Top 10 Shows That Rocked TV

By Tom Rose
Fancast.com

You know the summer has slowed to a stultifying crawl when TV critics start blogging about what music they’re listening to rather than what TV they’re watching, as is the case with the San Francisco Chronicle’s ace boob-tuber Tim Goodman. Over on his always entertaining and often provocative blog, The Bastard Machine, Goodman makes a subtle or subconscious play at taking over Samantha Ronson’s professional gig by posting the tunes he has in heavy rotation: Lucinda Williams, “West.” Elvis Costello, “Momofuku.” Denzil, “Pub.” Belle & Sebastian iPod playlist (on shuffle). Anything by Wilco. Smiths, “Louder Than Bombs.” All things Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis. Lots of Feist. Finn Brothers, “Everyone Is Here.”

The TV critic gets props for both good taste and being in tune with his times. His list also inspired some thinking about the best TV shows about music - non-reality, non-doc (meaning no Behind the Music, no Supergroup, no Rock of Love, no Osbournes) - a fun and challenging effort that produced this ultimate playlist of the top 10 shows related to music that rocked TV:

10. Hannah Montana: Miley Cyrus plays Miley Stewart, a typical teen struggling to find herself and desperate to fit in with the other kids at school. But, unbeknownst to her classmates, she’s leading a double life. Make-up, lighting, and a blonde wig transform Miley into popular singer Hannah Montana, whose confidence and charisma light up the stage. While Disney adheres to the company line by outwardly portraying Hannah in an innocent light, the show’s undertones spotlight the highly charged atmosphere of today’s confusing social mores. And Miley manages to kick some real ass with her infectious sound and irresistible charm.

9. The Chris Isaak Show: The “Curb Your Enthusiasm” of the Rock world, this Showtime series seamlessly merged fact with fiction. Isaak, a throwback to the Stoned Age, always seemed mildly baffled by the strangeness of his show biz niche, but there was an understated sophistication underlying his goofy, deadpan demeanor. Retro and contemporary at the same time, he manages to make uncool very hip.

8. FM: A different take on back-office romance messin’ with the format, this often overlooked gem took place at D.C.’s WGEO, a PBS-type radio station that struggled to find its identity, while the staff were much more concerned with finding their next romantic conquest. Lofty pretensions were often hijacked by “The Mighty Doctor Q”, (James Avery) a wannabe wild reggae mon at night who doubled as the snooty classical music announcer by day.

7. Love Monkey: Think “High Fidelity” meets “Jerry McGuire.” Tom Cavanaugh played the thirtysomething A&R man with a soul, even while the crushing mindlessness of the behemoth record company he fronted conspired to break every creative bone in his body. The short-lived comedic series was especially noted for exposing its VH1 audience to the kind of music not found in the usual daily video rotation. The pilot alone aired juicy cuts from the likes of the Killers, Madeleine Peyroux, Talking Heads, Franz Ferdinand and Badly Drawn Boy.

6. WKRP in Cincinnati: Les, Bailey, Herb, Andy Travis, Mr. Carlson, DJ Johnny Fever and a national mania - Jennifer the Receptionist (Loni Anderson) emerged as a true ensemble cast that became universally loved by a surprised American viewing public. Who knew radio could be so cool? It wasn’t long before MTV ripped off Howard Hesseman’s best bits and remolded them into every carbon-copy VJ since.

5. The Jackson 5: A legitimate Pop sensation, The Jackson 5 (brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael) have the distinction of being one of the few real-life bands rendered into the Saturday Morning cartoon format. However, due to the red-hot musical careers they were enjoying at the time, the boys themselves (and Diana Ross, their weekly seductress) had very little to do with the show. Unless you count the medley of #1 hits (”I Want You Back”, “The Love You Save”, “ABC”, and “Mama’s Pearl”) that comprised the theme song.

4. Josie and the Pussycats: The first animated series to feature a regular African-American character, Valerie, (Patrice Holloway) the show also broke ground by conducting an exhaustive search to find the three real-life Pussycats who could take the characters out on the road in the real world. They needn’t have bothered. The flesh and blood counterparts never found the same success as the hand-drawn lovelies, clad in leopard print leotards and “long tails and ears for hats.” Despite the gratuitous pandering to adolescent male wet-dream fever, the Pussycats actually spun a good tune from time to time.

3. The Archie Show: Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, Jughead and Hot Dog lead the way for all the Scooby-Dos to follow. The animated show, based on the comic book that still hits newsstands every month, was just as famous for its gimmicky tie-ins as it was for its slender catalog of bubble gum pop. But you only need one hit for a lifetime road show and “Sugar, Sugar” delivered the goods. The group did manage to draw a comparison to “The Doors”, since they’re the only two chart topping bands who never found it necessary to hire a bass player.

2. The Partridge Family: On the show that made David Cassidy a teen idol, he and real-life mother Shirley Jones were the only members of the cast who actually sang and played on their smash hit records. The series chronicled the wacky adventures of the fictional Pop family as they traveled from gig to gig on their trusty band bus, neatly solving society’s ills at every stop along the way. We say it’s time for a remake, and this time, leave in the after-show party footage.

1. The Monkees: The show that really started it all. Sure, Ricky Nelson made Ozzy and Harriet proud, but it wasn’t until The Monkees came along in 1965 that TV had reached its full potential for shameless, knock-off commercialism. The group, created by a bunch of cynical Pop Music TV insiders to cash in on The British Invasion, actually elevated the medium by garnering a fevered teenybopper following that helped Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, and Peter Tork sell more albums in 1967 than the Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined.