A lot of people hate on Billy Joel and his music because he’s admittedly a bit of a cheese ball. There aren’t musicians like Joel anymore, guys who write “story songs” and don’t mind leaning into the sappy and melodramatic. But I love him. The man knows how to compose a catchy, fun pop song and, boy, does he know how to play the piano.
He’s also supremely successful, which some people seem to forget. Joel is something like the sixth most successful artist in history. He’s sold millions upon millions of records and he still sells out Madison Square Garden monthly. His popularity hasn’t waned even though he hasn’t released any new music in decades. So it’s no surprise that MGM Television is looking to transform his songs into an “arc-thology” series titled Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. Each episode of the proposed series will feature characters from Joel’s music and will be heavily influenced by his lyrics. His original tracks will be reworked and reimagined, all with input from Mr. Piano Man himself.
This project isn’t a shocker following the success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. Audiences are eager for more musically-influenced biopics. But a biopic of Joel isn’t necessarily the right approach because, despite his fair share of troubles, his life has been rather straight-forward. He’ll be the first to admit that his story isn’t as engaging or troubled as Freddie Mercury or Elton John’s. Instead it’s the stories in his music that tell the more fascinating tales. He has crafted song after song full of lush description, relatable characters and ample drama. It makes more sense to create a series based on his music and not on his actual life.
MGM Television will shop the series to various networks and I’d be shocked if it didn’t find a home on terrestrial television. This is a show that will greatly appeal to baby boomers. Seriously, a show based on Billy Joel music will be appointment television for many of our parents. And me, I’ll admit it.
My only hope is that at least one of the episodes revolves around the dystopian “future” Joel predicated in “Miami 2017”
