Two new shows I kept on my viewing schedule have already been canceled – “Wicked City” and, for all intents and purposes, “Minority Report,” which had its episode order cut to 10. But the TV networks have kept the best fall show: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” I’m setting myself up for more disappointment, perhaps, as I’m now not only hoping for a DVD and soundtrack, but also for a second season.
The unprecedented mix of musical comedy with traditional dramedy has already produced a soundtrack’s worth of tunes through eight episodes, and here are my 10 favorites so far:
1. “I Have Friends” (episode 3) – Although it’s the series’ shortest song (and most clunky, in an endearing way), it perfectly captures how the unrealized and insecure 20-something Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) hasn’t matured emotionally since Kid Rebecca (Ava Acres), successful law career aside. She tries to convince herself that she DEFINITELY has made friends in her first month of living in West Covina, just as her younger self desperately tried to put a positive spin on being uncool.
Best lyric: “Grocery clerk with half an eyelid!”
2. “A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes” (episode 3) – In early evidence that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” nailed the casting of the co-stars, Vincent Rodriguez III is amazing in this parody of boy band dance moves where he plays all four singers. The song replaces the simple wants of a teenager with the desires of a psychologically troubled young adult — and with the help of auto-tuning, it all sounds lyrical, even …
Best lyric: “Cuz we’re not just a boy band made up of four Joshes, we’re also a team of nationally recognized mental health professionals trained in cognitive behavioral therapy with specialties in personality and sleep disorders … and love.”
3. “California Christmastime” (episode 8) – In a capper to the season’s first half that’s even tastier than eggnog fro-yo, the entire main cast gathers at an outdoor mall to pitch the idea that holidays in a warm climate are just as legitimate as one where snow falls.
Best lyric: “The kids get lots of toys on Christmas morn/Cuz daddy makes big bucks directing porn/They may have gonorrhea but at least it’s not frostbite” (“It’s not frostbite!”).
4. “I Love My Daughter (But Not in a Creepy Way)” (episode 5) – I don’t listen to much country music, so I didn’t realize fathers singing about their daughter was an actual subgenre, let alone one ripe for parody, but I quickly got the message from Daryl’s lone musical number.
Best lyric: “Do you get what I, ugh … What I mean to say is … I’ll just stop talking … Having a daughter is weird.”
5. “Where’s the Bathroom” (episode 8) – The stereotype of the mom (Tovah Feldshuh’s simply named Mrs. Bunch) visiting for the holidays and assaulting the daughter with passive aggressive advice has comedic value on its own, but it reaches another level when put to song.
Best lyric: “By the way, you’re looking healthy/And by healthy I mean chunky/I don’t mean that as an insult/I’m just stating it as fact. … I see your eczema is back.”
6. “The Sexy Getting Ready Song” (episode 1) – This one parodies rap music videos, as Rebecca’s date preparations contrast with Greg snoozing on a couch (“Let’s see how the guys get ready!”). The comedy gets heightened when a rapper enters the scene and is so horrified that he’s immediately inspired to apologize to all the women he has objectified.
Best lyric: “You know what, I gotta go apologize to some bitches. I’m forever changed after what I just seen.”
7. “Face Your Fears” (episode 3) – Stories about self-actualization encourage people to take risks, yet there is, of course, an unspoken limit to those risks. This song by Rebecca’s friend Paula goes beyond that limit.
Best lyric: “Cuz you can fly/Yes you can fly/Fly out a window/Fly off a building/Just believe in yourself/Just face your fears” (“OK, I have so many problems with this …”).
8. “I’m a Good Person” (episode 5) – In a two-minute song, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” nails the joke that “The Last Man on Earth” has been pounding into the ground for more than a season: People who try to be a good person for the sake of impressing others generally fail to be a good person.
Best lyric: “I’m a good person, can’t you see/Doctors Without Borders ain’t got nothin’ on me.”
9. “Feeling Kinda Naughty” (episode 2) – Bloom parodies “edgy” pop songs and music videos such by as Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” by taking the genre to ridiculous extremes. It’s especially funny when she immediately follows an apology for the creepy things she said in the previous verse by immediately backsliding …
Best lyric: “I wanna kill you and wear your skin like a dress/But then also have you see me in the dress/And be like ‘OMG, you look so cute in my skin.’ “
10. “Settle For Me” (episode 4) – This courting dance number is pitch perfect for Greg’s depressing but somewhat valid case that Rebecca should choose him because he is interested in her, while Josh — the love of her life — is not.
Best lyric: “Yes, Josh is a dream, but I’m right here/In flesh and blood and self-hate!/Settle for me/In a sad way, it’s fate!”