You Gotta Get a Gimmick

the musical episode project ~

Get yourself a gimmick—get yourself a side project that distracts you from the world. Somewhere along the way, I set myself a new task: I would watch an uncertain amount of musical episodes of television shows, write up findings in response to five questions, and further understand the gimmick. I give musical episodes this flashy title of being a gimmicky episode because for the wider audience they do exactly what a gimmick does—stand out, for better or worse. Not everyone loves a musical number. Not everyone is successful at landing one, either.

            Musical episodes link to pop culture’s love for musicals—they’re pure escapism, and the same can be said not merely for episodes with musical performances, but for the characters who intercept with them too. Musical numbers are often dream-like or spun from some form of curse or affliction or anomaly—they’re disturbances from reality, but not typically uncomfortable, unless you’re a guy who doesn’t like musicals.

            I did not consider any television show that is musical in nature—no Glee, or Smash, or Galavant, where musical numbers are more frequent than the characters going on a peaceful vacation away from the cameras. I did rewatch several musical episodes I have seen before, out of the context of rewatching the episodes around them. Out of a possible forty-two episodes that I considered for the project, I watched a total of thirty, and from that thirty, deemed twenty-six of them to be within the rules I established. A musical episode has to feature a ratio of musical numbers to the length of the episode—when I was researching, for example, several lists mentioned Schitt Creek’s “Life is a Cabaret” as a musical episode, but upon rewatch, it is more a “episode where a musical is performed”, and the characters only really perform half of two numbers. There wasn’t enough meat on the bones.

The five questions I posed to each episode are as follows:

1.         How does the episode itself navigate me, someone who is perhaps unfamiliar with the program, with the content, the characters, the plot-lines and overall atmosphere of the show?

1a) Am I confused by what is happening? Can I follow along with relative ease? Do the songs speak to the interior thoughts of the characters?

2.         How out-of-place is the framing of a musical episode to the overall style of the show? Has careful consideration been put into why the characters are now performing musical numbers?

3.         How is the music? Are the songs original or covers? If original, are the songs well-written, interesting, able to stand on their own outside of the framing of the episode? If covers, do they adapt well to the moment lyrically?

4.         Is the cast of the television show strong vocally and/or as dancers and performers? Is any particular member of the cast the highlight?

5.         If I have never seen this specific television show before, how likely am I to continue watching based solely on this musical episode?

I realised towards the end of the project how infrequently I knew nothing about whatever I was watching, and therefore question one could likely have done with a rewrite, but alas, it is too late now. Out of the twenty-six, there were only really three television shows I had never watched before in some capacity, and only one of them [Fringe] was complex enough for me to be half-confused about the episode’s plot. But then again, Fringe’s musical episode hinges on getting high and telling a noir story to a child, so I wasn’t too shoved into the deep end. More on “Brown Betty” later.

            The questions helped to construct ideas around the musical episodes and how they engaged with the gimmick—and again, I say that lovingly. I enjoyed myself thoroughly watching these episodes, but pivoting myself to sit down and write down my thoughts allowed me to engage with what worked and what was merely an attempt to do what Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Once More, With Feeling” did so flawlessly. It was fascinating to see whether the cast of a show seemed suited to singing or not—shows like Once Upon a Time, The Flash, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds were blessed with casts who had genuine musical talent, while 7th Heaven was blessed with perhaps the most tone-deaf collection of people who were forced into singing ever imaginable. Perhaps that is a harsh overstatement, but I implore you to watch “Red Socks” and come out of it with your sanity intact.

The twenty-six musical episodes I will be referencing here are as follows:

“The Song in Your Heart”, Once Upon a Time

“Once More, With Feeling”, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“Regional Holiday Music”, Community

“Immortimas Patrol”, Doom Patrol

“Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost”, Ally McBeal

“Song Beneath the Song”, Grey’s Anatomy

“Subspace Rhapsody”, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

“Daria!”, Daria

“Nightman Cometh”, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

“The Operetta”, I Love Lucy

“Simpson-cali-fragilistic-expiala- (Annoyed Grunt)-cious”, The Simpsons

“Influenza: the Musical”, Even Stevens

“Brown Betty”, Fringe

“Duet”, The Flash

“My Musical”, Scrubs

“Yasper”, The Afterparty

“The Bitter Suite”, Xena: Warrior Princess

“Elementary School Musical”, The Simpsons

“The Star of the Backstage”, The Simpsons

“Next to Normal”, Riverdale

“A Night to Remember”, Riverdale

“Lunchtime! The Musical”, Teachers

“Archie the Musical!”, Riverdale

“Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam”, Lucifer

“His Way”, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

“Red Socks”, 7th Heaven

This was a monumental project and is technically incomplete—as mentioned, the original list included forty-two episodes, but I ditched watching four other Riverdale musical episodes because that is truthfully very unnecessary, I couldn’t quite get through the Psych one, and I delayed the end long enough. This is my set of data. Here are the findings.

