10 TV Episodes That Should Have Jumped the Shark (But Didn't)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's famous musical episode arrived late in the game, during the show's penultimate season. And while Buffy had always had time for humour, levity, and experimentation, this took the supernatural show to unexpected places.

Season six's seventh episode, "Once More With Feeling" arrives during the darkest season - in which Willow (Alyson Hannigan) becomes a dark magic junkie, Spike (James Marsters) tries to r*pe Buffy, and Tara (Amber Benson) gets shot dead in her home - and finds Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) isolated from the Scooby Gang, unable to tell them that by bringing her back from the dead they pulled her out of heaven. So, of course, she breaks into spontaneous song, and everyone else follows. Amongst the whopping 17 musical numbers, we get a ballad from her Watcher Giles (Anthony Head), a rock number from vampire bad boy Spike, and a showtune from Anya and Xander (Emma Caulfield and Nicholas Brendon). Somehow, it all works.

The writing is second-to-none, with each song better than the previous, outshining most Broadway musicals. And, of course, the performances are great, showcasing most of the cast's pitch-perfect pipes, which is something we had only previously seen of Anthony Head. The episode successfully blends comedy and drama, dancing and fighting, working as a standalone spectacle but also gently advancing the overarching narrative concerns of all the main cast.

Once More With Feeling is legendary, it’s iconic, and yet it ought to have jumped clean over that shark.