Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

Yes, I know it's Thursday. But it's Z day, and I've been waiting all month for Z day so I could talk about this show. And I can tweak my personal blogging schedule for that.

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist originally showed its pilot in January, I believe. I recorded it, but I didn't watch it. The second episode aired in February, if memory serves. I recorded it, but I didn't watch it. In fact, I didn't watch it until I had five or six episodes on my DVR.

Why the hesitation? I wasn't too sure if I wanted to watch this. It's a musical, after all. The main character sees her friends, family, and coworkers break into song several times per episode. Would that work?

But then we got locked down, and I figured I might as well check it out.

The pilot got me. Zoey's father (played by Peter Gallagher) who is non-verbal, broke into song telling Zoey what he was feeling, and I was all in. I finished those first five or six episodes in a couple days.

I'm not a fan of awkward. It's a reason why I don't find most modern comedies funny. It's one of the reasons I wasn't sure I could go along with the breaking-into-song on this. But they make it work. Most of the time, no one is aware of Zoey's lapses into production numbers. (The times that it does happen were for story purposes. I wasn't a fan of those. But they were the exception, not the rule.)

I will warn you, if you don't like musicals (even using contemporary songs), stay away. There are at least three songs per episode. And Zoey does have a trans/gay neighbor of color who's purpose is to help her figure this all out, and that just smacks of, like, three or four of the best friend tropes. (They're a great character, and totally worth including, but I totally rolled my eyes at their inclusion.)

It's on NBC, so it shouldn't be too hard to stream. (Of the networks, I most love NBC's streaming options. They are by far the easiest.) The finale is coming soon, but this show is best binged, I think.

Anyway, the description, via NBC:

If there's a song in your heart, it will get in her head. Jane Levy stars in this high-concept drama as Zoey Clarke, a whip-smart computer coder forging her way in San Francisco. After an unusual event, Zoey, who always preferred podcasts over pop songs, suddenly starts to hear the innermost wants, thoughts and desires of the people around her - her family, co-workers and complete strangers - through popular songs. At first, she questions her own sanity, but after getting some guidance from her musically adept neighbor, Mo, and making a breakthrough with her ailing father, Zoey soon realizes this unwanted curse may just be an incredibly wonderful gift as she connects with the world like never before. 

 And the trailer:

Have you seen this? Do you hate musicals, so this doesn't even tempt you?