W.G. Snuffy Walden’s Corner of Inspiration

Today I discovered W.G. Snuffy Walden (I know! Craaazy unique name! If you’re going to have a kid or going into Hollywood, take a name that reminds you of Smurfs. Everybody loves the Smurfs!). Um, anyways. Today I realized this guy is responsible for two of my all-time favorite TV themes. He might have cornered the market on lush, inspirational themes that just might make you weep a little bit.

The West Wing Theme:

The Friday Night Lights Theme:

Friday Night Lights & Pushing Daisies: Critically Beloved, Low-Rated Forever?

The theme of TV tonight is, “Shows I Love that Need Bigger Audiences So They Don’t Get Canceled and I Don’t Shed More Tears for Fan-freaking-tastic TV That Don’t Survive the Brutal Wasteland that can be Network Television.”

In other words: Friday Night Lights and Pushing Daisies. (Sidebar: When I was in Austin last month, I had a very nice elevator conversation with a football-coach-looking guy. It wasn’t until he was stepping off that I realized he was holding a script titled “Friday Night Lights.” FNL films in Austin. I almost ran down the hall after him and turned into one of those scary fans. Almost.”

FNL is premiering on DirecTV tonight (which I don’t have access too) and will premiere on NBC in February. Pushing Daisies was my favorite new show last season, and I believe, one of the most unique voices in the TV landscape currently. Watch these shows! Please, pretty please? It’s got the Chenoweth, for crying out loud!

Favorite Bands of the Moment

I recently discovered The Kills after hearing their new single ‘U R A Fever’, and am going through their albums with the giddy glee of a kid in the candy shop. The cinematography of the video is kinda…kinda creepy, but works well with the song:

I am a sucker for epic, instrumental music. And Explosions in the Sky is the perfect combination – epic, instrumental rock! I discover quite a bit of my music from TV/movies, and I’m also one of those freaks who can peg a specific piece of the music to a specific scene. Anyways, I came across these guys on Friday Night Lights. Here’s “First Breath After Coma”:

The Next Horizon?

Whenever renewal season comes around, tv execs inevitably break my heart and cancel some awesome, low-rated show I adore. It’s a vicious cycle and I’m like a dumb puppy about this kind of stuff.

This is why I find this news about Scrubs and Friday Night Lights particularly exciting. Sure cable tv offerings satisfy an increasingly specialized, niche-friendly market, but this new business model could revolutionize the broadcasting industry’s programming model. And anything that allows great ’smaller’ shows to stay on the air is OK by me.

What if this means they could resurrect previously-cancelled shows with a strong fanbase? Imagine the possibilities! In a perfect world, we could be saying “Welcome back, Firefly.”