From Schitt's Creek to Frankie Drake: Best musical moments from hit CBC comedies and dramas
Some of the most outstanding musical moments, that act as important and powerful characters who can make you angry, happy, cry or hold on to the edge of your seat, come from television shows. Here are a few fun and pivotal sonic pleasures from some of our hit CBC shows available on CBC Gem.
Schitt's Creek, The Best
While Johnny and Stevie begin re-branding the motel, David and Patrick throw an open mic night at Rose Apothecary... and guess who decides to dedicate a song to his skeptic partner? Patrick. Yup, David is serenaded by his "butter voiced beau" with his rendition of The Best, made most famous by Tina Turner. David's heart melts. He definitely did not expect Patrick to be this good.
BvSS, Quirkiest Girl
We all have our quirks and in this sketch from the all-female produced series Baroness von Sketch Show, Aurora is the quirky girl in the office that bursts into song about how weird she is and everyone in the office hates her for it. She shows off her musical prowess in this Baroness von Sketch Show parody of musicals and the so-called "manic pixie dream girl" and proves that not even musicals are off limits on Baroness.
Kim's Convenience, Traditional Korean Song
In the season one finale, Janet, Umma and Jung have to make it through the church family singing festival, and let's just say with a little bit of help from Appa there's some mad harmonizing going on. Who knew Simu Liu could sing? Is there anything he can't do? And if you want to hear Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Kim's Convenience style, scroll back a minute.
Heartland, When to Let Go
There are a number of amazing musical moments in Heartland which are often tied to Lyndy, the late wife of Grandpa Jack Bartlett (Shaun Johnston) and Amy's grandmother. This song is special because it was written when Lyndy was pregnant and now Amy (Amber Marshall), who is also pregnant and at a point in her life when she's got a lot going on, performs it with her Grandpa Jack, singing: "Love that child with all of your soul but there's one hard thing that you need to know / If you really want your love to show / know when to hold on and when to let go."
Amber Marshall and Shaun Johnston talk about recording and performing the song.
Heartland, The Bridge
Here's another song written by Amy's grandma that Jack accidentally found in Lyndy's old guitar case — performed by Amy (Amber Marshall) and Jack (Shaun Johnston) and dedicated to Ashley (Cindy Busby) and Caleb (Kerry James) on their wedding day — called The Bridge.
Diggstown, You Won't Treat Me Right
This specific moment from episode two of season one single handedly portrays a strong bond between Marcie Diggs (Vinessa Antoine) and her parents. They sing a song written by Jack Reynolds, You Won't Treat Me Right, at the Bearly's House of Blues while Marcie and her friend watch in admiration — and then get the best hugs. A warm and fuzzy moment right before Marcie goes back to being a powerhouse lawyer.
Schitt's Creek, A Little Bit Alexis
We can never get enough of Alexis, and in this clip she auditions for Cabaret with the title track from her critically-reviewed, limited reality series A Little Bit Alexis. And if you've never watched Schitt's Creek, you will definitely get a sense of who she is just by listening to this song.
Annie Murphy and the cast on the making of A Little Bit Alexis.
TallBoyz, Tall at the Club
In this sketch by the group of young absurdist comedians, the TallBoyz sing about what it's like being tall at the club: "When you're tall at the club / you can't hide your gloom / People see you fail from every part of the room..." The struggle is real!
Frankie Drake Mysteries, Gospel Song
This is a seminal episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries that portrays real-life civil rights activist Marcus Garvey, who is trying to help the team retrieve money stolen from an orphanage. The episode starts with a gospel sung by Trudy Clarke (Chantal Riley) as she hypnotizes the crowd with her angelic voice at the fundraiser, on the Emancipation Day Picnic. This is, of course, back in the previous '20s.
BvSS, Happy Birthday
In this sketch of Baroness von Sketch Show, a birthday wish from Jennifer's co-workers gets a little too personal. They found someone (Reggie Watts!) who makes up songs on the internet, pooled all the information about her around the office and gave it to him to make up a birthday song. What could possibly go wrong!