SUPERLATIVES.

Best Musical Episode: “Once More, With Feeling”, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“Once More, With Feeling” is the benchmark for musical episodes and understandably so. It is smartly executed, with original music perfectly suited to the characters, and features Sarah Michelle Geller fighting vampires and demons whilst singing. There’s so much to love about an episode that strikes out against the norm of its tone, but still sits within what you expect from the show. “Rest in Peace” is a personal standout for me—giving Spike an angsty solo about his complicated feelings for Buffy is the essence of why a show utilises the musical episode gimmick. The whole reason these characters are singing too is just another side-effect of the monster-of-the-week format: a demon named Sweet is a musical theatre kid at heart. It’s unfortunate this episode is linked to Joss Whedon, who we hate.

Worst Musical Episode: “Red Socks”, 7th Heaven

“Red Socks” is poorly-constructed and comes from a cast who has no business singing or dancing. The cast is pitchy and under-rehearsed, or at least that is how it feels watching it. The episode is a Valentine’s Day special, but the singing is never quite explained and none of the songs give much extra depth to the characters. I was reading a list of “best musical episodes” and there was an honourable mention to “Red Socks” as the absolute worst, and I cannot help but agree. Perhaps the only saving grace is Thomas Dekker as Vincent, whose singing is at least a solid distraction from his dance moves when he performs “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” on the football field.

Best Original Songs [unranked]:

“Revenge is Gonna Be Mine”, Once Upon a Time – all of the musical in this episode is perfectly Disney-fied, but there’s something special about the combination of the sea shanty vibes and Colin O’Donoghue’s smooth voice. Revenge, revenge, revenge is gonna be mine is just too fun to not sing along to.

“Rest in Peace,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer – as previously mentioned, I have a soft spot for how hard this Spike solo goes. Lamenting that Buffy only sees him as a dead man, he tells her to just let him rest in peace – through song, of course. James Marsters has a gravelly quality to his voice that just works for Spike’s character.

“How Would That Feel”, Star Trek: Strange New World – perhaps this is recency bias, but Christina Chong’s solo as La’an Noonien-Singh is beautifully written and performed. Chong’s voice is powerful, and a song about letting go of the wheel to take initiative in your life is something I truly need to embrace. Full body chills.

Best Covered Songs [unranked]:

“The Story”, Grey’s Anatomy – what Sara Ramirez does with this Brandi Carlile song is truly something special. Nevermind the fact she is singing to her unconscious body as a spectator while she’s in hospital herself after a car accident. Ramirez’s voice is gorgeous and conveys the deep emotions of the moment. It’s a beautiful close to a wild musical episode.

“Moon River”, The Flash – Melissa Benoist recalls her time on Glee performing in the crossover special between The Flash and Supergirl. As Supergirl, transported to a sort of musical dreamland, Benoist performs this song beautifully. Her voice is angelic.

“The World According to Chris” and its reprise, Riverdale – this could be the only chance Riverdale has at getting a spot on any of these superlative lists. Camilla Mendes’ voice for both her rendition of this song and its unaired reprise is a highlight of all the musical episodes of Riverdale I’ve seen. She blends right into the character of Chris Hargensen.

Best Explanations For Why We’re Singing [unranked]:

Callie got in a car accident, Grey’s Anatomy

Old man is on drugs, Fringe

Woman has brain aneurysm in the park, Scrubs

Worst Explanation For Why We’re Singing:

No explanation, 7th Heaven

MVPs [Most Valuable Performers, unranked]:

Diane Guerrero, Doom Patrol

Sarah Michelle Geller, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Celia Rose Gooding, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Josh Dallas, Once Upon a Time

Alison Brie, Community

Ben Schwartz, The Afterparty

Jane Krakowski, Ally McBeal

Episodes I watched that did not meet the criteria:

“Variety”, Oz – not enough singing, or at least not singing that made a dent on the plot of the episode.

“The Alan Brady Show Presents”, The Dick Van Dyke Show – the singing was only performance and did not add to the plot. Hell, the episode didn’t even have a plot.

“Virtuoso”, Star Trek: Voyager – the doctor just sung opera here and there.

“Life is a Cabaret”, Schitt’s Creek – the episode features the premiere of a community theatre production of Cabaret but they only sing two songs from the musical, and hardly.

TV Shows I think deserved musical episodes:

Veep – Selina Meyer says something inappropriately homophobic or homophobic-adjacent and Amy gets in contact with a queer theatre company who could help in patching up Selina’s image…if she performs for one night only on stage.

You’re the Worst – Jimmy and Gretchen start to sing out every time they orgasm.

The Good Place – Eleanor knows this must be the Bad Place because every time she opens her mouth she starts singing showtunes from flop musicals.

Which Musical Episodes Succeeded Each Question Most?

