When I was first getting into the habit of reading, one of the books I read was the epochal YA book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. At least, I thought it was epochal at the time (it placed highly in my Top 100 Everything) — perhaps I’ve rated it so generously just because it was…
Several months ago, I listened to an episode of Malcom Gladwell’s podcast, Revisionist History, which explored the songwriting differences between rock and country. It focused on songwriter Bobby Braddock. Braddock is a Nashville legend, having composed ten #1 country hits. His trademark? Almost all of his hits are sad songs. Soul-crunching tearjerkers, but usually in some thoughtful way.…
This week*, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers… * I know it’s been longer than a week, but I have more songs in shows I want to write about. We didn’t deserve a…
This week*, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers… * I know it’s been longer than a week, but I have more songs in shows I want to write about. While Freaks and Geeks usually delivered…
This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. At its best moments, The Wonder Years was often philosophical in a way no show before or since has been. It thrived not on schmaltzy nostalgia,…
This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. (Especially relevant today.) After a near-decade of red herrings and false starts, How I Met Your Mother introduced us to “The Mother” in the Season 8…
This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. “Last Exit to Springfield” is an essential episode of The Simpsons, and perhaps its most revered. Inventive and satirical, it traces Homer’s bumbled but ultimately…
This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. The second and final series of The Office (UK) is a bleak masterpiece, subverting all of our expectations of storytelling arcs. The final episode ends with…
This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. Towards the early-middle of Community’s first season, just as the show as hitting its stride and starting to take creative risks, came this. It’s…
This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide is an absolutely bananas slice of early 21st century TV. Targeted at middle schoolers but made by smart writers,…