Film and Television

Guilty Pleasure

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Gordon_ramsay I am ashamed to admit it, but my favorite new show of the season is Gordon Ramsey’s KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (though I was already a fan of the BBC version). Every episode of the American version is the same — a loud-mouthed, arrogant imbecile is running a failing restaurant with an incompetent staff serving lousy food. Gordon Ramsey comes in and, using as many expletives as possible and rubbing his chin constantly, tells the loud-mouthed arrogant imbecile that he is running a failing restaurant with an incompetent staff serving lousy food. The arrogant imbecile gets offended and yells at his staff some more. Gordon Ramsey redecorates the restaurant, comes up with a new menu, and teaches the chefs how to make good food. The restaurant pulls in a crowd and succeeds…at least for the few days that the film crew is there. The arrogant imbecile promises to be less arrogant and a lot smarter and thanks Gordon for changing his life. And yet, as formulaic and repetitive as this show is, I find it addictive and ridiculously entertaining…more so than his HELL’S KITCHEN gameshow, which I got tired of after one full season and one episode of season two, and any episode of THE BIONIC WOMAN.

The Power of Themes

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It’s interesting to see the effect on an audience when they hear a beloved theme. The James Bond theme in a trailer always seem to elicit cheers. I still remember the enthusiastic audience reaction to just the finger-snapping theme in the trailer for for the Addams Family. The audience went wild. The STAR TREK, STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, SHAFT, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and Harry Potter are among the many other themes that have that same power. We have a strong, emotional reaction to theme music. It evokes not only memories of the show, but memories of who we were, and what we were doing, at the time we were watching those movies of TV shows. You can’t buy that kind of instant audience reaction (which is why I am baffled by the decision of movie-makings NOT to use the themes for WILD WILD WEST and MIAMI VICE in the movie versions).

But there’s an aspect to theme music I never thought of. I recently bought screenwriter Christopher Wood’s self-published memoir JAMES BOND, THE SPY I LOVED (which you can order from www.twentyfirstcenturypublishers.com) and in the book he makes an interesting, almost throwaway observation relating to the emotional impact of a score on the screenwriter:

Now we have the credits and the delighted writer’s name in happy proximity to a seemingly naked, somersaulting girl whilst Shirley Bassey belts out the theme song of the movie (MOONRAKER). I like this song and it is hardly surprising. There is a form of umbilical cord that binds any writer to the music from a film he has written. I only have to hear a few bars from the score of CONFESSIONS OF A POP PERFORMER and tears come to my eyes — mind you, that score brought tears to a lot of people’s eyes.

The theme to MOONRAKER is almost universally despised among Bond fans (right up there with OCTOPUSSY), and yet I can totally understand Woods’ reaction. I have that same, emotional bond with themes to the shows I have been a part of. Who but the writer of the show would love, much less remember, the totally unmemorable themes to THE COSBY MYSTERIES, THE HIGHWAYMAN, or COBRA? It’s not because the music is any good, it’s because of the memories they evoke for me and the emotional investment I made in those shows. I have a ridiculously strong attachment to the themes from SPENSER FOR HIRE, BAYWATCH, DIAGNOSIS MURDER and SEAQUEST that have nothing to do with the quality of the music. They are on my iPOD and I listen to them more often than I care to admit.

Already the score of FAST TRACK has a hold on me — and it’s only been a few weeks since we completed the movie. The music will always remind me of my summer in Berlin, making the movie, and the fun I had. It will always remind me of my trip through Europe with my family. It will always remind me of my friends in Germany and the good times we have had together over the last year. Long after the movie is gone and forgotten, the music will still have this power over me and I’m glad.

