Josh Schwartz's Quipsville, CA

Ever wondered what The O.C. would've been like if it centered on Seth at the Bait Shop? Me neither, but creator Josh Schwartz apparently has, and turned that wonderment into a web-based new series called Rockville, CA, which launched yesterday on TheWB.com. The Rockville (L.A.'s Echoplex) is the Bait Shop 2.0 (just as black and as unbelievably clean,) while Hunter (Andrew West) is the resident music geek, and Schwartz's fourth different take on the Seth character (following Gossip Girl's Dan Humphrey and Chuck's namesake,) and this Schwartz archetype has never been Seth-ier.

Witty, self-righteous, and always at the ready with a snarky quip, Hunter might just the hardest of the Seths so far to like, and with the twitter-like brevity necessary for a four-six minutes webisode, it's going to be difficult to flesh out the character, 140 characters at a time, as it were. Deb, the cute girl we're supposed to think is mousy thanks to some Tina Fey frames, is somehow able to see through the geek smarm and is smitten with him, only SethHunter is too inside his own head to see it.

If it sounds like the thin plot to a lot of teen movies, that's because having a plot here seems secondary to getting a bit of face time for "up and coming" bands. In today's four webisodes, there's The Kooks, The Duke Spirit, The Broken West and Nico Stai, with future scheduled appearances from the likes of Eagles of Death Metal, Lykke Li, Kaiser Chiefs, Frightened Rabbit, Travis, Phantom Planet, Bishop Allen and many more. And since the bands are more upfront, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has a far more prominent role in these webisodes than she does in all the other Schwartz series she supervises. Too bad the bands are only on for less than a minute at a time, as even the performances have been twitter-sized.

I'm still going to stick with it, though, if only to see if things pick up by the sixth episode (launching next week, March 24,) which besides the first, is the next webisode scripted by Josh Schwartz himself. Ultimately, though, you're probably better served watching Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist on DVD, which, even for all its flaws, does a much better job at weaving indie rock with witty young drama.

Playlist: Rockville, CA - Episodes 1-4
1. Dead Pony - Nico Stai - Episode 1
2. Do You Wanna - The Kooks - Episode 2
3. Always Where I Need To Be - The Kooks - Episode 2
4. Perfect Games - The Broken West - Episode 3
5. Auctioneer - The Broken West - Episode 3
6. The Step And The Walk - The Duke Spirit - Episode 4
7. Lassoo - The Duke Spirit - Episode 4

It Takes Two Teddybears

Whew! I have to admit I was worried that Chuck was going to bomb after seeing what Josh Schwartz did with Gossip Girl, but I'm happy to report that the premise of The Office meets Alias seemed to really work. There are a lot of bones to pick, I'm sure, but the pilot did an adequate job setting up the worlds in which Chuck lives. His job as manager of the Nerd Herd at the local Buy More chain (a clever variation on the Geek Squad/Best Buy relationship,) at home living with his sister (and boyfriend Captain Awesome,) and the introduction of his new role as human data miner for the NSA and CIA.

That world is the one that requires some coating to swallow, that Chuck could download the CIA and NSA's entire data points to his brain from watching a series of images. Luckily, there is some nice sugary jelly to make it go down easy. That's the beauty of this being a comedy, those plot points are a little easier to forgive. Unlike Alias, where in the third and fourth season certain plot points provided some unintentional laughter, Chuck can get away with it, because there's a low level of farce working here. And even though they have black comedy specialist Adam Baldwin (as Major John Casey) playing his role straight as a board, it's still funny, in part due to the baggage he carries from past characters on Firefly (as Jayne) and Angel (as Marcus). It's (I thought his role as Special Agent Danny Love on the short-lived series The Inside was similarly unintentionally-intentionally comedic, ever so slightly lightening that dark series.)

Anyway, about the music, the pilot deftly utilized the song "Cobrastyle" by Teddybears for an action-theme music. The song is a bit like teddybear Baldwin himself, in that it can add comedy to a scene regardless of how it's played. Of course, it helps to have the facial expressions that Zachary Levi (as Chuck) provides to give the repeated fish-out-of-water appeal that the show provides. Which reminds me of a thought I had while watching him freak out with CIA agent Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski.) It seems that the premise of Chuck might well have been inspired by the episodes of Alias where tech geek Marshall Flinkman was forced into the field with Sydney Bristow. I always thought Marshall was the only character who could have an interesting spin-off to that series, and perhaps someone else thought so as well.

