A tale of two shows

Remember when Bionic Woman was supposed to carry the NBC load for Wednesday nights this season? 'Bionic Wednesday' was the tagline, and it was predicted by many to be a 'no duh' hit out of the blocks, and serve as a good lead in for the harder to market Life. Since that time, BW has gone through a couple overhauls, is on it's third showrunner, and has only eight episodes (that are all over the place) to show for it. Last night was most likely the last episode you'll see of the expensive, scattershot series, as NBC/Universal is almost surely going to pull the plug if and when production resumes. Which is probably fine with scene-stealer Katee Sackhoff, who's diminished role on the show might be a sore spot. Or not, depending on who you believe. Either way, the point is now probably mute.

Meanwhile, Life was allowed to take it's time to let the quirky Charlie Crews character develop and is just hitting it's stride, and has been rewarded for it with a full-season pickup. It's a show that started slow out of the blocks, but is the tortoise to BW's hare, steady and true to the finish line. It's been a favorite of mine if only for the fact that it features actors from other favorite shows like Deadwood (Robin Weigert) and Mad Men (Christina Hendricks, and guesting last night, Michael Gladis) along with the esteemable Adam Arkin. It's like a more serious Monk, substituting Crews' Zen and a convict's insight for Monk's OCD as the quirk that helps solve crimes.

Last night's BW music choices were worth mentioning, especially opening with Two Gallants' "Lady" to back the makeshift wake for Isaiah Washington's Antonio. No doubt some of former showrunner stand-in Jason Katim's musical influence at work there. After that sister Becca's watching a My Chemical Romance video for "Teenagers," which makes me like her even less for some reason. The one-dimensional angry teen depiction is part of the reason we never cared about the Summer sisters relationship. The other part is Michelle Ryan's rather stiff work in the starring role. Hey, at least now she'll have more time to date Owen Wilson.

On Life, the murder they solve leads to discovery that a teen (Nate) questioned in the crime was actually abducted as a toddler, and the music choices point were spot on. During drive to nab the abductor, The Raconteurs' "Broken Boy Soldier" plays, and then as Nate discovers his life has been a lie, we hear Beth Orton's cover of the 70's classic "Ooh Child." Next week, we get a two-parter as Life gets the benefit of a Heroes first half finale lead-in, following it up with the second hour Wednesday night. Hopefully, it will get even more traction from the placement. No offense to Journeyman, but a Chuck-Heroes-Life Monday night might be just the thing the peacock needs.

Playlist: NBC Wednesday Night - 11.28.07
1. "Lady" - Two Gallants - Bionic Woman Ep108
2. "Teenagers" - My Chemical Romance - Bionic Woman Ep108
3. "First Cool Hive" - Moby - Bionic Woman Ep108
4. "Where Are You Going" - Dave Matthews Band (YouTube) - Bionic Woman Ep108
5. "This Voiceless Cry" - Harri Lake (Last.FM) - Life Ep109
6. "Broken Boy Soldier" - The Raconteurs - Life Ep109
7. "Ooh Child" - Beth Orton - Life Ep109

Previously: Bionic Birdhouse (BW Episode 1.05)

Soundtracking Wednesday Night: Bionic Birdhouse

Since there's not really a show that's consistently warrants special musical attention on Wednesday -- a night of primarily freshman series -- here's a grab-bag of what went down.

First, congratulations are in order for Pushing Daisies, who gets picked up for the full season. I guess congratulations are in order for television viewers as well, who have shown the good taste to make this quirky show a hit. Last night, for the second time this season, Olive (Kristin Chenoweth) breaks out into song, this time with Aunt Vivian (Ellen Greene) singing harmonies on They Might Be Giant's "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (see video). It was brief, but probably just the right amount of singing, as Olive's turn at "Hopelessly Devoted To You" dragged on a bit too long a couple episodes ago.

Hearing Chenoweth and Greene singing was kind of an anticipated event, given their musical history. Chenoweth most recently with her role as Glinda in Wicked and Greene with her memorable role as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Combine that with the precious pairing of They Might Be Giants with Pushing Daisies and my twee meter nearly burst.

Meanwhile, Bionic Woman made great strides with their fifth episode in, showing that fill-in showrunner Jason Katims (performing double-duty with his Friday Night Lights) might have the ship righted after the rocky start. Just in time, too, as another Jason (Cahill) is now stepping in to take the reigns -- for good, one hopes. Cahill comes on board with experience with a Sopranos pedigree, which is well respected these days, especially given the products that Sopranos vets Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and Todd Kessler (Damages) recently put out. As far as music goes, you can't help but wonder if Katims had anything to do with the upgrade on that front as well, as songs from Ben Kweller, Rilo Kiley and Ani DiFranco spiced up the drama a bit this time out, much like FNL. Thankfully, Jason Cahill worked under David Chase, a man who understands the importance of music, and I'm guessing some of that rubbed off on him. Let's hope so, anyway.

Lastly, I'm just including some of the songs from ladies choice dramas Gossip Girl and Private Practice, because I either just skimmed through (GG) or didn't bother to watch (PP). Though, from what I could tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nekta and Beck livened up an otherwise droll masquerade ball, but that's all I'm dishing on GG, JQP.

Playlist: Soundtracking Wednesday Night - 10.24.07
1. "Birdhouse In Your Soul" - They Might Be Giants - Pushing Daisies, Ep 104
2. "Nothing Happening" - Ben Kweller - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
3. "Silver Lining" - Rilo Kiley - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
4. "Recoil" - Ani DiFranco - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
5. "Kiss, Kiss" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
6. "Guess Who" - Nekta - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
7. "Timebomb" - Beck - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
8. "Happy Ending" - Mika - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
9. "What I've Done" - Until June - Private Practice, Ep 105
10. "Mas Que Nada" - Sergio Mendes - Private Practice, Ep 105

tags: music, television, soundtrack, pushing daisies, bionic woman, gossip girl, they might be giants