Watch 'Period Sex,' The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Video Too Dirty To Air On The CW

[Primetimer]

To be fair, it does contain the lyric 'slip and slide into some period sex.'

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[adam807]

This is everything I didn't know I wanted.

[EricJ]

I know that she's said that S&P wouldn't approve the song, but I also can't think of anywhere in the last few episodes this would have fit. I really think it was originally intended to be a running gag of a song that they never got to sing, and was only expanded due to popular demand.

[itainttippithebird]

MILDLY disappointed, but only because I love the over-the-top, exacting detail of the usual musical interludes - and I know this was low on production values because it's web only, so I'm not really complaining. Just hoping for Period Sex: The Musical, Now on Broadway someday.

[Irlandesa]

31 minutes ago, itainttippithebird said:

MILDLY disappointed, but only because I love the over-the-top, exacting detail of the usual musical interludes

Yeah. I don't know if I'm disappointed or just meh about it which does happen sometimes with the musical numbers on the show. But I do think the little teases worked better for me than the actual song. 

[kathe5133]

I haven't watched it yet, and can't right now cause I'm at work, but.....  I'm really not eager to see it.  Period sex...... it kind of falls under the realm of TMI.  But, I should at lest take a look before I judge!  I'll check it out tonight!

[paramitch]

I adore Bloom, adore the show. This was funny (although not as funny as the snippets that led up to it, especially Tovah's version in the NYC episode).

I love the songs in this show when watching. I really enjoy them all, and they're almost always beautifully performed and produced. And they absolutely add to the magic of the show. The songs make it a fantasy for me, and I love that.

There's just one problem...

Because, well -- I don't actually think the vast majority of this show's songs are all that timeless or memorable. And I admit, Bloom starts in the hole because she seems to consciously structure ALL the songs as homages or pastiches: Bye, Bye Birdie. Gypsy. Dreamgirls. Disney movies. Pharrell. Beyonce. Taylor Swift. Nicki Minaj. Lana Del Rey. Kander & Ebb. Sondheim.

So almost all of the work is invested in making fun of something else or paying tribute to it... but it leaves little room for individuality. So we get a lot of music video parodies and more. After all, Paula's big S1 song is really a pale version of "Rose's Turn," from Gypsy. "Settle for Me," as wonderful as it is, is dangerously note-for-note close to the standard "Mean to Me." And as far as one of the songs I actually paid money for, is "What'll it Be?" a ripoff of Joel's "Piano Man" or an homage to it?

I can reel off a very short handful of songs I loved from CEG that survived their situations into memorability, but at 1.5 seasons, they barely equal the number of songs I love from Buffy's "Once More, with Feeling," for instance. A single musical episode versus a season and a half.

Anyway. I read an article that Bloom will sometimes sing songs into her phone for music producer Adam Schlesinger to finish and produce, and, as a sometime lyricist and composer myself, I have to wonder if maybe the songs merit more attention than Rachel is able to give? I think Schlesinger is a GENIUS, by the way, so I'm not knocking him -- I'm a huge fan of "Fountains of Wayne" and of his marvelous and very funny, nuanced work on Music & Lyrics (as a songwriter, I think it's unappreciated genius) and more beyond that. But it's still a good question.

I'm torn. I LOVE CEG and its characters, even with its slightly problematic arcs this season. But maybe it'd be even better or stronger if the songs weren't meant to be so blatantly thrown away.

Edited January 31, 2017 by paramitch
Expanding on hasty original post, apologies!

[dubbel zout]

1 minute ago, paramitch said:

I have to wonder if maybe the songs merit more attention than Rachel is able to give?

Considering the time restraints the show is under, I imagine this is true, and I bet Bloom and Schlesinger would be the first to admit it. Sometimes they have songs already written, waiting for the right moment, but other times they need to come up with something appropriate on the spot, as it were. Plus, the sheer number of songs that are needed for a season means not every one will hit it out of the park. I think the show does an amazing job under the circumstances. (Not implying you're being negative.)

[paramitch]

That's a great point @dubbel zout. But she wrote 49 (FORTY NINE) songs for season 1 (most abandoned), all based on posting her compositions to YouTube for years, which was what got her this gig. And it's much-deserved. I love the show and everything she puts into it, flaws and all. But I do think the music should be stronger and more memorable -- this also affects profitability across multiple platforms (video, music, etc.).

So I'm just starting to think that Bloom is merely competent on the song front, but not all that original. Like, she can point us to issues that exist, but she isn't as strong at creating original interpretations.

I'm definitely a superfan of the show, but this season has definitely revealed some cracks. Fingers crossed it keeps going and resolves them.

[kathe5133]

Ok.  I watched...  They should have kept it as a running joke that this song is never finished. 

[Irlandesa]

11 hours ago, paramitch said:

Because, well -- I don't actually think the vast majority of this show's songs are all that timeless or memorable. And I admit, Bloom starts in the hole because she seems to consciously structure ALL the songs as homages or pastiches: Bye, Bye Birdie. Gypsy. Dreamgirls. Disney movies. Pharrell. Beyonce. Taylor Swift. Nicki Minaj. Lana Del Rey. Kander & Ebb. Sondheim.

I respect what you're saying but what you see as a bug is actually something I see as feature. The fact that the songs are recognizable to me from their inspirations helps me get into them in the moment.  And since I'm someone for whom it takes multiple listens before I feel I know a song well enough to know if I like it, having that base is helpful for me on a show devoid of many reprises.

It matters more to me that I like the song in the moment than whether I want to listen to it over and over.

[Rinaldo]

21 hours ago, paramitch said:

Because, well -- I don't actually think the vast majority of this show's songs are all that timeless or memorable. 

Of course not, but that's a false standard of evaluation; "the vast majority" of anything isn't timeless or memorable. (I wouldn't condemn a new symphony because it didn't stack up all that well against Beethoven or Brahms.) In fact, if the implied remainder (the tiny minority?) is timeless and/or memorable, that's just a remarkable achievement, because that exceeds the goal. These are songs designed to serve a specific narrative, and at the same time tickle our recognition (sometimes humorously, sometimes not) as they refer to recognizable types or examples. They almost all succeed at that, and what's extraordinary is that a handful* do more than that, and probably will be adopted into savvy performers' solo acts -- for a small audience, but that's the word of cabaret and solo vocals these days. The comparison to Buffy's "Once More, With Feeling" doesn't work for me, because much as I enjoyed that episode (and I did, hugely) none of the songs reached the level of craftsmanship I've learned to expect weekly from CXG. But we each react in our own way, certainly, with our own biases; mine is that of a music professor who sometimes teaches a History of Musicals course. (For which I'm definitely not claiming any special authority! As I said, it's just an element of my own biased viewpoint.)

(*The examples would vary for each of us, according to taste, so I won't attempt a list.)

[Bruinsfan]

This one was a swing and a miss for me too.