After the 80s, sitcom theme songs seemed to be a dying thing.
What're some of your favorite intros?
Quote from: OCGuy81 on March 14, 2022, 03:42:04 PM
After the 80s, sitcom theme songs seemed to be a dying thing.
What're some of your favorite intros?
*Plays theme song*
THE SIMPSONS!!!
Its an animated sitcom, right?
Quote from: snowc on March 14, 2022, 03:43:56 PM
Quote from: OCGuy81 on March 14, 2022, 03:42:04 PM
After the 80s, sitcom theme songs seemed to be a dying thing.
What're some of your favorite intros?
*Plays theme song*
THE SIMPSONS!!!
Its an animated sitcom, right?
Great one!! My wife is a choir director and recently had her students do all the classic TGIF lineup.
Her students ROCKED the Step by Step themr
Theme songs: if "Night Court" isn't at the top of your list, you're wrong.
Intros: Holy hell, does "BoJack Horseman" ever nail the depiction of depression.
Simpsons
Night Court
Charles in Charge
Happy Days
All in the Family
Welcome Back Kotter
Perfect Strangers
Quote from: Rothman on March 14, 2022, 03:52:35 PM
Simpsons
Night Court
Charles in Charge
Happy Days
All in the Family
Welcome Back Kotter
Perfect Strangers
And don't forget, Garfield and Friends! (Even though its not a sitcom, its still a comedy :D)
Barney Miller
Mary Tyler Moore Show
Robot Chicken
Bonanza
Rockford Files
Game of Thrones
and my favorite - Mission Impossible
Family Guy, largely because of the few isolated occasions where something happens during the intro.
I agree with
Night Court. Same with
Barney Miller.
The Greatest American Hero had a great theme song sung by Joey Scarbury and lots of clips of the characters. That's one of my favorite show openings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0U1Ri2uuM
Subtopic: Favorite TV show themes sung by the actors. My favorites are:
- Eva Gabor and Eddie Albert, Green Acres
- Jean Stapleton and Carroll O'Connor, All in the Family
Welcome Back Kotter
Sanford And Son
Night Court
Married With Children
The Simpsons
Quote from: abefroman329 on March 14, 2022, 03:47:20 PM
Theme songs: if "Night Court" isn't at the top of your list, you're wrong.
This pretty much would have been my post, if it wasn't already posted.
Others not yet mentioned...
What's Happening
Corner Gas (Canada)
That 70s Show
Designing Women (late in their run - had Ray Charles actually singing it)
Good Times
The Jeffersons
Murphy Brown - each episode was different but was usually a Motown song
Alice
Different Strokes
Facts of Life
Prince of Bel Air
Laverne and Shirley
Still not mentioned
Get Smart
Thunderbirds
I dream of Jeannie
Bewitched
The Saint
The Avengers
Maude
Mary Taylor Moore Show
Family Matters
Cheers
Taxi
WKRP in Cincinnati
Kids in the Hall
You Can't do that on Television, a kids show I know but a well remembered theme song like the first 20 years of Sesame Street.
The Andy Griffith Show
Partridge Family (Year 1)
Not a sit-com, but I dare anyone to try to hum the "tune" of the theme of CBC's "Nature of Things".
My brothers and I played "name that tune" when we were in bed before falling asleep. If we got stumped for an idea for the next challenge, we picked the theme from "Ironsides".
Drew Carey Show
Maude
Seinfeld
The Office
Mr. Belvidiere
Soap
Three's Company (debuted 45 years ago today)
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2022, 08:29:35 AM
Drew Carey Show
Moon Over Parma or Cleveland Rocks?
Have to say that the evolution of The Drew Carey Show is evidence of Drew Carey's tenacity. It took a long time for the show to find its groove and I don't know how he and the production team fended off calls for cancellation early on.
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2022, 08:35:38 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2022, 08:29:35 AM
Drew Carey Show
Moon Over Parma or Cleveland Rocks?
Have to say that the evolution of The Drew Carey Show is evidence of Drew Carey's tenacity. It took a long time for the show to find its groove and I don't know how he and the production team fended off calls for cancellation early on.
Don't forget Five O'Clock World as well.
Not a sitcom per se (it was certainly an exercise in absurd TV, at least!), but the theme music from the A-Team would be high on my list of greatest TV theme music.
The original Battlestar Galactica as well.
I've always figured the main reason TV theme songs/theme music died out was that they took away time that could be used for paid commercials.
Quote from: SectorZ on March 15, 2022, 09:05:16 AM
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2022, 08:35:38 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2022, 08:29:35 AM
Drew Carey Show
Moon Over Parma or Cleveland Rocks?
