{"id":39856,"date":"2019-04-13T13:24:37","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T17:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/?page_id=39856"},"modified":"2020-07-05T04:54:04","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T08:54:04","slug":"roswell-in-its-original-form","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crashdown.com\/news\/roswell-anniversary\/roswell-in-its-original-form\/","title":{"rendered":"Roswell \u2013 In Its Original Form"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a pre-released<\/a> article of our\u00a0Roswell Turns 20 special.<\/p>\n

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Intro:<\/h4>\n

Music not only supports a scene. Music amplifys feelings. Music evokes emotions within us. Music sets the mood, and it can boost our mood. Music affects our minds and souls. Music brings fans together. Music creates memories.<\/p>\n

It just takes four chords of Dido’s “Here With Me” and the opening theme of ROSWELL<\/strong> starts playing in your inner eye. Some songs can trigger memories, connect them of your days at High School, college, concerts, parties or situations \u2013 or remind you of scenes and fictional characters on TV shows.<\/p>\n

You will surely agree that the music on The WB\/UPN’s ROSWELL<\/strong> is special and truly an uncredited leading character of the show. Well picked songs, many unknown artists, indie vibes, and amazingly fitting to the adventures and events our favorite inhabitants of the infamous city in New Mexico. If you discovered this cult hit after its three season run you sadly never saw the show like it ought to be seen. Please join Leonard and discover in depth information on the changed music and the way ROSWELL<\/strong> was meant to be.<\/p>\n

Roswell \u2013 In Its Original Form<\/h2>\n

the way it was meant to be<\/h4>\n

Author: Leonard<\/a> \u2022 Intro & Outro: Lena<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

If you watched ROSWELL<\/strong> when it originally aired, you are probably aware that when they originally released the show on DVD in 2004-2005, and re-released in the Katherine Heigl-ized* covers in 2008, a majority of the music used in the episodes were changed or removed entirely for budget and copyright reasons.<\/p>\n

I just calculated as I\u2019m writing this using Excel, the total is almost 80% changed (by contrast, The Wonder Years<\/strong>, a show long held back because of the sheer amount and the pivotal role music plays in the show, had only about 4% music changed out of 300+ when<\/a> finally released in 2014). The music chosen in episodes was in my opinion always one of the show’s strongest suits. They always had a knack for picking the exact lyric from the right song to help dictate the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always had a knack for picking the exact lyric from the right song to help dictate the moment.\u201c
\n\u2013 Leonard<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sometimes it was something very subtle \u2013 like in 104 Leaving Normal<\/strong><\/a> when Liz is serving the orthodontists, the lyric \u201cI\u2019m missing you like candy\u201d<\/em> plays just as Max arrives, and then the moment Liz starts walking towards him, serendipitously the chorus is just starting up again with the lyric \u201cbaby won\u2019t you come to me\u201d<\/em>. The song being played is pre-This Is Us and even pre-A Walk to Remember Mandy Moore\u2019s 1999 song \u201cCandy\u201c, which if you think about it also is kind of ironic playing against the orthodontists. Even in episodes I didn\u2019t like, like say 207 Wipeout!<\/strong>, having music from artists I liked like Good Charlotte, Vitamin C and Foo Fighters made the episode a little more tolerable.<\/p>\n

Music is the lifeblood and soul of whatever show or movie you are watching. Change the music, and you can\u2019t possibly feel the same way. You could feel something similar, but it will never be the same. I\u2019ll give you an example. Imagine watching say Dirty Dancing<\/strong>, and \u201cDo You Love Me\u201d is not playing during the watermelon scene. Now here\u2019s a more concrete example. Within the last year or so, you actually no longer hear Van Halen’s “Good Enough” in one of my all time favorite movies Spaceballs<\/strong> when they enter the diner for the Alien spoof scene near the end of the movie if you stream it or watch on demand. The 5 different DVD and Blu-ray releases I own all still have the Van Halen song on it.<\/p>\n

