Supergirl/Flash: The Musical

Torchsong

It was announced today that this upcoming season the Supergirl/Flash 2-part crossover would be a musical.


...


That ellipsis back there was for everyone to get over their reaction to the first sentence and move on with their lives. :)

So the real question here is - what songs would you use in such a beast? The creators have said it'd mostly be existing songs that the characters would sing (hey, it's a lot of Glee kids) but there may be a few original tunes created for it.

A few off the top of my (and my friends) heads:

- That guy who was the Toyman's kid and who's carrying a torch for Kara/Supergirl should totally sing "That's Really Super, Supergirl" by XTC

- Ensemble cast singing "Greased Lightning" from Grease

- Cat Grant could totally sing "Dirty Laundry" by Don Henley

- Kara and her sister trading verses singing "My Sister" by Juliana Hatfield



Also Miss Martian's going to show up sometime in Supergirl's 2nd season.! Woot!

kiwijase

How about this for The Flash?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCBASt507WA

matchkitJOHN

I don't know about this. Music Meister maybe?

nweathington

I only watch Flash every now and then, and I haven’t watched Supergirl at all yet. This I might actually tune in for though.

Brack

matchkitJOHN said:

I don't know about this. Music Meister maybe?

This would be perfect. Kids who were watching Brave & The Bold are now in, or almost in, the target CW audience.

Adam_Murdough

Brack said:

matchkitJOHN said:

I don't know about this. Music Meister maybe?

This would be perfect. Kids who were watching Brave & The Bold are now in, or almost in, the target CW audience.

And just think: this time 'round, Neil Patrick Harris could play the character on-camera! With CHOREOGRAPHY!

Hex

This could be great.
The musical episode of Buffy (Once More, With Feeling) is widely regarded as the best episode of the entire series (citation needed).

mphil

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

nweathington

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

mphil

nweathington said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

Let me answer your question with a question; would they make the season finale the musical episode?

nweathington

mphil said:

nweathington said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

Let me answer your question with a question; would they make the season finale the musical episode?

Cop Rock did. :smiley:

nweathington

mphil said:

nweathington said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

Let me answer your question with a question; would they make the season finale the musical episode?

Seriously though, let me throw back a question to you: Would you like it if every single episode of the season was a season finale type of show? Wouldn’t that get kind of boring?

bralinator

nweathington said:

mphil said:

nweathington said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

Let me answer your question with a question; would they make the season finale the musical episode?

Cop Rock did. :smiley:

And the jury finds the for the plaintiff.

mphil

nweathington said:

mphil said:

nweathington said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

Let me answer your question with a question; would they make the season finale the musical episode?

Seriously though, let me throw back a question to you: Would you like it if every single episode of the season was a season finale type of show? Wouldn’t that get kind of boring?

I'm not suggesting that they be, just showing that they wouldn't do the musical thing on an important episode, which shows that the idea is a gimmick.

I'm all for monster-of-the-week type of episodes, I love those in fact, I just want the focus to be on character and telling a good story, not on a gimmick.

nweathington

bralinator said:

nweathington said:

mphil said:

nweathington said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

Who says you can’t have music and a story?

Let me answer your question with a question; would they make the season finale the musical episode?

Cop Rock did. :smiley:

And the jury finds the for the plaintiff.

One of my media writing classes in college studied Cop Rock. I had dismissed the show as a stupid idea like everyone else, but after watching it with an open mind I found it to be a show with great characters and stories. I think if it had been done today as a Netflix original or something like that, with better production values and better songs, instead of as an ’80s network show, it would probably have a nice-sized cult following. Probably not a smash hit, but successful enough to earn a decent run.

bralinator

Sir, you are welcome to try to file an appeal with the court of public opinion, but not on the basis of anecdotal evidence, conjecture or hearsay. The court of public opinion does not hear oral argument in every case and has issued a verdict.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWwNTSj2Cy0

CaptShazam

I like to believe that among all the various awards and honors in Randy Newman's trophy case, the Emmy award for Cop Rock is front and center.

nweathington

I'm not saying the show didn’t have its problems, and it’s easy to make fun of because of how different it was compared to what people expect from standard TV, but I’d seriously rather watch it than 85% (approximately) of the crap that’s on TV now.

nweathington

CaptShazam said:

I like to believe that among all the various awards and honors in Randy Newman's trophy case, the Emmy award for Cop Rock is front and center.

