"Broadway meets the Boob-Tube"
Last year was a big year in movie musicals ("Hairspray," "Sweeney Todd," "Across the Universe," and my personal fav… "Once") This summer brings us "Mamma Mia!"
The musical genre also made it’s way to the small screen as well. TV land brought us three wonderful new shows that heavily incorporated musical #’s into their plots. I’m not going to count the dreadful “Viva Laughlin” with the horribly wasted Hugh Jackman. This show had characters lip syncing to pop songs…. If you missed this consider yourself blessed that you never had to see Melanie Griffith sultridise Blondie’s “One Way or Another” (New word I just made up.... SULTRIDISE: verb - to try and make sultry)
...but on to the 3 really good ones... Like Hugh Jackman in "Viva Best-Forgotten," these 3 shows featured characters or cameos by Broadway stars.
(This blog got a little long in show descriptions so please fill free to skim)
First up is the wonderfully quirky "PUSHING DAISIES."
First up is the wonderfully quirky "PUSHING DAISIES."
In "Pushing Daisies," Ned discovered as a child that he had a gift for bringing people back to life by touching them. If he touches them a second time they are dead (permanently this time!) If they are alive for more than 1 minute someone else in the area drops dead. One day his mom dies from an aneurysm. He, of course, brings her back to life for over a minute. However, in doing so, the father of his childhood sweetheart “Chuck” drops dead. She moves away with her aunts and he never sees her again. Later that night his mom kisses him goodnight and falls dead.
As an adult the charming Ned works as a pie-maker (The restaurant that he owns is called “the PIE HOLE!”) He is assisted by a waitress named Olive. She is played to perfection by Broadway cutie Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.)
Ned ends ups joining forces with a private investigator who uses him as an easy way to solve murder crimes. Ned touches the victim and gets as much info as he can in one minute. One day the victim happens to be… his childhood sweetheart Chuck. He is heartbroken and decides to keep her alive. Romance starts to fill the air during the season. One problem…. they can’t touch.
This show reminded me a lot of "Amelie" or the movie adaptation of "Matilda." It is visually stunning and is brought to you by the same people who made the tragically short lived “Wonderfalls” (*Check this series out as well!) The show has a wonderful fairytale vibe to it and started to incorporate musical numbers into the plot. Besides Kristin Chenoweth, the cast also features Ellen Greene (Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors) as one of Chuck’s aunts. (The other is the fabulous Swoosie Kurtz.)
Chenoweth’s character Olive pines for romance from Ned. Here is her musical ode to him with the assistance of his dog.
Pushing Daisies never came back after the writer’s strike. It IS scheduled to return in the fall!!! You can watch full episodes on abc.com
Next up is a show that just finished this past week. This was also on abc.
As an adult the charming Ned works as a pie-maker (The restaurant that he owns is called “the PIE HOLE!”) He is assisted by a waitress named Olive. She is played to perfection by Broadway cutie Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.)
Ned ends ups joining forces with a private investigator who uses him as an easy way to solve murder crimes. Ned touches the victim and gets as much info as he can in one minute. One day the victim happens to be… his childhood sweetheart Chuck. He is heartbroken and decides to keep her alive. Romance starts to fill the air during the season. One problem…. they can’t touch.
This show reminded me a lot of "Amelie" or the movie adaptation of "Matilda." It is visually stunning and is brought to you by the same people who made the tragically short lived “Wonderfalls” (*Check this series out as well!) The show has a wonderful fairytale vibe to it and started to incorporate musical numbers into the plot. Besides Kristin Chenoweth, the cast also features Ellen Greene (Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors) as one of Chuck’s aunts. (The other is the fabulous Swoosie Kurtz.)
Chenoweth’s character Olive pines for romance from Ned. Here is her musical ode to him with the assistance of his dog.
Pushing Daisies never came back after the writer’s strike. It IS scheduled to return in the fall!!! You can watch full episodes on abc.com
Next up is a show that just finished this past week. This was also on abc.
