First, the bad news

[phoenix64]

I had thought that in this day and age the issue of music clearances for the DVD release of TV shows was no longer an issue for new shows. That it was the sort of thing that anyone making a TV show would take care of initially. Apparently that is NOT the case, because almost all of the music in Life is different on the DVD release.

I find this especially sad because I thought the way music was used on Life was one of the things that was truly special about the show. While the replacement music was often, in my opinion, thoughtfully chosen, it was rarely anywhere near as good as what it replaced.

I realize the people behind Life needed ways to cut costs, especially in light of the shortened season, but I would have been willing to pay a little more for the DVD's. I might have considered shelling out the ridiculous asking price for the Wiseguy DVD's if they hadn't replaced "Nights in White Satin" in the Steelgrave finale.

The sole good news in this is that the music used in the penultimate scene in the premiere episode is intact. That is probably the most important scene in the premiere and just an excellent scene in terms of the music and editing. If they had replaced the music there I might very well have just returned the DVD's. Or smashed them, depending on my mood. Sadly they did replace another song by the same artist that was used in the finale. I bought the CD because of that first song, and after listening to the CD and then hearing the second song in the finale - I thought it made for a lovely bookend, and was another well-used song all on its own.

Other than that, Life is still an excellent show and later on I will have much to say as to why this is so.

Comments

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

I had thought that in this day and age the issue of music clearances for the DVD release of TV shows was no longer an issue for new shows.

Me too! I can understand that being very disappointing. Music is very important to me in a TV show. (Or movie, but I rarely watch them these days.)

[phoenix64.livejournal.com]

To me the music used in a scene is as integral to the scene as any other aspect of the setting, from lighting and color to even camera angle and the physical location itself. Changing the music in a scene is not a small change. And I praised the music usage on Life for good reason, so this is really a let-down to me. I think it's a substantive loss to the quality of the show and the show I'm praising is not the show other people are ever going to get to see, not really. It's still a good show, but it was better.

[grimorie.livejournal.com]

I think... the music change wasn't the showrunners' idea. I heard it said that they were griping about it but they weren't given enough budget to buy the rights for multiple viewings.

[phoenix64.livejournal.com]

That sounds quite possible, because I can imagine some of the pressure they were under in regards to cost issues.