General Question

Nimis's avatar

What television show or movie has the best use of music?

Asked by Nimis (13260points) October 24th, 2008

Not best soundtrack necessarily.
What about the worst use of music?

Is there a particular instance that stands out in your mind?
What do you think the music choice adds to the scene?
In case of worst use, how does it detract from the scene?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

37 Answers

El_Cadejo's avatar

Weeds has some pretty awesome music in that show. Unfortunately they dont do it anymore, but for the first 3 seasons the theme song was preformed by a different musician and in a different style every episode.

flameboi's avatar

Television Show: Miami Vice, all the way to the end, it has one of the best (and more expensive) soundtracks in television history.
Movie: Cruel Intentions, all the tracks fit in the movie in a spectacular way! my personal taste :)

ezraglenn's avatar

Lost has great original music and works in popular music really well too.

loser's avatar

I was going to say Weeds too. CSI New York has some pretty hip stuff.
Worst, let me think… Is Lawerence Welk still on the air?

generalspecific's avatar

Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers.
Right when Eowyn walks outside and they’re playing this song.
I can’t really explain it but it’s amazing. I’ll try to find a video.
It’s just beautifullll. I love all LOTR music.

El_Cadejo's avatar

example of weeds awesomeness

loser's avatar

peedub! Where ya been man?

peedub's avatar

I’m gonna have to go with Jem.

As far as movies go, there’s no way I could choose. One great (and festive) soundtrack is that of Suspiria, by Goblin.

peedub's avatar

@loser- studying, staying way too busy.

asmonet's avatar

Bonanza!

No, but really… Supernatural -Classic Rock baby!, Weeds as mentioned before, and Firefly, it’s just..watch it. The opening titles get me every time..

DrasticDreamer's avatar

House, in my opinion, has the best music for a TV show. They incorporate it into scenes very well and the songs evoke even more emotion.

I’m not sure about the worst, because House is pretty much the only TV show I watch.

eatmunky's avatar

I love the intro to the Daily Show. Totally catchy.

As for movies, Sunshine’s music is beautiful and totally adds to everything without drawing attention to itself. And requiem for a dream has a fantastic score too.

Nimis's avatar

Uber: Man, how did I totally forget about Weeds?
Their approach to opening music is pretty damn genius.

Ezra: Do you watch Fringe?
Same producers and similar music too.
How do you think the two compare?

Peedub: Jem. Hell yes.

Tantigirl's avatar

I agree with DrasticDreamer, House has the best music. Unlike DrasticDreamer, I’m a TV junkie, and I still think the music from House is the best. Not just new stuff, old classic rock, jazz and blues too. You’d have to watch House to see what I and DrasticDreamer mean, the music fits this series like a glove.

DrasticDreamer's avatar

Yeah, I’ve seen other TV shows and watch some once in a while, but nothing has ever pulled me in like House. Once I started hearing the music, it was even better. I don’t cry, but sometimes, for certain scenes, I almost do just because of the music which is added to the (PERFECT! lol) imagery for certain scenes. :)

loser's avatar

I gotta watch House one of these days!

scamp's avatar

I love the music on weeds! And House has some pretty good blues. I also like the theme song to Boston Legal… “Bow bow”!

galileogirl's avatar

Cold Case, they use music to set the mood for different eras in the 20th century so there doesn’t have to be historical exposition. The best music for both the time and the story.

I saw a show last night about a guy who finds himself back in the 70’s but it was overblown and all “see how clever I am”

There was a time jumping show wiyh Scott Bakula years ago but while they used music of the year it was chosen for familiarity not tailored to the drama.

SuperMouse's avatar

Television: Friday Night Lights – amazing music, everything from Tom Petty to Beullah, to DMX.
Movie: Eddie and the Cruisers – Original music performed by The Beaver Brown Band.

galileogirl's avatar

asmonet-yup

ezraglenn's avatar

@nimis – nope lost is the only television I watch But maybe I could start? I’ve heard good things.

Palindrome's avatar

Barney had the best…
Come’ on, i know that all of you have had to have sung “I love you” at least once in your lifetime
:]

Bluefreedom's avatar

I can’t pinpoint any one individual television show that has the ‘best’ use of music but I am a big fan of music composer Mike Post.

He has created theme songs for such shows as Hill Street Blues (my all-time favorite t.v. theme song), Rockford Files, L.A. Law, Magnum P.I., NYPD Blue, and music for the Law & Order series.

ckinyc's avatar

the last 5 minutes of Six Feet Under series.

deaddolly's avatar

This question just goes to show how, even tho i’m a music fan, I don’t pay attention to TV music. Not at all.

deaddolly's avatar

Movies….House of 1000 Corpses, Devil’s Rejects, Pulp Fiction (most Tarantino movies), all John Waters movies.

JonnyCeltics's avatar

Six Ft Under and Sopranos were pretty awesome…

Nimis's avatar

I think most HBO series are quite exceptional at this.

jballou's avatar

@Nimis – I agree, and I think The Wire made some of the best musical decisions of any TV show. i.e. They had close to no non-diegetic music during the entire run of the series.

This was a great use of music because the lack of a traditional soundtrack really lent itself well to the gritty and realistic style of the show. Music is often used for an emotional cue, and when used poorly it becomes a crutch to illustrate what your acting, writing, and directing has failed to communicate emotionally.

In The Wire, by virtually eliminating this type of music altogether, the emotions you feel are that much more raw and connecting to the characters. And as a double benefit, the very few times the show DID use non-diegetic music, it was that much more powerful.

chicadelplaya's avatar

For movies I’d say the soundtrack for ‘Singles’, ‘City of Angels’, and ‘Sleepless in Seattle’.

chicadelplaya's avatar

Oh and ‘Forrest Gump’! :-)

steelmarket's avatar

I can chime in on a definite misuse of music in a TV series – Numbers. They have background music playing all the time, behind every minute of every scene. That dilutes the whole impact of what good music they occasionally inject. Personally, I don’t need continuous music behind my drama.

Nimis's avatar

First season of Grey’s Anatomy. Ugh.
Everyone gushed about how they liked the soundtrack.
But how it was used on the show was really quite terrible.
Sometimes the music was louder than the dialogue.
Maybe that was an improvement though. The dialogue was horrible.

Zen's avatar

I love the use of The Who’s music CSI.

Here’s an example

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Warner Brothers Loony tunes. Also, animaniacs.

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther