This show captured my imagination and blew my mind in a way television rarely does. Daniel Knauf’s bizarre, beautiful, and brilliantly acted series told of the battle between Good and Evil — played out during the dust bowl in the American West. If that wasn’t strange enough, it incorporated Buddhist and Occult imagery, as well as elements from several other religions and belief systems. The incidental music was composed by Jeff Beal, who created a simple, gorgeous sound universe for the show to live in. Of particular note, his atypical use of American folk instruments, and the Patton-esque trumpet solos for Brother Justin — the tool of evil disguised as a charismatic preacher. I adore his work on this show, but even more outstanding is the theme song that former Prince protegés Wendy and Lisa (Heroes) wrote and produced. Coupled with phenomenal imagery — fusing classical art, Depression-era footage, and Tarot cards, it’s one of the most strikingly original title sequences in recent memory.
One of my favourite TV series’ of all time, Buffy started out a little silly — an echo of the somewhat mundane feature film — and quickly grew teeth, a backbone, and a dark side.
Incidental music by Christophe Beck and Thomas Wanker (side note: his last name is German and is pronounced with a “V” at the beginning. The “A” is also pronounced “AW”, so it’s not as funny as it looks.) was uniformly good. Episodes of note include “Hush”, which features 29 minutes without dialogue (and a hell of a lot of music), “Once More With Feeling”, a full-fledged musical written by creator Joss Whedon, and some of the snarkiest bad guys (“Big Bad”s) ever seen. Buffy herself is amazing, adding herself to the list populated by such kick-ass female luminaries as Sydney Bristow (Alias) and Emma Peel (The Avengers). She falls more squarely in the Sydney camp, however, as she is flawed, human, and nearly always having complicated relationships (can you imagine her facebook status?). We recently watched all 7 seasons in order, and it was often difficult to limit it to one episode per day. It almost always turned into most of or all of a disc in one sitting. It’s great television.
Here is an unabashedly fun opening title: the theme song to the 1960′s series, Batman.
It is a completely unpretentious little slice of bluesey surf-rock, and little else. The vocals are child-like and piercing, but catchy and fun (The only say “Batman” and “Nananana”). The animation is hokey, and the flying bodies are hilarious, but there’s no escaping this is awesome. The 12-bar blues by Neal Hefti both perfectly captures the 60′s spy aesthetic, and highlights the comic book-esque nature of the series. So, even though I prefer my Batman dark and brooding (bring on the processed cello section!), there will always be a special place in my heart for this one.
As a kid, I was always enamored of any Sci-Fi on TV and in the movies. I watched V, Buck Rogers, my beloved Doctor Who, and — when I managed to catch it — the original Battlestar Galactica.
Though generally silly, I enjoyed the show’s dark moments (the Cylons and Baltar), and the effects — by comparison to other Sci-Fi on TV at the time — looked amazing. My favourite thing about the show, however, was the implication that the civilization portrayed would eventually become the Ancient Egyptians. Dirk Benedict was also a hot, cut-price, Han Solo.
The main titles begin with a nice segue from yesterday’s show, as The Avengers’ Patrick MacNee narrates the prologue over a fantastic orchestral piece by composer Stu Phillips. The credit sequence continues over a post-Star Wars classical fanfare, featuring elegant contrapuntal orchestral lines, and several catchy motives. (It also falls into the expository category that Farscape and a few other notable shows demonstrate by telling us the backstory during the opening titles.) It’s a rare piece of fine 80′s orchestral music, bucking the trend of Sci-Fi shows sporting very dated electronic theme tunes.
In a radical contrast to Alias, we move next to the original “spy-fy” series from the 1960′s: The Avengers.
This show was the epitome of English cold war spy culture. The dashing, older establishment figure, the sexy, young female assistant, and the outrageous conspiracies. It was the template for Jon Pertwee-era Doctor Who in the early 1970′s, and it carried on the James Bond model in a weekly TV series.*
Patrick MacNee as umbrella-toting John Steed, and Diana Rigg, as witty, gorgeous Mrs. Emma Peel, were arguably one of the best pairings in the genre, until Mulder and Scully came along 30 years later. The show featured weird scripts, bizarre conspiracies, and even weirder villains. Famous for her leather catsuits, Emma Peel drove cool cars, was a kick-ass martial artist, and wielded a samurai sword like nobody’s business. Steed was content to stand around in Carnaby Street suits, and his ever-present bowler hat, and suss out every conundrum with British aplomb. Pussy Galore actress Honor Blackman (who appeared in Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids) and Joanna Lumley (Patsy from AbFab) both got their careers jumpstarted by playing John Steed’s fabulous assistants (before and after Rigg, respectively) on the series, before they moved on to bigger and better things. Rigg would later be the “Bond girl” inOn Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Everyone on The Avengers is cool, unflappable, and gorgeously dressed. It looks great, has half-decent special effects, and was always interestingly written. Episodes of the show are always a delight, so be sure to add a few to your Netflix queue, if you’ve never had the pleasure. (Emma Peel was in Seasons 4-6.)