Now check out these tweets<\/a> from June 2018 from Liz Tigelaar, the writer\/creator of Life Unexpected<\/strong> – arguably Shiri\u2019s 2nd best show. She was responding<\/a> to a fan that informed her a song was changed on the Netflix version of the show. I pulled out my copy of the DVD and checked the episode and scene referenced. The DVD has the correct song, when I pulled it up on The CW\u2019s streaming site, the song indeed was different.<\/p>\n

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Now, back to ROSWELL<\/strong>. I bought the DVDs as they were released to support the show. I bought the original 3 releases and a Complete Series box set of the Heigl-ized* re-release. I never watched them. Not even once. I couldn\u2019t watch these altered versions of the show I love. Despite the fact Jason Katims and the original music team from the show were picking the new music, the notion that I\u2019d hear anything other than Eagle Eye Cherry’s \u201cSave Tonight\u201c playing as Liz delivers the Will Smith and Sigourney Weaver at the start of the Pilot is sacrilegious, at least to me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>
\nThis is the note that was included with the first wave of the ROSWELL Season 1 DVDs in the US. As far as I know, it was not included in any other seasons or in the re-released Heigl-ized DVDs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is not to disparage the music team or the bands that they chose to replace the original music. The songs chosen I\u2019m sure are fine music, and most would probably have worked great if ROSWELL<\/strong> was aired from 2004-2005 as opposed to 1999-2002. But again, it\u2019s not the same.<\/p>\n

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\nSome Season 2 DVDs had the new songs sticker: \u201cIncludes new cutting-edge songs selected by the original Roswell music team.\u201c I have not seen a Season 3 DVD with it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are dozens I could choose from but I settled on these 6 particular examples of iconic moments during the show to focus on. I picked a group moment, a comedy moment, a Dreamer, a Candy and a Stargazer to be fair and 1 that should definitively prove my point that it\u2019s not the same (it just happens to be another Candy). Again, I have never seen the DVD\/Streaming versions of these scenes until writing this.<\/p>\n

\n

6 particular examples of iconic moments<\/h2>\n

(1) Group moment<\/h4>\n

First the group moment. From 221 The Departure<\/strong><\/a>, I chose the scene where they blow up the jeep and say goodbye to Valenti. For the TV version, the song used was Coldplay\u2019s Trouble. For DVD\/Streaming the song used is an appropriately titled song The Sonnets – City, Spark, Fire. The DVD song has a melancholic tone that fits the emotion they are leaving. It doesn\u2019t however have the following moments that Coldplay\u2019s Trouble has. It doesn\u2019t have the haunting piano. It doesn\u2019t have the drum kicking in just as the jeep explodes. It doesn\u2019t have the subtle double entendres or pun-ability of the following lyrics \u2013 \u201coh no what\u2019s this\u201d<\/em> as Max and Valenti hug \u2013 stark contrast to where they were in the Season 1 finale; \u201cspider web and I\u2019m caught in the middle, so I turn to run\u201d<\/em> as Max walks toward the rest of the Pod Squad; \u201cthe thought of all the stupid things I\u2019ve done\u201d<\/em> as Max puts his arm around Tess; and then Chris Martin\u2019s pain in the lyric \u201cI never meant to cause you trouble\u201d<\/em> as they switch to a wide shot of the aliens walking away and finally \u201cI never meant to do you wrong\u201d<\/em> as we cut to Liz lying on Maria\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n

(2) Comedy moment<\/h4>\n

For the comedy moment, I chose Alex\u2019s stripper sequence from 203 Surprise<\/strong><\/a>. In the DVD\/Streaming version, the song used is Almost Ugly – Superstar. The original song was Quad City DJ\u2019s Cmon N Ride It. This is a no contest. Plus you can barely hear Alex\u2019s dialog as he\u2019s dancing over the music on the DVD\/Streaming.<\/p>\n

