Music Monday: TV Soundtracks

So you already know my love for soundtracks and how important I think they are to movies and TV. So now I am going to talk about a few TV shows that really know how to use music! This could be that they have a good soundtrack released or that week to week they pull out amazing song choices and know how to use music to their advantage. First I will talk about the most recent show to excel in this area: Parenthood.

Parenthood:
What an amazing show...uh I love Parenthood! (Just ask those who lived with me the last year and a half while it was on and I could not stop saying "*sigh* I LOVE this show!!") Parenthood is awesome because of the story, the nicknames (that I have given them), the comedy, the cast and of course the music. They use music so well! Again like many great soundtracks it includes a mixture of styles, of old and new (like Alexi Murdoch and Run DMC) and the familiar with new (Forever Young and The Living Sisters). Also this show knows how to use it. They used It's Tricky  when "The Fever" is teaching his nephew to dance, and St. Judy's Comet  when the glue enters into his sons world of pirates. If you still need more convincing that it is awesome just go over the their official website, because after many blogs that were started to keep track of the music used (and probably lots of email questions to NBC) "Parenthood Music" is now a section of their website!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
If you know me you know I am a huge fan of Buffy. Bias aside, they use music very well. They introduced a ton of new artists and through their music selection created their own sound. They had great musical guest appearances, a fabulous fake band that was really a real band and the scores? AMAZING! (like movie quality good) Oh, and did I mention they did an amazing musical episode? Because they did. They were so good that since the series ended they have released 2 more soundtracks! (Adding to the two they had already!)

Freaks and Geeks:
I just started watching this show a little over a year ago and not only did I like the show but the music was awesome. Made in a time before it was standard for TV shows to be released on DVD they used an impressive all star lineup of music-including a whole episode of music from Billy Joel and another from The Who. When it came to releasing this cult classic on DVD they decided to get the original music (making it super expensive) because they said the original music was so important to the show. It is. There was so much music directly referred to by characters, sung by characters, and was just the perfect song to play in that scene. Oh and for those who don't know it takes place in 1980 so it is all awesome 60's and 70's rock. I would recommend this show if you don't mind feeling a little depressed, seeing an all star cast before they were all stars, enjoying some laughs and of course-good music.

Honorable Mention:

• How I Met Your Mother: Great theme song and great use of some awesome music here and there. What is that? You want to go to the mall? Today?
• The O.C.:(Don't call it that) I have never seen The O.C. but they have five soundtracks that are all pretty good. And speaking of the O.C...
• Arrested Development: With very little non-original music (Afternoon Delight...it doesn't sound like it would be that bad...) they did a great job with their quirky score and creating songs to sound like the songs that were just too expensive to use like "Yellow Boat". Their music became another layer of hilarious comedy in one of the most layered and hysterical shows. ("It aint easy being white...")
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: It is a horribly hilarious show. It is not good or clean but it is fun. Five of the most horrible people living a horrible life of vain selfishness and hilarious high-jinx. Oh but this is about music isn't it? Well to go along with the horrible things they do they have happy, calm and sophisticated (don't forget free) classical music as a score. Then add in a little Biz Markie, Berlin, Rick Astley, Steve Winwood, and top off with Poison and some acapella.Wow, right? But you also cannot forget the stylings of musical prodigy Charlie, with hits like Dayman, Rock. Flag. Eagle., Tiny Boy, and of course his first big sensation Nightman. They know how to use music hilariously.