A show I discovered via Netflix about 5 minutes before it went off the air, I unabashedly love Alias.
Even when it couldn’t figure out what it was doing during Season 3 (a frequent JJ Abrams failing, if Lost is any indicator), I still loved it. Jennifer Garner is flawless as grad student/super spy Sydney Bristow, and the cast — especially Victor Garber and Lena Olin — is incredible. I was particularly fond of the show’s tendency to flirt with science fiction using the Nostradamus-cum-DaVinci figure, Milo Rambaldi, and his cult of relic-hunting acolytes.
The incidental scores for Alias were written by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Up, Lost, Fringe), who is awesome. They started out using a lot of pop songs (that were popular at the time) and techno (written by Giacchino), but by Season 4 the score was almost completely orchestral. I think they figured out his real strengths somewhere along the way (and that this wasn’t Felicity).
I have always adored opening title sequences. Both in film and television, they include some of the most memorable and enduring touchstones in our collective pop culture memory.
For the next few months, I’m going to be highlighting, critiquing, and discussing notable opening titles from TV shows — both foreign and domestic — and I invite you to follow along, comment, and stroll down memory lane with me. I hope to revisit some of the most popular, the most under-sung, and the most effective opening sequences in television history — from A to Z.
To begin our series, we start with a favourite from my childhood in the mid-80′s: Airwolf.
Running from 1984 – 87, this Cold War relic detailed the sombre adventures of a renegade CIA team and their awesome high-tech helicopter. While the plot was almost inscrutable, hinging on a lot of off-screen connections, I adored this show when I was a kid. It’s on my list for a re-viewing very soon. (Anyone seen it recently?) It starred a very hunky Jan-Michael Vincent and Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine as the crew of the eponymous chopper, most remembered for the distinctive whistle-like noise the rotors make (heard at the beginning of the title sequence).
I recently scored an awesome student film called “Times Are Gone For Honest Men”, written and directed by Bob Rzadzki. The only thing of note about this score was that I did it in less than a day. I leave you with this as I depart to Ireland. Enjoy!
I’ve got a lot on my plate this month. Be sure to look for these projects if they come through your area!
Scoring an industrial film for Left Brain Right Brain Productions. This one has a 2-day turnaround. I’ll be recording a sight-reading French Horn player today, after I finish writing the part just before his arrival.
Scoring a short film for Director Bob Rzadzki entitled “Times Are Gone For Honest Men”. It’s an Aronofsky homage, and also has a 2-day turnaround.
Doing an arrangement of a number of Queen songs for Chicago Tap Theatre‘s June One-Night-Only show, “Tap Out Loud” on June 19th. This involves a choir, a marching band, and me on the piano. Not to be missed!
Scoring the short film, “Single Waltz”, for Director Hsin-Yin Sung. We’ll be recording the solo cellist on Sunday.
An original chamber piece for a contemporary ensemble in Washington, D.C., “The Glacier Sequence” will be performed later this year. Scored for Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Electronics.
I’ll be scoring a short film titled “The Confession” later this summer for Director Matt Mascia.
Composing an original choral setting of Psalm 137 for Voices of Washington in Washington, D.C.
Additionally, there will be new and updated video clips posted here tomorrow morning! Come back and check them out!
There are several other projects coming down the pipeline, so stay tuned, and thanks for reading and listening.
But so, I just spent 4 rather cold and rainy days in LA for ASCAP’s annual expo. Though it is skewed heavily towards songwriters, there was enough geared to my interests as a composer that I felt it would be a worthwhile trip. It was — needless to say — an excuse to see friends as well, and that part of the trip was a huge success.
Here is a recap of the events that I attended, and my ever-humble thoughts on the whole thing…
