Recently I overhead a ...
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Question: Recently I overhead a coworker saying how awful they thought
Pushing Daisies was. I, of course, interjected that I love it, while sadly consigning myself to the fact that this is going to be a love-it-or-hate-it show (and that chatter may unfortunately turn away viewers who would potentially enjoy it). Perhaps I'm a child at heart, but I can't help but cherish Chuck's enthusiasm, the whimsical effects, the expressions
Chi McBride uses and storyline twists such as sword-fighting with an Asian confederate's descendant. I then decided to try out
Viva Laughlin, despite the warnings of you and other critics. I thought if nothing else, it could be a guilty pleasure, "so bad it's good." I was wrong. It was mind-numbingly awful, with no pleasure of any kind. My biggest fear, though, is that this will discourage networks from taking chances on musical shows in the future. Though I don't think there will ever be a musical on the level of
CSI or
Desperate Housewives in popularity, I do think there's potential for success (perhaps in a shorter order on HBO or Showtime?). I bring up both shows because
Pushing Daisies (songs or not) reminds me of everything a good television musical should encompass, including splashy visuals and a love story at the center. The irony is that murder plays a part in both shows, but it's the other elements of
Daisies that would make it ideal for a musical. The number used in one episode far exceeded
Viva in every way: acting, directing, set design, song choice and, most important, emotion. Although I'm not opposed to future numbers like this, I am
not suggesting that
Pushing Daisies be turned into a musical. Rather, it is my hope that the networks look at this scene as an example of how to do a musical in the future, and that they completely ignore the horrid
Viva Laughlin. What do you think? Has
Viva doomed musical-lovers from ever seeing good musical series in the future?
Answer: The lesson learned from
Viva Laughlin (whose source material was a successful, and much superior, BBC miniseries) shouldn't be that musical storytelling has no place on TV. Rather, the lesson should be that if you do it, do it well, do it with conviction and with as much guts as gusto, all of which
Viva Laughlin sadly lacked. I'm at least as big a fan of the musical form as you seem to be and I cheered when top-shelf producers
Craig Zadan and
Neil Meron began to turn classic musical properties into first-rate TV films:
Gypsy,
the Rodgers & Hammerstein
Cinderella,
Annie and the Judy Garland bio starring Judy Davis. They've since taken their act to the big screen (
Chicago,
Hairspray), though they are still involved in TV (the upcoming
Raisin in the Sun, for one), and in talking to them over the years, I know they see every musical flop as a potential setback.
Viva wasn't enough of a musical to really qualify, I hope. But you're absolutely right that the tone of
Pushing Daisies is perfect for occasional musical interludes, and
Kristin Chenoweth's "Hopelessly Devoted to You" is a highlight of the entire TV season to date. Hooray for
Daisies' full-season pickup, by the way. Let's hope we have more musical interludes so we can continue singing that wonderful show's praises.
