A Musical Bridge

My Review

Originally in the U.K. the BBC aired this episode before “Come One Come All” and “The Crazies” and to me it feels like it should be shown earlier in the series than episode 13. The production number implies that this was actually made much earlier in the series too.

It’s a good episode which gives most of the characters something to do and has lots of humour.

I love Leroy trying to persuade Danny to write him a note and then later trying to get Doris to make a phone call. However I do feel that at this point in the school year, particularly as Leroy was already at the school the year before the series started, that Sherwood would have known more about Leroy’s circumstances and that Leroy didn’t live with his parents.

We’ve already had a parents show in “Come One Come All” so I would have expected her to have known then. Sherwood says she’s looked at Leroy’s file and sees he has no phone number. In season 4’s “I Never Danced For My Father” they state that Leroy’s file states his father is dead so I would have expected her to notice that too!

We get a little more insight into Montgomery’s character here and he comes across as being very selfish trying to get Bruno involved with something he doesn’t want to do, purely so that Montgomery can get something out if it.

Lydia mentions that she grew up in a similar room to Leroy’s but in Season 5’s “Losin It” Lydia tells Sherwood how every year as a child she would go to the ballet to see her favourite dancer perform until one year the dance hurt herself and lost her confidence and did perform again. I’m sure she wouldn’t have been able to afford to go to the ballet if she lived in such poor living conditions.

There’s lots of music in this episode and we hear PR singing with Valerie although it’s supposed to be some new wave group. Lee does his “Sho sho Shorofsky”, it’s amazing that for a song he just made up on the spot he can remember it exactly when he plays it again.

At the end as the musical number in the cafeteria is finished Albert is still playing away on the piano but there is no sound being heard. Oh yes why are there pianos in the cafeteria anyway? They aren't always there so where do they go to? Someone at that school must be very busy moving all this heavy equipment around all the time.

The first draft of this script gives it the title of "Parental Pressure" which was also known as "Bruno's Song". Interestingly Garcy was still one of the main characters listed in this script which was published on 3rd September 1981.

Episode Pictures

Synopsis

The Kids get excited when the latest tape of their favourite new wave band is released. However Bruno dislikes new wave music and to prove a point that it's not very creative he comes up with a song on the spot about Mr Shorofsky, which Montgomery secretly records. Montgomery then gets himself and Bruno a contract with a recording company.

Sherwood is about to give up on Leroy and fail him in her English Class.