It won a total of two Emmys of the five it was nominated for, for what it’s worth.

Mark_Engblom

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

I'll throw my support behind mphil on this one. It's self-indulgent camp.

Brack

Mark_Engblom said:

mphil said:

I'm going to be the sourpuss, I hate stuff like this. I want a show with a story, not awards-bait episodes.

I'll throw my support behind mphil on this one. It's self-indulgent camp.

They are superhero shows. Self-indulgent camp is the baseline.

Mark_Engblom

So, then...I guess anything goes? I realize that musical episodes are now considered some kind of rite of passage within some quarters of fandom (usually former glee club/drama club types or their wannabes), but it's disappointing for those of us who don't share that perspective to watch shows that have worked hard to build up a certain level of legitimacy with the viewing public be willing to squander it over such frippery.

This isn't so much my insistence that superhero projects have to be all serious, all the time, but rather just someone questioning if a musical is necessarily the right way to offer something different or innovative. Because a musical episode may be many things, but it certainly isn't different or innovative.

Have fun, theatre majors!

Brack

Mark_Engblom said:

So, then...I guess anything goes? I realize that musical episodes are now considered some kind of rite of passage within some quarters of fandom (usually former glee club/drama club types or their wannabes), but it's disappointing for those of us who don't share that perspective to watch shows that have worked hard to build up a certain level of legitimacy with the viewing public be willing to squander it over such frippery.

This isn't so much my insistence that superhero projects have to be all serious, all the time, but rather just someone questioning if a musical is necessarily the right way to offer something different or innovative. Because a musical episode may be many things, but it certainly isn't different or innovative.

Have fun, theatre majors!

On the pecking order of things with "legitimacy", musicals are still miles ahead of superheroes TV shows.

Where is anyone from the shows saying they are doing this to be innovative? From what I've read they say they are doing it because they love musicals and have a lot of singers in both casts.

And as modern day Prime Time Soap Operas, the CW superhero shows already have a lot in common other recent examples of the genre like Glee, Nashville and Empire. And the mother of the current renaissance, Grey's Anatomy did its own musical episode. So this is entirely fitting for the genre.

mphil

I have nothing against musicals, but The Flash is not a musical. If I'm watching a Gene Kelly movie I know what I'm getting into it, I set my expectations for a light but fun story and good dancing. When I watch The Flash I'm expecting a broadcast superhero show. When I turn on The Flash this fall and Grant Gustin starts belting out showtunes I'm going to be disappointed and feel like I was robbed of an episode.

nweathington

Mark_Engblom said:

... but it's disappointing for those of us who don't share that perspective to watch shows that have worked hard to build up a certain level of legitimacy with the viewing public be willing to squander it over such frippery.

The thing is, the general viewing public seems to like this sort of thing. And the show's purpose isn't to achieve "legitimacy" but to bring in viewers. If this brings in viewers, it's good for the overall success and longevity of both shows. Skip it if you don't approve of the gimmick. I'm sure nothing important will happen anyway. ;)

mphil

Well, I don't pay attention to what next episodes are going to be, so I won't know about the musical until I hit "play" on my DVR. At which point I'll be disappointed and will skip it. Luckily there's enough comic book TV shows on nowadays that I'm never without something to watch, still behind on a couple of shows from last year.

bralinator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn8YubD01sk

To say that general viewing public seems to like this sort of thing is a bit vague. For every successful musical episode of a tv show, there are two more that failed. While some dramas like Chicago Hope can pull it off (using an aneurysm-fueled hallucination as an excuse for a character to burst into song), other shows like Oz are a mitigated failure on every level. I think most often a show that is campy (Buffy, Xena,) or comedy/dramedy (Scrubs, Ally McBeal, Love Boat) can pull it off, but if it's an action drama or anything similar, I think history has shown that it should stay far away from musical numbers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feuID7qXO_c

Mark_Engblom

nweathington said:

