Bryan and Stewie and Jackie and Walter
As I've noted in the past, particularly with this video here, Seth MacFarland is not only a very talented singer, but someone who clearly loves Broadway musicals. And for the opening of the 2007 Emmy Awards, he showed both those skills doing both voices for Brian and Stewie from his show, The Family Guy.
It's an amusing, entertaining number (along with the reactions of the audiences members because joked about -- in particular a reference to The Sopranos), which I like for a completely separate reason. Which I'll explain in a moment. But first, the opening number --
The reason I especially like this is because the music they use for the number is from a little-remembered Broadway show (that had a respectable run of 448 performances), and one of its even more less-known songs. The show is Take Me Along, which I've written about several times -- including here and here -- with a score by Bob Merrill, based on the play, Ah, Wilderness written by that ever-popular musical comedy man, Eugene O'Neill. The song it's using is "Volunteer Fireman Picnic." No doubt you've heard of it and sing it all the time... (Or, okay, not.)
Because the song is so especially-obscure, that's why I wouldn't be surprised if MacFarland himself might have been involved with the writing of the number. He's a writer, after all, and has often shown a great love of Broadway musicals. And Take Me Along isn't a show or especially a song that trips off the tongue of most people. You'd really have to know and love musicals. And particularly love it to know this song. Maybe he wasn't involved, but if I had to guess, he was.
The song was performed in the show by the stars Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon, along with the Townspeople. And here it is, in the original form.
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