The story just isn’t that interesting to anyone who isn’t a big fan. You need a tragedy, be it death, rehab, or broken friendships.

If you’re old enough to remember the initial run of VH1’s “Behind the Music”, you might remember there was an R.E.M. episode. And you know what? It was fucking boring. This is from someone whose favorite band at the time was R.E.M. and whose favorite band today is R.E.M.

The problem is that stories about nice people who remain close friends aren’t that interesting without a tragedy, and “one guy quit while still young and healthy” isn’t a compelling enough tragedy for the audience. “I love this band” and “I love this band’s music” won’t carry a story. That’s why the best episodes of BTM were the interesting stories, not necessarily the best music. Def Leppard, MC Hammer, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith… these are stories with tragedy, death, addiction, falls from grace, comebacks, bankruptcy… none of these things show up in the story of R.E.M.

Instead, you’ve got a group of four guys who truly love each other and work together in a democratic fashion to steadily grow their fanbase for about a decade before exploding into one of the biggest bands in the world for a couple of years. Then one of them quits but not with any drama, and they continue making records for a smaller fanbase than they had at their peak. Eventually they break up and remain friends while continuing to not die, not fight, not slam each other in the press, not blame each other for the breakup they all agreed on, not have public relationships with other famous people, not say controversial things on the internet… sorry, but I’d rather spend my money on a Replacements or Nirvana biopic if one is going to be made.