When Music is the Main Actor in a Television Show

While great plots and stellar acting drive a television series, sometimes a main (overlooked) character in a show is the music. Glee brings music as a character to the forefront again, but many music-centered shows have paved its way. Below are shows you should watch again and again, even if you just turn up the volume and walk away from the television set:

The Wonder Years

The show, hard to catch even in reruns these days, opened with Joe Cocker's rendition of the Beatles A Little Help from my Friends.

In total, the series won 22 awards, and was nominated for a further 54 more, with many for its music. Among them, The Wonder Years won the BMI's TV and Music awards three years ('88-'90), all for the cover written by Paul McCartney, John Lennon and W.G. Snuffy Walden. It was also nominated in '89-'93 (all but the first year) for an Emmy in the category of sound mixing.

So you think you'll catch it on DVD? Well, here's the problem with shows that play great music; it's tough to find them on video. You can get two episodes of The Wonder Years at a hefty price (about $75 on Amazon), but full seasons are non existent. According to The Denver Post (Oct. 5, 2010): "Among shows that have yet to release full seasons, The Wonder Years - a nostalgic coming-of-age series set in suburbia circa 1970 - is one of the most sought-after. The website TVshows on DVD.com lists the 10 most requested DVDs still unreleased by studios, and The Wonder Years sits at No. 2, right behind Beverly Hills 90210.

It's all about music licensing. Each time those songs get played, someone should be getting a royalty unless some licensing agreement has been worked out. Think of it as the musical equivalent of It's a Wonderful Life where whenever a bell rings an angel gets its wings. In music-driven shows, whenever the music starts, someone opens the cash register for deposits. According to producers of the show, even though fans steadily request The Wonder Years on DVD, no one is actively working on making it a reality.

This is just an aside for diehard fans of the show: The Wonder Years ran for six seasons on ABC (1988-1993). The quirky twist was that each season took place exactly 20 years before the current season. (The 1988 season depicted 1968, for example.)

Cold Case

Launched in 2003, CBS's Cold Case continues to lead the way for music that plays an integral role in the show's storyline. Classics by artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen to Pearl Jam spill over as the backdrop to the week's tale.

In March, 2010, viewers were treated to Pink Floyd, including Hey You, Comfortably Numb, Mother, Marooned, Time, The Thin Ice and Wish You Were Here.

Greg Plageman, one of the show's executive producers and the writer of this episode, told EmiMusic.com that the Floyd tracks complemented the storyline involving the personal backsliding of beloved detective Nick Vera.

They chose Floyd's Wish You Were Here because the famous album cover was shot on the Warner Bros lot right next to the Cold Case soundstage 35 years ago. Plageman explained, We though that it would be great symmetry to play the title track over the final montage."

During the 7^th season Cold Case opener, the tale revolved around a woman killed aboard ship during a trans-Atlantic crossing in 1966. Seven songs by Ray Charles, recorded between 1954 and 1965, were woven seamlessly into the storyline.

If you doubt how much a role music plays in Cold Case, note that producers have acknowledged that in an episode that featured Bruce Springsteen's music, the songs were chosen first. Then, after the songs were nailed down, a story was built to fit the music.

True Blood

The HBO Vampire hit not only plays to the current trend towards vampire-based shows in the visual sense, but the music selected has a sort of dark, campy feel to it. Music supervisor Gary Calamar takes great pains to choose fitting songs from among the likes of Beck, the Rolling Stones, 13^th Floor Elevators, Lucinda Williams, Dave Alvin and Wanda Jackson. Even the theme song by Jace Everett reflects the earthy, dark vampire vibe. The fitting music isn't a surprise when you find out that Gary Calamar also oversees the music for Weeds, Dexter and House.

Weeds

Episode One of the first season of Weeds, now in its 6^th season, featured the theme song Tiny Boxes. The song has an odd Appalachian folk sound to it, but when juxtaposed against the opening scenes sets the tone for the show's theme: people who work day and night to fit into cookie cutter roles but fail miserably.

Along the way the song was done by Elvis Costello, then producers started having the theme sung by various groups to reflect the particular episode. The sound could range from the traditional Appalachian feel to heavy metal to something you'd hear out of a mariachi band.

One episode surrounding soccer mom turned drug kingpin Nancy Botwin stars Snoop Dog. After testing out her product, he writes a song just for her: MILF Weed.

Within the show, music ranks a starring role, particularly towards the end of the show when the producers are trying to set up the next episode. So many questions come in about the music (usually obscure pieces, but spot on in terms of fitting the mood) that Showtime lists its site where viewers can find out how to track down the music and artists featured (http://www.sho.com/site/weeds/music.do). See if you recognize any of these featured musicians: Michael Franti and Spearhead, A Camp, The Mountain Goats, Tuung, DeVotchKa and Toots & The Maytals.

The Hills

If you've ever watched Big Brother After Dark on Showtime, shot late at night to allow viewers to be voyeurs to the houseguests on the show, you'll constantly hear voices from heaven (production) telling people to stop singing. You'll also learn quickly that you never hear more than a few snippets of music and rarely from the artist who made it famous. It all has to do with royalties and gaining permission.

Quite the opposite has been the case with the MTV reality show, The Hills. Since it is an MTV venture, it shouldn't surprise anyone that music is a main element of the show. Episodes are full of current, Top 40 tunes that function almost as a selling tool for MTV. It doesn't hurt the show, however, if you're into listening to current jams.

As with many of the other music-driven shows, The Hills features a strong theme song: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield.

Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy has done quite a bit to boost the sales of many already good songs. With a show that revolves around blood, guts and gore and split-second medical decisions and complications, how appropriate is the The Fray's How to Save a Life? And since the premise was built on the newbie/wannabe doctors entering Seattle Grace a song like Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars pulls together all of the inner turmoil and insecurities that go along with the job.

As with some of the others mentioned here, that Grey's Anatomy highlights great music is not a surprise. The show's music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas, also scored The O.C., also known for bringing music into the cast of characters.

It's refreshing that many producers now put as much thought into the music as the plot of a show. The above list is but a pittance of shows featuring great music that have come and gone. Others to check out include: Dawson's Creek, Friday Night Lights, WKRP in Cincinnati, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, Chuck, The O.C., Parenthood, House, Scrubs (whose musical selections came from the acerbic Dr. Jordan Sullivan on screen), Cougar Town and the died-too-soon Swing Town.