Composer’s Notes

Streaming on Hulu.

Reviews: New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times.

Too Funny To Fail tells the story of the spectacularly hyped launch-and-crash of The Dana Carvey Show in the 90s. Despite its quick cancellation, the show’s brief moment of brilliance launched a number of careers (including Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and Charlie Kaufman).

The show failed for very good (and hysterical) reasons, a taste of which you can see if you scroll down to the YouTube clip below.

To score a film about a network TV show, one should have a proper sense of stakes. This allowed the score room for mischief, and we were able to reference genres almost on whim.

Does the interview feel nostalgic? An accordion waltz.

Describing a virtuoso writer? 70s funk.

Audition jitters? A bossa nova, with the fast rhythms on the downbeats (this makes it feel a little awkward).

Youthful foolishness? A pirate drinking song.