You know how some of the greatest TV series in existence always have songs that you can’t stop singing along to? Yeah, we’re talking Glee, we’re talking The Mighty Boosh, Summer Heights High… well, BBC Three is bringing a brand new type of reality show to our eyes and ears, and we cannot WAIT to get stuck in to it.
So to celebrate South Side Story, we thought we’d have a dig through some of the older TV series which featured musical episodes.
Have we missed any off? Let us know in the comments below!
Catch South Side Story on BBC iPlayer.
Scrubs
The sixth season of our fave US medical comedy series brought with it the especially hilarious My Musical episode, in which almost every line was sung by the characters. JD and Turk managed to bring the now-iconic Guy Love song to international attention, for which we thank them.
Ally McBeal
Bring back Ally McBeal, amiright? The season three finale featured the wonderful The Musical, Almost episode, where the characters sang pop songs as part of their therapy. They’re also off their faces on (legal) medicine, which only makes it funnier.
How I Met Your Mother
How could we EVER forget the 100th episode of HIMYM with its Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit extravaganza? Neil Patrick Harris’s megalomaniac Barney NEARLY turning down all his expensive suits to win the affections of a one night stand almost gave us a heart attack, but luckily we had the sight of Cobie Smulders in a tailored two-piece to get us through it.
South Park
After 12 seasons we were beginning to wonder whether South Park had much more to give. Luckily writer Trey Parker pulled it out of the bag with his Elementary School Musical episode that parodied High School Musical and gave us the incredible sounds of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny, er, ‘singing’.
The Simpsons
Okay, so technically The Simpsons got in there before South Park with its High School Musical rip-off, but we can’t decide which of the cartoon series wins. The Simpsons’ own Elementary School Musical featured Krusty the Clown inviting Homer to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway and then getting sued for public indecency. Casual. The musical episode also had cameos from Glee’s Lea Michele, Amber Riley and the late Cory Monteith.
That 70s Show
It’s now known as the TV show that eventually brought together Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis – but it ALSO gave us the spectacular pairing of Fez and his over-active imagination, which gave birth to THIS musical episode:
Community
Cult comedy Community decided to go one step further with its season three Christmas special by parodying Glee. Regional Holiday Music was the result, which had Danny Pudi’s Abed attempting to persuade the whole Study Group to join the college’s glee club so they could qualify for regionals.