by Megan Bailey, Staff Writer

Welcome to the saddest entry in our musical TV show review. Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies premiered in April 2023 on Paramount, but by June of that same year, it was canceled and removed from the platform. Conceived as a prequel to Grease, the show bounced around from HBO to Peacock in 2020, and then went into production in 2021. As the subtitles suggests, it focuses on the creation of the Pink Ladies gang that Rizzo, Frenchy, and so on are a part of in the original film.

Pink Ladies featured more than thirty original songs, and a good chunk of them are bangers. That’s thanks to Justin Tranter, a songwriter who has written for/with many artists, including Fall Out Boy, Gwen Stefani, The Jonas Brothers, Måneskin, and Chappell Roan. Not to mention songs for a number of films, including A Star Is Born, Alita: Battle Angel, Happiest Season, and Purple Hearts. Tranter served as the executive music director and wrote, or co-wrote, most of the music in the show.

As for the plot of the show, Pink Ladies follows Jane (Marisa Davila), Olivia (Cheyenne Isabel Wells), Cynthia (Ari Notartomaso), Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara), and Hazel (Shanel Bailey), who would go on to form the Pink Ladies over the course of the season. Jane, our Sandy stand-in, has boy trouble when she and the popular boy in school, Buddy (Jason Schmidt), start dating. Olivia ends up almost marrying a teacher at Rydell High, Mr. Daniels (Chris McNally), until the rest of the gang persuades her not to. (See “Please, Please, Please” below, one of the show’s catchiest songs). Cynthia originally wants to be a member of the T Birds, but she ends up finding herself with the ladies and discovering her sexuality. Hazel, a shy girl, finds her voice in the school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Nancy experiences her first crush and wants to be a fashion designer.

The songs run the gamut from Jane’s “I Want More,” a classic “I-Want” song with just her in a hallway, to the romantic duets, like Hazel and Wally’s “Land Don't Look So Bad” and Cynthia and Lydia’s “All In,” to the even more elaborate “The Boom,” about atomic bomb drills. And even then, there are the very, very elaborate first and last songs of the season, “Grease Is the Word” and “Think Pink.” The musical numbers, whether they’re simple or extravaganzas, are always really fun to watch.

Pretty much all of the music from the show rides a line between contemporary and the ‘50s sound of the original. Notably, Grease is an ‘80s film aiming for ‘50s aesthetics, so I think the show meets the tone of the film just fine. The costuming of the show was also really delightful. Some characters had very classic costuming, while Nancy had some really out-there looks that she’d designed for herself.

On the whole, this show is goofy and a little bit janky. But it was also very charming, earnest, and full of heart. The leads were all great in their roles, and I was rooting for each of the Pink Ladies. I think the show was at its goofiest when trying to directly tie into the movie, even though I understand the need, from the studio’s perspective, to make Pink Ladies reference Grease a lot. But when half the characters are the older siblings to the iconic Pink Ladies in the film, maybe we’re doing a little too much.

I also want to note that since the show came out, Jason Schmidt has made his Broadway debut in The Outsiders musical, and Ari Notartomaso was fantastic in New York City Center’s production of Titanic the Musical. So, there’s some bonafide talent coming out of the show.

It’s tragic that Paramount gave the show two months to find an audience and then added insult to injury by removing the show from their platform entirely, in addition to canceling it. We are in an absolute hellscape of cancellations, thanks to the streaming era we’re in. It should be obvious to everyone now that not every show will be a slam dunk right away. However, taking a show completely off a platform within two months is so deeply cynical. There is an audience for this show, and most of those in it will never find it now.

Seeing the creation of the Pink Ladies was really fun, and I think the finale had some zany little moments hinting at more to come, including the introduction of Danny Zuko’s older brother, an ex-boyfriend of Jane’s. I would’ve liked to see more or, at the very least, be able to rewatch the first season. Like many other shows in this streaming era, Pink Ladies was mistreated and mishandled by its streaming service.

With only one show left to go in this yearlong project, I’m excited to end on what should be a more positive note: Hazbin Hotel. Until then, “Grease” is the word!