It\u2019s possible that you may not have come across one of the funniest and most innovative series to have been on our screens in recent years. It ran between 2015 and 2019 but, because it was on Netflix and was pretty much ignored in the media, it never received the attention it deserved in the UK.<\/p>\n
Welcome to\u00a0Crazy Ex-Girlfriend<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n Its themes: love, obsession, mental instability, addiction,\u00a0 and friendship. Its tone: comic\/sad. Its genre: musical theatre. In every one its episodes, there were two or three musical numbers, some of eye-watering brilliance.<\/p>\n The series was created by Rachel Bloom\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0 who also starred as the serially lovestruck, hapless lawyer Rebecca Bunch\u00a0 \u2013 and Aline Brosh McKenna. The majority of the songs came from the team of Rachel Bloom, Adam Schlesinger and Jack Dolgen.<\/p>\n Recently it has occurred to me that surprisingly few songs really make me laugh, as opposed to smile or think \u2018Yes, that works\u2019 as I listen. There have really not been that many songwriters who can put words and music together to perfect comic effect.<\/p>\n The team behind the songs\u00a0Crazy Ex-Girlfriend<\/em>\u00a0belong near the top of the list. Like other writers, from Tom Lehrer to Tim Minchin, they often use musical parody as a way into a song. In the four series, there is almost no genre of music that doesn\u2019t get the treatment: bubblegum pop, torch songs, movie tearjerkers, country, the Carpenters, Sondheim, rap, folk, and onwards.<\/p>\n Because the composers have a genuine and affectionate knowledge of different musical forms, the take-offs tend to be pitch-perfect; because they are funny writers, there\u2019s great comic content beyond the style.<\/p>\n So when Rebecca Bunch has a Judy Garland\/Celine Dion diva moment, the theme of the song is self-loathing (\u2018You Stupid Bitch<\/a>\u2018).\u00a0 A jolly Huey Huey Newton take-off is used for a sexual confession (\u2018Gettin\u2019 Bi<\/a>\u2018).\u00a0 A tribute to the Supremes has a parental theme rarely covered by Tamla Motown (\u2018Maybe She\u2019s Not Such a Heinous Bitch After All<\/a>\u2018).<\/p>\n Also particularly worth a YouTube search are a jaunty tap-dancing number (\u2018We Tapped That Ass<\/a>\u2018), a bit of Irish folk (\u2018Greg\u2019s Drinking Song<\/a>\u2018), some singalong pop (\u2018The First Penis I Saw<\/a>\u2018) or some rap (\u2018JAP Battle Rap<\/a>\u2018).<\/p>\n Rachel Bloom first made her name in 2010 with a song which has a strong literary message, \u2018Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury<\/a>\u2018. She had worked with Jack Logan, and Adam Schlesinger was brought in as the third musical writer for the series.<\/p>\n Here is where the story becomes unexpectedly sad. Researching for this blog, I discovered the shocking news that Schlesinger died in April as result of the virus. He was 52.<\/p>\n Tributes to Adam Schlesinger<\/a>\u00a0not only reveal what a loss his death is but also, along the way, how the three composers worked together to produce such an astonishing number of songs (Vulture magazine has\u00a0ranked\u00a0 129\u00a0Crazy Ex-<\/em>Girlfriend<\/i>\u00a0songs<\/a>).<\/p>\n My Friday Song \u2013 a difficult choice with such a wonderful and varied list to choose from \u2013 is funny and subversive, taking a parody of The Weather Girls\u2019 \u2018It\u2019s Raining Men\u2019 and turning it into\u00a0a telling satrical take<\/a>\u00a0on gender stereotypes.<\/p>\n As Rachel Bloom once said, it\u2019s a song that manages to be both feminist and post-feminist.\u00a0 What a series \u2013 I can\u2019t wait to see what Rachel Bloom does next.<\/p>\n