1.     How does the episode itself navigate me, someone who is perhaps unfamiliar with the program, with the content, the characters, the plot-lines and overall atmosphere of the show?

1a) Am I confused by what is happening? Can I follow along with relative ease? Do the songs speak to the interior thoughts of the characters?

The Class 101 Award [for a TV show I had never seen]:

“Daria!”, Daria

I strangely had never seen an episode of Daria, although naturally I knew of the character. She’s sarcastic, sardonic, and bitter at the world. She’s effortlessly relatable, and the musical episode does wonders for introducing every other character that populates Daria’s world. Equally sarcastic, the musical episode feels like a natural in for the series.

2.    How out-of-place is the framing of a musical episode to the overall style of the show? Has careful consideration been put into why the characters are now performing musical numbers?

The Musical Theatre Kid on the Writing Staff Award:

“Regional Holiday Music”, Community

Community always did community college class parodies, but the parody here of Glee quite specifically is brilliantly done and feels truthfully like it is only jokingly poking fun at Glee’s Christmas episodes. The tone never shifts from Community’s usual satire. Next stop: regionals.

3.    How is the music? Are the songs original or covers? If original, are the songs well-written, interesting, able to stand on their own outside of the framing of the episode? If covers, do they adapt well to the moment lyrically?

The Sondheim Award [for best original music]:

“Once More, With Feeling”, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

There is no denying the impact of Buffy’s musical episode on musical episodes that came after it. While I can certainly argue parts of the soundtrack are awkwardly performed by a cast that is not quite trained in vocals, the writing of the score and lyrics is the focus for the episode. I was tossing and turning on who to give this award to, but ultimately settled on the expected. “Once More, With Feeling” has “Rest in Peace”, “Walk Through the Fire”, and “Going Through the Motions” to thank for that. But the cast can be lucky this is not an award given out based on performance.

4.    Is the cast of the television show strong vocally and/or as dancers and performers? Is any particular member of the cast the highlight?

The Talent Portion of the Pageant Award:

“The Song in Your Heart”, Once Upon a Time

Perhaps there is a fraction of bias here. I adore the cast of Once Upon a Time, and think genuinely there is a lot of musical talent spread throughout the episode—Josh Dallas, as mentioned, is a fantastic performer, as is Colin O’Donoghue. Ginnifer Goodwin has a lovely voice that suits to her princess character, Snow White. Rebecca Mader and Lana Parilla are devilishly talented performers who seem to be having the most fun. Jennifer Morrison delivers on her emotional solo. I think for a series built upon fairytales and the Disney catalogue, it’s magical to have a core cast of talent to perform these musical numbers. But perhaps I am blinded by my love of this musical episode overall, and the sentimentality it holds.

5.     If I have never seen this specific television show before, how likely am I to continue watching based solely on this musical episode?

The Keep Me Hangin’ On Award:

“Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost”, Ally McBeal.

I started Ally McBeal from the beginning once I watched the musical episode. I quickly learned Lucy Liu is not in the show from the very beginning, which was a depressing realisation, but Jane Krakowski is, and that’s extraordinary. I need to watch more Ally McBeal. Calista Flockhart is a star.

...

Musical episodes are for the theatre kids.

            Musical episodes are gateway drugs for future theatre kids.

            When I began working on this project, I was only daunted by one thing: doing the post-episode write-up. Watching a string of musical episodes was pure electricity and excitement for someone like me, and seeing how different creatives tackle a musical episode makes for compelling research. Political correctness goes out the window for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s “Nightman Cometh”. Fringe commits to a storytelling narrative, where Walter Bishop tells an unrelated-to-the-plot noir musical story to a small child who should probably be reading a Spot book instead. In I Love Lucy’s “The Operetta”, Lucy is absolutely awful as a performer on stage and everything goes wrong because the women’s club has no money to afford anything.

            As someone who consumes a lot of musical theatre—including stage productions, films, television shows, and listening to cast recordings—the one-off musical episode is a fascinating gimmick. It can piss off the straightest man. It can slip the ordinary viewer out of the belief that these events could really happen in real life when the cameras are not rolling. But it can also be something truly special.

           There will always be more to watch—not merely musical episodes, but more television to love, more musical theatre, more passion and gimmicks and everything in between. A gimmick is a good thing—you want the thrill of something exciting, something different. Jeff from Community slowly being surrounded by the members of the study group who have gone to the darkside, the Glee Club, is fantastic television. I watched my first Xena: Warrior Princess and was quickly informed the rough acting is part of the charm, actually. Riverdale changed the lyrics of “Superboy and the Invisible Girl” to fit into their storyline and it makes me uncomfortable. [Next to Normal won the Pulitzer Prize, you don’t rewrite their lyrics.] Even Stevens did a whole song on the moon landing and I’ve still already forgotten what year it was. Always something to learn, or relearn.

 I had so much fun.

            Onto another thing.

- Keeley