Top 20 Musical Episodes of Otherwise Non-Musical TV shows

There has always been this debate about whether musical episodes should exist or not. Are they even necessary and what purpose do they have. I myself have also wondered about this too. But there is something about them that is kinda good. Some musical episodes have great songs and actually help further the plot of the show. But then there are a few that just grind the show to a halt because of ratings or the showrunners just wanted to make it. Regardless, I have picked 20 episodes of shows that are musical ones and come from shows I have seen that are otherwise non-musical. All of them are my personal favourites, whether you agree or not. So let's get singing and dancing as we look at my personal favourite musical episodes of otherwise non-musical TV shows (and yes, films based on the TV shows will be included too):

20 - Jack and the Rave (Samurai Jack)

You'll notice that many of these episodes are not all musicals, but have music play a crucial or important role in the episode itself. Now, Samurai Jack is a cartoon all about a samurai trying to get back to his own time after being sent into the future where his demonic arch-nemesis Aku, has rose to power and become more powerful than ever. So powerful in fact that in this episode, he uses music to bend the minds of young people to his will. When Jack learns of young people going missing, he investigates and works to free all the people from Aku's control (though its actually one of his minions doing the work) which adds to his reputation of being a great warrior and hero who just wants to get home. It's definitely one of the many good episodes from the show's original run on Cartoon Network's old Toonami block (and later on, channel) in that its quite unique and shows just how powerful Aku has become in the short space of time that Jack has spent in this future. Music has never been so hypnotizing.

 

19 - Virtuoso (Star Trek: Voyager)

During Star Trek's resurgence that started in the late 80s and ended in the early 00s, There were many times when one of the shows went and did an episode set around music. One such example is this one where the showrunners wanted to take advantage of Robert Picardo's amazing singing voice and so they did an episode on Voyager where The Doctor's singing voice gets the attention of an alien race who have no concept of music. This proved to be a huge thing for them to the point where they would want to keep The Doctor for themselves. Definitley a big episode on character development on perhaps one of Voyager's more comedic characters, but definitley one where Picardo (and I've just discovered that the actor nearly has the same surname as a certain Enterprise captain) can shine and just use that amazing singing voice of his. An episode that pretty much is just an excuse to allow an actor's hidden talent to shine, but it does give out some character development if anything and gives The Doctor more appreciation on the starship.

 

18 - Hot Water (American Dad)

Not many people know this, but Seth MacFarlane had singing coaching years ago before his animation days and so he tried to have some musical episodes in his shows from time to time. Family Guy has famously had many of these, but so has American Dad too. In what is obviously a parody of Little Shop of Horrors (the one with Rick Moranis), Cee Lo Green narrates this episode where Stan buys a hot tub. Little do he and his family know that this hot tub has a dark history and seems to be quite sentient. It sings a lot, persuades Stan to abandon his family for it and eventually begins to murder those who dare try to take it down. It's quite dark for an American Dad episode, but it does well to parody the well known and beloved film as well as giving it a more modern twist with a hot tub in the place of a plant and soul/R&B music in the place of old school broadway numbers. It's good fun, over the top and has one of the most unexpected endings for any episode ever.

 

17 - The Bleakening (Bob's Burgers)

Often at Christmas, musicals tend to go all out everywhere, even on the small screen. There will be a few of these kinds of musical episodes and first up is one from Bob's Burgers. An animated adult sitcom that has received a similar amount of appreciation that The Simpsons gets, isn't as controversal as South Park and doesn't heavily rely on cutaway gags or very old jokes like Seth MacFarlane's shows. In this two part episode, the family are celebrating Christmas until a being known as the Bleaken starts causing trouble in the neighbourhood. The kids believe it's the Bleaken, but the parents think otherwise and what follows is a serious amount of musical numbers as they attempt to solve the mystery and reclaim what was lost. A fun story with a bit of horror, great music and a few LOL moments that capture the spirit of the holiday without trying to do something many, many other shows have done over and over again.

