Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster as we dive into the most memorable man ballads in TV history! From heartbreak to hilarity, these musical moments showcase the raw, vulnerable side of male characters that'll make you laugh, cry, and everything in between.
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00:00You can't tame me. This book was meant to be free.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo. And today, we're counting down our picks for the times our favorite TV men
00:12were so overcome by emotion that they just had to channel it all into song.
00:16It's guy love. Don't compromise the feeling of some other guy.
00:25Number 10. The end of the movie. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
00:29Does any singer scream man ballad louder than Josh Groban? This one's a little different,
00:34though. While, yes, it's sung by a man, the emotions belong to our protagonist, Rebecca Bunch.
00:52After being left at the altar by her dream guy, Josh, Rebecca spirals into a revenge-fueled mess
00:57of bad choices. As it turns out, femme fatales tend to thrive in fiction because, well,
01:02life doesn't make narrative sense. And Rebecca learns that the hard way.
01:16Still, when you hit rock bottom, isn't it nice to have Groban's velvety voice tell you where it all
01:21went wrong? Oh, and this song isn't just about Rebecca's breakdown. Groban gets his moment in
01:26the spotlight, too. Number 9. Three Dots from Stardom. The After Party. We've all been there.
01:46Those pesky three dots that seem to last an eternity. Like, come on, how long does it take
01:51to send a message? Meanwhile, all we can do is obsessively watch and wonder what is waiting for
02:08us on the other end. Jasper wants to revive his music career and hopes that superstar Xavier will
02:13collaborate with him. Xavier initially brushes him off with a, yeah, sure, whatever, but later
02:19starts responding to a text, taking forever to just send that dawn message. This is easily one
02:35of the most relatable songs for anyone who stared at their phone, breath held, nostrils flared,
02:40and heart pounding, only to be met with ellipses. Number 8. Poison has been hotel. Angel Dust is an
02:58adult film star in hell, bound to a cruel boss who owns his soul. The song may sound like a lively
03:04dance track, but its lyrics cut deep. Angel sings about being stuck in a toxic situation
03:16he knows is harmful, yet he can't resist its pull. He wrestles with a mix of emotions,
03:21where pleasure and pain blur together, leaving him trapped in a cycle he can't escape.
03:26Blaming himself while also recognizing the chains holding him, Angel reveals how he must associate
03:39just to cope. The darkly upbeat melody hints at a flicker of fight in him, but as the song fades,
03:45his vulnerability seeps through, and it's devastating. Number 7. Broadway Here I Come,
04:01Smash. Like Groban earlier, Jeremy Jordan has one of those voices tailor made for the mad ballad.
04:15Beyond his stage work, we've heard it in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure and,
04:21of course, Smash. He plays Jimmy, a composer chasing his Broadway dreams.
04:34By a stroke of luck, someone with industry connections hears him sing a ballad he wrote
04:38for the fictional musical Hit List. The devastatingly beautiful song tells the story
04:43of a woman battling adversity while pursuing stardom, teetering on the edge of giving up
04:47entirely. Jordan's tender delivery wrings every ounce of emotion from the piece. Though written
05:03about a woman at her breaking point, it cleverly mirrors the struggles of its frustrated composer.
05:13Number 6. Guy Town, Big Mouth. You know the whole idealized concept of the bachelor pad?
05:28This is where that fantasy meets a hilariously grim reality. While the guys sing about the joys
05:40of single man life, the truth is far bleaker. What we actually see is a group of lonely men
05:45masking their isolation with habits stereotypically tied to a certain brand of masculinity. Sure,
06:01some are kinda healthy, but most are just downright gross. Is it any wonder this episode
06:06makes the younger guys rethink what being a man really means? The song is undeniably catchy,
06:11but the second it ends, we're scouting for the quickest escape from Guy Town,
06:15and probably washing our hands on the way out. Number 5. You Can't Tame Me and You Done Tamed
06:29Me, Schmigadoon. In season one of this comedy musical, Aaron Tveit plays the Rapscallion
06:35archetype to perfection. In an amusing parody of Carousel, Tveit's Danny Bailey performs a
06:54gloriously self-indulgent number about how he could never settle down, all while imagining
06:59life with Cecily Strong's Melissa. He flips the classic golden age musical trope on its head with
07:04an ironically unironic number that's equal parts charming and ridiculous. Yet it turns out, Danny
07:21can be tamed, and in just over two episodes no less, he starts working through his carousel of
07:26emotions in an excellently over-the-top musical soliloquy. We get another flamboyantly self-
07:41centered man ballad from the actor in season two, this time an homage to Pippin.