Have to say that the evolution of The Drew Carey Show is evidence of Drew Carey's tenacity. It took a long time for the show to find its groove and I don't know how he and the production team fended off calls for cancellation early on.
Don't forget Five O'Clock World as well.
Crap. How could I? Probably my favorite out of the bunch.
Quote from: plain on March 14, 2022, 04:14:52 PM
Married With Children
I figured that one didn't count, considering they just took an existing song and used it.
Quote from: kphoger on March 15, 2022, 09:56:58 AM
Quote from: plain on March 14, 2022, 04:14:52 PM
Married With Children
I figured that one didn't count, considering they just took an existing song and used it.
Same thing with Mike & Molly, because for the first three seasons it used the ending part of Keb Mo's I See Love as originally recorded, and then for the remainder of its run it switched over to a remixed version of the same song which was made specifically for the show.
Seasons 1-3:
Seasons 4-6:
Full song (original intro starts at around 3:36):
Quote from: snowc on March 14, 2022, 03:53:29 PM
And don't forget, Garfield and Friends! (Even though its not a sitcom, its still a comedy :D)
Garfield & Friends actually had 3 theme songs that they used during their 7 season run. The first theme (Used in Seasons 1 & 2.) was called "Friends Are There", second theme was (Used from Seasons 3-6.) was the more well known "We're Ready to Party", which was used in reruns & the third (Only used in the final season.) was a rap theme, that was poorly received & was omitted from international versions. Below is a compilation of the different themes:
WKRP in Cincinnati and Welcome Back Kotter are my favorites.
Firefly had an awesome theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-sp68GjYL0
The pinnacle of the expository theme song has gotta be the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
Gotta shout-out some of the cartoons with great theme songs from my youth that haven't been mentioned:
Inspector Gadget
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rocko's Modern Life
not a cartoon, but Saved By The Bell had a pretty good riff in their theme
Oh snap.... Don't think I've seen anyone post the Monkees theme song yet.
'Cheers'. 'nuff said!
:cheers:
Mike
Quote from: Henry on March 15, 2022, 10:10:01 AM
Quote from: kphoger on March 15, 2022, 09:56:58 AM
Quote from: plain on March 14, 2022, 04:14:52 PM
Married With Children
I figured that one didn't count, considering they just took an existing song and used it.
Same thing with Mike & Molly, because for the first three seasons it used the ending part of Keb Mo's I See Love as originally recorded, and then for the remainder of its run it switched over to a remixed version of the same song which was made specifically for the show.
Until today I had no idea they drug that poor series out to 6 seasons.
Frasier-Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
Cheers-Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Friends-I'll Be There For You
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2022, 08:29:35 AM
Soap
Best known these days for launching the career of Rod Roddy of all people, who did the voiceover summaries at the beginning of each episode. Of course, he's best known for being the second announcer of
The Price Is Right.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
:no:
Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude...
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2022, 09:48:37 AM
Quote from: SectorZ on March 15, 2022, 09:05:16 AM
Quote from: Rothman on March 15, 2022, 08:35:38 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2022, 08:29:35 AM
Drew Carey Show
Moon Over Parma or Cleveland Rocks?
Have to say that the evolution of The Drew Carey Show is evidence of Drew Carey's tenacity. It took a long time for the show to find its groove and I don't know how he and the production team fended off calls for cancellation early on.
Don't forget Five O'Clock World as well.
Crap. How could I? Probably my favorite out of the bunch.
It's interesting because you can see how the show progressed in terms of its popularity and its budget - Moon Over Parma was animated and sung by Drew Carey, Five O'Clock World had some big-ish dance numbers, and Cleveland Rocks had all the crowd shots in Cleveland.
So many great theme songs up until the early '90s - largely replaced by instrumentals, cold opens and "soundmarks."
I think WKRP in Cincinnati had one of the best pairings of opening and closing themes (different songs, rather than the closing theme being a variation of the opener) - I remember thinking the closing theme was a banger of a rock tune, but couldn't decipher the lyrics. Years later I discovered that was intentional - the lyrics are gibberish.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
Best thing about the Gilligan's Island theme song is the meter scheme is very popular with certain poets. You can sing practically all of Emily Dickenson's poetry to the Gilligan's Island theme. It's a great way to drive an English teacher mad.
Quote from: skluth on March 16, 2022, 08:57:36 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
Best thing about the Gilligan's Island theme song is the meter scheme is very popular with certain poets. You can sing practically all of Emily Dickenson's poetry to the Gilligan's Island theme. It's a great way to drive an English teacher mad.
Common meter. That fact made its rounds through Facebook years ago.
Quote from: Rothman on March 16, 2022, 09:48:30 PM
Quote from: skluth on March 16, 2022, 08:57:36 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
Best thing about the Gilligan's Island theme song is the meter scheme is very popular with certain poets. You can sing practically all of Emily Dickenson's poetry to the Gilligan's Island theme. It's a great way to drive an English teacher mad.
Common meter. That fact made its rounds through Facebook years ago.
I once heard someone sing Led zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven' to the instrumental accompaniment of the 'Gilligan's Island' theme.
Mike
Quote from: Rothman on March 16, 2022, 09:48:30 PM
Quote from: skluth on March 16, 2022, 08:57:36 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
Best thing about the Gilligan's Island theme song is the meter scheme is very popular with certain poets. You can sing practically all of Emily Dickenson's poetry to the Gilligan's Island theme. It's a great way to drive an English teacher mad.
Common meter. That fact made its rounds through Facebook years ago.
It's even older than FB.
You can also sing Amazing Grace to the GI theme song.
Quote from: GenExpwy on March 16, 2022, 03:07:27 AM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
:no:
Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude...
This song can be sung to the tune of "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.
My favorite will always be Cheers.
Quote from: cabiness42 on March 17, 2022, 11:18:59 AM
Quote from: GenExpwy on March 16, 2022, 03:07:27 AM
Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude...
This song can be sung to the tune of "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.
Weird Al did that.
Quote from: abefroman329 on March 17, 2022, 11:05:56 AM
Quote from: Rothman on March 16, 2022, 09:48:30 PM
Quote from: skluth on March 16, 2022, 08:57:36 PM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
Best thing about the Gilligan's Island theme song is the meter scheme is very popular with certain poets. You can sing practically all of Emily Dickenson's poetry to the Gilligan's Island theme. It's a great way to drive an English teacher mad.
Common meter. That fact made its rounds through Facebook years ago.
It's even older than FB.
You can also sing Amazing Grace to the GI theme song.
One of my high school English teachers pointed out that the boldface is almost certainly the reason why Dickinson's poetry can be sung to the Gilligan's Island tune–Dickinson presumably set her poetry to the meter of "Amazing Grace" and that means you can sing her poetry to anything else for which "Amazing Grace" also works.
You can sing "Amazing Grace" to the tune of the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling." I've never attempted to to the same with Dickinson's poetry.
I still like Amazing Grace to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. And actually, I sometimes sing it alternating lyric verses between the two songs.
Not mentioned yet unless I missed it:
Mr. Ed
The Rockford Files
Sesame Street
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Muppet Show
Mission: Impossible
Mary Tyler Moore
The Bob Newhart Show
Happy Days
Sanford and Son
That Seventies Show final season where Tommy Chong was credited with his character while he was looking up for a moment when the part of theme had a voice in the back round. Of course you can almost here Tommy think to himself " Woah Man, what's that voice?"
Quote from: Rothman on March 14, 2022, 03:52:35 PM
Happy Days
Quote from: skluth on March 14, 2022, 04:02:49 PM
Mary Tyler Moore Show
Rockford Files
and my favorite - Mission Impossible
Quote from: plain on March 14, 2022, 04:14:52 PM
Sanford And Son
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on March 14, 2022, 04:29:05 PM
the first 20 years of Sesame Street.
Yep, you missed it. :nod:
Quote from: wanderer2575 on March 17, 2022, 11:45:40 AM
Not mentioned yet unless I missed it:
Mr. Ed
The Rockford Files
Sesame Street
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Muppet Show
Mission: Impossible
Mary Tyler Moore
The Bob Newhart Show
Happy Days
Sanford and Son
Quote from: GenExpwy on March 16, 2022, 03:07:27 AM
Quote from: triplemultiplex on March 15, 2022, 12:45:14 PM
Honorable mention to the originator of using the opening theme to tell people what the show is about: Gilligan's Island.
:no:
Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude...
Oh my god, how could I forget that one! Classic.
"Californy is the place you wanna be" so they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly. :-D
Quote from: mgk920 on March 15, 2022, 04:44:51 PM
'Cheers'. 'nuff said!
:cheers:
Oh agreed. The lyrics to the Cheers theme are amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mi0r0LpXo
The verses are all hilarious excuses to go drinking.
It's all like, "Oh no, my therapist is on vacation" and "the coffee maker is broken", so might as well go the bar and get hammered! :-D