Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase 4 & Beyond (and a chance to change your vote)

'Assembled: The Making of WandaVision' premieres March 12, 2021 on Disney+

Ah well, there you go!

Very good. I haven't seen much of the Mandalorian making-of, but if it's the same quality I'll happily watch that

Am I missing something or is Agatha All Along anything more than a tweaked Munsters Today theme?

That's the whole point!

Some good tweets from the writer of the episode:

I told a therapist once that my trauma defined me. She said no: It shapes you.

It was paramount to the writers of #WandaVison to not just look at where Wanda has been, but to spend time with her there. To give space & voice to her grief, to her loss.

To watch her take shape. https://t.co/4OPn2Ux7M8

— Laura Donney (@LMdonney) February 26, 2021

The response to this episode has been so meaningful. TV writing is a group effort, & in our case, a beautiful one. Heres to our fearless and heartful leader #jacschaeffer and the entire writers room:

— Laura Donney (@LMdonney) February 27, 2021

Worried I’m gonna lose all my new WandaVision followers once they realize all I do is tweet about being Jewish and loving my Aunt.

— Laura Donney (@LMdonney) February 28, 2021

<3

I'll reword my question then - why on earth are people losing their shit about a retooled Munsters theme?

(As an aside, thinking about this made me realise the Munsters theme shares a hell of a lot of DNA with the Flintstones theme but I suppose you'll tell me that should be in the "old when you realised" thread)

(I did not know Munsters Today even existed until your previous post but) have you noticed that any of the other episodes, or the beginning of this one, contain riffs on sitcom themes of yore?

On the one hand, the reaction to Agatha After All is considerably more hype than the other tunes.

On the other hand, isn't most of the hype about the remix?

I didn't notice anything else sitcommy but since most of the other themes have been for shows that either weren't broadcast or are largely unknown in the UK (e.g. Dick van Dyke show, which I'm aware of but have never seen more than a couple of eps of) that maybe isn't surprising. Or just more recent things like Malcolm in the Middle or Modern Family that I just haven't seen so wouldn't know if it slapped me round the face.

But this is different from them, this is a show not directly referenced by the visuals (and not in the Maximoff dvd library as seen in ep8).

Actually I saw an interview after ep7 where they said it sounded like it fitted so well because they'd shared the theme with other score writers and they had left clues to it in the rest of the soundtrack.

Hype absolutely not just around the remix e.g.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFne_gwjQk

Maybe it's just the Frozen effect, like Let It Go.

most of the reaction is to its narrative function, not to the melody

the 80s and '00s "sitcom themes" are very definitely making specific musical and visual references to specific sitcoms of the referenced eras.

most of the reaction is to its narrative function, not to the melody

Vs

On the other hand, isn't most of the hype about the remix?

Remixes not notably about narrative function.

As I said, I'm not familiar enough with the contents of the Maximoff Blockbuster Suitcase to recognise they're straight lifts from them but this is still different as The Munsters wasn't in there (that I could see, happy to be corrected). I suppose possibly the answer is the other themes are created by Wanda and this by Agatha so <shrugs>. What do I know.

what is going on here??

I have not had the same experience as Andrew re: the alleged "remix" (one of several trap bootlegs afaik?), cf

btw I can't get that Agatha theme song out of my head

― if you meh them, shut up (Neanderthal), Saturday, February 20, 2021 3:00 PM (one week ago)

knowing that it's her actually singing it just makes that song even more delightful

― Nhex, Sunday, February 21, 2021 5:58 AM (one week ago)

if we assume that the show's meta-asides are to be taken as messages from a reliable narrator (as they have so far wrt theme lyrics, visual asides suggesting not all is as it seems), Agatha is described in the song as insidious, perfidious and "messing up everything." She also admits to killing a dog with Wicked Witch of the West flair

― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, February 23, 2021 2:18 AM (five days ago)

that fucking agatha song has been stuck in my head constantly

― tiwa-nty one savage (voodoo chili), Tuesday, February 23, 2021 6:01 AM (five days ago)

Meantime, new interview with Anderson-Lopez/Lopez

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/arts/television/wandavision-agatha-all-along.html

("Meet" probably the most famous songwriting duo on Broadway/at Disney etc? Change that headline.)

Honestly this week's episode was among other things just an amazing tonal shift after having said song in my head off and on throughout the week.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, February 27, 2021 6:27 AM (yesterday)

Agatha definitely an interesting villain(?) as the intro is definitely... open to some kind of interpretation. Glad they went this route (maybe?) rather than keeping her as evil as the end of the song implied. Also, did they use some funky de-aging tech or was it just incredible makeup for her flashback?

― Nhex, Saturday, February 27, 2021 10:59 AM (yesterday)

yeah sorry i just don't get this whole latest back and forth about the agatha song, and the 'hype', and some remix somewhere, and that it sounds like the munsters... what's the bone of contention exactly?

“people like something but still wanna complain about it.”