08:01Number 4. Against All Odds, Glee. Part of the credit here goes to Phil Collins,
08:07but watching Blaine sing Against All Odds about an unrequited crush
08:10takes it to full-on man ballad territory. You can see the anguish in his eyes as he sings to Sam,
08:24laying his heart bare in a way that we, and Sam, can't ignore. Darren Criss brings something
08:29deeply personal to the performance, tapping into an emotional rawness that feels painfully real.
08:37Beyond his impressive vocal talent, Criss knows how to deliver heartache in a way that makes our
08:51own hearts break just a little too. It's full of vulnerability, intensity, and honesty,
08:57as all the best man ballads are. Number 3. Love Makes the World Brand New,
09:11Galavant. So much happens by this point in the series that we can't cover it all,
09:15but trust us, it's worth watching even if it was cancelled unjustly soon.
09:27Madelena tells Gareth, a former guard turned king, that she loves him, and it changes everything.
09:37He points out all these brand new things he's never noticed before,
09:41things that might sound familiar to the rest of us once you decipher his colorful and quirky
09:45descriptions. It's a hilarious, heartfelt send-up of those theatrical love songs where characters
10:02stop to smell the roses for the first time. It's one of those numbers that makes a squirmy,
10:06fizz-pop burst of sound that flips your chest and twists your grin.
10:24Number 2. It Was a Shitshow, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. When it comes to the man ballad,
10:29no Crazy Ex-Character delivered them more wholeheartedly than Greg.
10:42In The Math of Love Triangles, he decides the best solution is to just leave the equation entirely.
10:48And when you speak, my knees get weak, I can't believe what I'm sacrificing.
10:59Rebecca chases him down at the airport, where he sings a Frank Sinatra-inspired song,
11:03explaining all the ways their relationship was a total train wreck. He still loves her,
11:08sure, but he paints a very vivid picture of how wrong they are for each other.
11:17I get it. Hurricane Katrina was just bad weather. Rachel Bloom, who wrote it, intentionally paired
11:25a suave melody with uncouth lyrics to highlight the messy reality of their love story. I won't
11:31regret this beautiful, heart-stopping, breathtaking, life-changing. By the end,
11:41Greg quite literally ascends to a new life full of possibilities. Before we unveil our top pick,
11:47here are a couple of honorable mentions. Good Ol' Boy, Supernatural. A night of
11:53reminiscing and heartfelt confessions turns into a sing-along.
12:09Buzzing in the Bathroom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Do you hear the people sigh? Tim learns that any
12:15pleasure his wife's felt was on her own. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
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12:35occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings
12:40and switch on notifications. Guy Love, Scrubs. If we're being honest, this is the relationship that
12:48set our unrealistic expectations for love. Seriously, find someone who looks at you the
12:53way Turk and JD look at each other. In this episode, a patient who hears everything through
13:04song gets a front row seat to their bond. Of course, they're the ones to sing a love song.
13:09Only they turn it into an endearing ode to friendship.
13:23With overly romantic lyrics, dramatic declarations, and just the right amount of earnest longing,
13:29they parody love ballads while flipping the script on male friendships and emotions.
13:33It's funny, touching, and refreshingly honest. Imagine if everyone celebrated love this openly.
13:40What a world that'd be.
13:42It's guy love between two guys.
14:01What's your favorite TV man ballad? Let us know in the comments.
14:04Great. Bravo. That was a very handsome song.
14:09Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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