big-trouble music

 

Last week under an article about the Mitch McConnell "freeze" episodes a young commenter wrote,

"...He seriously looks like he needs to be in an old folks home with a blanket draped over his legs while being fed tapioca pudding as Matlock plays on the tube."

I thought the comment showed both enthusiasm and creativity.  I mean, he doesn't just want Mitch to retire, he has a plan:  where Mitch will live, what will be draped over him, what he will be eating, and what he will be watching on television!

And it made me remember Matlock.  I didn't watch that show in the '80s because my plate was full with Designing Women; The Cosby Show; Murder, She Wrote; and Moonlighting.

After reading that energetic, imaginative comment I started binge-watching Matlock on Amazon Prime.

The show has a kind of unique tone -- they are solving serious crimes and mysteries, but there is a light atmosphere, there's low-key humor.

        It felt a little bit awkward to me, at first, I think because a lot of entertainment since then has become more harsh, and crass.  I wasn't used to the gentleness.  After a few episodes, I got to like the style as I became accustomed to it.

        And there's some darkness, too -- I can feel some Raymond Chandler influence around the edges....

The background music that helps us feel the atmosphere of what's going on is very effective!  Watching it while not looking at it, because I was doing home / daily routines (chores?), I heard a sudden stab of suspenseful music and knew someone was about to get harmed, or caught, or super-surprised.  It was music that denotes Big Trouble.

And Matlock addressed a concern I was writing about here on May 16th of this year:  people in TV shows driving their car but not watching the road.

        In Season 1 Matlock is riding in a car driven by a newspaper reporter.  The kid keeps talking intensely to Matlock, who reminds him a couple of times, "Watch the road"...

Me:  "THANK YOU!!"

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