(3) Stargazer moment<\/h4>\n

For the Stargazer moment, I chose Isabel at Alex\u2019s grave also from 221 The Departure<\/a>.<\/strong> The DVD\/Streaming song is Patrick Conway – Brave Goodbye. I didn\u2019t get any real emotion watching it over the grave scene. It was even more out of place to me when the song plays again in 303 Significant Others<\/strong><\/a> when Isabel accepts Jesse\u2019s proposal. On TV, Remy Zero – Perfect Memory played. To the Smallville people \u2013 we claim this song more than you do as ROSWELL<\/strong> used it a full year before they did as\u00a0Clark and Chloe\u2019s song<\/a>! Also, for the grave scene, a raw acoustic or a demo version was used. The lyric used is \u201call your little songs it meant everything to me\u201d<\/em>, and then Isabel raises her head and then the chorus kicks in \u201cI\u2019ll Remember You \u2026\u201d<\/em>. You felt everything in that raw version. I am still looking for this version by the way, so if you have the version used in Departure, share it with me.<\/p>\n

(4)\u00a0 Candy moment<\/h4>\n

For the Candy moment, I chose the scene of Michael in the rain outside Maria\u2019s window from 115 Independence Day<\/strong><\/a>. This scene is one of the definitive Candy scenes, and I was surprised this wasn\u2019t one of the iconic songs Jason Katims demanded to keep. Highwater Rising – Life in Three Parts is the song on DVD\/Streaming. Collective Soul \u2013 Run is the TV song. While the new song is nice, I feel like they only chose the new song because it has she, window, room and rain in the lyrics. The defining TV moment is when Michael starts shedding a tear with \u201cI weaken with each voice that sings\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(5) Dreamer moment<\/h4>\n

For the Dreamer moment, I could have easily chosen Max and Liz\u2019s first kiss to Gomez from 109 Heat Wave<\/strong><\/a>. First kiss song being iconic is too easy though. Instead I chose the strawberries scene from 116 Sexual Healing<\/strong><\/a>. Last Days of April – All Will Break is the DVD\/Streaming song. Just like the Stargazer song, I feel nothing. I don\u2019t see what the music team wanted me to feel when they chose this song for this scene. On the TV side, they had Marcy Playground \u2013 Sex & Candy playing. Now let\u2019s talk about this. Besides the obvious title, we start with the lyric \u201cthis surely is a dream\u201d<\/em> seeing as Liz was fantasizing before Maria so rudely interrupted her. After Liz asks for the umpteenth time on the show \u201cwhat are you doing here Max\u201d the lyric kicks in \u201changing around\u201d<\/em>. The cat and mouse it\u2019s trying to portray is embodied as Liz says \u201cI understand\u201d and heads back to the fridge for the next pack of strawberries. Max leans forward as she\u2019s walking away smelling her hair and the chorus kicks in \u201cI smell sex and candy here\u201d<\/em>. Then it comes back to the lyric looping \u201cmama this surely is a dream\u201d<\/em> when Max spins Liz around and they start making out. Also remember \u2013 \u201cI love aliens \u2013 they taste just like chicken\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n

