A brief history of musicals on TV
I love musicals. This is no secret. It’s also no secret that musicals aren’t the most popular, and granted, often not well-used medium. But today I wanted to talk a bit about the history of musicals (and musical episodes) on TV and my very favorites.
There was a time when there was almost an overabundance of music on TV. Remember Glee? It’s crazy to think it only ended last year. The show used to be so popular that everyone jumped aboard the hype train, though not for long. Among them Smash, another musical TV show debuted shortly thereafter, and Fox also introduced a musical week in which shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Fringe all had musical episodes. The former’s episode wasn’t received very well though, and Fringe’s had mixed reactions.
In the same year, How I Met Your Mother ended one of their episodes with the original song “Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit”, which was the only song from that episode, but that one was popular and the only thing I’d hear about for a while. I definitely remember replaying it a lot.
During the writer’s strike (which was actually before Glee), there was also Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which was a 42-minute web series divided into three parts.
Why musical shows are so rare
Glee is the only time I’ve truly ever known something musically on television being really popular. There’s a lot of musical episodes of “cult” shows that are now very popular, but what I do find unfortunate is that it in general isn’t really appealing to the general audience. When your favorite show has a musical episode, and that episode is somewhat decent, you’ll most likely like it (if you don’t outright hate musicals). It’s different for shows in which every episode is a musical episode, since that’s its entire premise.
Because musical shows aren’t extremely popular and networks these days aren’t willing to take risks anymore, I’m still surprised that we have exactly two musical shows currently on TV: Galavant and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Both are very different (in tone, setting, story) and therefore use the musical aspect of it very differently.
Galavant: absurd and joyful
Galavant is very explicitly silly, and doesn’t attempt to explain all the singing. It’s just part of the show and their world. It’s also pretty meta, in that it recognizes that it probably won’t be on the air long (it even has a song about the Cancellation Bear!), and that the Emmys ignored their magnificent first season.
The songs are very much an essential part of the show, and if you’d take those away, the show would lose a lot of its charm. The story itself is not one to take seriously — the entire show is just huge balls of fun, and it doesn’t need to be anything more than that, because it just works.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: emotional and character-driven
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, on the other hand, uses its musical parts very differently. Rebecca has a pretty good life, at least on the outside. She’s incredibly smart and well-educated, has a great job, and is up for a big promotion — but she’s very unhappy and depressed.
When she runs into Josh (her old camp crush), he tells her he’s moving to West Covina. She impulsively follows him there, hoping to recapture the happiness she once had. That’s when the singing starts.
The musical numbers don’t happen in reality — they’re an expression of how the characters feel or think. At first, only Rebecca sings. But gradually, others join in, and eventually even sing without her being present, showing how her presence has changed them too.
The show has 2 to 3 songs per 42-minute episode, and they only happen during important moments. The show would still work without music — but it wouldn’t be nearly as powerful or entertaining.
Why no one is watching
As happy as I am about these two shows (and as great as I think they are), audiences simply aren’t tuning in, which is a damn shame. Galavant’s second season was basically a miracle. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, meanwhile, had average ratings, and its future was uncertain for a while.
What it had going for it was award buzz. Rachel Bloom won a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award, and that probably helped renew the show. The CW pays attention to that stuff. Soundtrack sales may also help its case.
With the success of Hamilton and The Wiz, musicals might become more popular again — but I fear this won’t extend to musical TV series, and we’ll only get more live broadcasts instead.
The stigma around musical episodes
Musical episodes in non-musical shows are often dismissed before they air. People expect them to be cheesy, out-of-place, or just cringey. And sometimes they are — especially if the network forces it, rather than the creators actually wanting to do one.
It depends a lot on the show. If a show takes itself very seriously, a musical episode will rarely work. But if a show embraces weirdness or format shifts, it can work — and sometimes be brilliant.
Take Oz, for example. A gritty prison drama you’d never expect to pull off a musical episode. But apparently, it did!
So let’s talk about some of my favorite musical episodes — the ones that worked really well.
Community
Community had a Christmas/Glee parody musical episode in season three. The gang gets asked to replace the Glee Club after an “accident” and reluctantly gets convinced, one-by-one, through songs.
The musical premise fits right in. Community is known for genre-hopping and experimental episodes, so a musical felt natural.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
You can’t talk about musical episodes without Buffy’s iconic “Once More With Feeling.”
Instead of being a one-off filler, this episode featured major plot and character developments. The musical premise is explained via a singing demon, and the stakes are real — if you sing too long, you burst into flames.
Buffy went all-in. Nearly all dialogue was sung, the intro was changed, and the songs were genuinely good. I played them daily for months.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
In season four, Charlie writes and directs a musical called The Nightman Cometh. The gang plays bizarre roles: Dennis is the Dayman, Mac is the Nightman, Dee the princess, and Frank the troll.
It’s awkward, chaotic, and perfect. There are songs like “Tiny Boy, Little Boy, Baby Boy” and “The Troll Toll.” It ends with Charlie’s awkward marriage proposal.
They even toured the musical live afterwards with new songs. I’ve rewatched this episode more than any other IASIP ep.
That 70’s Show
This episode didn’t have original songs, just covers — but it was still fantastic.
Fez stars in a musical and imagines his friends performing songs like “So Happy Together” and “The Joker.” The characters act overly cheery in contrast to their usual selves, and it’s hilarious.
Scrubs
Scrubs is quirky and emotional, and already full of JD’s daydreams — so a musical episode felt right.
This time, it’s all in a patient’s head, and they try to figure out what’s causing it. Everyone gets a song: JD and Turk sing “Everything Comes Down to Poo” and “Guy Love,” Carla and Turk have a duet, and more.
They packed a full musical into 20 minutes. I couldn’t stop smiling, and I rewatched the episode several times before continuing the series.
Psych
Psych tackled nearly every genre — including musicals.
The two-part musical aired between seasons 7 and 8 and featured 14 original songs. Plot-wise, it’s not the show’s best case, but the music was amazing. I still listen to “Santa Barbara Skies.”
It turns out that the musical is actually being pitched by Shawn and Gus in the episode’s final scene, which retroactively explains the musical format.
So… who’s next?
Most of the episodes above are from comedies — with Buffy being the only major exception. I wonder what currently airing shows could pull it off?
Maybe iZombie, if Liv eats a singer’s brain. Maybe Portlandia, in a sketch. Outside of that, I don’t think many could do it without it feeling forced. Even comedies today don’t take many risks.
What I really want
More musical episodes would be fun, but what I really want is more musical shows.
We need more fun, experimental projects like Galavant or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The latter almost didn’t happen — it was first pitched to Showtime, who passed. But interest is clearly there, and I hope we see more in the future.