Commentary

Credit TV You Can Hum To

In TV and other entertainment fields, it's all about sharing high-profile credit.  But this doesn't always mean much to the average TV viewer.

Big-name actors who recently received their Emmy nominations have started with the platitudes about  all those lower-profile personnel -- fellow actors, directors, technicians, hair stylists, and grips.

I can understand it. But division of labor is getting crazier.

One Emmy nomination for the best TV music and lyrics category goes to ESPN's "The Espy Awards." Frankly, I didn't know the Espys had a special song -- let alone one with lyrics.

Turns out the Espy song "I Love Sports" has eight names credited to writing the lyrics -- Katreese Barnes, Justin Timberlake (yes, that Justin Timberlake), Steve Higgins, Alex Baze, Rachel Hamilton, Kevin Miller, Jonathan Drubner, and Dave Drabik.

Timberlake sings the tune and hosted the event a year ago. There's a nice line about sportscasters that ends with:  "Nothing rhymes with Favre." 

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To be fair, a lot goes into making great art -- the Broadway-esqe Espy song clocked in at around eight minutes in length.  That's about a minute per lyricist.

Even marketing art takes lots of personnel. There is the in-house marketing agency to consider; perhaps an outside media and marketing agency. Promotions and public relations firms should get credit as well.

Overall, movie-making has been this way for some time, what with multiple names being attached to producing credits. We have also seen multiple "story by" or "screenplay by" credits.

But the TV landscape is vast. Smaller "creative arts" don't get any airtime anymore. There are just too many disciplines to consider -- which is probably fair, since all this doesn't mean much to mainstream TV consumers.  Still, everyone deserves credit. The good news is, scores of hard-working TV production people still get their due.


I'm sorry, I can't hum the Espy song.  But I know another ESPN theme -- "Da da daa. Da da daa."  That's the theme for its omni-present "SportsCenter" show. I love that music -- and the lyrics aren't bad, either.

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