Television's Freshman Class Of 2010 held little appeal to this seasoned viewer. But I took a few chances on shows I wasn't sure I'd like and was rewarded with a few favorites like Mr. Sunshine (I've liked Matthew Perry in everything ever except The Odd Couple), Hellcats (Ashley Tisdale as a cheerleader! >faints<), Breaking In (The Big Bang Theory doing capers under the guidance of Christian Slater - what's not to love?), Outsourced (politically incorrect to the highest degree and funny as heck) and Raising Hope, a new show from the creator of another favorite show of mine, My Name Is Earl. Improbable premise? Check! Inexperienced actor in lead role? Check! Supporting cast of veterans playing kooky characters? Double check! Huge heart underneath the hilarious hi-jinks? Sealed the deal. Let's put it this way, I screened the first two seasons for my folks a few years back and they loved it and they watch some of the strangest shows on TV.
From the show's irreverent opening theme ("Daddy-O" by the Freelance Economy) to the **SPOILER ALERT** scene of Jimmy and his new daughter, the title character Princess Beyonce Hope, watching Hope's mother getting the electric chair for her crimes, I was hooked and never missed an episode, despite the network's best attempts to make me miss an episode by moving it around the schedule.
The pilot episode also featured the song above, heard through Jimmy's headphones as he sketches. According to IMDb, Jonathan Leahy was Raising Hope's musical supervisor for its entire four-season, eighty-eight episode run though two additional names are listed as musical supervisors for fifteen episodes from 2010-2013: Manish Raval and Tom Wole. Whoever was to blame, the first season featured nearly two songs per episode from a fairly diverse cross-section of genres. I rounded up all the songs that Spotify had from the first season of Raising Hope and made the playlist below. Give it a spin or look see and let me what you think. Maybe I'll return with playlists from the other three seasons.
I didn't discover it until after it was cancelled, but loved catching up on all the episodes as I binge watched all 4 seasons. Great show for all the reasons you mention. Thanks for the playlist - look forward to 3 more!
ReplyDeleteHad to binge on my first season DVD set. The other three sets are print on demand from Amazon and priced out of my league. Unlike the My Name Is Earl releases, Raising Hope has all of its music intact.
DeleteI enjoyed the first few seasons of Raising Hope - watched them again recently via Netflix. I liked it a lot.
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