I’m a huge fan of musical theatre, so it’s a fun treat when I get to enjoy some fresh musical content on the small screen. Here’s three great musical TV shows to check out!
- Smash
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I became completely obsessed with this show when I was fifteen, and continue to be obsessed to this day. Smash premiered in 2012, and lasted only two seasons on NBC. The basic concept of the show follows Karen (Katharine McPhee), a newbie to NYC, as she garners for the role of Marilyn Monroe in the brand new, in production, Broadway musical, Bombshell. Songs included in the show are mostly originals written for the show, with the exception of a few covers. The second season introduces Jeremy Jordan as Jimmy, and adds in original songs from the production of another new musical, Hit List. Some of my favourite songs from the show include “Let Me Be Your Star” (which I quoted in my High School yearbook), “Rewrite This Story”, and “Broadway Here I Come”. Smash also features a ton of familiar musical faces like Megan Hilty, Christian Borle, Brian d’Arcy James, and Leslie Odom Jr.
Fun Fact: Bombshell was so popular with fans, that they pushed for it to be made into a real life musical. A benefit concert of the songs was held in 2015, and the official musical is reportedly in development.
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
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When I first watched this show, I actually didn’t know it was a musical. So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I realised how amazing and detailed the musical numbers were. The show premiered in 2015 on the CW, and is currently finishing up its last season. For an unknown reason, I stopped watching it for a while, but recently just got back into it, and have been steadily catching up throughout the past couple of weeks. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend follows the main character Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) as she, on a whim, decides to move to the same town as her ex-boyfriend from camp, Josh. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend offers a multitude of original and comedically charged musical numbers each episode. Some of my favourites include “The Sexy Getting Ready Song”, “I Go to the Zoo”, and “Let’s Generalize About Men”.
Fun Fact: Santino Fontana, the original Prince Topher in Cinderella on Broadway, and the voice of Hans in Frozen, plays Greg in the first and second seasons.
- Rise
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Rise premiered on NBC in 2018, and unfortunately only lasted one season. Despite only lasting one season, the show still manages to tell a good story. The show follows a teacher, Lou (Josh Radnor), as he takes over the drama program at Stanton High School, hoping to improve it. Throughout the course of the season, the students produce the popular but provocative, musical Spring Awakening, and face many battles along the way. Rise is also based off the book Drama High by Michael Sokolove, which is based on a true story.
Fun Fact: Auli’i Cravalho (a.k.a. Moana) stars as Lilette.