I think Krusty is one of the best characters ever created for The Simpsons. While he may be kid friendly on camera, he’s quite a sleazeball off screen. Between the women, the gambling, the drinking, the cigar smoking, and even run ins with the mob — Krusty has helped to keep the laughs coming, since The Simpsons went on the air 25 years ago.
We’re coming up on the half way point of my top 100 TV Themes summer count down. I’ve never done a countdown show before, maybe we should do this more often! So far, we’ve focused mostly on oldies, now we’re going to start moving up towards the 21st century.
Sadly, as TV progressed into the 21st century, the new style was for shows to shorten or drop their theme songs all together to slam in more ad time. The standard sitcom now runs only 19 minutes without commercials!
Anyhow, I’ve got a few police show themes on my list this week… so let’s take a look!
#60 THE SMURFS
Airdates: 1981-1989 (NBC)
It’s a bunch of little blue people with giant white hats that live in a mushroom village. These little blue guys skyrocketed into popularity when they first aired on NBC Saturday mornings. Originally from a comic strip in Belgium, the show grew so popular that the Peacock Network expanded it to 90 minutes!
The cartoon regularly featured magic potions and stories set more in the medieval times, that’s until the last season when they started to add more time travel stories in an attempt to boost ratings.
In the end, it wasn’t low ratings that killed this show, it was The Today Show. NBC had plans to create a Saturday morning version of Today, however that didn’t happen for two more seasons after they pulled the plug on Papa Smurf.
Now, fans of the show can enjoy the two live action blockbuster movies, with a third planned to hit theatres next year.
#59 COPS
Airdates: 1989-2013 (FOX) 2013-present (Spike TV)
COPS was another of those early shows that helped put FOX on the map. What a simple and cheap concept to put on TV. It was essentially, TV’s first reality show. A camera crew rode around with police officers as they went on patrol and then edited the best action of the night down to 30 minute episodes.
This show was a staple of FOX Saturday night until last year, when new episodes moved to Spike TV. This series made it to air thanks to the 1988 Writer’s Guild of America strike. FOX needed new programming for their developing network and this reality show was it.
The theme song changed very little over the years with only the voice over slightly rewritten starting with season 3 to add “all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.” As with most shows, FOX cut down the theme in the later years, dropping the entire second verse. Here’s the intro to one of the last FOX aired episodes with the revised voice over:
http://youtu.be/FLvH-2d6ruY
#58 CRIME STORY
Airdates: 1986-1988 (NBC)
When Miami Vice became an instant hit for NBC, they wanted another big blockbuster show to follow in the footsteps and the execs came up with Crime Story.
Crime Story followed the a big time crime boss from Chicago, who escapes to Las Vegas, and takes over organized crime there. This show was unique in that it changed cities from Chicago to Vegas in the first season. Season 2 takes place almost entirely in Vegas, except for the very end, where our crime boss escapes to Mexico, had there been a season 3.
Here’s a look at the awesome season 2 Las Vegas intro.
The show did a great job of turning 1980’s Chicago and Vegas into their 1950’s counterparts. If this series were on the air today, it would be all computer animation and green screens. That couldn’t be done back then, so they brought in vintage cars, changed street signs, and shot in older parts of the cities that could easily represent their old school theme.
The series featured 50’s music, cool 50’s cars, and lots of guns and violence. The show was one of the more violent on TV at the time. One scene used the nuclear testing in the Nevada desert as a plot to knock off a bunch of gangsters.
This series did great in the first season, but was killed in the ratings by CBS’s Dallas and Falcon Crest on Friday nights.
#57 HILL STREET BLUES
Airdates: 1981-1987 (NBC)
http://youtu.be/bABk47MVyug
Another of NBC’s gritty 80’s cop shows, Hill Street Blues opening credits put you right in the middle of the action. I love the dirty, raw shots of the city interspersed with the awesome piano theme. You know exactly what kind of cop show you’re getting into with this.
And when is the last time you saw an actor smoking in the opening credits?
#56 FAME
Airdates: 1982-1983 (NBC) 1983-1987 (Syndicated)
As you can see with the last few themes, NBC was the powerhouse of television in the 1980’s and they tried for another hit idea with this series dealing with high school kids in a performing arts school. However, a tough Sunday night time slot killed it on the network. When the show was sold into syndication for local stations – it became a hit.
Fame showed the lives to high school kids in a New York City performing arts school as they tried to make big names for themselves in show business. Looking back on these credits now, I don’t think many of them actually did!
#55 CSI: NY
Airdates: 2004-2013 (CBS)
Gary Sinise was the prefect choice to star in the third CSI spinoff, CSI:NY. I work in Manhattan and wish my office was as cool as the lab CSI was!
