If you haven’t watched Schmigadoon!, here’s your call to action! If you love musicals, you’ll love it. If you don’t like musicals, you’ll also love it, because it doesn’t hesitate to mock every aspect you probably hate about them. If that’s not enough, get a load of the all star cast: Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key, Aaron Tveit, Kristin Chenoweth, Ariana DeBose, Alan Cumming, and Fred Armisen… to name a few.
But more than a parody, Schmigadoon! is also a complete musical. And it’s a season of television (well, at least in the world of our new mini-seasons of 10, 8, or 6 episodes).
I was shocked by how Schmigadoon! hits all the similar structure points of a traditional musical. Opening number, conditional love songs, introductions of minor comedic characters, pointless production numbers (Corn Puddin’, anyone?). The six episodes total around 3 hours, not much longer than a live show. It also contains twenty-plus songs, similar to your typical stage musical, rounding out with a spirited company finale.
Chief among the differences, however: rather than being presented in one performance, Schmigadoon! aired over six weeks. I watched it as it aired, though I recognize many other people may binge it in one day now that it’s out, or choose to watch episodes at their leisure. It was odd to watch a musical piecemeal, from my own home, not stuck in a theater, not wanting to stretch legs, wondering when I can pee, hoping for intermission… Instead of a two-act structure, the story was delivered in a 6-episode structure, necessitating more break points to chunk it into half-hour pieces.
If you watch as it aired like I did, you experienced this story over a month, one chunk at a time. Most importantly, if you watch it without seeking out spoilers in advance – you don’t have a Playbill in your lap, meaning you don’t know what’s coming. The tradition of playbills and the existence of cast albums for live musicals make a certain amount of fore-knowledge of the show an accepted tradition of live musical theater. I’m not against this; in fact, I usually get more out of the highly anticipated (and frequently expensive) trip to see a live show if I have some familiarity in advance.
If I’d had a playbill to warn me of all the song titles and who would sing them in Schmigadoon!, it would’ve fundamentally changed the experience. I would not have been along for the ride, and I would not have been so moved by the final song which caught me extremely off guard (maybe more than it should’ve, but hey, I was caught up in the story!). I’m being vague here, of course, to avoid ruining this experience of genuine discovery for anyone who wants to watch the show. And I do recommend you check it out, to enjoy the wonderful cast, the no-holds-barred skewering of Golden Age musicals, and also to see how many of the songs you can identify the inspiration of. (Keep an ear out for some Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The Sound of Music tunes, as a hint!) Perhaps, once you finish, you’ll be surprised and moved by the ending as I was, without a Playbill to lay it out for you.
Premieres This Week
If you’re a fan of horror, Midnight Mass drops on Netflix today:
Season 18 of Grey’s Anatomy premieres on ABC on Thursday, September 30th. Listen to our podcast episode on the pilot here.
Other TV News
The Primetime Emmys were last Sunday, and our favorite moment was when Michaela Coel won Best Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for I May Destroy You. Check out her acceptance speech:
IATSE has not come to an agreement with producers during negotiations on their new contract, and are holding a vote to authorize a strike. If the authorization goes through this would impact film and TV production across the country. You can follow the Instagram account @ia_stories for personal accounts from members of IATSE and to learn more about what they’re fighting for in their new contract, including a living wage and reasonable rest time.
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