I don't watch a lot of TV - I've never seen more than a few episodes of Breaking Bad or Arrested Development or a lot of other must-watch shows that all various friends rave about. What I do pick up tends to be a bit eclectic, and often pretty dated by the time I get to it. I didn't start watching Joss Whedon shows until Serenity came out, for example, and then I sort of random-walked my way through his back catalogue. He's got his own quirks that start to get a bit obvious after a while, but it's still good stuff, so I started introducing my bride to his work(she'd seen Firefly, but not the others).
So, we're currently going through Buffy and Angel, and as it happens the reason I didn't post the Friday Night Video on Friday was because I was watching the video instead. Yes, they did that silliest of all TV special episodes, the musical. And as silly as it sounds, it's really damn good. Big plot movement, tons of in-jokes, a very effective villain, and catchy tunes. Of course, those who have seen the series know this, and those who haven't...well, you probably shouldn't watch it standalone because of the aforementioned plot. But it does make sitting through the otherwise-questionable season 6 have one bright spot, and that's an impressive feat.
A subtle but wonderful thing about the musical Buffy episode is that the songs advanced the plot of the season arc substantially, and did it in a way that took advantage of the conventions of the musical-comedy genre -- people said things in song that they could not or would not say in speech.
ReplyDeleteAdd to that the fact that in the Buffy universe there was an entirely plausible and self-consistent explanation for why people suddenly burst into song, and you have gold.