Archives for November 2020

This is it. The most underrated show (in my opinion) of ALL TIME. And it’s GAAALAAAVAAAAANT (Just watch the video, the whole thing please, there’s no way I can do it justice by explaining).

If the video wasn’t clear enough, Galavant is essentially a medieval spoof musical. I like to describe it as “what people from 2020 would do and say if they were experiencing the musical equivalent of Game of Thrones.”

I’m sure that description really cleared things up for you.

Unlike other, dare I say, “cheesier” musicals, the whole point of Galavant is to address musical cliches with clever plots and quips. Each character fits a typical trope of medieval folklore (the hero, the damsel in distress, the evil king, the henchman, the sidekick/squire), but they react to situations exactly as you or I would.

For example, just in case you dared to skip over the intro video, Galavant, the hero, has his true love, Madalena, stolen by the “tyrannical” King Richard. When he goes to save her, she immediately rebukes him to choose wealth and power over his rescue.

It’s like in Romeo and Juliet when we’re all just like: Are you kidding me, you two are like 12 isn’t this a bit dramatic? Ever heard of ‘dating in secret’?

But the characters themselves are expressing these opinions.

And to take it one step further, the characters are expressing themselves in SONG. Alan Menken, famous Disney composer (think Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Hercules, Tangled, etc.), is the man behind these amazing musical numbers. His background at Disney helps him capture the innocent melodies that you would expect from a musical, but their lyrics have a starkly different tone.

Here’s a perfect example from “She’ll Be Mine,” (Where King Richard is plotting how to get back at Galavant):

 

This element of Galavant is what makes it so damn funny. Rather than romanticize the Middle Ages, Galavant portrays all of its flaws (and those of stereotypical medieval tropes), but still in a catchy and entertaining way.

Two characters that very accurately represent some of the downfalls of the middle ages are Kind Richard’s Chef, Vincenzo, and Queen Madalena’s handmaiden, Gwen. The two are pretty much the only characters who are part of the serfdom, and their plotlines are always filled with depressingly realistic material that is presented in the perfect way:

Like in, “If I Could Share My Life with You”:

In addition to the writer’s commentary on medieval content, a lot of the times they parody current jokes or issues. For example, after King Richard is dethroned and Galavant is forced to help him reclaim his kingdom, they return to find that his castle has been torn down and his people instead implemented a fancy new system called “democracy.” While King Richard is there only to reclaim his kingdom, Galavant is trying to raise an army to save his (new) true love, Isabella. When Galavant asks Peasant John (a peasant from Richard’s ex-kingdom) to use their army to go to war, he explains that they would have to put Galavant’s proposal to a vote to be approved. Peasant John then quips:

“I can’t imagine the free people ever voting to send an army into an open-ended foreign conflict which profits only a few.” He then turns and looks straight at the camera and says: “now THAT would be madness.”

Obviously, Peasant John has some opinions that may or may not also relate to issues we deal with today.

The truth of the matter is Galavant never really took off; the show got cut after two seasons. I know you’re all devastated because you’re equally invested in this show after reading one blog post about it. But I swear, it’s the truth! The show only had two magnificent seasons:

I try to look at it as a glass-half-full-glass-half-canceled kinda deal. Galavant is jam-packed with amazing content (because it never hit a rut where the writers ran out of plot points/musical numbers), but at the same time, there are only two seasons with nine episodes each for me to cycle through.

We also got this perfect musical number because of how bad Galavant was doing rating-wise where the characters broke the fourth wall and complained about the show’s lack of popularity:

So as I’m ending my 10th and final blog, I hope I’ve provided you some new potential entertainment ideas for the two months we all have at home. And I hope you all decide to give this underdog show a chance and learn the tale of GAAALAAAVAAAANT!!

If you don’t live under a rock and have Netflix it’s inevitable that you have seen ads for one of Netflix’s first original creations, GLOW. Considering my three primary readers are dudes, I would predict that you would take one look at this promotional picture and think: “yep, total chick flick, I’ll pass.” But guess what. Chick Flicks can be dude flicks too (I know, I know, I’m just full of philosophical genius).

GLOW is set in the mid-1980s and follows failed horror movie director, Sam Sylvia (played by Marc Maron), on his new film project, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which is exactly what it sounds like, a women’s professional wrestling program. Sam is the stereotypical washed-out director from the 80s. He’s a little cranky, overly blunt, sometimes profound, and has a bit of a drug problem. But he’s the perfect foil for the other main character: Ruth Wilder. Ruth (played by Alison Brie) is a struggling actress looking for “real parts” and her next big break. When she tries out for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the two have some hilarious interactions. Sam can clearly tell Ruth is trying to butter him up, and he just doesn’t give a shiitake.

Ok, this can get a little confusing. GLOW is the name of the Netflix TV show, but it is also the name of the TV show within the Netflix series that Sam is trying to create. So for example, in the first episode of GLOW (the Netflix show), Sam is holding auditions for the TV show he wants to produce, called GLOW (which he is trying to get off the ground). To try and clear up this confusion, if I’m talking generally about the Netflix show, I’ll write GLOW, but if I’m talking about Sam’s film project, I’ll write Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Within the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, Sam creates wrestling alter egos that can only be called offensive. For example, one of the actresses who auditioned for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, Arthie Premkumar, is a pre-med Indian-American student. Sam assigns her wrestling persona to be “Beirut the Mad Bomber.” Another actress, Jenny Chey (played by Ellen Wong) is an immigrant of Cambodian heritage, and Sam dubs her “Fortune Cookie.” While these names would clearly never be accepted in our current public sphere, it speaks to the treatment that minorities (in particular women) faced in the 80s. While this may be hard to believe, there was an actual Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling TV show in the 80s. And what’s even crazier is the fact that the majority of characters in GLOW are based on real wrestling personas from the 80s show.

As mentioned, Ruth is the eager beaver of the group who wants her big break, so when she is assigned the role of “Zoya the Destroya,” the ultimate villain, she is devastated (if you want to know WHY she is given a terrible part, I don’t want to spoil it so go watch!). Instead, her ex-best friend, Debbie, gets the part of “Liberty Bell” the ultimate American sweetheart. While Debbie and Ruth hate each other in real life, they’re forced to work together because the Russian villain always has to lose to the American hero (it’s the 80s remember?). Just a quick shameless plug for Alison Brie and Debbie Gilpin. These two are AMAZING actresses. The two are bad assess in real life and in the show. Just listening to Alison Brie’s Russian accent as Ruth/Zoya gives me life.

In addition to this, as the characters of Ruth and Debbie are learning to wrestle, so are Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin. These two actresses perform almost all of their stunts, And these aren’t basic stunts either. Just watching these two completely destroy their performances and perform complex stunts gives me the motivation to do the bare minimum for a day.

Believe me, I get it. I’m a girl who has been preaching to my three male readers about a show within a show about women’s wrestling. There is a completely justified reason this show is near the very top of my underrated shows list. There is humor, romance, action, and real issues that these women go through. So please, PLEASE, give this show a chance!