Whedonesque : Comments on 14506 : Hollywood Reporter column compares Buffy Musical with "Viva Laughlin".

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October 20 2007

Hollywood Reporter column compares Buffy Musical with "Viva Laughlin". An interesting column from Andrew Wallenstein of the Hollywood Reporter compares "Once More With Feeling" to the premiere of Viva Laughlin in a discussion of how some TV shows take the risk of making musical episodes.

While OMWF is praised, and there's comment on how the screenings had to be closed down recently, Laughlin doesn't get the same praise, especialy when it's compared to the original version, Viva Blackpool. It also talks how other shows make musical episodes, including Scrubs and That '70's Show, and how they compare.

[ edited by impalergeneral on 2007-10-20 01:56 ]

impalergeneral | BtVS | 04:56 CET | 6 comments total | tags: buffy, once, more, with, feeling, viva, laughlin, sarah, michelle, gellar, joss, whedon

OMWF wasn't a musical just to be a musical, the music was the critical nature of the episode, which turned out to be the literary climax of the entire season.

The songs weren't tacked on just for fun, they were the very nature of the proceedings. That's what makes OMWF unique and, to my mind, utterly brilliant.

Oh, that, and the songs, the writing, the dancing, the acting, and, um, did I mention the story?

Chris inVirginia | October 20, 05:14 CET

I'm sure that this article will get a little bashing for the (unfortunate) repeated use of "Buffyoke", but I do like the respect given to "Once More, With Feeling". How it's done right, indeed.

LKW | October 20, 05:15 CET

Matt Roush of the TV Guide fame also mentioned OMWF in a good way, as the a musical done right, while reviewing Viva Laughlin also.

Numfar PTB | October 20, 05:21 CET

Trying to have a sense of humor about it, but I think "Buffyoke" is a little demeaning with respect to OMWF. It doesn't sound like all original songs, all sung by the cast members. Maybe they asked for it with that DVD feature, though ;).

Fortunately, few people read the Hollywood Reporter.

dreamlogic | October 20, 08:16 CET

What Chris inVirginia said. The genius of OMWF lies in the fact that each song was a revelation about what was going on inside each character, the things they'd been unable to communicate to each other or admit to themselves. And of course, in the genius of Joss :)

Shey | October 20, 16:24 CET

There are musicals, and Musicals. That is, Fred Astair musicals were "haven't had a song in a few minutes, lets find one and plop it in".

Whereas Lerner and Lowe, Rogers and Hammerstein, and folks like that, the songs were integral. Stuff HAPPENED in the songs; revelations, plot points ocurred.

That's why most of the songs don't entirely work alone, that is, they aren't stand-alone. They'd always make sure they had a couple of generic songs (Street Where You Live, for instance) to go on the radio. Most of the songs are so specific that they don't entirely make sense out of context.

I caught wind of there being a musical in Buffy, and assumed it was a musical.

Was I wrong?!?!?!

It was a friggin' Musical! Or MUSICAL. (kinda like opera, but without the unbearable catterwalling that makes opera unlistentoable -- unlistenable to -- whatever)

BTW, OMWF screenings still live, in a way. A few nights ago, a friend with a big wide screen had a few people over for wine, cheese and crackers, and a viewing. I hadn't realized the other guests had only seen the first 2 seasons, which I thought was unfortunate. But they loved it anyway.

I'm thinking she might do Firefly showings, too, as they loved it, but only saw the broadcasts, thus not all of the eps.

tehabwa | October 22, 02:15 CET

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