NOTES FROM TV’S MUSICAL HISTORY
When we think of musical scripted
series, Glee springs to mind. And invariably, Steven Bochco’s widely reviled 1990 effort, Cop Rock.
But there’s been a whole lot more between, before and, with the muchanticipated debut of Smash, since.
Putting Ed Sullivan and all of TV variety aside, we can still trace it back to the sitcoms of the 1950s and ’60s, and the recycled vaudeville bits and musical numbers contained within I
Love Lucy, Make Room for Daddy and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
On to the ’60s and ’70s, and that prefab four The Monkees. Even The
Brady Bunch eventually ventured into fake pop when they took on The
Partridge Family, who owed their considerable recording success to teen heartthrob David Cassidy.
The latter two would later record as cartoon pop stars, along with the legitimate likes of the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds, and even The Beatles.
The Archies of The Archie Show topped the 1969 Billboard year-end chart with “Sugar, Sugar,” co-written by Montreal hitmaker Andy Kim. The Archies begat Josie and the Pussycats.
Even The Flintstones would get into the musical act, notably the episode guest-starring “Ann-margrock.” The less said about The Banana
Splits the better. The British are old hands at this sort of thing, notably the 1978 BBC series
Pennies from Heaven and 1986’s The Singing Detective. Most recently, the technique was effectively borrowed for Blackpool, co-starring David Morrisey and soon-to-be Doctor Who David Tennant. It aired in the U.S. as
Viva Blackpool and was remade as the deservedly short-lived Viva Laughlin.
The current trend is musical episodes of scripted shows, from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer monster
musical to the sitcom Scrubs, with a score by the scribes of Avenue Q.
Rob Salem