Measure life in love all over again.
Fox is bringing the Broadway musical "Rent" to your TV screen Sunday with "Rent" (7 EST/PST), yet another entry into the recent trend of live TV musicals.
Whether you're a Broadway devotee or just someone who has heard of "Hamilton," you'll love these five musical TV productions, which range from a classic like "Grease" to an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
If you want a preview of what 'Rent' might be like: 'Grease Live!'
One can only hope that "Rent" is more like Fox's "Grease Live!" than its "A Christmas Story Live!" The former is a riot of a good time, a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of a campy series that mixed the behind-the-scenes with the real scenes. The series wisely incorporated the scope television offers into the theatric elements like a live audience, and brought life to a classic story.
Buy it on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu or YouTube.
If you love John Legend: 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert'
This entry from our current resurgence of network TV musicals is so good because of the words "in concert." Capturing the epic scale of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical was always going to be hard, but the producers staged the series to the appropriate scale. Employing Legend and Sara Bareilles helped, too, which focused the show on the music more than anything else.
Stream it on Hulu.
If you are a millennial: 'High School Musical'
OK, OK, hear me out on this one. Is "High School Musical" a great musical? No. Is it a decently accomplished TV musical that helped bring the genre back? Absolutely. Disney Channel's uber-popular story of two high school kids who eschew social norms to audition for the school musical is a cheese-fest to be sure, but the soundtrack is infinitely hummable, and the baby versions of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens are delightfully adorable.
Rent or buy it on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu or YouTube.
If you want the best musical episode ever: 'Once More with Feeling' from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
Many a TV series has attempted the musical episode, a single episode where, for whatever reason, people start singing and dancing when they wouldn't have before. Many have been unsuccessful ("Scrubs"), but none has ever been better than "Buffy," which, in its sixth season, saw the residents of Sunnydale singing and tap-dancing after a demon appeared and turned the town into a musical. What the episode does better than its competitors is that it flawlessly integrates the ongoing plots of the season with the songs, and it throws a group of genuinely talented singers at expertly crafted songs. It's not just one of the best musical episodes ever; it's one of the best "Buffy" episodes ever.
Stream it on Hulu.
If you want a TV show that's musical every episode: 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'
Whether you like classic Broadway-style music, hip hop, country, pop or anything between, there's likely been a parody of it on "Crazy Ex." The series, which lampoons romantic comedy tropes about women while also being a thoughtful examination of mental health, features original songs every week, and they're usually genuine earworms. Whether you watch for the music or the performances or the writing or because it won a Golden Globe, it's worth your time.
Stream it on Netflix.
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