Great Scott is a column by Scott Towler, a war-hero/football star based in Los Angeles. If you don’t believe me, check out his blogger profile. The only thing more truthful than a blogger profile is Wikipedia.

In the wake of the success of Garden State and The O.C. Hollywood went compilation crazy. Hell, they even paid Jack Johnson actual money to do the urious George soundtrack, presumably because seven year olds are the only people who still like his music.

What gets me the most is the thought that the television of yesteryear, much like the music of yesteryear, had a purpose. You didn’t just score a scene because a Peter, Bjorn and John track fit nicely (much less because Universal music owns the show AND the band). And the best of the bunch was The Wonder Years

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The source music for The Wonder Years perfectly captures the era of its time, in a way that matched the show’s incredible resonance. With an unflinching eye, the series sketched the period when America was at war. Not just with Viet Nam, but also inwardly, trying to decipher exactly what defined a suddenly identity-less nation. The America of 2007 is beset with similar problems and crises that require immediate attention, but in my mind nothing has stepped up that musically captured our zeitgeist the way The Wonder Years did for the 60s.

Maybe it’s pointless to blame the shows. No, let’s blame the shows, and the fact that we keep on producing hour long dramas about idiots living their stupid lives in almost unbearable circumstances. Shows like the O.C.
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Take a scene from The O.C., a show that has released several mixtapes with music that had little to do with the story’s context.

Ryan: It’s just that, I never knew my father.
Seth: Well, my father is rich. I’m a nerd.

Ryan: Look, I can’t deal with your issues right now Seth.
Seth: Then get ready for the yacht club party.

Ryan: (pouty) Oh, I hate yacht club parties…they’re always so well decorated, and have more free food and booze than anyone can ever eat.

Seth: Yeah. Let’s waste it and then contribute money to Darfur.

Cue Rooney song.

This choice only makes sense if Rooney is a sailing term. As in, “Tie off the Rooney son, batten down the hatchet.”

Grey’s Anatomy is just as guilty.
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On Grey’s, there predictably seems to be a musical disconnect. You’d think they would use music to undercut scenes where someone gets sliced open or dies. Nope, it’s all for scenes where Sandra Oh cries over an ex, or Katharine Hiegl goes on a date in autumn. For instance:

Sandra Oh: So, my date last night was a bust.
Heigl: Oh yeah? Why’s that?

Sandra: He called me ugly.
Heigl: Wow, that’s the 5th date this week that’s said that. Maybe you are ugly.

Sandra Oh: Good thing I work at a hospital.
Heigl: Oh, is that what we do?

Sandra Oh: Yeah, I had almost forgotten since it has nothing to do with the show.
Heigl: Hey, at least we’re not on ER…though ER is a better show.

Cue Psapp’s newest kick ass song that gets ruined because it’s raining on an urban street, and somebody doesn’t have a jacket. The only way to salvage this trend is for shows to publicly declare their triviality up-front and then the music will support it better.

Kids Like Gossip. Kids Like Girls. Kids like Josh Schwartz. It’s Genius!
Thus far, Gossip Girl does this well. Another of Josh Schwartz’s babies (I guess he had triplets), Gossip Girl does just what it says: creating high drama for upper east side urbanites. Their lives are meaningless, but the drama fits perfectly with what the show is trying to accomplish. There is no Ryan Atwood from Chino, the kid with a heart of gold who needs saving. There are no medical patients getting ignored so fake doctors can bring their personal drama into the ER. Instead, it’s just spoiled high school kids doing what they do best: partying, fighting, and fucking. Because of that, I can’t say there’s a better show out there right now in terms of music. Every song they use seems to fit the scene, no matter how tedious it may be.

Brother: Well, I tried to kill myself.

Cue Eliot Smith

Sister: Let’s get you some fresh air then.
Mother: No, he can’t go outside.

Sister: Why, are you hiding him to save face or something?
Mother: No…I err…umm

Cue Pixies

And so on and so forth. They’re not asking you to love them, nor are they trying to do something ridiculous with their lives. Instead, they exist in our time, completely disconnected from the rest of the world (as all shows are). But the difference is, they embrace it. They might not hold a candle to The Wonder Years, but aren’t all that far from Beverly Hills, 9021o. And that ain’t half bad.

Stumble It!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 at 12:15 am and is filed under Great Scott. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.