Drama Series Score
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The workhorse emotional underscore of network and cable serialized drama — medical, legal, family, ensemble and genre dramas alike — designed to guide the audience's feelings episode to episode. It favors warm strings, piano, subtle synth pads and a memorable main-title theme, with cues that swell for revelations, ache for loss and settle into gentle beds beneath dialogue. Efficient, recurring thematic material and a strong title theme give a long-running series its recognizable sonic identity across dozens or hundreds of hours.
History
Modern TV drama scoring took shape with Mike Post's era and the character-driven cable and network dramas of the 1980s and 1990s, where a strong main title became a show's signature. W.G. Snuffy Walden (The West Wing), James Newton Howard (ER) and Michael Giacchino (Lost) wrote themes that defined their series, while cable expansion let composers like Bear McCreary (The Walking Dead), Trevor Morris (The Tudors) and Nathan Barr (The Americans) develop cinematic, arc-spanning scores. Danny Elfman and other film composers crossed over for marquee network dramas, and the tradition continues across broadcast, cable and streaming serialized storytelling.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Life and Death(2005) — Michael GiacchinoSpotifyYouTube
- The West Wing (Main Title)(1999) — W.G. Snuffy WaldenSpotifyYouTube
- ER (Main Theme)(1994) — James Newton HowardSpotifyYouTube
- The Walking Dead (Main Title)(2010) — Bear McCrearySpotifyYouTube
- The Tudors Main Title(2007) — Trevor MorrisSpotifyYouTube
- The Americans (Main Title)(2013) — Nathan BarrSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Jon Burlingame, TV's Biggest Hits: The Story of Television Themes (1996)
- Emmy Awards music categories
- Variety composer interviews