Baby, If You've Ever Wondered ...
I'm sure there's an article written about this somewhere. I've probably even linked to it. But this question is worth asking:
What the hell happened to all the good TV theme songs? There was a time that I would have considered TV Theme Songs my savant category. These days, bupkes. There's next to nothing going on in the way of great theme songs. And that's a huge disppointment.
When I was a kid, I remember the theme songs being almost as good as the TV shows themselves. There's no way that I would have ever sat around watching Gilligan's Island reruns after junior high if it had some crappy instrumental these song. The show just wasn't entertaining enough and the plots had more holes than the boxers that I wear on laundry day.
And it's not like that was the only one. Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, All in the Family, WKRP in Cincinnati, Maude, One Day At A Time, Good Times, Three's Company, The Jeffersons. They all had really great theme songs. That's the '70s. How about the '80s?
Charles in Charge, Cheers, The Love Boat, The Facts of Life, Greatest American Hero. All memorable songs and I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton. [*Editor's Note: I forgot Family Ties!]
Anyway, the point is that I can only think of one single theme song out there these days that I'm humming along to: Scrubs. And that show doesn't even need it because it's so clever (though much less now than it was 5 years ago) The thing is, a lot of these crappy shows that are out there these days could benefit from a truly great theme song. Instead, they rely on a cold open with a crappy joke. Has anyone watched Unhitched? It's a great show. I'm sure retarded people love it. What are the Farrelly brothers doing attaching their names to this? Or is that they're saying "the guys who brought you Dumb and Dumber, so that I'll think it's the Farrellys? Either way, my point is a rocking theme song might make me hang out to watch it, if only for a few minutes.
As an aside, kudos to the Big Bang Theory. Though not a great show, they took the time to hook up the Barenaked Ladies with a gig. The Lads cranked out a pretty solid theme song, and I hang to watch the show. It's entertaining.
I do have a theory here: I think that the studios aren't investing time in coming up with theme songs because people aren't watching opening credits anymore. They're fast forwarding through them with their "magic recordificating devices." Why invest thousands of dollars in something that people aren't listening to?
I'll tell you why: people will listen. They don't now for the same reason that Eskimos eat whale blubber. It's the only fucking thing they're serving. Serve up a decent song and the people will check it out.
What the hell happened to all the good TV theme songs? There was a time that I would have considered TV Theme Songs my savant category. These days, bupkes. There's next to nothing going on in the way of great theme songs. And that's a huge disppointment.
When I was a kid, I remember the theme songs being almost as good as the TV shows themselves. There's no way that I would have ever sat around watching Gilligan's Island reruns after junior high if it had some crappy instrumental these song. The show just wasn't entertaining enough and the plots had more holes than the boxers that I wear on laundry day.
And it's not like that was the only one. Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, All in the Family, WKRP in Cincinnati, Maude, One Day At A Time, Good Times, Three's Company, The Jeffersons. They all had really great theme songs. That's the '70s. How about the '80s?
Charles in Charge, Cheers, The Love Boat, The Facts of Life, Greatest American Hero. All memorable songs and I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton. [*Editor's Note: I forgot Family Ties!]
Anyway, the point is that I can only think of one single theme song out there these days that I'm humming along to: Scrubs. And that show doesn't even need it because it's so clever (though much less now than it was 5 years ago) The thing is, a lot of these crappy shows that are out there these days could benefit from a truly great theme song. Instead, they rely on a cold open with a crappy joke. Has anyone watched Unhitched? It's a great show. I'm sure retarded people love it. What are the Farrelly brothers doing attaching their names to this? Or is that they're saying "the guys who brought you Dumb and Dumber, so that I'll think it's the Farrellys? Either way, my point is a rocking theme song might make me hang out to watch it, if only for a few minutes.
As an aside, kudos to the Big Bang Theory. Though not a great show, they took the time to hook up the Barenaked Ladies with a gig. The Lads cranked out a pretty solid theme song, and I hang to watch the show. It's entertaining.
I do have a theory here: I think that the studios aren't investing time in coming up with theme songs because people aren't watching opening credits anymore. They're fast forwarding through them with their "magic recordificating devices." Why invest thousands of dollars in something that people aren't listening to?
I'll tell you why: people will listen. They don't now for the same reason that Eskimos eat whale blubber. It's the only fucking thing they're serving. Serve up a decent song and the people will check it out.
Labels: theme songs, TV
posted by G.Wo @ 7:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home