TV's 15 Best Musical Episodes, Ranked (Plus the One Absolute Worst) – TVLine

Courtesy DisneyABC Domestic Television (2), Sony Pictures Television, 20th Television

Musical episode. No two words strike fear in the hearts of network executives and snark in the minds of critics with greater expedience. But when done right, the result can be a beautiful thing.

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With two big-ticket musical episodes on the horizon the Supergirl/Flashcrossover airs Tuesday (The CW, 8/7c), whileOnce Upon a Times song-and-dance hourwill air later this season TVLine decided to take a look back at some of our favorites from days (and shows) gone by.

Before you start whining about your favorites being omitted, take our criteria into consideration: * The show must benon-musical. (Sorry,Glee!) * The episodemust have multiple musical numbers, rather than just a one-off song. (Sorry,How I Met Your Mother!) * The songs must come about spontaneously, rather than beingpart of lets say a play withinthe show. (Sorry,Supernatural!)

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OK, time to get things started

15. Psych: Psych: The Musical (Season 7, Episodes 15 and 16) Im docking points for the episodesunnecessary length 90 minutes? Seriously?! butPsychs brief foray into the musical world is still a relative success.

14. Passions: Spellbinding (2008) Michael Ausiello hates when I bring up Passions, so just know that Im literally risking my job by singing (teehee) this episodes praises. A hilariously shameless Wicked rip-off homage, Spellbinding takes us back to Tabithas early days as a magical student, where she and her black hat eventually abandon the side of good in favor of a self-serving future of evil. The lyrics are kind of meh, but Im givingextra pointsto Kim Huber (aka Young Tabitha) forsinging her damn face off in the episodes title number:

13. Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Mayhem of the Music Meister! (Season 1, Episode 25)Heres something youwontsee on the upcomingSupergirl/Flashmusical crossover episode: a love ballad between Black Canary and Green Arrow. (Sigh.)

12. Clone High: Raisin the Stakes: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (Season 1, Episode 9) Everything about this short-lived Phil Lord/Christopher Miller/Bill Lawrence comedy setata high school populated by teenage clones of historical figures, including emo Abe Lincoln (voiced by Will Forte) ispure brilliance. So, yeah, why not throw in a rock opera about the entire school becoming addicted to hallucinogens?

11. Community: Regional Holiday Music (Season 3, Episode 10) An instant Christmas classic, this wacky little departure from Communitys already wacky little world features Taran Killam as a deranged glee club instructor. (Wait, is that redundant?)

10.Fringe: Brown Betty (Season 2, Episode 20) Of all the worldsexplored during the Fox dramas five-season run, why are we not surprised that one of the weirdest and definitely the most musical comes courtesy of Walters special strain of weed for which the episode is named?

9. Futurama: The Devils Hands Are Idle Playthings (Season 4, Episode 18) Frys desire to master a complicated instrument all part of a ploy to impress Leela, naturally leads him to make a deal with the Robot Devil, triggering a series of unfortunate appendage-swaps. Fortunately, it all culminates in a wonderfully weird opera chronicling Leelas past as well as her future with Fry.

8.Daria: Daria! (Season 3, Episode 7) Unlike the ominousstorm approaching the town of Lawndale, this episode definitely doesnotblow.

7. Even Stevens: Influenza: The Musical (Season 2, Episode 21) Four years before High School Musical bopped its wayinto our hearts, Disney Channel gifted us with this toe-tapping tale of angst, revenge and most importantly Americas history of interstellartravel. (Bonus points for #BabyShiaLaBeouf!)

6. Scrubs: My Musical (Season 6, Episode 6) Doctors! Nurses! Patients! Dead guys! No one at Sacred Heart Hospital can, ahem, refrainfrombursting into song during this Emmy Award-winning episode. And with music from the likes of Jeff Marx (Avenue Q)and Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon,Frozen), who could blame them?

5. Greys Anatomy: Song Beneath the Song (Season 7, Episode 18) First of all, stop rolling your eyes. This is a gut-wrenching hour of television, anchored by powerful performances from Sara Ramirez whose characters life remainsin limbo after a near-fatal car accident and solid support from the rest of the cast. If it doesnt get you weepy, your pulse is even weaker than Callies.

4. Dexters Laboratory: LABretto (Season 2, Episode 38) This operatic retelling of Dexters birth as well as the birth of his rivalry with Dee Dee, his destructive older sister earned the Cartoon Network staple a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1998.

3. The Simpsons: Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious (Season 8, Episode 13) Remembered fondly as one of the series finest, this episode introduces Sharry Bobbins, a delightful British nanny who after spending just a few days with the Simpson family is driven to alcoholism. (Sadly, given the nature of Sharrys exit, I doubt well ever get a sequel in the vein ofMary Poppins Returns.)

2. Xena: Warrior Princess: The Bitter Suite (Season 3, Episode 12)How do you menda broken friendship between two women when eachbelieve the other is responsible for her childs death? Xenagoes the non-Jerry Springer route,sending its characters to the land of Illusia, where their hatred is manifested into a nightmarish enemy that can only be defeated with the power of forgiveness and song, of course. (If Im being totally honest, a part of me really wanted to make this my No. 1 pick, but I didnt feel like getting buried alive by the internet.)

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More, With Feeling (Season 6, Episode 7) Sorry for ending on such an anticlimactic note, but did youreallyexpect another episode to snag the top spot on this list? Nearly every song in this hour-long masterpiece is an earworm, courtesy of series creator Joss Whedon, performed flawlessly orat least with a lot of enthusiasm by the cast. (Plus, it blessed us with I think this lines mostly filler, something Ive since quoted too many times to count.)

There you have it, folks TVLines top 15 musical episodes of all time.

And as a special thank-you for making it this far into the post, heres our No. 1worstpick:7th Heavens inexplicably heinous Red Socks (Season 9, Episode 15). Tone-deaf, both literally and figuratively, this 60-minute torture session finds the Camdens bursting into off-key song, complete with awkward choreography that screams Were all doing this against our will! Unfortunately, theworstnumber isnt available on YouTube, so youll have to settle for this pretty terrible one:

Whatsyourfavorite musical episode? Any we missed?Drop a comment with your picks as well as your complaints about our order below.

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TV's 15 Best Musical Episodes, Ranked (Plus the One Absolute Worst) - TVLine