Television offers so many different examples of the rich potential in uniting images and music - both original to the show and previously recorded. This list seems a little intense, but here's my chronologically-ordered rundown of some of my favorite television music moments of the decade:
It seems fitting that this particular moment came only a few weeks into the decade, because Freaks and Geeks still feels so formative to me as a television viewer. There isn't much to say about this that I haven't already, but I'll add that I love that nearly a decade later I can still see Jason Segel being goofy on television on a weekly basis.
"Heat Wave" - Martha and the Vandellas, American Dreams - "Pilot" (9/29/02)
A few weeks ago, I was reading a quote from Jon Hamm where he observed that Mad Men is not American Dreams, particularly referring to the latter's featuring black characters within its narrative. The musical moment here, which comes about four minutes into the clip below, highlights the fundamental difference in tone between the decade's two major depictions of 1960s life - while Dreams featured many of the conflicts that defined the 60s, it also placed some value on a sense of warmth and community. The explosive sense of joy that came when "Heat Wave" kicked in, emblematic of the show's use of popular music, made this a truly wonderful pilot.
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - Clay Aiken, American Idol - "Season Two Wild Card Performance Show" (3/4/03)
True Confessions Alert: When the second season of Idol aired, I was sixteen years old and I loved Clay Aiken. I was never one of those fans that was deeply invested in his mythic heterosexuality - I just though he had a beautiful singing voice, and voted for him every single week. There are other performances I could have chosen (this past week's Community reminded me of how much I liked his "Somewhere Out There," and he had one of the few non-terrible finale songs in many seasons of the show) but I went with the wild card performance that got him into the top 12.
"Shakin'" - Rooney, The O.C. - "The Third Wheel" (1/7/04)
Before they added the Bait Shack in Season Two and built performances by popular musicians into the show, the first season episode featuring this performance by Rooney felt novel. (To me - I mean, I wasn't old enough to have seen the same kind of thing on previous teen shows.) It also remains a favorite for introducing me to a band I continue to love.
"If You Leave" - Nada Surf, The O.C. - "The Goodbye Girl" (3/3/04)
Music Supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has been behind several TV music moments that prompted me to then purchase said music - I believe this was the first. She chose several gorgeous covers for moments on The O.C. - Ryan Adams' take on "Wonderwall," Petra Haden's "Yellow" - but this may have been the best. It featured the departure of a great character before that kind of thing took the show downhill, and drew upon the John Hughes music legacy without feeling forced.
"It Ain't Easy Being White" - G.O.B. and Franklin Delano Bluth (Will Arnett), Arrested Development - "Righteous Brothers" (4/16/05)
Was there ever a more perfect representation of G.O.B.'s all-consuming self-absorption than Franklin? This song serves as just one example of what made Arrested Development totally unlike anything else on television.
"Muffin Top" - Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski), 30 Rock - "Jack-Tor" (11/16/06)
I think it says a lot about popular dance music of the decade that this is what a parody of it sounds like. Props to Jane Krakowski for her 100% commitment to Jenna's insanity and total lack of self-knowledge.
"Let's Go to the Mall" - Robin Sparkles (Cobie Smulders), How I Met Your Mother - "Slap Bet" (11/20/06)
I think with How I Met Your Mother, a lot of people can't get past their association of the multi-camera setup and the laugh track as relics of a bygone age of comedy. It's too bad for them, because then they miss awesome stuff like "Let's Go to the Mall," the denouement of perhaps the show's best episode. It is simultaneously hilariously goofy and insanely catchy, making it a winner in every way.
"Open Your Eyes" - Snow Patrol, The Black Donnellys - "Pilot" (2/26/07)
This comes from a time when Snow Patrol seemed to be everywhere, particularly "Chasing Cars." This is an example of a song that I heard previously on another show (Grey's Anatomy in this case) but in this specific circumstance, it made me sit up and pay attention. The cascading notes that close the song, paired with the pilot's framing of the violent origins of a destructive crime family, gave the scene a dire, apocalyptic air that I still remember even though the show was short-lived.
"Wild World" - Cast, Skins - "Everyone" (3/22/07)
To some extent, this moment is emblematic of how significant music can be to a show, and how much can get lost in translation. The music rights for Skins, a British show, don't apply to the U.S. releases of the show, which in most places just means that popular songs get switched out for genre-similar approximations. However, the DVD version of the first season finale cuts out this moment - where members of the cast sing the Cat Stevens classic - out completely, causing a scene jump that makes little narrative sense. On top of that, it's also a unique, beautiful moment that serves as an example of what makes Skins so excellent.
YouTube won't let me embed: Link
"All Along the Watchtower" - Bear McCreary, Battlestar Galactica - "Crossroads, Part Two" (3/25/07)
"Crossroads, Part Two" was the first BSG episode that I ever watched on a television (as opposed to my computer) and the closing moments featuring this song epitomized that increase in quality. The ties between the people BSG depicted and people today was always sketchy - references to "Earth" and Greek gods made it clear that we weren't totally distinct, but bringing in Bob Dylan to *spoiler alert!* introduce four of the final five Cylons was a gamechanger. BSG composer McCreary's take on "Watchtower" is hauntingly beautiful, and though the associated backstory introduced in the show's fourth season never completely worked for me, the closing shot of this episode zooming in on our Earth is one of the show's best.
Someone's super-litigious, as I can't even find the associated clip on YouTube. This is one of many coupling McCreary's take on the song with pictures from the show: Link
"Sweet Dreams" - Eurythmics, So You Think You Can Dance - "Season Three Top Six Performance Show" (8/8/07)
The third season of SYTYCD is still my favorite - I think it was the one group of dancers that had an ideal balance between technical ability, versatility and personality. This is my all-time favorite routine of the show - the moment where Neil does the "plange" (my phonetic spelling) propelling himself up and over Sabra on the table, it felt like time was standing still.
"Hopelessly Devoted to You" - Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth), Pushing Daisies - "Dummy" (10/10/07)
There's a moment at the end of the Pushing Daisies pilot where Ned and Chuck hold their hands behind their backs, pretending to be holding each other's hand, where when I originally watched it I thought to myself, "I think I love this show." This moment, from the second episode, is when I thought to myself, "I know I love this show."
"Stripper" - Sohodolls, Gossip Girl - "Victor Victrola" (11/7/07)
From yet another Patsavas-supervised show, this moment functioned as the genesis for a great TV couple in Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass, and also served notice that Gossip Girl was decidedly departing from its source material.
"Mr. Roboto" - Jeffster (Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay), Chuck - "Chuck vs. The Ring" (4/27/09)
This moment, from Chuck's second-season finale, represents the kind of go-for-broke spirit that defines the show's tone and makes its fans love it so fervently. That this was written and made it to air well before the creative personnel knew that the show would be renewed for another season just makes it that much better.
"Don't Stop Believin'" - Cast, Glee - "Pilot" (5/19/09)
Just when it starts to feel like network television is stagnating, something like Glee comes along. The pilot builds all the way up to this joyous burst of song, which managed to make "Don't Stop Believin'" feel fresh even at the close of a decade where it appeared regularly across channels and shows.
No comments:
Post a Comment