Television's Greatest Failure
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- Опубликовано: 15 апр 2021
- This is ultimately a video meant to discuss and chuckle at a extremely silly idea for a musical cop tv show and how it became on of tv's biggest disasters, but due to the nature of the subject material, there is some heavier topics brought up in the later half of this video, so content warning for police violence, racism, mentions of sexual assault and terrible musical performances.
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![Cop Rock - Baby Merchant EXTENDED CUT [High Quality]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xYUbO-sfSOg/mqdefault.jpg)
I’ll say this, if they made Cop Rock today in an era of streaming services, it probably would be more praised and probably lasted more than a season
If they made this show today it would probably have a doo-wop song about police brutality, wouldn’t it?
I've seen the entire thing, frankly I'm surprised it lasted 11 episodes, I started to vibe with it's specific weirdness around episode 4 with Baby Merchant, and I would have been curious to see where it went long term... but well I think the songs were a bit of a problem and they should have been more integration. Foxcade didn't mention this, but there's one scene where they give a morning report and assign duties... and then they break into song to do it all over again. I'm not saying it couldn't have worked... but probably not as a weekly 20+ episode series
Netflix would cancel it after a first season ending on a cliffhanger
@patricknguyen7530 Praise by WHO?! It was horrific. Only people with horrific taste would find this entertaining.
@patricknguyen7530 Totally agree. Especially after the likes of Glee and High School Musical.
Nice essay! Thanks for the shout out, glad we could help.
Thanks again for help with the footage! Made editing a whole lot easier.
Dude, no lie. I recently picked up a book talking about the most disastrous TV moments ever and it included Cop Rock and since then I was on a quest to find details and info of all those TV moments so I could witness it myself. I never would've thought you would cover something related to that, but hey. I ain't complainin'.
By chance do you know book that would be? That seems like a really intriguing read
All the episodes of cop Rock are on RUclips
@@mistersoupmannovember2263 I am super sorry for the incredibly late response (I'm only now responding because I got a notification from another comment), but if you are still interested in finding the book, it's called "What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History".
@@marcusmckinney6153 Yeah, I noticed.
@@SetnaroX I had to go watch them right away after Jon Oliver's segment
A fundamental problem with "Cop Rock" was that the grim subject matter was inconsistent with the rock music. There's a reason that operetta music is not the same as opera music. Grim subject matter required somber music.
More recently, ABC tried to create another grim musical, called "Viva Loughlin." Viva Loughlin had all of Cop Rock's problems plus one more: No original songs. It just lip-synced to existing songs.
_Viva Laughlin_ was actually on CBS, not ABC.
But nowadays, those two shows have become much more watchable nowadays, thanks to the presence of an even worse musical TV series titled _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_ (from Aaron Seltzer & Jason Friedberg, no less).
@@mutsortima174 Viva Laughlin was also a terrible remake of a beloved British show: 2004's Blackpool, which used similar concepts to much greater effect. If you look at the IMDB reviews, the audience who saw Laughlin mostly didn't know of its Blackpool heritage and thus complained about the musical numbers. And the people who DID and knew what they were getting complained that it was a total dog's breakfast that missed the point of the original.
Fox, whaaaat fresh hell have you stumbled upon that you've unleashed on us
It was buried. It should have stayed there. Foxcade brought it back to the light. Why Foxcade why
The section about the music is basically how I felt about musicals growing up. That said, I also feel like the tonal whiplash problem could've been resolved simply by having some episodes be more cheesy and others more serious.
Saw that thumbnail and the baby merchant song just instantly got stuck in my head all over again
8:08 Hey that was SuperEyepatchWolf!
One curious thing is that Cop Rock wasn't the only attempt at a musical/drama hybrid to air on networks that year. The same season NBC had "Hull High" a musical high-school drama. Think High School Musical but played seriously with a rap group called the Hull High Devils who served as a Greek Chorus. So why did Cop Rock become a well remembered punchline while Hull High was forgotten? Other than Steven Bochco's involvement adding to Cop Rock's infamy, Hull High was dumped opposite of 60 Minutes during a time when 60 Minutes was the top rated show on television and abruptly canceled after 3 episodes.
