In our fourth part of our fall television music series, we are taking a look at the new and returning shows on NBC:
Among the new shows on the network that premiered this fall is the fantasy crime drama Grimm created by David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf and starring Russell Hornsby, David Giuntoli, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz and Reggie Lee. The show’s score is written by Richard Marvin (U-571, Surrogates, Six Feet Under). The drama centers on a homicide detective who learns that he is a descendent of a group known as “Grimms” who fight to keep humanity safe from the supernatural creatures of the world. Grimm currently airs every Friday night on NBC and is expected to receive a full season order in the near future. For more information about the show, visit our previous article and check out the official series website.
Also new on NBC is the police procedural drama Prime Suspect produced by Peter Berg & Alexandra Cunningham and starring Maria Bello, Aidan Quinn, Kirk Acevedo, Joe Nieves and Brian O’Byrne. Wendy & Lisa (Heroes, Crossing Jordan) are scoring the show based on the Helen Mirren-starring BBC series. While NBC has not officially canceled the drama yet, production was shut down last month after the first 13 episodes. The remaining episodes of Prime Suspect are set to air on Thursday nights on the network. More details about the show can be found in our news article from earlier this year, as well as on the official show webpage.
Among the network’s new comedies is the half-hour show Up All Night created by Emily Spivey and starring Christina Applegate, Maya Rudolph, Jennifer Hall and Will Arnett. The comedy features music by Martyn LeNoble and Vincent Jones. The project marks the first network TV scoring assignment for both composers. LeNoble who is the fiance of actress Christina Applegate is best known as a bassist who has played with various rock bands and Jones has also worked as a studio musician and producer on numerous projects in the rock world. Up All Night has already received a full season order and currently airs every Wednesday night. To learn more about the show, visit NBC’s official website.
Another new show on NBC is the sitcom Whitney created by and starring Whitney Cummings and co-starring Chris D’Elia, Zoe Lister-Jones, Maulik Pancholy, Dan O’Brien and Rhea Seehorn. The composer of the show is Ed Alton whose previous credits include the TV comedies My Boys, Suddenly Susan and Nikki. Whitney has recently been picked for a full season and currently airs every Thursday night on NBC. For updates and more information on the comedy, visit the official show website.
Two new NBC shows have already been canceled. The period drama The Playboy Club created by Chad Hodge, produced by Brian Grazer and starring Amber Heard, Leah Renee, Jenna Dewan, Laura Benanti and David Krumholtz was scored by David Schwartz and featured songs produced by Transcenders (Gossip Girl). Check out our previous article for more information. Also canceled is the workplace comedy Free Agents starring Hank Azaria, Kathryn Hahn and Anthony Head. Kurt Farquhar (The King of Queens, Moesha) has scored the project and Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed has written the comedy’s theme.
Premiering early next year as mid-season replacements on NBC is the musical Smash produced by Steven Spielberg and featuring music by Marc Shaiman, the Jason Isaacs-starring drama Awake with music by Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil, as well as The Firm based on the bestseller by John Grisham and starring Josh Lucas, which will be scored by Trevor Morris.
The returning shows on the network include David E. Kelley’s Harry’s Law, which is scored by Danny Lux (Ally McBeal) who has taken over scoring duties on the show this season from the Transcenders who have scored the first season. Also airing on the network is the fifth and final season of Chuck, which features music by Tim Jones, the third season of the critically acclaimed comedy Community, which is scored by Ludwig Goransson, the third season of the drama Parenthood featuring music by Jon Ehrlich and Jason Derlatka, the long-running crime show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit scored by veteran composer Mike Post and the comedies Parks and Recreation (music by Gaby Moreno) and The Office (music by Jay Ferguson) and 30 Rock (music by Jeff Richmond), the latter of which is set to return early next year.
Please note that aside from Vincent Jones co-composing all of the music (including the theme) for “Up All Night”, he also co-composed the theme for “Parks & Recreation”. Gaby Moreno was his co-writer.