And the show's purpose isn't to achieve "legitimacy" but to bring in viewers

Well, yes, ultimately every TV show and movie's purpose is to get "butts in chairs" and turn a profit. But I'm not talking about that. The creative goal of any series is to design a believable world and cast of characters that viewers can connect with. Part of that illusion is to maintain a consistent tone that viewers can count on, while offering new twists and surprises that still play within that established paradigm. Things like the musical episode, while appealing to some, break with that paradigm and may alienate many of its newer fans (particularly people who don't marinate in geek culture). Also, to those of us who grew up in the shadow of the ultra-campy Batman TV show of the 60's, it's a little disconcerting to see so many fans willing to let that loopier brand of superheroics back into the mix. This may actually represent somewhat of a "generation gap" within comics fandom: us older fans who recognize how far we've come since "The Bat-Watusi" days (and the decades of humiliating "Bam! Biff! Pow!" headlines that followed it) and the younger (under 35) fans who seem so anxious to revive that same kooky-campy, randomly whimsical spirit.

nweathington

Mark_Engblom said:

Well, yes, ultimately every TV show and movie's purpose is to get "butts in chairs" and turn a profit. But I'm not talking about that. The creative goal of any series is to design a believable world and cast of characters that viewers can connect with. Part of that illusion is to maintain a consistent tone that viewers can count on, while offering new twists and surprises that still play within that established paradigm. Things like the musical episode, while appealing to some, break with that paradigm and may alienate many of its newer fans (particularly people who don't marinate in geek culture).

I agree with this for the most part. But Flash and Supergirl are lighter shows. [EDIT: Much, much closer to Buffy and Xena than to Oz]. I think they fall into the category of shows that can pull something like this off. Just my opinion.

Mark_Engblom said:

Also, to those of us who grew up in the shadow of the ultra-campy Batman TV show of the 60's, it's a little disconcerting to see so many fans willing to let that loopier brand of superheroics back into the mix. This may actually represent somewhat of a "generation gap" within comics fandom: us older fans who recognize how far we've come since "The Bat-Watusi" days (and the decades of humiliating "Bam! Biff! Pow!" headlines that followed it) and the younger (under 35) fans who seem so anxious to revive that same kooky-campy, randomly whimsical spirit.

As a 46-year-old, I have no problem with a world that celebrates both "Batman: Year One" and the '60s Batman TV show. I like one just as much as the other.

The thing I love most about comics is that the only limitation is the creators' imaginations. When I talk to non-readers about comics, that's the point I stress: that there is literally something for everyone. You want humor, we've got it. You want superheroes, we've got them too. You want funny superheroes, why we've got some of them as well. So I don't mind when superheroes in other mediums reflect that "anything can happen" attitude.

Mark_Engblom

nweathington said:

So I don't mind when superheroes in other mediums reflect that "anything can happen" attitude.

I generally don't either, but I'm also thinking about how it goes over with the fans of the show who aren't necessarily accustomed to the huge shifts in tone we (as comic book fans and pop culture nuts) are accustomed to. Whether we like it or not, it's THOSE people who determine if shows like this continue from season to season, not died-in-the-wool fans like us (we are still far too small a demographic to be a determining factor). Is the musical episode going to alienate more casual "probationary" fans? ? I honestly don't know...but it seems (to me) to be a needlessly risky and self-indulgent move. I think they call it "an unforced error" in baseball.

bralinator

Flash and Supergirl singing? Who exactly wants this again? Eric, are you actually even watching these shows currently? I don't think anyone here minds living in a world that celebrates Batman from the 60's and Frank Miller's version of Batman, but the two don't mix. I like peanut butter and filet mignon, but I don't combine the two. Same goes for Oreo's and sardines.

Almost no one wants superheroes singing and dancing about what's happening. It isn't the 1930's and there aren't as many musicals produced for a reason. They're VERY hard to do right and most people don't care for them. Did everyone forget Spider-Man 3? Oh sure, there's a vocal minority out there that the moment they heard this idea immediately got excited and thought "we NEED this," but I assure you there is a majority out there that thinks this is a terrible idea.

Nonetheless, it should be better than the Flash movie, so it's happening, no stopping it now. But I intend to demand that King Shark appear just so The Flash can jump him...