- ILX

aldo didn’t know that the other sitcom themes sounded like sitcom themes*, so he’s latched on to Agatha sounding like one he knows, and is thus fixating on the melody being pastiched, rather than on it being a fun way to do a plot reveal

* 100% fair obv

other ppl are enjoying being earwormed by the catchy fun joke that delivered a narrative twist. aldo is confused bcz he just thinks of The Munsters if he plays the tune in his head, and thinks he must be missing something, so asked if he’s missing something

no big deal in any direction rly

lol okay

i do like that the episode is called 'breaking the fourth wall' and there is this unsettling slippage about who, in fact, the audience is for agatha's theme/montage. it's us, mainly, and serves its delicious reveal function to us, but does wanda 'see' it, too? no, i think?

'fietro' = a+

this whole episode was amazing imo. the moment we see vision being remade in the 50s world, and he looks at wanda, and they just assume their roles, and then we see the sets and the lights.. ahhh directly into my veins plz

But this is different from them, this is a show not directly referenced by the visuals

again, not knowing what Munsters Today is, but: the Agatha All Along titles show a 1960s b&w supernatural sitcom transplanted to whenever the present day is. sooooo??

aldo didn’t know that the other sitcom themes sounded like sitcom themes*, so he’s latched on to Agatha sounding like one he knows, and is thus fixating on the melody being pastiched, rather than on it being a fun way to do a plot reveal

* 100% fair obv

aldo makes minor point about song which is blowing up on social media in the real world sounding like something else and so confused by why it's so popular, sic-signal activated, above strawman erroneously deployed.

My point is entirely about earworming beyond the narrative of the show, and why this. But I suppose why *anything* trends on social media.

(I could have guessed the themes used for the sitcoms were direct references and lifts from the things they're directly parodying.)

That particular one went viral because it’s the culmination of the musical theme that has been building throughout all of the other themes, it’s tied to a massive plot point, and it’s bad ass.

Re: the first point, watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIS8P6plRvM

Did anyone else post that music analysis clip, where it's pointed out that they incorporated the same three or four note motif into all the different theme songs? And, just to make it more fun, it's built around a tritone interval, aka "The Devil's Interval?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIS8P6plRvM

Holy shit! Twins!

it sounded like it fitted so well because they'd shared the theme with other score writers and they had left clues to it in the rest of the soundtrack.

I pointed that out earlier but it was more fun to imply I'm televisually illiterate.

STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD, ME

it was aldo, all along!

https://img.particlenews.com/img/id/3VKol8_0YjApx1Y00?type=webp_512x288

re: music theory, it’s a kind of major tritone sound found in the lydian mode, which is also prominently used in the theme song for the longest running sitcom of all time

the siiimp sooons

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/FlandersDevil.png

who’s that goat-legged fellow? i like the cut of his jib

Man this is just making me wish one of the opening credit parodies was an animated Simpsons riff! They have the rights to it all too!

If they hadn’t skipped from Family Ties to Malcolm in the Middle, they could have put The Simpsons in that slot.

On a related note, someone on Twitter asked “what sitcoms would you find refuge in if you were Wanda” and the first one that came to mind was Good Times, which feels like a great way of showing how even something as “universal” as using sitcoms to escape reality isn’t universal

When I saw this I threw my typewriter out the window. You just can't touch this 😭 pic.twitter.com/ihvcFXjtfd

— ben "slenderben" flores (@limitlessjest) February 28, 2021

it's the culmination of the musical theme that has been building throughout all of the other themes

The Lopez-Andersons also talk about this in the interview that Ned posted.

(flip that name & reverse it, lol)

I thought for sure I saw a promotional image that showed Wanda sitting in what appeared to be the Conners' kitchen so I was disappointed that that never happened.

I could totally imagine finding comfort in something like, say, "What's Happening," which I watched the hell out of, or "Laverne & Shirley"/"Happy Days" (which itself was already retro comfort food), but based on the other garbage I watched as a kid I would end up in something like "Cheers," "MASH," "Dukes of Hazzard," "A-Team" or "Knight Rider," shows I'd probably want to avoid living in for a myriad of reasons.

Wanda killed Roseanne

We've been watching "Maude" lately -- is there a thread to discuss that? Something for old sitcoms? It's pretty great; I wasn't familiar with most of those old Norman Lear shows.

On a related note, someone on Twitter asked “what sitcoms would you find refuge in if you were Wanda” and the first one that came to mind was Good Times, which feels like a great way of showing how even something as “universal” as using sitcoms to escape reality isn’t universal

Pretty much. Even with the in-universe reality I was thinking "I dunno, Dad Maximoff, looks like you left a few out there." Not that there was any way in the universe they were going to be able to riff on The Cosby Show, but Good Times definitely came to mind, Family Matters as well. I kinda loved the Living Single mockups I was seeing on Twitter.

Oh, yeah, "Cosby Show" would be in the mix. (And guess what: I've never seen "Roseanne"!)

...Stop.

No, literally stop what you're doing right now and go watch Roseanne. The first five seasons are about as good as tv gets.

I...how is that even possible?!?

At least I know who and what Roseanne is, lol!

lol, I will grant you that.

Allo Allo