The trope of the TV musical episode is often played for laughs; full of extravagant jazz hands and brassy musical numbers. However, the genre of musical episode can be used as a concise means of conveying emotion and interiority. We take a look at how Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Horror Story and Community have bent genres and used the melodrama of the musical to create emotional intensity.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: ‘Once More with Feeling’ (season 6, episode 7)
It’s getting eerie/ What’s this cheery singing all about?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s ‘Once More, With Feeling’ is a cult favourite among fans; it was nominated for an Emmy Award for musical direction in 2002 and shadow casts perform the episode on stage. The episode’s premise was that a demon had been released who would force people to sing and dance until they burst into flames. In particular, characters would sing their inner thoughts with both hilarious and poignant consequences.
What’s spectacular about this episode is that it allows for a juxtaposition of tones; characters Anya and Xander sing a comedy song about their hesitations to getting married, and in the climactic scene, Buffy sings ‘Something to Sing About’. She begins by reciting hollow idioms like “where there’s life there’s hope”, but ends up voicing her struggle with depression. At a thematic level, the juxtaposition of energetic musical tone with darker emotional content illustrated Buffy’s struggle to maintain an illusion of normalcy. The episode became a turning point in the series arc, allowing creator Joss Whedon to address themes of depression and isolation in an approachable way.
At its heart, OMWF is a fun mashup of cheesiness and emotional drama, typical of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode is self-consciously full of musical gags- When Buffy needed backup in a fight, characters Anya and Tara were quick to lead vocal back up to her singing, and other characters even sang about the absurdity of their spontaneous performances.
- American Horror Story: seasons 2, 3 and 4
Do you know your name?
American Horror Story’s initial stab (pun intended) at a musical episode was in season two’s Asylum’s episode‘The Name Game’. The episode began a tradition of musical performances in following seasons, with varying levels of success. ‘The Name Game’ saw the sadistic Sister Jude electro-shocked, and submitted to the asylum as a patient. The eponymous song was introduced through her hallucination, with the energy of the performance providing stark contrast to the reality of the plot. “Do you know your name?” character Lana asked as sister Jude looked on in confusion at a jukebox. The following scene saw actress Jessica Lange don a sparkly shift dress and coiffed hair coiffed while otherwise despondent inmates danced around her.
This in-world performance of music was successful because it provided contrast to the psychological horror of the plot. By including this dramatic contrast in style and tone, Briafcliff asylum appeared more horrifying for the comparison. The scene additionally heightened the impact of Lange’s physical portrayal of Jude. While she had suffered at the hands of the hospital staff and could not communicate, Sister Jude’s hallucination gave a glimpse into her active mind.
Stylistically, the entirety of season three’s Coven series paid homage to Stevie Nicks. The witches dressed in black velvet and floppy felt hats, and prepared for a series of magical trials called ‘The Seven Wonders’ (yes, really.) Towards the end of the series Stevie Nicks herself made a cameo. The witches received a private performance of ‘Rhiannon’, while the episode ‘The Seven Wonders’ provided an excuse for an all-out music video, with Nicks striding through the halls of Miss Robichaux’s Academy.
If American Horror Story: Coven danced around musical allusions, season four’s Freakshow went no holds barred and introduced musical numbers in every other episode. Performances were snuck in under the guise of in-world performances by the circus’s acting troupe. Jimmy Darling the “Lobster Boy” sang for acceptance through Nirvana’s ‘Come as You Are’, and Elsa Mars’ played the part of a tragic clown in her performance of David Bowie‘s ‘Life on Mars’. It’s true that the music chosen provided some characterisation, but fans have been critical of the overuse of music in later series. The “music video” format had the tendency to feel forced and formulaic. At the end of the day the AHS franchise has never been one to shy away from hyperbole. As the horror element became increasingly convoluted, so did the music.
- Community: “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” (season 2, episode 11)
“I think we should commit to the format- starting with a song”
For Community, the musical episode was just a tick on a long bucket-list of tv tropes. Having spoofed documentary, action and horror genres (to name a few), a musical episode was always going to be in the works. ‘Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas’ spanned several genres, being a Christmas themed, stop motion musical extravaganza. The episode opened with a festive rendition of the show’s theme song, then delved into character Abed’s escapist Christmas fantasy.
Two story lines played out: In the real world, Abed was in a group therapy session to work through some emotional trauma; at the same time he attempted to escape that trauma by imagining the Community gang in a Christmas wonderland. The literal “tinsel town” musical format illustrated his unrealistic expectations for a perfect holiday experience. Community’s musical numbers were a hybrid of cheery Christmas songs, with lyrical dissonance that characterised the cast as spoilt baby cupie dolls and broken robots. Through the use of musical numbers, the show highlighted the gap between expectations and reality. Characters resistance to the genre -“Do we have to sing?”- gave rise to the song ‘What Christmas is For’, suggesting that there were many ways to have a fulfilling holiday experience.
Different TV shows have taken the trope of the musical episode and used it to their advantage, injecting it with their own flavour. They might have contrasted fantasy and reality, like Community, or provided a new way to convey emotion, as with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The genre of musical episode has given TV shows an opportunity to depart from their normal format and play with cliché and expectation.
What are your favourite musical moments from TV? Let us know in the comments below!
