Summer TV Review: Legally Blonde-The Search for Elle Woods

It’s the rare song and dance routine that truly touches my soul. Aside from a Buffy here and an Evita there, the last few years have been pretty barren of musical options. Then I saw and heard the glory that is Legally Blonde: The Musical. The Broadway show that aired in its entirety on MTV last Fall enthralled me which is particularly odd since I was not a big fan of the film. I found myself downloading tracks off the original Broadway recording and counting the days until the show started touring. Unfortunately that’s a lot of days as the tour doesn’t hit my neck of the woods until next spring but in the meantime MTV is satisfying my pink craving with a new reality competition to cast the new Elle on Broadway.

The show certainly appeals to me as a fan of the musical but I think non-fans will find it to be a satisfying reality show. On Monday’s premiere the cattle call of casting was narrowed down from 50 to 10 before our eyes. The girls danced and sang their little hearts out and for the most part kept their claws in. Don’t despair though as it looks like the claws will come out in the weeks to come. The group of 10 is certainly diverse from both a background and appearance aspect. It’s nice to see some folks who normally wouldn’t pass the casting mustard on say the Real World or A Shot at Love. The judges likewise seem like fish out of water but in a refreshing manner in that they actually care about the end winner since it will affect their livelihood. Perhaps the only sore spot is “mentor” Hayley Duff. A so called triple threat, Hilary’s less talented and less successful older sister can grind the show to a halt with her stilted updates on the proceedings and her “heartfelt” tales of her Broadway life. Yuck! Hopefully there’s still time in the editing room to cut down on the Duff and increase the pink. Snaps!

Mondays 9pm CST., MTV, Premiered June 2nd