old dad) was doing it unintentionally cos his powers were on the fritz, and only Luci could see it.
Just a little synopsis there for people who don’t know the show whee
I liked the Musical episode of Lucifer, though I love Lucifer in general so I’m biased, lol
There was a reason for people to be breaking out in song, God (Lucifer’s dear old dad) was doing it unintentionally cos his powers were on the fritz, and only Luci could see it.
Just a little synopsis there for people who don’t know the show whee
OMG Lucifer is so good! I have not made it up to that episode yet, but I am excited to know there is a musical episode! emotion_kirakira
And yes, I definitely prefer when there is a reason given within the episode for them to be singing! Even if it's unintended divine intervention lol rofl
150
50
50
200
100
100
100
50
100