 

16 - The Blues Brothers and A Night at the Roxbury (Saturday Night Live)

When people think of Saturday Night Live's films, the one that people really enjoy is The Blues Brothers with the two Wayne's World films coming in second. The rest are just meh to not very good, but I do have a liking to A Night at the Roxbury. Both films are of course based on the titular sketches seen on SNL and while both of them are not completely musical, music plays a big part in the story. In The Blues Brothers, the duo attempt to form a band and raise money to save the orphanage they came from through music. Whereas in A Night at the Roxbury, the two protagonists love going out to nightclubs and dance the nights away, but real life just gets in the way of their fun, and they try to find a way out. One film is obviously better than the other, but both have great music even if the musical numbers are limited and its all good fun.

 

15 - Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam (Lucifer)

During a storyline in the series where Lucifer reunites with his dad who just so happens to be the one and only God, God spends a large chunk of this episode having everyone around him randomly do musical numbers. Nothing original is sung, but all the regulars get their chance to sing and even the almighty gets a song too. But some of the singing does feel a bit forced and some of the actors look a bit uncomfortable singing certain bits. But you know, its not often you get a musical episode like this and sung by characters of heaven and hell with humans. Forced and possibly unnecessary, but all good fun if nothing else.

 

14 - World Tour (Total Drama)

So I'm probably cheating a bit here by adding a whole season of a show on this list, but its not often that a show would be turned into a season long musical. Sure its one song per episode, but that's ok as long as it makes sense. Now the Total Drama series as a whole has always been a parody of reality shows where attractive young people compete to win a big prize by doing a series of trails and tribulations. In this particular season, they go on a world tour with each challenge being based around a certain country and its culture. During each episode, there is an instance where the contestants are forced to sing a number or face elimination and each number they sing is pretty good and original, but pretty randomly timed which I guess is so that some laughs can be had. Check it out if you want because this is far better than most reality shows out there even though this is animated and completely a parody of those kinds of shows. 

 

13 - The Sensitive Male (Johnny Bravo)

Yep even a man like Johnny Bravo needs some music in his life and that's what we got. While this particular story in an otherwise three story episode is not completely musical, it has a few good numbers all about how to approach women to go out with them. All sung by the same man who was voiced by the late jazz singer Jack Sheldon, but as the episode goes on, we and Bravo learn that the advice was not at all helpful in the end. One of the show's most well known and loved stories and perhaps one where Bravo may have learnt something in the end.

 

12 - Road to the North Pole (Family Guy)

Like I said earlier, Seth MacFarlane makes many opportunities to have his shows do a musical episode and Family Guy have done several of these. The one that me and many people like the most was this one which set around Christmas, belongs to a series of episodes where Brian and Stewie have a buddy adventure on their own. In this one, Stewie wants to find and kill Santa and Brian tags along to try and prove that Santa isn't real. But in what is arguably another original Christmas story, the pair find the guy, but he just isn't feeling right. Lots of musical numbers take place, all with meaning, and we learn the lesson of appreciate the presents that you get because no one likes a hoarder. 

 

11 - Big Fun (Riverdale)

Over the course of Riverdale's run, the show has taken many opportunities to do a musical episode. But unlike most shows, each one of these is a tribute of sorts to a well known musical film such as Heathers and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The one I personally like is Big Fun which is centred around Heathers, specifically the musical that is based on the film. Every one of the good-looking cast are great singers in their own right and with an episode like this, its of course going to be fun and that's what we get. Great moments from everyone involved and its another winner for the show's need to pay tribute to the films we loved in the decades leading up to the new millenium.