Over the years, the series survived a number of cast changes, including the departure of the show’s second star Melinda Kanakaredes. When CBS moved this show to Friday nights, I knew the end was near, but somehow it still managed to survive for several more seasons.
I actually like this series better than the original CSI or the first spin-off CSI: Miami. The streets of New York gave this series more drama and mystery as our detectives tried to piece together the weekly list of murders. Sadly, the show wasn’t always shot in the Big Apple and at times it was obvious to see when Los Angeles streets were being used, instead.
Baba O’Reilly really rocks here, though. Don’t you think?
Here’s a look at one of the final show opens and the cast changes are obvious.
#54 I LOVE LUCY
Airdates: 1951-1957 (CBS)
It was TV’s first mega-hit and it probably the most well known TV theme of them all. Everybody tuned in each week for Lucy’s next sit-com misadventure. The show made Lucy and Desi millionaires and has been on the air in reruns, ever since the original broadcast.
#53 FAMILY TIES
Airdates: 1982-1989 (NBC)
Another of NBC’s powerful 80’s sitcoms, Family Ties dealt with two 1960’s hippies that went on to raise a family, while tackling politics and liberal/conservative government debate on a weekly basis.
I always thought the second version of the opening credits with an artist painting a family portrait was cooler. No other show that I can think of has ever tried this style of credits, since.
As the kids grew up over the years, producers added another kid, as most do when they try to keep a show relevant in the later years.
Besides the sha-la-la-la at the end of the credits, most will remember the production company’s title card after the end credits that featured the famous dog, Ubu.
http://youtu.be/b21JjtknZ-Q
#52 EMPTY NEST
Airdates: 1988-1995 (NBC)
A spin-off of The Golden Girls and aired immediately after on Saturday night’s, Empty Nest told the story of Harry Weston, a pediatrician that lived across the street with his giant dog, Dreyfus. The characters from both shows crossed over so much that in the final seasons after The Golden Girls was cancelled, Sophia was brought in as a main cast member.
This show was freaking hilarious and was a great companion to The Golden Girls and it showed with big ratings! Remember when people watched TV on Saturday nights? NBC had such strong Saturday shows, people would tune in starting at 8pm and stay on through the local 11pm news.
In the earlier seasons, Harry worked in a Miami hospital as a pediatrician, but in later years, he was reassigned to a local clinic. The first concept was better, as it allowed him to interact with more kids, which added to the comedy.
In the later seasons, a more upbeat version of the main theme was introduced, which in my opinion was a great upgrade!
http://youtu.be/tazTm3e98ew
#51 TWO & A HALF MEN
Airdates: 2003-present (CBS)
I never really watched this show and I didn’t care for the premise or (worse) Ashton Kutcher, but for all the trouble behind the scenes, this show has a great theme.
While the credits really don’t introduce anything about the show, the barber shop singing theme is unique. It’s a popular show and I know I’m missing the bus on this one, somehow.
http://youtu.be/65_W6vezUx4
THE 411
What: TV Theme Songs
Use: themes used to open a TV series or cartoon
Purpose: introduce main cast and introduce audience to the theme of the series
Numbers reviewed: 51 – 60
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:
We’re nearly half way done with the summer count down. I hope you’re enjoying this trip down TV memory lane as much as I am!
Check back next week when we take a look at numbers 41-50. Next week we’re going back to the 60’s, the most awesome car ever, and the scariest show I’ve ever watched on network TV!
I don’t own any of the rights to these, nor did I upload them to YouTube. This blog is presented for educational and informational purposes.
I hope you’re enjoying counting down my top 100 TV themes! For the past three weeks, we’ve been having a blast! Now, it’s time to continue our summer countdown with numbers 61 – 70!
#70 MR. ED
Airdates: 1961 (Syndication) 1961-1966 (CBS)
A talking horse? That was the premise for this 60’s sitcom that was later be re-run over and over on Nick at Nite in the 80’s, giving a whole new generation a look at a real talking horse.
The show was first tried out on local stations for 8 months, before being picked up by CBS.
Ed was taken care of by clumsy architect Wilbur and would only speak to him. That added to the comedy as Wilbur would often be seen as psycho for talking to his horse. What’s wrong with that? I used to talk to my cat all the time and she’d usually meow to answer…
There were a few different theories on how they made the horse talk, including having Ed lick peanut butter, but it was revealed by the never credited off screen voice of Ed, that the horse was trained to lip read when a trainer would touch his hoof.
