If you're looking for something fun and feel-good to watch next, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining genre than the musical comedy. And while the song-and-dance format has certainly been explored extensively on the big screen, TV has also offered up some amusingly memorable entries to that great pantheon, from "Glee" to "Galavant" to "Girls5Eva" and beyond. And one lesser-known but no less great musical-comedy series is available to stream right now for free on the Roku Channel: "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist."
If you're not familiar, "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" is a jukebox comedy that aired for two seasons on NBC from January 2020 to May 2021, led by Jane Levy as an introverted software developer who, following a brain-altering procedure, discovers that she can now read minds as people begin performing their private thoughts and feelings to her. And yes, each cast member — including Skylar Astin, Peter Gallagher and Mary Steenburgen, among others — very much does their own singing!
Given that the Roku Channel is an ad-supported free streaming service — with thousands of on-demand movies, TV shows, and over 500 live TV channels — it's completely free to check out "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist if you haven't yet, and here's why you definitely should.
What is 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' about?
In a Golden Globe-nominated performance, Jane Levy stars as Zoey Clarke, a computer coder working at the San Francisco-based tech firm SPRQ Point. During a cautionary MRI scheduled to ensure that she doesn't share the same neurological disease as her father Mitch (Peter Gallagher), an earthquake interrupts the procedure and magically leaves her with the ability to hear the innermost thoughts and desires of her family, co-workers and strangers around her as popular musical numbers set to the likes of like the Beatles, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel and Taylor Swift, among others.
Each of the series' 25 episodes features several of these so-called "heart songs," which not only serve to get you tapping a toe and bopping along at home but also to push forward the characters' respective storylines. Soon, Zoey finds that what she at first thought was a curse is actually a gift, one that she decides to use to help the people she loves.
Why I recommend 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' for your Sunday scaries
If you liked the mix of high-production musical numbers and quirky comedy found in shows like "Glee," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and "Schmigadoon!," then "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" will be right up your alley.
With an absolutely stacked cast (including the aforementioned Levy, the talented ensemble includes Skylar Astin, Alex Newell, John Clarence Stewart, Peter Gallagher, Mary Steenburgen and Lauren Graham) and a pop-heavy soundtrack filled with iconic tracks like "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "I'll Stand by You," "New York State of Mind," "Wrecking Ball" and more, "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" could easily have kept things light and frothy for its two-season run.
But even though it's a joyful and celebratory watch altogether, it manages to fit in a surprising amount of emotional depth, turning those song-and-dance productions into character-driven moments, from Zoey connecting with her sick dad to realizing her romantic feelings for longtime friend Max (Astin).
"Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" premiered during prime COVID era, so it didn't initially get the attention it deserves, but The Roku Channel's free programming means that more eyes can get on this worthy, feel-good show. And in even better news, the streaming service also produced a follow-up film, 2021's "Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas," so you can keep the fun musical vibes going even longer.
Stream "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" on the Roku Channel now
