Just skimming the series for the score, seems like this would be a fun treat to watch. It should have gone passed a single season. Hell, based on the premise, it could be rebooted (in the sense of bringing it back, not re-doing it; though one of the leads died young).
I'm glad you're doing these as this is one of my favorite TV series of all time. It was actually something of a hit during its first season, which is why the season is so incredibly long (and why it goes past the resolution of the main plot thread/villian established in the pilot). If it hadn't been a choice between renewing this show or X-Files for Fox, I'm sure this would have been a longer-lived show.
I really highly recommend you actually watch it for fun. There is the occasional bad episode but it is truly a delight.
I will warn you about one thing regarding the scores, though: after the initial batch of episodes (I think eight, after the pilot?), I'm fairly certain the *entire* rest of the series eschews orchestral scoring due to losing the budget for it (a la Star Trek: Enterprise) ...even the season/series finale. There is still some nice intimate stuff with acoustic solo instruments (i.e. guitar or the occasional woodwind) from time to time and it's generally fine and effective as background music, but there's also a decent amount of annoying synth scoring, some of which really stands out in a bad way. This is quite the shock after the initial batch of wonderful full-bodied orchestral scores by Graziano and Bunch (Edelman's is actually the least of these, because aside from his fantastic theme it still has his trademark synthetic orchestral sound at times). I'm pretty sure those same two composers continue through the end of the run but they are completely hamstrung by their music budget being all but eliminated.
I believe LLL hinted a year or two ago that they were working on a score release for this series, and I really hope it's a three disc set which focuses mainly on the orchestral first third of the season, with half a disc or even less dedicated to the remaining two thirds.
I read over an interview, before coming back here, with Campbell where he said he's opening to coming back as the character for some sort of revival, should it happen. That was a 2018 interview.
If it happens, I hope we get the big orchestral scores again.
No kidding. But that seems even less likely today (unless Seth Macfarlane oversees the reboot for Fox, haha).
I think an Old Brisco show with Campbell reprising perhaps his best role would be totally fun! And bring back Christian Clemenson as Socrates Poole and Kelly Rutherford as Dixie Cousins too...especially since we have sadly lost Julius Carry (RIP, Lord Bowler) who grew into such an important part of the show. I'm glad he was still around when they did the wonderful behind the scenes features on the DVD set, at least. You could really tell how much he (and everyone else) loved this show and felt it was something truly special.
Has that theme ever been released commercially? It is one of the few remaining items in my TV themes collection that was audio-captured from the TV audio feed (and in stereo!).
Sad that Mr. Carry is deceased; he elevated the material he was given. And if there is ever a reunion movie ("Brisco County, III"?), please include John-Pyper Ferguson, who turned a one-off(ed) role into a recurring gig.
As far as I know the theme has never been released even on a compilation; the version I have is still just a rip of the Main Title. Great Edelman theme, though!
I will confess that in the orchestral scores themselves, I prefer what Stephen Graziano and Velton Ray Bunch do with the theme than Edelman's own use in the pilot score.
I agree that any reunion project should bring in John-Pyper Ferguson or as many of the best guest stars the original show had as possible. John Astin and James Hong are still alive and working, so we could even have the return of Professor Wickwire and Lee Pow!
I don't remember the end credits off the top of my head, but I can confirm that the Edelman pilot score has a much more laid-back and less exciting version of the main theme for its main title sequence.
0:00 in. Really just for that opening bit with Edelman's theme.
7:45 in.
11:06 in.
15:02/16:37 in. One problem I have sometimes with the scoring is that there are nice big bits sandwiched into cues that go nowhere, so in this case I think I'd take out the bit opening part and edit it onto the next cited time stamp.
Goddamn these synth scores are have killed the music.
Bowler: "One question: Where were you hidin' those things?"
I'd like to hear Graziano get a big action-packed science fiction episode of some series and write lots of action music for orchestra. I'd be curious to hear those results.
100% agreed. One of the most noticeably annoying scores after the music budget had been cut.
Goddamn these synth scores are have killed the music.
I warned ya! It's like night and day from the early part of the season! We gotta keep in mind that this was many years before Star Trek: Enterprise (BTW Velton Ray Bunch is the clear connection here besides the transition to synth scores from orchestral), and synths/samples improved hugely in the intervening years.
I'd like to hear Graziano get a big action-packed science fiction episode of some series and write lots of action music for orchestra. I'd be curious to hear those results.
Agreed! He demonstrates that he's a very talented orchestral composer, during the early third of this show.
To be honest I'm surprised you found as many highlight cues as you did, after the music budget disappeared (though clearly the number of highlights you cite per episode dramatically starts dropping). I think even a run-of the-mill non-highlight cue from earlier in the season is still better than some of these highlights, but I guess it's all relative. And it's not like the music was usually *horrible*...it's just that it became purely serviceable and not really as good of a prospect for listening outside of the show context.
Still, the show is still wildly entertaining even when the music is less than inspiring.
Yeah, the show was still the show, but it felt empty and made actions scenes seem trivial. Real players with a big orchestra just drove the show along.
This reminds me of "Walker, Texas Ranger", where the shitty budget for the first few years claimed not only the talented Velton Ray Bunch, but sucked in Jerrold Immel, too. Two budget victims.
Yeah, the show was still the show, but it felt empty and made actions scenes seem trivial.
I disagree strongly about the show feeling empty later on. Still loved it despite the scores going downhill. For the most part, the episodes were still a ton of fun and the leads were still fantastic. Of course there is still the occasional very disappointing episode, like the one you're at next (which closes off the Bly storyline in very disappointing fashion IMO, considering what a cool villain he was).
Elvis sheriff is back. Knowing that time travel is a thing in this series, I fully expect that if the show had continued, Brisco would have had a two or three-parter where he went into the future at various points and during that, he accidentally sends Elvis Presley to the past right before he dies, but the tech' used saves Elvis' life and he becomes a sheriff eventually.
"High Treason: Part 2" (series finale) By: Velton Ray Bunch
Great job finishing the series even though musical highlights dwindled. I really liked the finale of the show; shame they couldn't have given at least that an orchestral budget. That last cue is still nice, though, so I guess I hope it makes the set if one is produced.
And a nice little nod in the end when a character says he hopes to see them again, and one either Brisco or Bowler says, "We'll be back. Maybe after a little hiatus."
And a nice little nod in the end when a character says he hopes to see them again, and one either Brisco or Bowler says, "We'll be back. Maybe after a little hiatus."
Bowler ... and Mr. Carry's delivery of the metajoke cracked me up when originally aired ... a couple of months before Fox announced the cancellation.
One thing you can say about Brisco County, at least it made it through the season. The next three shows that occupied that Friday at 8 before X-Files timeslot can't claim such a feet.
