Name that Tune...

So the other day I was watching Entourage, and during the last scene Ari tells Vince that he's got a potential job offer to be a studio head and get Vince any job he wants. Vince answers back saying that it's great, but he thought they would end what they started. As he says the line, the Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees qued in the background, and portrayed the uncertainty that both Vince and Ari were feeling in the scene.



skip over to the 2:00 min mark or so.

The scene was very poetic, and it made me wonder about music and tv, and how they two have had a brilliant relationship over the past ten years or so.

Now I'm not going to go into detail about general background music in shows, though those are just as important, but actual songs in TV shows.

Teen dramas are rife with examples. Imagine the opening of Dawson's Creek or The OC without the music that accompanies them. Those songs set the tone for the show before a single line was even uttered.

And what about the bands whose music is part of these series? Well they just introduce themselves to a whole new fan base

Take the example of Scrubs. Here is a show that uses a lot of music to portray how the characters are feeling. Long before Grey's Anatomy used the Fray's How to Save a Life for its commercials (a move that helped make the song one of the most downloaded ever!), the song was used in a crucial scene on Scrubs. But that's not the point. The point is, during the making of the DVD for season 1, songs were omitted from episodes and replaced with others as a cost cutting measure.

Fans were outraged. Putting pressure on the creator to make sure future DVDs didn't have the same issues. What makes this so impressive is the fact that season 1 of Scrubs came out in 2005, a full four years after the show premiered. The episodes weren't even in syndication! Clearly, fans of the show were so moved by the music that they wanted the same songs to portray the same emotions they felt when they first saw the episode.

Subsequent DVDs for Scrubs and other shows with strong musical influences have stuck to the same songs they used in the original run. Some series, like any show on the CW, have sections of their official website that informs viewers of what tracks were played in what episodes. Thus allowing the band to feed off the fanbase of the show.

I'll leave you with some of the best music moments in Scrubs.



Till the next time, why don't you tell me some music/tv moments that moved you.

|