Cue up melodramatic song (My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion or the ilk) and play the entire song while showing one character sitting on his bed, looking at the photo of ex-wife and children/dead wife and children: then cut to another character walking alone through the snow/along the beach: then cut to another character hugging his/her children/dog: then cut to another character carrying flowers to a grave/take out Chinese food to the kitchen: then fade to the credits.
What the hell is this…they are starting to end every show with this weepy, overly dramatic plot ploy. It is bad enough when these cheesy scenes last a minute, now they are starting to play the entire full 4 minute songs during these exercises in maudlin crapola.
Almost makes me long for the “very special episodes of Blossom”.
This doesn’t ring a bell. The closest equivalent I can think of is in shows like *Joan of Arcadia * when the climax of the show is happening and the background music is suddenly louder than the dialogue. That tends to get a little annoying.
I first noticed this on “Ally McBeal”… they did this almost every episode.
Since then, it has creeped into a number of other shows, including “The West Wing”, “Alias”, and “Line of Fire”. While sometimes it is done really well (I can think of a couple of “West Wings” that used it to great effect), most of the time, it seems to be an increasingly unoriginal way to wrap up multiple story threads in an episode.
Watch the final minutes of CSI: Miami or the Cold Case show they both dothe whole montage thing.
We call Miami the “Vogue Vulture Show” because it usually ends with chonic-sloucher David Caruso striking various poses in a dark suit (hence “vulture”).
Shot one – Slouches, turns head to the side, puts hands on hip, grimace
Shot two – Dramatcially puts on sunglasses, scowls
Shot three – Dramatically pauses at the steps of the church (attends victims’ funerals, of course), puts hands on hips, turns head to the side, squints
Shot four – Puts on sunglasses, sighs heavily, looks across parking lot to the horizon
Meanwhile, in the background the music… er, actually I don’t know waht the music is like, because we’re too busy drowning it out sing “Vogue! Da-da-da-da!”
Therea re also all the “teen drama” shows like the O.C. and whatever the one is where kids spend most of the movie making out while WB music artists play in the background (so at the end they can say: “This episode featured music by…”)
Usually it has stuff like the lead actor “being pensive” driving a cool car along the beach or lying around the pool house “sorting out his true feelings”.
In all fairness, this isn’t a new thing. It happened a lot in the 80s and was exacerbated by Miami Vice which took a VERY mini-music stylistic approach and the music montages were plentiful. (Seriously Miami Vice had a distinct stylistic impact on future television).
Oops. That last part should say that Maimi Vice took on a “mini-music VIDEO approach” (even as far as colorpalate and editing styles.)
Often they’d play an entire song with no dialogue while a character skulked along the beach, drove a cool car, wandered the streets looking for meaning… etc.
Agreed; this has become a rather hackneyed “wrap up” technique. If the writers were honest, they’d portray what real people do to get through moments of longing and melancholy- eat and direct their frustrations at others!
Tru Calling does this as well. I seem to remember even Buffy indulging in it near the end. Terribly annoying. Not only is it patently lazy writing, the music isn’t even good; it’s invariably these interchangeable young alterna-things singing anonymous power ballads. If these producers/directors showed decent taste in music, I could maybe live with it.
Annoying at times? Sure! But I’ve seen it used to great effect. The West Wing comes to mind, as does American Dreams (the montage to “Homeward Bound” was great).
It’s all over the movie world too. Donnie Darko is an example of a well-used one.
I think Boston Public does something similar to this now at the end of most episodes.
Song begins, all the storylines are somewhat wrapped up with just images of people doing things, no dialogue. Of course, these images are always sort of a preview of what’s to come, because BP is always an “ongoing story.”
It’s not just lazy writing (though that’s part of it). It’s also a means by which the network/prodco’s parent corporation’s music division gets product placement for their up-and-coming acts. These songs are occasionally by an artist you’ve heard of (Buffy used Aimee Mann once, IIRC), but more often it’s a newcomer the label is trying to push. They’re hoping that one viewer in thirty (or whatever) is intrigued by the song and looks into buying the CD. Some harried television producers don’t mind the technique, even though it’s a crutch, because hey, that’s five fewer pages you have to worry about writing. As far as the executives are concerned, everybody wins. Except the viewers, and who cares about them?
Being a fan of CSI, I thought I’d start Tivo’ing CSI:Miami and give it a shot. I gave up after 3 episodes, mostly because of David Caruso, and the shot one/two combination…where he’s talking to the suspect, but can’t bother to look at him. He gazes off 90 degrees somewhere, then he turns his head, pops the zinger straight at him.
Gag. Go to acting school, David, and learn some new mannerisms.
Homicidemight have been the first post-Miami Vice show to do the emotional music montage on a regular basis, using critics’ faves (as opposed to sub-Moroder stuff).
And while I might be hallucinating this, I have a weird oogly feeling that both Homicide and The West Wing have done poignant post-mortem montages using the same song – “Hallellujah” by Jeff Buckley. Can anybody else chime in on this?
Scrubs did an episode last year that had an ending montage using “Hallellujah.” It wasn’t sappy (read: A Very Special Episode) at all, and worked quite well in context.
Well, heck, they even used the song in Shrek for much the same thing… it seems to be the new standard song for “montage of character(s) feeling a loss of some sort”.
It’s not always annoying though. The Sopranosmakes good use of it on occasion, sometimes by shaking up the format. My favorite was when they used the old John Lydon/Afrika Bambatta song “World Destruction” and the only “montage” was a slow close up on a twenty dollar bill Chris had given his mom.
