TMC
04-06-2019, 02:48 AM
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-revived-tv-musical-the-cw/586555/
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend premiered on The CW in October 2015, just seven months after Glee, having failed to recapture its old magic, said goodbye. Three years earlier, critic Kevin Fallon cited the decline of both Glee and Smash in declaring "The TV musical is dead." (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/the-tv-musical-is-dead/255643/) Yet Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was able to breathe new life into the TV musical, says Isobel Lewis. "When it debuted, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend set itself apart from earlier TV musicals with its vivid sense of imagination and its willingness to celebrate, rather than explain away, the inherent ridiculousness of the genre," says Lewis. "Given that the series became acclaimed, in part, for its Rebecca-fronted numbers, it’s been remarkable to see how the protagonist’s personal development has forced the show to evolve as well. As enjoyable as Rebecca’s performances are, in recent episodes, every one of them has been prompted by a return to her old behaviors; when she’s working to improve herself, other people get to take center stage. This dynamic creates a dilemma for fans. It means that one possible outcome of Rebecca’s ongoing recovery is that she’ll stop imagining her life as a series of musical numbers. It might be fitting, then, that the show is concluding after Season 4, with Rebecca’s life seemingly on the upswing. Musical theater is, in many ways, escapism in its flashiest form, an indulgent departure from reality. As Rebecca continues to grow, she’ll begin to face life’s dramas in the real world, rather than on the private stage in her mind."
ALSO:
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend departs as its best and truest self: an extraordinary finale for an extraordinary series (https://tv.avclub.com/crazy-ex-girlfriend-departs-as-its-best-and-truest-self-1833707294)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's series finale was reminiscent of The Americans' ending (https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-finale-ending-review.html): "It gave viewers an ending they could not have predicted, and that probably didn’t initially feel as satisfying as whatever they’d been imagining in the run-up, but that felt right once you sat with it"
This was a pitch-perfect finale that felt totally true to its mission (https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale-recap-817701/)
The series finale was a mixed blessing: "We wanted more for Rebecca" (https://www.tvguide.com/news/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale/)
Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom discuss the series finale (https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/05/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale)
The final scene was planned from the beginning of the series (https://tvline.com/2019/04/05/crazy-ex-girlfriend-recap-series-finale-rebecca-im-in-love/)
Rachel Bloom on bringing Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to Broadway (https://deadline.com/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale-aline-brosh-mckenna-rachel-bloom-broadway-musical-comedy-1202589199/): "There’s a version of this show where it is a long TV show and then there’s an equally as interesting version where it’s a finite two and a half hour plot where you streamline things and obviously some things get cut out. So the idea is for it to be a companion piece to the TV show that does something different which is why I think musicalizing television shows is so much more interesting than musicalizing movies because movies already have that plot streamlined into two and a half hours."
Bloom reveals what didn't make the cut in the finale special (https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/05/rachel-bloom-crazy-ex-girlfriend-ending-concert-special/)
The CW's censorship forced Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to push boundaries, making it a better show (https://slate.com/culture/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-finale-censorship-standards-practices.html)
Behind the scenes of the final days of shooting (https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-finale-behind-the-scenes.html)
Check out Crazy Ex-Girlfriend finale set photos (https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/05/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale-aline-brosh-mckenna-photo-essay/)
Ranking the 20 best songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (https://qz.com/quartzy/1579911/the-20-best-songs-from-crazy-ex-girlfriend-ranked/)
The 24 best songs, ranked from great to spectacular (https://tvline.com/2019/04/01/crazy-ex-girlfriend-best-songs-list-music-videos-watch/)
The cast and crew pick their favorite songs (https://tvline.com/2019/04/03/crazy-ex-girlfriend-cast-favorite-songs-final-season/)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend premiered on The CW in October 2015, just seven months after Glee, having failed to recapture its old magic, said goodbye. Three years earlier, critic Kevin Fallon cited the decline of both Glee and Smash in declaring "The TV musical is dead." (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/the-tv-musical-is-dead/255643/) Yet Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was able to breathe new life into the TV musical, says Isobel Lewis. "When it debuted, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend set itself apart from earlier TV musicals with its vivid sense of imagination and its willingness to celebrate, rather than explain away, the inherent ridiculousness of the genre," says Lewis. "Given that the series became acclaimed, in part, for its Rebecca-fronted numbers, it’s been remarkable to see how the protagonist’s personal development has forced the show to evolve as well. As enjoyable as Rebecca’s performances are, in recent episodes, every one of them has been prompted by a return to her old behaviors; when she’s working to improve herself, other people get to take center stage. This dynamic creates a dilemma for fans. It means that one possible outcome of Rebecca’s ongoing recovery is that she’ll stop imagining her life as a series of musical numbers. It might be fitting, then, that the show is concluding after Season 4, with Rebecca’s life seemingly on the upswing. Musical theater is, in many ways, escapism in its flashiest form, an indulgent departure from reality. As Rebecca continues to grow, she’ll begin to face life’s dramas in the real world, rather than on the private stage in her mind."
ALSO:
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend departs as its best and truest self: an extraordinary finale for an extraordinary series (https://tv.avclub.com/crazy-ex-girlfriend-departs-as-its-best-and-truest-self-1833707294)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's series finale was reminiscent of The Americans' ending (https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-finale-ending-review.html): "It gave viewers an ending they could not have predicted, and that probably didn’t initially feel as satisfying as whatever they’d been imagining in the run-up, but that felt right once you sat with it"
This was a pitch-perfect finale that felt totally true to its mission (https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale-recap-817701/)
The series finale was a mixed blessing: "We wanted more for Rebecca" (https://www.tvguide.com/news/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale/)
Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom discuss the series finale (https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/05/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale)
The final scene was planned from the beginning of the series (https://tvline.com/2019/04/05/crazy-ex-girlfriend-recap-series-finale-rebecca-im-in-love/)
Rachel Bloom on bringing Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to Broadway (https://deadline.com/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale-aline-brosh-mckenna-rachel-bloom-broadway-musical-comedy-1202589199/): "There’s a version of this show where it is a long TV show and then there’s an equally as interesting version where it’s a finite two and a half hour plot where you streamline things and obviously some things get cut out. So the idea is for it to be a companion piece to the TV show that does something different which is why I think musicalizing television shows is so much more interesting than musicalizing movies because movies already have that plot streamlined into two and a half hours."
Bloom reveals what didn't make the cut in the finale special (https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/05/rachel-bloom-crazy-ex-girlfriend-ending-concert-special/)
The CW's censorship forced Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to push boundaries, making it a better show (https://slate.com/culture/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-finale-censorship-standards-practices.html)
Behind the scenes of the final days of shooting (https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/crazy-ex-girlfriend-finale-behind-the-scenes.html)
Check out Crazy Ex-Girlfriend finale set photos (https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/05/crazy-ex-girlfriend-series-finale-aline-brosh-mckenna-photo-essay/)
Ranking the 20 best songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (https://qz.com/quartzy/1579911/the-20-best-songs-from-crazy-ex-girlfriend-ranked/)
The 24 best songs, ranked from great to spectacular (https://tvline.com/2019/04/01/crazy-ex-girlfriend-best-songs-list-music-videos-watch/)
The cast and crew pick their favorite songs (https://tvline.com/2019/04/03/crazy-ex-girlfriend-cast-favorite-songs-final-season/)