11/5/13

TV TUESDAY S02E08: HELLO LADIES



The show features Stephen Merchant as Stuart, a web designer who fancies himself a ladies man when in reality he's a tall (6'7"), awkward, immature and somewhat creepy cheapskate.  Think an over-confident George Costanza in Kramer's body. There is not a whole lot to like about the character or any of his sad-sack friends including his actress friend, Jessica, who lives in Stuart's guest house.



Hello Ladies is partly based on Merchant's comedy routine of the same name. He has worked extensively with Ricky Gervais on radio and TV and together they created the original UK version of The Office.  They later created and starred on the show Extras.  Merchant's wit is an acquired taste and HERC does laugh sometimes but mostly he watches each episode to see Stuart fail in love.  And hear which classic Westcoast AOR song will be the one to adorn the closing credits as each episode features a different song.






As heard over the opening credits, Hall & Oates provide the show's theme song: "Alone Too Long", which is from their self-titled 1975 album (above).  The song sets the musical tone for the show and each of the show's eight episodes (as of this writing, the eighth and final episode has yet to air) features a different soft rock/Westcoast AOR/yacht rock song that begins playing before the closing credits roll and then continues until they are done.  Derek Dressler is the show's music supervisor and he's compiled a Spotify playlist called Hello Ladies Inspiration.


Exile's "Kiss You All Over" (1978) closed out the first episode.  This is a unique song as it works as both a mellow soft rock tune and a hot disco number.


The criminally underrated Bill LaBounty closed out the second episode with "Look Who's Lonely Now" (1982), which was later covered by Randy Crawford.


"You Belong To The City" (1985) was originally written for and featured on Miami Vice.  Glenn Frey returned to the small screen to close out episode 3 of Hello Ladies.


Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat" (1976) has always been a favorite of HERC's and he may or may not have raised his fist in silent triumph when the song began to play at the end of the fourth episode.


The credits in the fifth episode were soundtracked by Bread's "Guitar Man" (1972).  Although this one is a few years older than the other songs that have been used, it has that same smooth and mellow vibe.  This Bread is not stale.


Avoiding the more obvious Gerry Rafferty tunes "Baker Street" and "Right Down The Line", the show went with 
"Get It Right Next Time" (1979) for the sixth episode 
closing credits crawl.


The song that closed out the penultimate episode was Roxy Music's "Oh Yeah (On The Radio)" (1980), a melancholy tune.  The sound isn't as lush and romantic as it would become on their next album Avalon but Bryan Ferry's
voice really wrings out the emotions in this one.


For the credit crawl of season one's eighth and final episode, another non-obvious choice that somehow fits.  "Marriage Bureau Rendezvous" (1977) follows the hit single "The Things We Do For Love" from 10cc's Deceptive Bends album and tells the story of a lonely man looking for love and a dating service which provides the title of the tune.



Happy Birthday Spencer

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