Emmy is a Geek

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I just got back from a night in geek heaven: the Academy of Television Arts and Science’s salute to TV Themes and Main Title Sequences. The sold-out event was held in the ATAS theatre and was hosted by Steven Bochco, Robert Vaughn, Lindsay Wagner, Maureen McCormack, William Daniels and Stacy Keach, to name a few, and included a terrific, and very funny, musical performance by John Schneider (yeah, the guy from DUKES OF HAZARD). The guests and honorees included Sherwood Schwartz, Vic Mizzy, Earle Hagen and Mike Post. Probably a hundred main title sequences were screened but the best parts of the show were my friend Jon Burlingame’s short, and often hilarious, interviews with Mizzy, Post, and Bochco. Unfortunately, I had to leave early (over two hours into the event!), in the midst of a salute to Earle Hagen, because my 12-year-old daughter (by far the youngest person in attendance) was falling asleep in her chair. It was a wonderful event and I could have sat there watching those main title sequences, and listening to the anecdotes from those amazing composers, all night long. It was just as entertaining as the two "Celebrations of Television Music"  that ATAS has sponsored at the Hollywood Bowl over the years and a lot more intimate. I  also learned a surprising fact tonight — the Emmys didn’t start giving an award for best main title song & theme until 1993. Think of all the classic themes and composers that never got the acknowledgment they deserved.

It’s So 1974

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In "Population Zero," the first regular episode of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, Steve Austin has to go into a town where everybody has been killed by a strange virus.

In "Paradise Lost," the first regular episode of the "re-imagined" BIONIC WOMAN, Jaime Sommers has to go into a town where everybody has been killed by a strange virus.

I guess it won’t be long before the Bigfoot shows up on BIONIC WOMAN, too.

In Glen We Trust

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Glenn Remember the clueless morons at the Colonial Fan Force? Well, this is even better. Now that NBC has announced they’re developing a new KNIGHTRIDER — although I suspect the 30% dropoff in week two of BIONIC WOMAN might put a little damper on that — a team of fans has sprung up to defend the Glen Larson/Weinstein feature version that’s been in development. The best part of their idiotic campaign has got to be their logo:

I have noticed that recently fans have been asking what they can do to show their support for Glen especially now that Universal is intended on competing with his vision of what Knight Rider should be. I have designed an emblem so you too can show your support for his movie and his vision that one man (and his car) can make a difference.

You may post this image anywhere you like, in fact I encourage you to do so and tell your friends and family if they wish to support the movie to post it as well.

Put it on myspace, fan forums, blogs, websites, anywhere you wish to display it. You have carte blanch to do with it as you like (as long as it’s respectful).

I deeply respect the logo and plan to wear it on my chest until the network suits, studio bean-counters, and the world at large realize that "one man and his car can make a difference."

(Thanks to Bill Rabkin for tipping me off!)

Der Deutsche Fernsehpreis

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The other night I went to the Deutsche Fernsehpreis — the German equivalent of the Emmy Awards. Their awards show is every bit as long as the Emmys and even duller, and I’m not just saying that because I didn’t understand a word that was said. There was no entertainment value to the program. They didn’t have any musical numbers, no clip montages, no actual entertainment at all. Granted, some presenters made some jokes, but the flatness of the show made me appreciate just how good American awards shows are (the orchestra played the same piece of music every time a category was announced and every time someone won…I don’t know why they didn’t just have it on tape).

But I really enjoyed the before-party and after-party. It was odd being in a room full of "celebrities" and not knowing/recognizing 99.9% of them. I couldn’t look into the sea of faces and know who the "stars" were. They all just looked like normal people, which just goes to show how illusory celebrity really is. The guy I chatted with at the buffet could have been the biggest star in Germany or a waiter…I wouldn’t have known the difference.  In a way, though, it made it a lot easier for me to talk with people. I was never nervous or intimidated talking with anyone. 

I spoke to with lots of writers, producers, actors, and executives. I was struck by how many people I knew after only a year of working here off-and-on. I was also surprised by how many people knew me…people I had never met before but had heard about the work I was doing in Germany or who had heard my speech at the Cologne Conference. 

I ended up stay at the party into the wee hours of the morning which, combined with my jet-lag, wiped me out on Sunday. I was so tired that I went to bed at 8:30 pm and awoke at 3 this morning (it’s now 5:25 am).

I am about to watch the half-hour  "The Making of FAST TRACK" documentary (which will go on the DVD) and make my final edit notes before it’s locked. And then at 8 am, I head in to the studio to do the final sound mix on FAST TRACK. Tuesday I am viewing the color-corrected film, and placing the on-screen credits, and then I will finally be done with the movie/pilot. I head back to Los Angeles on Wednesday.