• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

TV shows where the theme song is better than the show

M

Markieo

I'll start...

My Mother, The Car
The Pruitts Of Southhampton
The Ugliest Girl In Town
It's About Time
Gilligan's Island

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary... ;D
 
Route 66
What Really Happened to the Class of '65?
Square Pegs
Have Gun, Will Travel (closing theme, "Ballad of Paladin")
Class of '96
Hoppity Hooper/Uncle Waldo
Duet
Open House
 
I'll start with Peter Gunn - an iconic theme, but not really much of a show, IMO. Craig Stevens and producer Blake Edwards did their best, but decent cop/detective dramas really need an hour to flesh out a plot. At 30 minutes, you really have to take short cuts. No producer would try that these days.

Since I've already mentioned a Henry Mancini composed theme, I'll mention another - the theme for What's Happening Now (the 80s syndicated version) is a great arrangement of the earlier theme. The show - passable at best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1jQc9YAH1Y
 
  • [My Three Sons--loved the closing instrumental arrangement during the show's ABC years (longer than when it moved to CBS), but could take or leave the actual show itself.
    /li]
    • The Andy Griffith Show--I was never a big fan of the show, although I liked certain episodes here and there, but the opening and closing themes are always great to whistle to.
    • The Cosby Show (season eight)--I thought it was running by fumes by this point, especially with the all additional cast members towards the end. I've liked all the different theme songs each season, maybe except the season five version, but this particular version stands out more to me.
 
I can think of a few, I suppose:

Welcome Back, Kotter (John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful fame)
The Greatest American Hero (#2 hit for Joey Scarbury in 1981)
Magnum, P.I. (a Mike Post classic)
Now You See It (1974-75 CBS game show with Quincy Jones' "Chump Change" as theme)
 
Two off the top of my head.
The instrumental theme from the 1970-80's ABC detective series "Vegas" (Dominic Frontiere).
The instrumental theme from 'NBC's Sunday Night Mystery Movie" - McCloud, Columbo & McMillian & Wife. (Henry Mancini).
 
Laverne and Shirley "Making Our Dreams Come True" by Cyndi Grecco is a great song, but the show was too stupid for me.

I'm sure that there are also many movie theme songs that outrank their own flicks, in terms of popularity.
 
The theme from the Patty Duke Show.

The theme from Gilligan's Island.

The original theme from I Dream of Jeannie.
 
Niel Hefti's theme for the original "Batman" series. A terriffic musical piece, but the show itself was a "one-trick-pony" that wore thin pretty quickly.

John William's themes (both versions) for "Lost In Space". Clearly, Williams' talent was wasted on what was essentially a children's show.

In spite of the great on-screen chemistry between Sally Field and Alejandro Rey....the theme to "The Flying Nun" was still the best part of the show.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom