Stage Managed (2021) TV Review (Pilot)
It’s pretty safe to say everyone knows how toxic Los Angeles can be in some of its artistic layers. We’ve seen countless depictions in movies and TV shows and Tinseltown is no longer the idealistic haven for those who want to be in the spotlight. In other words, if you’re thinking of making it big in L.A. and you’re saving money to start all over, be afraid. Be very afraid.
In this mindset, Stage Managed takes place. Created by Guy Noland, the veteran TV producer, Stage Managed presents a theater company that’s struggling. Lead by some very shady characters, whose personality is quite ambiguous and depending on who they’re talking to, they are putting together the show that could actually save them.
They’re holding auditions for their version of ‘My Fair Lady’. But their style is pretty obvious from the beginning. They have a clever way to escape licensing conundrums, so they don’t follow rules. The Sound of Music is actually The Sound of Melody, and Mary Poppins is Mary Pops In. It’s all to fight capitalism, and save money of course.
It’s a quite funny pilot for a TV show. Or maybe it’s a half-length film. Who knows. It works in any format. Script wise Stage Managed is very, very good. It’s shot in mockumentary style and it saves what worthy of that format to early get ahead of character presentations that could take too long.
A collection of diverse characters trying to make it big in L.A. (never the rhyming of “L.A.” and “Yay” has been so cleverly depicted before ). But it’s all well mixed with the human products that are the result of an obnoxious environment of artistic expression. In these stereotypes lies the swift magic of a show like Stage Managed. Every scene is quirky. Every character works. It’s really hard to stop laughing.
It’s what works with comedy shows (or films) that are well written. It’s all about real characters that take some traits and extremely twist them in order to engage with viewers. With a running time of less than half an hour, Stage Managed does a very good job in telling stories of several characters I want to know more about (I don’t think the cameo by Clint Howard was very effective but I can see how this helps the show).
If we add to the formula the presence of some veterans, then I don’t see why it can’t be successful as an original show. This happens today in some areas of entertainment, and as dark as we think it is, there’s always a space for comedy.
What’s inevitable as a question is if they producers of this show could maintain the tone and stay fresh for a whole season. I guess we’ve yet to know, but it was quite interesting to see the the pilot of Stage Managed. It could be the beginning of something bigger and interesting.
