George Lucas changed pop culture forever when he created the sci-fi space opera Star Wars. The film was noted for its groundbreaking special effects and sound and was the highest-grossing film at the time. Though the multi-billion dollar franchise has experimented (not always successfully) with its tone, it falters in one thing that its rival did.
The second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds saw the first musical episode in the franchise’s history. The episode was well-received by audiences, despite the negative popularity of the genre, and has a decent 6.9 rating on IMDb.
George Lucas’ Star Wars Still Hasn’t Done A Musical Like Star Trek
There have been several musical adaptations of popular franchises that have worked in the past. Broadway adaptations like The Lion King, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Shrek have seen varying degrees of success. However, the one franchise that has remained untouched by the trend is Star Wars.
George Lucas’ space opera has the perfect setting and lore for a musical adaptation, but the franchise has not gone down that path yet. Though there has been a parody musical based on the first film, no official Star Wars content has explored the often-trolled genre. However, its rival Star Trek recently released a musical episode in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
The acclaimed series dared to go to a place that few sci-fi franchises go as they released season 2’s ninth episode ‘Subspace Rhapsody’. The episode sees the Enterprise crew get stuck in a subspace fold which triggers everyone to sing their private feelings. Showrunner Henry Alonso Myers mentioned to Variety,
The idea for it came when were pitching what Season 2 should be. I remember, Bill [Wolkoff], one of our writers had a crazy idea, and we were like, ‘Well, that’s interesting, let’s try that!’ I did a bunch of musicals on ‘The Magicians’ and I did one on ‘Ugly Betty.’ And so I just knew what a giant pain it would be — I mean, how difficult it was. I started making calls probably about six months before production.
The cast reportedly came in on the weekends to practice. The musical bits of the episode are perfectly crafted to suit the storyline and the ending showstopper has a purpose within the plot.
Star Trek Makers Wanted To Make A Musical Episode For a Long Time
Despite being a tribute to the films of the ‘30s and the ‘40s and having elements of the swashbuckler and Western genres, George Lucas missed out on exploring the musical genre in Star Wars. However, Star Trek decided to head in that direction despite the show itself being considered too dated at times.
New generation Star Trek showrunner Alex Kurtzman reportedly had the idea to do a musical version for a long time and had even thought of Star Trek: Short Treks to be the perfect avenue to explore something that whacky. He mentioned to CBR,
I’ve thought about this, and if we ever did a Short Trek, that would be the perfect format for it. The thing is, if you’re going to do a musical, it would have to be as brilliant as ‘Once More, With Feeling’ from Buffy the Vampire Slayer… It has to have a concept that makes a musical necessary, or you have to come up with a really, really good reason for people to start breaking out into song, and we have yet to really explore that. But nothing would make me happier. I would die to see that.
While the writer did not get to craft an episode for that show, the musical ended up on Strange New Worlds and was even loved by many viewers as it has a decent 6.9 rating on IMDb.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount+.
