John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch

For his fifth comedy special, writer and standup comedian John Mulaney sends up classic live-action childrens television -- think Barney and Sesame Street -- with John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch. Alongside a cast of 15 children between the ages of 8 and 13, some of them scene-stealers, its a musical comedy featuring songs by composer Eli Bolin, a veteran of childrens TV, theater, and comedy series like Documentary Now! The lyrics were supplied by Mulaney and fellow Saturday Night Live alum Marika Sawyer, who also co-wrote the special. Though not all of the sketches are musical, there were enough songs in the show to justify a soundtrack, with its ten tunes clocking in at just under 30 minutes. A few of the specials many adult-targeted celebrity references spill over into the songs, which feature guest performers including Andre De Shields (Algebra Song!), David Byrne (Pay Attention!), and Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays a hapless actor with mostly bad examples of objects that make noise for the epic closing number, Music, Music Everywhere! (When you tap a pen on a paperback book/Not too loud but you get the point/Toss a dress shirt in a laundry sack...). Viewers are bound to have their own favorites based on whether they identify with being a picky eater, not getting enough attention, or thinking math might be pointless, but melodic highlights include the soul-tinged Grandmas Boyfriend Paul and the 60s teen pop-evoking Do Flowers Exist at Night? A more showtune-y entry, I Saw a White Lady Standing on the Street Just Sobbing (And I Think About It Once a Week) is carried by kid cast member Alexander Bello, who redeems some of the programs sillier moments with a Joan Didion-referencing tale of concern and compassion. Not present on the soundtrack are interview segments interspersed throughout the hour in which the kids relay their biggest fears; as irreverent as some of material is, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch never strays far from its empathetic center, including the closing moments of Music, Music Everywhere!, in which Mulaney and the Bunch join in song to lift Gyllenhaal. ~ Marcy Donelson