Back to the music, as that's what we're here for, there's more to be had then just Teddybears. Beck's "Cellphone's Dead" makes an appropriate appearance, playing through some Nerd Herd work, including the fixing of Sarah's cellphone. And speaking of cellphones, Chuck's cellphone ringtone (Journey's "Any Way You Want It") provides comedy in a tense moment (just like Marshall Flinkman!) But it's really The Shins "A Comet Appears" that best captures a scene in both mood and content of lyrics. The song is about the struggle to find one's place in the world, and having to shake of a bit of the naivete of boyhood, which encapsulates Chuck's realization at the end of the episode.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't at least acknowledge the use of Ennio Morricone's "For a Fistful of Dollars" to comedically dramatize Chuck's show of ambition (applying for assistant store manager.) It was a bit forced, but just about any use of Morricone is going to get my attention (well played Patsavas/Schwartz.)

Playlist: Chuck - Ep101
1. "Cobrastyle" - Teddybears - Used as an action theme throughout episode
2. "Cellphone's Dead" - Beck - Chuck details a virus, fixes Sarah's cellphone
3. "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" - Jet - Getting dressed, contrast of Chuck to Sarah
4. "See the World" - Gomez - Dinner music
5. "Into Your Dream" - Foreign Born - Band playing in club
6. "Any Way You Want It" - Journey - Chuck's cellphone rings during bomb defusing
7. "A Comet Appears" - The Shins - Chuck contemplates his current situation
8. "For A Fistful Of Dollars" - Ennio Morricone - Chuck goes to submit his resume
9. "The Missionary" - Brothers Martin - Chuck has a flash of a Sarah mission

Previously: Don't Care About the Old Folks (Schwartz's Gossip Girl)

tags: music, television, soundtrack, chuck, josh schwartz, the shins, teddybears, adam baldwin, alias, beck, playlist

Don't care about the old folks

At least all the elements are there for this series to have interesting music choices each week. Not only is The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz helming it (along with O.C. cohort Stephanie Savage,) but he's also got Alexandra Patsavas on board as the music supervisor (folks may recognize her television credits from my posts (Mad Men, The O.C., Rescue Me, Grey's Anatomy). From what I'd heard ahead of time, though, it's like they divided The O.C. into two and the parts that I was drawn to (humor, cultural references, and yes music) ended up with Chuck, and the soap-y drama was left for GG. So I adjusted (lowered) my expectations accordingly and last night GG pretty much met it.

Patsavas has a knack for finding the voice of the series and basing the music choices on that character. For Seth Cohen it was indie rock, for Meredith Grey it's chick rock (with a hint of dark and twisty,) but for Gossip Girl it's a bit of a mystery. The only things we know about the voice of the show is it's a teenage girl in Manhattan (and that she's voiced in our heads by Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell.) As a result, the music is slanted more to popular music then anything Patsavas has had her hands on thus far. So popular songs at the time they shot the pilot – like ones Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Akon and Timberland – are sprinkled throughout the episode.

Luckily, the Cohen family in this series (the Humphreys) seems like they'd be listening to something a little more off the beaten path. Dad was is still in a band (Lincoln Hawk, the name of Sly Stone's character in the cult classic Over the Top,) and son Dan seems to be willing to go his own way. That's why I think the show can open with the whistling of Peter Bjorn & John's "Young Folks." The lyrics also let us in on a secret:

...we don't care about the old folks
Talkin' 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about our own folks
Talkin' 'bout our own stuff...

Unlike The O.C., this series doesn't really have too much for folks pushing 40 like myself. Much like the young-adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar the show is based on, the parents seemingly have no importance, and Schwartz isn't really throwing us any bones (well, there is the Over the Top reference and a character named Nate Archibald.) Instead, we're left with incredibly privileged kids drinking martinis, smoking pot while living in a nearly parent-free Manhattan. Speaking of that, it was a nice touch to have some indie NY-centric songs in the mix like Cold War Kids' "Hang Me Out to Dry" and the very appropriate "Hard To Live In The City" by The Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr.

Beyond that, the use of Amy Winehouse' "Back to Black" was nice, and I can see that whole album getting used given drama of the series. A part of me really wants to complain about the mix here, but in the end, it matches up with the content, and that's all you can ask of Patsavas. The show is obviously not for me, so I shouldn't expect the music to be as well.

Note - Since my wife will be watching, I'll check in from time to time, but it won't be a weekly thing, I'm afraid (happy) to report.

Playlist: Gossip Girl - Pilot

1. "Something To Believe In" - Aqualung - series theme song
2. "Young Folks" - Peter Bjorn and John - opens the episode
3. "If It's Lovin That You Want" - Part 2 - Rihanna
4. "What Goes Around Comes Around" - Justin Timberlake
5. "Back To Black" - Amy Winehouse
6. "Diamond Hipster Boy" - Washington Social Club
7. "Hang Me Up To Dry" - Cold War Kids
8. "Photograph" - Air
9. "Hard To Live In The City" - Albert Hammond Jr.
10. "The Way I Are" - Timbaland
11. "Go" - Hanson
12. "Don't Matter" - Akon

13. "The Gift" - Angels And Airwaves

tags: music, television, soundtrack, gossip girl, peter bjorn and john, playlist