An Ohio preacher once claimed that Mr. Ed’s theme contains Satanic messages if played backward. Uh, huh…
#69 MARRIED WITH CHILDREN
Airdates: 1987-1997 (FOX)
You know you’re going to make a top 100 list, when Frank Sinatra sings your theme song!
The first sit-com that showed America the trashy side of life, this show was panned by critics for being too sleazy, but it put the FOX network on the map.
The opening credits changed a bit over the seasons, first because Ted McGinley joined the cast and secondly, because the kids grew up, so new shots were recorded each season.
The fun part of the intro is where Al Bundy give all his money away. First to the kids, then to the wife, and what’s left goes to the dog!
Here’s a bonus, would you like to see what Married with Children looked like in Brazil? Here’s their intro… notice the similarities?
#68 MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS
Airdates: 1993-1995 (FOX Kids)
Go! Go! Power Rangers! Every kid in the 90’s was singing this. The show was so bad, it was good!
It was a group of average teenagers, who had expert martial arts skills that transferred into a tight spandex costume to fought alien invaders. That’s what happened when you were a teen, right?
The series was loved for its use of over the top alien model footage from some other Japanese kids show.
The three seasons were rerun over and over about a zillion times and spawned a number of spin-offs. I just learned that several of the cast members walked off the set during season 2 and several episodes were completed using existing footage and stock shots. After a few episodes, three new teens were brought into replace them. This started the series tradition of introducing a new cast each season.
Here are the revamped credits from season 2:
Same song, but we get completely different cast shots for season 3. This time, it looks like they simply wheeled the camera out to the parking lot.
After three seasons in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers format, the show shifted gears to become Power Rangers Zeo. This version of the credits only used a portion of the original theme. And for some reason, the Rangers themselves changed colors.
Sadly, we lose the theme completely for Power Rangers Turbo. The show shift gears and themes each and every season from this point. Here’s a look at a few different openings and themes, none are as good as the original.
#67 WKRP IN CINCINNATI
Airdates: 1978-1982 (CBS) 1991-1993 (Syndication)
Fast forward to 2:54 for the season 2 opening credits.
WKRP was the show that made being a radio DJ cool. Back in the 70s, DJ’s made big bucks and you could call them up a make a request. Now, most of the radio stations are automated, but this series gave you a glimpse into their rock star lives.
One cool note was that the lyrics on the closing credits are completely made up. They were initially ad-libbed as a placeholder to be written later, but the producers loved the melody, so they went with it as is. Meaning, the lyrics that make absolutely no sense were used through the entire series run. Take a listen; see if you can figure out what’s being said.
This is one of the rare shows that were successfully brought back from the dead. Almost a decade after being canceled by CBS, it was brought back into syndication with new episodes for local stations to air. Many of the original cast returned, the theme was given an update and was known as The New WKRP in Cincinnati.
By the way, there is no real radio station known as WKRP.
#66 TINY TOON ADVENTURES
Airdates: 1990 (CBS, pilot only) 1990-1992 (Syndicated) 1992-1994 (FOX Kids)
We’ve already talked a little about Tiny Toon Adventures as being a spin-off from the popular Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. (see #85 Animaniacs). The original pilot aired as a one time only special on CBS, before heading to syndication. FOX Kids picked up the last two seasons for a total of 100 episodes.
This was another series that spawned a ton of spin-offs, but this was the first, and the best! Another Warner Bros. series where many of the jokes were aimed more at adults. FOX even aired several episodes and specials in prime time!
I really wish they would have never gone to the spin-offs and kept this series on the air. It could have lasted as long as the original Looney Tunes. There was a large cast of characters, so the story development was nearly endless. WB should take another look and bring this series back.
#65 MIAMI VICE
Airdates: 1984-1989 (NBC)
http://youtu.be/itU19NopUJY
Miami Vice was everybody’s must see TV – even on a Friday night! It showed the cool side of being a tough detective in the hot streets of Miami. Every week, the detectives took on drug traffickers and prostitutes. It also featured luxury cars, fast boats, and lots of gun fire!
This show started an 80’s fashion craze, where everyone was wearing sport coats and rolling up their sleeves. And don’t you love that strategically placed bouncing boob shot in the first few seconds of the open?
The original working title of the series was Gold Coast. I think they made the right choice!
#64 THE KING OF QUEENS
Airdates: 1998-2007 (CBS)
http://youtu.be/Oq5acVuQUo8
Thanks Kevin James, but I’ve been stuck in traffic on the Queensboro Bridge (now Ed Koch Bridge) too!