 

10 - The Devil's Hands are Idle Things (Futurama)

Similar to Seth MacFarlane's shows, Matt Groening's shows also take up the helm with a few musical ones. Now Futurama hasn't had as nearly enough musical episodes like The Simpsons, but when people think about it, the one that people remember most is the one featuring the robot devil who happens to be voiced by Dan Castellaneta (aka the voice of one Homer Simpson). It's also the show's original final episode before getting a revival thanks to Comedy Central. So at least the original run of the show went out in song and gave us some character development for Fry as he learns a new skill to woo Leela. A great one for sure. 

 

9 - LABretto (Dexter's Laboratory)

It's really hard to imagine a time when Cartoon Network was not the big cartoon channel that it is today. Sure its had a few ups and downs (why exactly did anyone think bringing completely live action shows was a good idea for a channel called CARTOON NETWORK) and was for a long time known as that one channel that gave us cartoons from WB's huge archive 24/7. But as the 90s came to a close, we finally got some original cartoons with the great Genndy Tartakovsky leading the charge with Dexter's Laboratory which ended up being one of the last few Hanna-Barbera shows to use their name before the company was absorbed completely by WB. It was a fun show about a little boy and his big secret laboratory that only his destructive and playful sister knows about. As the show was known for going a bit over the top some of the time (they even had an episode with bleeped swearing in it one time), they went all out with "LABretto" by making this story in a 20 minute long episode that usually has about three stories, a musical. Not just any musical though, but one that subtly ended up being an origin story of sorts for the show's main character. It was done in a opera style which isn't at all surprising and it works pretty well. It's also hard to forget that Seth MacFarlane worked on this very cartoon before the days of Family Guy and I get the feeling that this was one of his ideas for a story. It would make sense for sure.

 

8 - Treasure Island (Muppets)

Some of you out there may think this doesn't count, but I think it does because the Muppets did start out on television to begin with before making it to the big screen. Now apart from a couple of the films they have done, the majority have been musicals and out of all of them, this one takes the cake. Set pieces look great, a wise move to bring the great Tim Curry into it and its a lot of fun with dramatic moments, over the top musical numbers and really just an excuse for people to have a good time. Plus its a good alternative to those of us who have had enough of the many Pirates of the Caribbean films. It like with the latter part of A Muppet Christmas Carol has a few dark moments, but that's what you get when you have pirates.

 

7 - Wakko's Wish (Animaniacs)

The 90s definitley had a lot of great cartoons and if there is one that has had a huge impact if anything, it was the surprise hit that was Animaniacs. An animated sketch show with some weird and wacky characters and has plenty for both adults and children to enjoy. The Star Wars spiecial that it did, felt like a cop out for a finale to a beloved show. So I'm glad that the people behind it decided to make this film. It's a musical through and through and is a much more satisfying end to not just Animaniacs but also its spin-off The Pinky and The Brain and pretty much the majority of the cartoons that WB did with Steven Speilberg. It's funny, over the top and has great musical numbers while also trying out an original story featuring all or most of the show's characters instead of being a feature length series of short stories. Plus with the reboot now around, this would also serve as the last time you see many of the characters that were not carried over to the reboot. So yeah if you thought Yakko and Wacko's songs about countries were good, get a load of this.

 

6 - What's Opera Doc (Looney Tunes)

Some people these days consider the old Looney Tunes shorts as a TV series because of how most of them are crammed into a 20 or so minute slot on television. But we all must remember that back in the old days, these were shown at the cinema on their own because TV for a while didn't exist. There have been many times when these Looneys have done musical shorts, but this one in particular takes the cake. It uses the old scenario of Elmer Fudd hunting his favourite "Wabbit" Bugs Bunny, but instead of the usual way, it plays out like an opera piece. It's overly dramatic and funny, but also has quite a dark ending to it. Plus a few musical numbers make this one of the more beloved Looney Tunes shorts during its prime. Sure it may not count again, but I was bought up watching Looney Tunes as if they were a TV show so I'd say it does. But that's just me. 

