A TV show doing a musical, where all the characters sing? You mean Glee, right? No, Buffy did the musical thing long before a show was dedicated to it. Now, to be fair, Buffy wasn't the first show to try it: The Simpsons did it (of course they did), though it was more musical numbers in regular episodes; That 70s Show did it the year before Buffy. Ally McBeal beat Joss Whedon to the punch a full three years earlier. Several shows had tried it through the decades. Yet when Buffy did it, it was a momentous occasion, for a number of reasons: For starters, the cast of the show did all their own singing (and dancing, in some cases). And several of them (Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters, Amber Benson) were actually quite good. For another, the show's creator, Joss Whedon, wrote and composed the entire episode - all original numbers. Even then, if that was the only standout quality of the episode, it might not rank as an episode where Buffy "changed everything" - but the episode was actually really, incredibly good, in terms of plot, and in the way it moved the storyline of the season forward. Read: it wasn't just a gimmick. In fact, it was key - and the way music was used, as something of a curse where characters bared their souls, was ingenious. In perhaps the most important moment of the season, Buffy admits to her friends that they did not save her from hell when they brought her back from the dead, but rather ripped her out of heaven - then breaks into song with "give me something to sing about!" to hammer the point home. Countless shows have tried to go the musical route since, no doubt inspired by the cult following this episode created (which included Rocky Horror like public viewings with audience interaction, and a soundtrack album) but none have come close to equaling it. It opened the door for them to try, however.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