"ELI STONE" is about a lawyer who starts having visions in the form of musical #’s (often to George Michael songs!!) He visits his brother (a neurologist) who tells Eli he has a brain aneurysm which is probably leading to these hallucinations. Eli turns to a Chinese acupuncturist who believes that Eli is a prophet and that these are visions from God. Eli doesn’t know what to think. He starts taking court cases that are influenced by these visions, and his life drastically changes. I absolutely loved this show and fear that it might not return. The way it ended tied up loose ends… (but did it in a absolutely beautiful musical sequence.)
Musical #’s were performed by Broadway vets Victor Garber (Godspell, Damn Yankees), Loretta Devine (Dreamgirls), and George Michael himself. The cast also featured Broadway’s Laura Benanti (Into the Woods, Wedding Singer, Gypsy) and Katey Segal ("Peg Bundy" in Married with Children, and a backup singer for Bette Midler.) Neither of these gals sang this season but might (or might have ) in coming seasons. I don’t want to post the wonderful finale # for plot reasons, but here is a taste of the show.
Finally, there is the amazing duo that brought us “FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.”
FOTC is comprised of Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement. They describe themselves as "New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo"
Starting as a comedy act, a series was developed for HBO charting their search for stardom in New York. This show is absolutely brilliant, and the first season is on DVD right now!
The 2 guys are hilarious. I also love Kristen Schaal. She plays their obsessively stalkerish singular fan. Here is a clip of Jermaine noticing an attractive woman at a party and trying to woo her through song.
The broadway connection is that Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein) appeared in a couple episodes as Bret’s Girlfriend. He was composing a song for her telling her he would "climb the highest mountains, swim the deepest sea...." Jermaine hears it and asks would you actually do all that? "Write about things you would actually do…" Here is the finished product...
The second season is not set to air until January 2009. That gives you plenty of time to discover season one and...
(drumroll)
NEW RELEASE ALERT…
Their first full length U.S. album comes out this Tuesday! (which is why I wrote this blog entry to begin with.) The album features songs from the series and many more wonderful "guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk" masterpieces.
Check out any of these three wonderful shows. You can find episodes of "Pushing Daisies" and "Eli Stone" on abc.com. Also available is the dvd and cd of "Flight of the Conchords."
Happy Viewing!
3 comments:
I am willing to bet that Eli Stone will return next year. I'm hearing that ABC really does love this show. My only problem with it is the limited use of Luara Benanti. The first episode made it seem like she was going to have more to do even becoming having more of a romantic storyline with Eli. But I think that her stint in Gypsy might have something to do with it. And let's not talk about the fact that she hasn't even sung yet. But other than that one, tiny quibble, I Love the show.
Theres nothing I can say about Pushing Daisies that would express my love for this show. And yes, Micheal, they are bringing it back next year. And I'm sure an Emmy or two wont hurt (wink wink).
I have to mention 2 shows that use Broadway Vets, but I will group them into one because they really are one and the same: Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice. There cast includes Chandra Wilson (Caroline, or Change), Sara Ramirez (Spamalot), Audra McDonald (110 in the Shade, Ragtime) and Taye Diggs (Rent, Wicked).
I have Floght of the Concords in my Netflix queue so I'll get back to you on that at a later time.
I agree with the use of Laura Benanti! We saw her in Gypsy a few weeks ago. Her and Leigh Larkin (June) were a-mazing! Check out the youtube clip of them doing "If Momma was Married." Brilliant!
It's nice to see shows using the B-way peeps. It's funny that a lot of people who love Sara Ramirez have no idea of her comedic musical abilities or (on a movie level) that most people know Jerry Orbach as "the dad" on Dirty Dancing!
Thanks for reading. Here's hoping Eli's coming back!
I Love Jerry Orbach! And You are right about people not knowing his history! So sad when he passed away.
Beth
Post a Comment