 

5 - All Singing, All Dancing (The Simpsons)

So at last we come to The Simpsons whom during its golden years, had many, many, many great musical episodes. But it was really hard to pick just one because there are just so many good ones out there. So I settled on "All Singing, All Dancing" which OK sure its a clip show. But a clip show that's got many musical numbers with musical segways that see the Simspons trying to save themselves from Snake. If you want a collection of their best and most well known songs, this is the episode for you.

 

4 - Bigger, Longer and Uncut (South Park)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always enjoyed making South Park and be able to tackle a number of real iusses in a comedic yet controversial fashion. But even though they are still making the show today, many of us forget that there was a time where they were seriously thinking about ending it. This film was meant to be the finale of the show. They always saw themselves go out in song and this was the film to do it. Everything was put into place with Kenny dying for real and the whole town going to war against Canada with impossible odds of success with Kyle's mum leading the charge by going overboard with putting the blame on Canada's ways of "brainwashing" the children. It was a film that tackled many issues including war, racism, people just wanting to do something of the wrongs in the world and even pokes fun at the controversy that the show itself has had. Maybe it would've worked better as the actual finale, but who would've known that the creators would carry on with the show long after this film came out. I mean it has been Comedy Central's biggest show and also the one show that helped them get out of financial trouble (at least at first anyway). Love or hate the show, its here to stay and the film just proves that point well.

 

3 - Duet (The Flash)

Ever since the Arrowverse came to be, there have been many crossovers with the shows set in the universe and times when key characters guest star in each others shows if only for a bit. In a crossover episode of the Flash, the Flash himself and Supergirl wind up in a world where they are forced to sing. Both of them have had some relationship trouble with their respective partners prior, but I guess this only exists to not just bring both storylines together, but give the actors that can sing well a chance to shine. I mean Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist who both play the titular characters in their respective shows, both came from Glee which many of you know is a show where nearly every episode is a musical or has some musical moments. Plus you also have John Barrowman who while hasn't appeared in either show as a regular like he has done in both Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, he is a great singer himself. You also got Victor Garber and Jesse L. Martin (both Flash regulars) there as well singing and the Music Miester himself being Darren Criss who also comes from Glee. I guess in a way it counts as a small Glee reunion, but also having some big names from within the Arrowverse and some who are new to the series. It ties well into each shows' storylines at the time and we get a few good songs in it. Kind of nice to have a little break from the chaos that these shows are known to do.

 

2 - The Song in Your Heart (Once Upon a Time)

Once Upon a Time is an interesting show. It explores the concept of what would happen if fairy tale characters, folklore characters, characters from the Brothers Grimm stories and even Disney characters all wind up in the real world. Of course most of the characters are a combination of these different characters, but some are more obvious than others. Anyway, its kind of surprising that this show would wait till the sixth season before having its musical episode. I guess they wanted to wait until the right time and this feels like the right time because its just before the battle that had been prophesied from the very beginning. In the past setting, someone bought a curse onto the magical world that makes nearly everyone bust into song whenever they speak. You then get all sorts of musical numbers including the obvious hero and villains songs, an ally song and even in the present setting, there is a song or two that's sung. It's all good fun even if it arrives much later than we expected and it also ties into the season finale instead of being a glorified filler episode.

 

1 - Once More With Feeling (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

Yeah no surprise that I put this as my number one choice. This was Joss Whedon's first attempt at doing a musical episode and it does work well. It ties into the plot at the time well, everyone gets a chance to sing and Whedon is quite respectful of those who don't want huge singing parts. Its definitly one that many would not even want to see in a show like Buffy and yet somehow it works. A demon arriving in Sunnydale who puts a curse on the town that makes people bust into song when looking into their hearts. It also came during a point where Buffy has distanced herself from the Scooby Gang and they somehow all come together again in the end. It works really well as a musical episode and that's why its number one.

Now there is a good chance I have missed a few of your own favourites, so feel free to comment below of your favourite musical episodes or even films based on TV shows that just so happen to be musical. Many feel unnecessary, but these are definitley worth your time if anything.