In my opinion, throughout the past few years, movie quality has waned, and TV shows have gotten exponentially better (please post your comments if you think I'm off base with this statement). I'm just a little tired of homogenous super hero films, adaptations of old TV shows, and disastrous remakes of old classics. On the other hand, the quality of recent TV shows seems to have exploded across a variety of stations, whereas before consumption was pretty much confined to the major networks.
This cultural trend is a very positive thing for the continued success of recorded music, especially for more indie oriented artists that don't have the luxury of a major label engine. How many commercial radio excluded artists were exposed to the masses via shows like Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill? I still contend that Death Cab for Cutie would still be relatively unknown was it not for the Grey's feature of "Soul Meets Body" and "I Will Follow You into the Dark," prompting early 20-somethings around the world to ask "Who sings that song?" while their fingers instinctively clicked over to iTunes. Bottom line, TV shows are a great source to discover new music, and in many cases enhance the mood and quality of the show in a very impactful way. I've taken a Wolf Trap staff and also Facebook/Twitter poll on the best old and new shows that feature exceptionally strong soundtracks. The list is as follows.
Justified, FX
Grey's Anatomy, ABC
Parenthood, NBC -- here's a great scene on Parenthood with Dawes
The Wonder Years, ABC
Friends, NBC
Saturday Night Live, NBC
Chuck, NBC
One Tree Hill, The CW
Daria, MTV
Cold Case, CBS
Entourage, HBO
Dawson's Creek, WB
Scrubs, NBC
Please chime in with additional suggestions of your own!
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