The BBC successfully experimented with a musical drama series four years earlier in 1986, when Dennis Potter's series "The Singing Detective" aired.
Also Disney now owns both Hull High and Cop Rock.
I've never heard of this show and had no idea how much I needed an analysis of this bizarre work of art until now. If they had lowered the minimum songs per episode to 2 or 3 and were more careful about when they were used, it sounds like it could have been surprisingly decent, if still strange to watch.
I remember flipping through the channels one night MANY years ago and ran across the court scene where a gospel choir, formerly the jury, burst into song about the defendant's guilt. My mom walked by and we both sat there in utter shock at what we were watching and how bad it was. I am glad to see another person spread the insanity that was this show to the masses just as few did the Star Wars Holiday Special before it became more well known.
The ending of this video made my respect for you grow exponentially. I hate it when people claim something shouldn't have been made just because they didn't like it. There is always someone with whom the work will resonate more than anything else, so at least for the sake of that one person that work should be allowed to exist.
my brain actually deleted this from memory after seeing it on tv as a kid
Hey, its weasel! Love your videos 😁
@@danielclark-hughes692 well thank you!
I'm confused by how Cop Rock was made. I imagine it's something different which is good but it's so different I ended up as confused as I am.
Damn, gang's all here, huh? CVIT, wolf??
Whenever I hear the term "Cop Rock" I immediately think of the dance-off from Stubbs the Zombie.
This show is so cursed that nobody is watching this video either.
Thanks to Obscurus Lupa I've been deeply appreciative of the existence of Cop Rock
She goes by Movie Nights/Allison now
I cackled madly at your title and thumbnail, because I knew then you were as stuck as I am, and it is all because of John Oliver
I have no idea what the hell you just showed me but I'm weirdly glad and ashamed that I know about it, now.
Fox, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop mining my inner subconscious for your video ideas, you’re bringing out a lot of repressed trauma and I really don’t want to remember middle school prom.
(Seriously though, hope you’re doing well, congrats on nearly 100K, you’ve come a long way since you edited for Bebopbridged, and as with anyone who worked on that show, there was really only one direction to go, up. 😆 Much love, dude!)
Thank you for this, I was so curious about this show when I saw it on John Oliver
I found it on RUclips after I saw a review for it (similar in content to yours - entertaining as well). Binged all of the episodes and loved it. A very gritty drama with hilarious breaks of Broadway musical. Overall, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
That final word you gave is very much a full agree from me. Also as a person who struggles to get projects off the ground you have to respect thus guy for even attempt AND SOMEWHAT SUCCEDDING to put his super experimental idea made.
That Baby Merchant song's chorus is oddly catchy and will 100% get stuck in your head if you're not careful, haha.
insane to me that Steven Bochco, one of the writers on the original Columbo run, gave us this insane piece of whatever-it-is
I think the idea of a reactionary cop obssessed with cliched media portrayals of law enforcement and American history COULD be interesting and Ronny Cox is a great actor giving it his all but...why COP ROCK? Literally any other show would've been a better medium for this.
I am so glad you did this! I needed to know everything when I saw it on Last Week Tonight.
Can we get a reboot? Mix Glee with Brooklyn 99
Please god no
@@briannawaldorf8485 I second that please god no
This show evokes such a violent cringe within me. This cheese is rotten.
I can't hear "I'm the..." without immediately singing Baby Merchant now, much in the same way I can't, without breaking out into song, hear the words "Never gonna..."
Did I hear super eyepatch wolf do one of those quotes?
fox when are you gonna steal a baby
I was not expecting to hear classic, pre-Pixar Randy Newman in this video, but that just makes it even better
Fox, this video does not have enough views, and I am making a comment to indicate the algorithm give this the love it deserves.
Damn I wasnt expecting that smooth voice cameo at 8:06
Who is the voice of that fellow? Maybe an upcoming tik toker getting into YT?
Huh. So that's what that was. If the show were made by the same amazing talents who reinvented the TV series musical in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, I don't doubt that it would have been a better show with better music that's always relevant to the plot and characters, and not a box to check that's just there to eat up runtime. I doubt they would be interested in being sympathetic towards racist, abusive, violent cops, though. As much as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend touched upon some serious, heavy issues, there's a line. And songs with a line that's something like, "I'm not racist, I don't see color, everyone I kill is just a thug, not a scholar," would threaten to become a police union anthem, despite the obvious irony.
You miss every shot you don't take. At the same time, you rarely get in trouble for something you didn't do. The secret to succes is somewhere in the middle.
It’s a story about friendship with music by me- randy Newman
What made this show so freaking bizarre was that it was an upbeat musical... but they didn't shy away from anything.
It had a Randy Newman song for it's opening with storylines straight outta Law and order SVU! That tells you pretty much everything you need to know. I feel so embarrassed for the actors in this one singing to some of this stuff. I couldn't do it. XD
It’s 2 am and im eating potato salad while watching this even tho John Oliver talked about it 2 years ago……I knew about it 2 years ago but I still think about it all the time
He scrapped the video to end World Hunger for this. Thank you John Oliver for giving us what we really need.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this. How else would I have convinced my children that Cop Rock was a real thing?
What a great video this was xd never knew about this show.
SO basically: Good plot, good music, horrible combination.
Was that Eyepatch wolf at 8:03?
Yup that's him
I know a super eyepatch wolf voice when I hear one
Wait, did Kojima get the revolver trick from Cop Rock? Or was it just a thing in westerns?
Westerns
Need to watch more westerns my dude
@@mechcannon Though honestly, I would not be shocked if Kojima was a fan of COP ROCK. Seems like a thing he'd be into.
This feels like it would have been better as a special. If on NYPD BLUE there was an epsiode where a witness is also mentally hill and hillucanted musical numbers to what he saw it might work as a weird but fun ep or storyline
There’s a rule of thumb in musical theater: the music is the emotional response of the characters. When you can no longer express yourself in words, you sing! And when you can no longer express yourself in song, you dance!
This show did not get that idea.
Idk why but this reminds me that I want to see Better Off Ted return.
This just hit me, and maybe you've mentioned it, but is the mayor supposed to look like Thatcher? xD
Cool. Now do HULL HIGH. It was on at the same time. The original high school musical!
which footage from 30:26 does this episode comes from?
Canada still has race issues in policing afaik. Though not remotely the same way the US does ofc.
Thats something
The fact that they clearly had NO professional consultants familiar with musical theater production KILLS me.
4:34 hey, does anyone have the title for this? I want to know what it is.
I liked the concept of this show, and watched TV episode when it originally aired. I was a great fan of L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues, as well as a non- Bochco show st. Elsewhere. The problems I had with the show were not that it retreaded some of the Hill Street Blues storylines such as corrupt cop played by Peter Onorati who shoots and kills a person in custody and then has to the weather other cops suspicions of what he had done. But it was that the songs themselves were not that compelling. The baby Merchant song was catchy but also kind of cringe-worthy because it wasn't that interesting a Melody. Sometimes I thought characters like the Precinct captain breaking into a song as it comes home was given a number because a tune had to be sung to meet a song count per episode, or to give that character the opportunity to deliver a song. Songs in musicals are supposed to highlight an important event or a strong character motivation. The police captain song was about love of his wife, which is fine but that concept or relationship was never explored further. There was also characters I didn't like. Such as the older police lieutenant married to the young female patrolman. I guess it was trying to break ground but that plotline was not believable nor interesting to watch. Also some of actors with good actors put awful singers such as Barbara bosson who played the mayor. I think the solution to the song quality was that it should have been a limited series. I mean how many times could you sing songs about police corruption or illicit romances between unmarried cop partners. The Randy Newman opening theme was too catchy, and the show would have benefited better with a more serious tone by Mike Post. But there were also many good songs and a lots of musical scenes as well as compelling non-musical drama. I admit I watched it on TV, thinking it was pretty odd to see singing prostitutes. But I was sad to hear that it was going to be cancelled. Nice job Steven bochco and thank you ABC.
