Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC)

https://www.nbc.com/zoeys-extraordinary-playlist
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV Series 2020– ) - IMDb

Jane Levy (formerly of "Suburgatory") plays the titular character, & displays a suprising amount of singing chops herself. I watched the pilot back in January when it first aired, and was amazed at the quality from beginning to end. I re-watched again when the pilot & episode 2 were aired back-to-back this week, and came away equally impressed, with all the same "feels". The dance numbers are done extremely well, as is the associated camera work, imo. I enjoy how they use "ordinary looking" people, who are able to break into song & dance in public settings. This is what the dance numbers in "LaLa Land" should have been like (again, imo).

I still have yet to watch ep2, & hope-against-hope that they are able to sustain the quality of the musical numbers from week-to-week. If you're a musical theater fan, catch whatever episodes you can, while they last.

 

I'll have to check it out, thanks.

 

I liked Jane Levy on Suburgatory a lot and will definitely check this out.

 

Me, too! And, she was great in Netflix "What/If" w/Renee Zellweger! So far, I've only seen first episode; looking forward to 2nd. Music theatre-type tv shows can go either way, but I think this goes a bit beyond, w/Zoe's & the family drama, tying in. I'd thought the flash mob dance scene in one of the Modern Family episodes was done really well & the one on The Affair, too -including upload in spoiler; it's in series finale.

Spoiler

The Affair finale *flash mob dance*

What/If with Renée Zellweger | Official Trailer | Netflix - What/If

 

I've nearly given up on network TV... No- in fact I had! And so I watched ZOEY on Sunday night. My criteria now is that... "I just want to be entertained." And I was. I'll be checking it out again.

 

I watched episode 2 last night, and was equally impressed with the quality levels compared to the pilot. Frankly, I'm surprised they are sticking with a full-hour format, rather than half, which could take the pressure off a bit. I will definitely continue to watch while it lasts.

 

Wife and I have seen episode 1 and enjoyed it. Have episode 2 on PVR and will be watching probably this evening.

Yeah Jane Levy is a cutie and comes across as a genuinely nice person. Liked her in Suburgatory. She carried that show as far as I'm concerned.

 

I watched the first two eps the other night, and while Jane Levy is certainly likeable enough, I gotta say I don't care for the show and won't be watching further eps. It's all bit too much Zoey's Extraordinary Karaoke for me. If I want to hear Help, well there's The Beatles for that. I certainly don't want to hear a bunch of unrecognizable Hollywood bit-part players running through the tune.

YMMV.

 

Yeah, then this show is definitely not for you. Glad you tried it, at least.

Although, I don't know what you might expect going in? Original songs by the original bands?

The music is the central connector of the show. Even Zoey often doesn't know some of the songs playing in her head, and has to do some research to get their full meaning. It's about the lyrics of those songs as they relate to the situation at hand, whether it's a random stranger on the street's current state-of-mind, or it's conveyance of her father's thoughts & feelings despite his extremely limited communication abilities. The songs also make their specific situations even more relatable to us, the viewers. That, and perhaps an occasional bit of nostalgia for us older folks.

I think the point is that everyone is going through stuff, even if it's not apparent on the outside, or they don't tell you explicitly. The music in Zoey's head is a form of telepathy. A window into other people's thoughts & feelings. What would you do with that ability?

 

Hit and miss IMO. I liked some of the performances but wanted to fast forward through others. Can relate to having a family member with an illness similar to ALS. Like the neighbor. Sorta reminds me of Glee (the neighbor is from Glee). I believe Mandy Moore(singer/actress - This Is Us) is doing the choreography and wears other hats behind the scenes.

OK - I'll give it a 7.5/10.

 

I tried and made it about five minutes. Total cringe and way too Cop Rock for me.

 

I loved her on Suburgatory. I didn't even recognize her/make the connection when I watched What/If (which I did NOT think was very good, kind of the definition of a trashy background series...)

 

Oh, I guess I should have worded my reply differently. I've viewed all of What/If & enjoyed that series. It's Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist I'd only seen the 1st episode of. IDK, I recognized it was Jane Levy, from Suburgatory, right away & think she's transitioned well into young adult roles. I enjoyed Suburgatory, too. Zoe's, I really only tuned in b/c of her & w/the tie-in to real-life circumstances & drama, hoping that will keep it from being too cheesy or trite. Tough job, as musical numbers in network shows (& movies, too) can get too "glossy". I like Bradford Whitford a lot & Anna Camp (from Good Girls Revolt; I'm not aware of her other filmography) & have not tuned into Perfect Harmony b/c that looks atrocious to me. I was not a viewer of Glee...caught a few scenes here & there on youtube, which didn't make me want to watch. I think one was where Gwyneth Paltrow did Joan Jett (though I did like that Huey Lewis, Gwyneth Paltrow movie w/singing in it, from what I recall; only viewed once, though, so I didn't love it). There's not much else on that isn't dark & intense, so I'll watch another episode, at least.

 

Anybody but me convinced there was no series here, just an idea in a board room along the lines of, "Get me a series based on having somebody who looks like Jane Levy in it! -oh, and recognizable songs!"...?

 

Well, watched about 2 minutes of Episode 2 & nope. I stifled the impulse to switch if off almost immediately w/Elton John & Kiki Dee's I Got The Music In Me. When they'd reached next number, that was it. I liked "Sucker" about the 1st 10 xs I heard it. Top 40 radio tunes across all decades. Even Jane Levy doesn't make that palatable for me...too Cheesy, as I'd originally thought it may end up being. It was a nice concept, though ~ I had enjoyed flash mob scenes in other shows (as I already posted). Oh well.

 

Ha !
I was telling this guy at work about ' Cop Rock ' and he didn't believe me that there was such a show!
It was different , I'll give it that. And I actually liked some of the Randy Newman songs for it.
I'd buy a CD of the show's songs .

 

Watched both episodes....I'm still on the fence about it.

 

I'm still on the fence about this. I don't think the writing is sharp enough, and the stereotypes are too thick (e.g. the glossy and ridiculous portrayal of a startup).

The thing that strikes me, though, is that this show must be INCREDIBLY expensive, with all the sync licenses they have to negotiate. There's an incredible amount of music in this show. Plus, you have scenes like the MRI scene, where, during the earthquake, you go through a dozen different master/sync licenses in about a minute.

The show is great for artists who are looking for a payday, I'll say that.

Unless the show gets great ratings, I can't see NBC sticking with it, just because of costs.

 

I finally got around to watching the pilot episode. I'm unclear on the father's neurological condition, and it doesn't look like they made any attempt to communicate with him.

On another board I'm on, we had a member known as Blinkie, who'd had a brain stem stroke, and was totally "locked in" but he communicated and posted to us using the same sort of software that Stephen Hawking used, tracking his eyes. When he died of pneumonia we were heartbroken, after having gotten to know this really great guy.

 

"Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" continues to impress each week. They are not phoning this one in at all.

The depth & breadth of ep 9 ("Zoey's Extraordinary Silence"), including a wonderfully harmonized duet of "The Sounds of Silence", as well as a silent performance by a deaf character, say it deserves an Emmy nom.

 

Just discovered this show. It would be fun to have the world suddenly turn into a musical around me...at first. I'll give it a few more episodes.

 

Harvey Guillén who plays Guillermo the familiar in 'What We Do In The Shadows', plays a singing and dancing role in the second season of Zoey's Playlist. Even though I watch both shows I have mixed feelings about this.