ABC’s time-travel cop drama Life on Mars was canned after only one season, so now the show’s producers, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg, are free to share all the behind the scenes dirt. When asked by TVGuide.com if there were any songs that they couldn’t get on their show despite all efforts, the Life on Mars producers had this interesting exchange about Tom Waits:
Appelbaum: We write every song into the script, not after the fact, because the music is so important. And only one person denied us.
Rosenberg: Because he thought the show sucked. [Laughs]
Appelbaum: It was Episode 6, and Sam describes when he met Maya (played by Lisa Bonet) for the first time. He flashes back to the scene and “Tom Traubert’s Blues” is playing. It was so good. Tom Waits approves all of his licensing, and he sent an email saying he thought the show was [bad]. It was pretty funny.
Tom Waits once said, “I’d rather have a hot lead enema” than license a song for a commercial.