Musical episodes of TV shows weren’t invented by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, nor by Xena: Warrior Princess either. But it was Xena that came up with a way of doing musical episodes that was incredibly effective, and Buffy that perfected it, producing a musical that has been a touchstone for TV ever since.
Some TV shows are designed to be a musical every week, of course, from Glee to Schmigadoon! to Flight of the Conchords. But there is also a fairly long-standing tradition of non-musical shows including musical episodes from time to time.
It might seem like having characters who do not normally sing randomly burst into song would be restricted to science fiction and fantasy, in which an invented reason can be provided for the singing, but plenty of non-sci fi and fantasy shows have done musicals either by making the whole thing take place inside someone’s...
Some TV shows are designed to be a musical every week, of course, from Glee to Schmigadoon! to Flight of the Conchords. But there is also a fairly long-standing tradition of non-musical shows including musical episodes from time to time.
It might seem like having characters who do not normally sing randomly burst into song would be restricted to science fiction and fantasy, in which an invented reason can be provided for the singing, but plenty of non-sci fi and fantasy shows have done musicals either by making the whole thing take place inside someone’s...
- 4/8/2024
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
When Darcy C. Scanlin was hired as the production designer of “Uncle Frank,” she had a very good idea of what writer and director Alan Ball wanted.
All she had to do was read the script.
Scanlin tells Variety that the pages were full of notes describing every location in exacting detail. “It actually gives me goose bumps thinking about it because his sense of storytelling and place is so rich and so vivid,” Scanlin says.
In the film, which bows Nov. 25 on Amazon Prime, Paul Bettany plays Frank, a gay English professor in New York City in the 1970s who returns to his childhood home in the South when his father dies. The trip triggers traumas from his past as he grapples with not telling his family about his sexuality and that the man he’s brought with him is his longtime partner, Wally (played by Peter Macdissi).
The...
All she had to do was read the script.
Scanlin tells Variety that the pages were full of notes describing every location in exacting detail. “It actually gives me goose bumps thinking about it because his sense of storytelling and place is so rich and so vivid,” Scanlin says.
In the film, which bows Nov. 25 on Amazon Prime, Paul Bettany plays Frank, a gay English professor in New York City in the 1970s who returns to his childhood home in the South when his father dies. The trip triggers traumas from his past as he grapples with not telling his family about his sexuality and that the man he’s brought with him is his longtime partner, Wally (played by Peter Macdissi).
The...
- 11/25/2020
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
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