Brett Michaels Will Serenade NBC’s Post-Apocalyptic Revolution
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Celebrity cameos and post-apocalyptic television programs don’t usually go hand in hand. Even if a famous face does happen to turn up, it’s as a character. Their IMDb page will read “Steve” or “Suzie” or whatever their one-off happens to be called. You don’t expect to see the “himself/herself” credit. That, however, is going to change a bit as NBC’s Revolution welcomes Brett Michaels of Rock Your RV fame, as himself for an upcoming episode of the struggling drama when it returns from a mid-season hiatus.
You may recall that prior to being a reality show darling, and designer of his own line of rock and roll themed pet products, Michaels was once something of a musician. According to EW, he’s going to play a post-blackout incarnation of himself, and will strum a version of that most maudlin of Poison hits, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” The song choice makes a fair amount of sense; it’s easily adapted to the needs of a world without electricity. After all, an acoustic version of “Unskinny Bop” would just sound silly, and the frontman’s current penchant for bandanas and leather fits right into the show’s rugged frontier fashion sense. It’s easy to imagine him as a modern day troubadour, travelling from town to town, delivering news in song form. Maybe he’ll write “The Ballad of Miles Matheson.”
Creator Eric Kripke says, “Bret is truly a great guy. I’m a huge fan of his music and I’m thrilled he’s appearing on Revolution.”
The series has already shown a certain affinity for all things rock and roll. This season alone, fans have been treated to acoustic renditions of both Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” and “Tom Sawyer” by Canadian prop pioneers Rush, as well a handful of Led Zeppelin tunes on the soundtrack. What better way to cement this affiliation than with an appearance by a bon-a-fide rock star? I really, really hope he hits on Charlie. That would be absolutely perfect. And this long after the power goes out, Michael’s will probably be looking pretty grim, though it is good to know that even with the collapse of the medical industry, he’ll find a way to manage his diabetes. Maybe being famous has its privileges.
Last year, Revolution gave NBC one of its highest rated freshman dramas in years, but those numbers haven’t carried over to the new season, despite the fact that show have become way more fun to watch. Under the guidance of new showrunner Rockne S. O’Bannon (Farscape), Revolution has embraced the nature of the world after electricity has stopped working and things have gotten super grim. They nuked two major East Coast cities, after all. They also seem to have thrown up their hands at the absurdity of it all and decided to just go for it. People are bursting into flames left and right, there are cultish gangs of post-apocalyptic marauders, and lets us not forget wide-reaching, ultra-secret conspiracy going on.
We’ll have to wait until Revolution returns in January to see if they can keep it up. Over the first half of the season, things get stranger by the week, and I have to admit, it’s been pretty fun to binge watch three or four episodes at a time.
