Film Score Friday Top 5: Television Scores

So I know I said last week that I’d do Television Theme Songs, but I’ve decided to put that on hold for a broader topic that will lead into an upcoming post: top five television scores.  The basic criteria is the overall quality of a television show’s score.  Again, these are just my thoughts, reflecting my own viewing, so if you know of something better, please let me know so I can give it a listen.  You’ll recognize some of them because I’ve mentioned them before, but I hope to surprise you with some choices.

#1: Battlestar Galactica– Bear McCreary: I’ve got nothing but love for this show’s score, as you well know.  Enough said.

#2: Lost– Michael Giacchino: I haven’t said much about this score yet, but it is quite remarkable, especially for a weekly series.  While not showing the same level of interplay as BSG, and quite different in construction, it is still of equal quality.

#3: Batman: The Animated Series– Shirley Walker, et al: One of the best scored cartoon series ever, and based heavily on Elfman’s Batman scores initially, this series its own voice quite quickly and had some of the best character themes of any series.

#4: Cowboy Bebop– Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts: Most of you probably don’t watch Anime, but you really should make an exception for this one.  Kanno’s jazzy score perfectly compliments the eclectic nature of this sci-fi/noir/western series about a group of bounty hunters in the future.

#5: The Simpsons– Alf Clausen: For almost twenty years, this show has featured a string for wonderful incidental music and parody songs that have made this show one of the best on television.  Oh, and the theme by Danny Elfman is pretty good too.

So three animated series on the list?  Ya, for some reason cartoons have tended to have some of the best scores on television.  Love it or hate it, those are my picks.

2 thoughts on “Film Score Friday Top 5: Television Scores

  1. Years ago Renee Carey burned a CD of music from Cowboy Bebop. I was pretty impressed with the variety of music that I heard.

    Now that it’s over, I think we’re going to try to watch all of BSG this summer. We’ll probably do the same with Lost once it’s all over, too.

    Of all the shows you mentioned, the only one I ever watched with any kind of regularity was Batman: The Animated Series as a kid (I’m thinking about buying the complete series).

  2. When watching BSG, just make sure to take things in the right order and also to watch the webisodes also.
    It goes:
    Miniseries
    Season 1
    Season 2/2.5
    The Resistance Webisodes (found on Disc 3 or so of the Season 3 set)
    Season 3
    Razor (a standalone movie that takes place during season 2, but don’t watch it until after season 3)
    Season 4
    Face of the Enemy webisodes (I’m assuming these will be on the forthcoming Season 4.5 set)
    Season 4.5

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