Beck!
As I said on twitter: Thank you, Second Best British Bird Man. (Best = Stolas.)
22:17 This Guy is a hero
It was ahead of its time.
congrats on 100k subs, nier replicant just came out so you have an opportunity to make a retrospective on the revamped version.
Did I hear the voice of super eyepatch wolf?
what’s that anime at 4:34 it looks familiar
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad
Honestly, I'm just surprised you covered this before Schrafilla.
What I got from this is that Cop Rock deserved better.
Cool essay
Maybe do "Fish Police" next?
Wooooo more content. You the bomb man keep it up.
Not going to lie, I thought this was going to be a politically charged commentary on the police and civilian tensions in the USA.
There’s an alternate universe out there where this got as popular as Glee and I’m glad I’m not living in it
You seriously enjoy our trashverse more?
Big screen, color TV. Remote control to turn it on.
He made Hill St. blues, Bay City Blues, and NYPD Blue. He did okay.
Admit it, the first five minutes of the pilot made this show intriguing. But there was no way they could keep up the concept behind poorly imagined rock ballads and show tunes. Ultimately it was a pretty standard 1990s cop show interrupted by bizarre song-and-dance sequences. ABC could have filled the slot with all-cop or all-rock but the combination just didn't work.
This was the best think I had ever seen. Not for the reasons I love law and order svu...but I'll be damned if this nightmare isn't up there
It was created by the mad lad for an unborn generation
Why does the baby merchant remind me of jreg ?
.....okay so where can I watch this
Anyone who claims to have seen the john Oliver episode and heard the baby seller song and didn’t lose control is a god damn liar! TOTS R US
Speaking of musical drama hybrids, does anybody remember Viva Laughlin? I'm ashamed to say it's where I heard Sympathy for the Devil for the first time.
19:54 Great Character Actor Hank Worden
I will say this I have edited the entires series from youturbe taking out all the stupid songs and now the show has a leg to stand on its quite good without the singing trust me on this
also rewatching it shows me its more LA Law then action.
31:45 They could have dialed back the musical numbers and then experimented with dialing them back up gradually.
Un salvaje súper eye patch wolf aparece jaja. ... Cvit también !
Put it on broadway
8:06 Aye, SuperEyepatchWolf!
Cop Rock moment
Where's the Korra praise you cowards ?!
Also, Hi Shammy
Cop Rock is love, Cop Rock is life
IS THAT SUPER EYEPATCH WOLF
Produced by Dick Wolf ?
NO SPOILERS PLS! I'm only on ep.7...
18:30 It would probably have been better to go for 3 original and 2 licenced songs for each episode.
If you can get half an hour out of... this, would love to see your thoughts on The Wire
So we tried a musical cop show, and it didn't really work. What about a musical med drama?
It worked, with a musical episode of Greys Anatomy, but wouldn't work on a medical series.
I honestly don't know what's so weird about this concept.
Never heard about it, but isn't this just like Glee?
Glee is about a school's Glee Club. It's main premise revolves around singing. It's not "Okay, so it's a classic cop procedural that covers police violence, racial issues, and political corruption ... but they also sing and dance!"
@Foxcade But they sing outside the club all the time in places that don't fit.
I still can't see anything really weird about the concept and without having seen more of the scenes it's difficult to judge.
If it was more out there I'm pretty sure more ppl would've heard about it.
Devil may cry?
Wtf was that disgusting looking game you showed quickly ? The one right before Beck Mongolian Chopsquad?
kind of feels like it was the victim of some strategic mistakes; making better song choices for better plot moments could have completely turned it around.
Too much cop and not enough rock. Checks out.
8:07 I gasped
this was sung live? it still looks and sounds like lip-syncing anyway