(6)<\/h4>\n

The final moment I chose should be definitive because the music IS what defines the scene and because it is the scene. The opening sequence of 109 Heat Wave<\/strong><\/a>, where Michael arrives at the Crashdown and makes out with Maria, then Liz comes downstairs and sees them is a dialogless scene. The music was the only thing telling you how to react to what was happening on screen. The DVD\/Streaming song is Morphic Field – I Won’t Lie to You, the TV is Santana & Everlast \u2013 Put Your Lights On. They are two very different songs. There\u2019s no way you can feel the same thing listening to both songs on the same scene.
\nThis is a case of whatever you saw first is what you will probably prefer. Since I\u2019m preaching the TV version \u2013 Santana is a man who talks to you with his guitar. The riffs at the end as Michael and Maria really turn up the heat is what moves me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you really dug around the internet back in the early-mid 2000s, episodes with original music had floated around on ROSWELL<\/strong> fan sites and message boards all those years. But upon the release of the DVD, combined with the rise of YouTube and streaming – Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and the like – slowly but surely they became harder and harder to find. They were being lost to the revisionist history Jason Katims was forced to adhere to. The fact that the show you watched\/are watching be it on DVD, digitally downloaded or streaming is not actually the show in its true original form is not even remotely mentioned anymore. If you are a person who discovered ROSWELL<\/strong> post-2002, chances are you never saw what we fell in love with. I find this situation perfectly comparable to Star Wars<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a person who discovered ROSWELL<\/strong> post-2002, chances are you never saw what we fell in love with.\u201c \u2013 Leonard<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you are watching any of the original 3 movies \u2013 unless you are watching the 2006 Special Features disc (which is in lower quality no less), VHS or Laser Disc – regardless if you are watching it on any other DVD, on Blu-ray, downloaded, streaming or even on TV on TNT \u2013 you are watching 1 of George Lucas\u2019 post-1997 edits and not the 1977\/1980\/1983 original versions of the movie that either you or your parents fell in love with (there are a bunch of versions and that\u2019s a whole other can of worms).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>Me personally, I still have the VHS tapes of ROSWELL<\/strong> my friend Tracie sent to me in 2002 while I was in college in the Philippines. It has Seasons 1-2 and a few episodes of 3 (for Season 3 the record settings went back to SP so she unknowingly only managed to record 301-303, 309-311, a muted 318 and the Unaired Pilot onto the tapes).<\/p>\n

But VHS tapes fade over time. A few months ago, I took a look at 1 of those tapes for the first time in maybe 5 or 6 years. I had my VCR connected to both my computer and the 65 inch in my living room. The picture on top of this page is a frame of Liz from Heat Wave is what my computer captured. Trust me it looked even worse on the TV.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>Shortly after the DVDs came out and before the Roswell fan sites stopped updating their hosts, so I\u2019d guess it was around 2005-ish, I acquired from someone online the episodes saved to CD-Rs. That\u2019s how I watched the 3 or 4 episodes I never got to see during college. Then life got in the way and I never revisited the show other than watching the Pilot on occasion and the Christmas \/ New Year episodes every year until I just stopped doing that too. It\u2019s still my all-time favorite show and the show I judge all others alike against, but the truth is I haven’t revisited ROSWELL in many years because I could not watch it in its true original form. The way I originally saw it.<\/p>\n

And then Twilight<\/strong> happened. It actually was serendipity. I knew absolutely nothing about it\u00a0until the commercials during one Monday Night Raw when I saw one of the\u00a0TV spots saying it was opening later in November. I remember the exact words I said to myself was \u201cthat so reminds me of Roswell.\u201d The following morning was Election Day. I went and voted for the first time and then realized I had nothing to do the rest of the day because it only took me maybe 10 minutes in total (I live right across the street from my station). So I decided to walk around NYC that afternoon and eventually I found myself in the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Getting off the escalator the first thing I see is the beautiful box set of all 4 Twilight books on sale. The trailer was still on my mind, and I couldn\u2019t help but admit that it had brought me as close to what I felt the 1st time I saw the ROSWELL<\/strong> trailer when it first aired in college about 7 years prior. So on a whim, I bought the books and I got locked in for about 5 years to the fandom.<\/p>\n

I still maintain the opinion that Twilight is ROSWELL<\/strong> on steroids and everything ROSWELL<\/strong> could have been if the WB\/Fox\/UPN actually backed it in the way Summit did Twilight<\/strong>. The 5 year Twilight<\/strong> run brought me as close as possible to what I felt spiritually\/mentally\/emotionally during the 3 years of ROSWELL<\/strong>. I\u2019m pretty certain this is the TV spot I saw of Twilight <\/a> and this is the TV spot I saw of ROSWELL<\/a> that sold me in college (sourced from my VHS tapes).<\/p>\n