Following our television music series from the summer, Film Music Reporter presents a listing of this fall’s new network dramas and comedies and its composers, as well as the major new cable shows of the season that feature original music. Featured in part 1 are the shows on FOX. Articles for all other networks will be published within the next few weeks.
Currently finishing up its premiere season is the sci-fi adventure show Terra Nova produced by Steven Spielberg and Brannon Braga and starring Jason O’Mara, Stephen Lang, Shelley Conn, Landon Liboiron and Naomi Scott. Brian Tyler is the composer of all 13 episodes of the first season. Two videos from the orchestral recording sessions of the score on the Fox Scoring Stage can be checked out on YouTube (Cycles of Time and Magical Journey). Also check out an interview with the composer about his work on the show on Tracksounds, during which he announced that a score album is in the works. Terra Nova airs every Monday night on FOX. No word yet on if it will be renewed for a second season next year. To learn more about the series, visit the official show website.
The biggest hit of the season for the network so far is the comedy New Girl created by Liz Meriwether and starring Zooey Deschanel as a girl in her late 20s who moves in with three single guys, played by Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris. The show’s score is composed by Ludwig Goransson (Community) who made his feature scoring debut in the summer with the comedy 30 Minutes or Less. The main title song for the series is written by film composer Michael Andrews (Bridesmaids, Donnie Darko), Zooey Deschanel, show creator Elizabeth Meriwether, David Finkel and Brett Baer. The show currently airs every Tuesday night on the network. To learn more about the show, visit the official series webpage.
Also new on FOX is the animated series Allen Gregory created by Jonah Hill, Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul. The show follows a pretentious seven-year-old being (voiced by Jonah Hill) who is raised by his father and his father’s life partner as he must start attending a public elementary school due to the effect of the recession on his family’s finances. Other stars in the voice cast include Will Forte, Leslie Mann and Nat Faxon. The show’s music is composed by Josh Sitron whose best known previous credit is the animated Nickelodeon show Dora the Explorer, for which he wrote the score of the first seasons, as well as the theme song. The first season of Allen Gregory currently airs every Sunday night. Updates and more information can be found on the network’s show website.
All other new scripted shows will be premiering early next year on FOX. They include the mystery drama Alcatraz produced by J.J. Abrams and starring Jorge Garcia, Sam Neill and Robert Forster. As previously reported, Michael Giacchino has scored the pilot and Andrea Datzman who has been joined by Chris Tilton (Fringe) will both score the remaining episodes of the first season. Also premiering in mid-season is Tim Kring’s new drama Touch starring Kiefer Sutherland, which will feature music by Wendy & Lisa (Heroes). Check out our previous article for more information on the show. Another new show on the network is the Bones spin-off The Finder starring Geoff Stults, Michael Clarke Duncan, Dan Sackheim and Barry Josephson. Sean Callery (24) is the composer on the show and more details can be found in our previous news article.
Among the returning shows on the network is Fringe, which is being scored by Chris Tilton who has been the show’s sole composer since its second season. Jon Ehrlich and Jason Derlatka are also still scoring the Hugh Laurie-starring drama House, which has recently entered its eighth season. The hit procedural drama Bones is scored by Sean Callery and Jamie Forsyth who is being credited as a co-composer since the beginning of the current (seventh) season. The hit show Glee still features music by James S. Levine (Nip/Tuck, The Weather Man) who has been the composer on the show since its series premiere. The comedy Raising Hope is scored by Danny Lux (Grey’s Anatomy) and Matt Mariano. In addition to Allen Gregory, the current Sunday night animated show line-up also includes The Simpsons, scored by Alf Clausen and Family Guy & American Dad, both of which feature music by Walter Murphy and Ron Jones.
Unless Joel McNeely stopped this season, he’s been scoring multi episodes of “American Dad” for a few seasons now. I’ve tried submitting to IMDB, but they rarely ever take anything — accuracy doesn’t matter, they pick & chose submissions.