This sit-com was freaking hilarious and I once read online that many of the zany plot points came from the writer’s room, who were absolutely stoned out of their mind on drugs and drunk on scotch. That’s according to co-star Patton Oswalt. Who knows if that’s true or not, but some of the more funnier moments is Doug beating up a fast food drive thru order box, his best friend falling in love with a giant ice cream cone mascot, and Doug’s father getting taken for walks by a dog walker on a daily basis.
I don’t know how Doug kept his sanity, to be honest. If he wasn’t fighting with his wife, he was arguing with this father, or just ticking off his boss. Doug made it funny to be a fat, blue collar worker that most of us can relate to.
The first and second versions of the credits, showed a shot of the original World Trade Center that was edited out with a shot of the elevated 7 train after 9-11.
Later seasons used a condensed version of the theme and some shows only had a quick 5 second title card open.
Here’s a fun bonus – a short version of the opening credits from Croatia!
#63 ST. ELSEWHERE
Airdates: 1982-1988 (NBC)
It’s the show that brought Howie Mandel to television! No, it’s not really known for that, but the series was one of the bigger medical dramas to ever air. One of the more zany plots included a man that got pregnant! There was no medical matter off limits! It was basically, House for the 80’s… a decaying teaching hospital, where doctors always pull off some zany diagnosis in the closing minutes of the episode. Each episode took on a serious subject and injected moments of dark comedy.
Howie Mandel is not the only big name you’ll recognize from the credits!
#62 THE FLINTSTONES
Airdates: 1960-1966 (ABC)
Let’s all sing along together, now!
It’s The King of Queens in the form of a 1960’s cartoon! Each week, Fred and Barney would end up on another wacky adventure, whether it was battling the boss, looking for a get rich quick scheme, or just trying to escape the wives at The Loyal Order of Water Buffalos.
This show was only on the air 6 seasons, but the reruns are still on today. It also spawned 2 live action movies and even a cereal and vitamin line for kids. Everybody knows who Fred Flintstone is and he just had to make my list!
In the early days of the show, commercials were made with Fred and Barney selling Winston cigarettes. No wonder everybody smoked back then…
…and beer!
#61 FULL HOUSE
Airdates: 1987-1995 (ABC)
When you think of a family sit-com, Full House is it! You had everything, a widowed dad, his two best friends as room mates, and three girls that they’re helping him to raise.
Each week, we got a life lesson, a lot of laughs, and so many cutesy – cutesy moments.
As the series went on, the opening credits would get shorter and shorter, even though the cast would get larger. By the time we got to season 8, Michelle was not the cute little girl anymore and only got in the way of the shows plots, so Uncle Jessie got married and had two more kids of his own, adding at least three more names to the intro.
In an earlier blog, I looked at the original pilot open without Bob Saget in his now legendary role. Take a look… same song, same shots, different guy!
THE 411
What: TV Theme Songs
Use: themes used to open a TV series or cartoon
Purpose: introduce main cast and introduce audience to the theme of the series
Numbers reviewed: 61 – 70
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:
Another great set of good old shows we got to review this week, but a few more recent series have now made it into the countdown. I’m still shocked at how they used the Flintstones to sell cigarettes and alcohol. Parents would throw a fit seeing SpongeBob selling those products!
Check back next week when we take a look at numbers 51-60. Next week we’ve got cops, cops, and more cops!
I don’t own any of the rights to these, nor did I upload them to YouTube. This blog is presented for educational and informational purposes.
For the past two weeks, we’ve counted down the bottom 20 of my 100 top TV themes of all time. This week, we’re in the 70’s!
Anyhow, let’s take a look at the next group of ten.
#80 THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES
Airdates: 1962-1971 (CBS)
http://youtu.be/QtvTE3m5jpM
A poor, backwoods family finds oil and moves to Beverly Hills? It happened in this sitcom that was on for so long; it started off in black and white and ended in full blown color.
I guess for the original opening, they weren’t able to take the cast for a real drive down Rodeo Drive, so they used some really bad rear projection. You can see how the scene bumps up and down as the camera car hits a pot hole, but the cast shot stays steady.
However, when the show transitioned to color, they got it right and reshot part of the opening credits, including a real live shot driving down Rodeo Drive! When the show becomes a hit – the budget increases!
Just about everybody who was born up until the early 1980’s knew this theme song by heart. I think it was even played on the radio at one point.
The show was remade as a movie in the early 90’s with Jim Varney that was surprisingly pretty good. Most TV shows remade into movies these days just don’t work.
#79 227
Airdates: 1985-1990 (NBC)
It was the apartment building where everybody knew your name and loved to hang out. The show made Jackee Harry a TV icon with her Sandra character. However, by the time season 4 started, tension between her and star Marla Gibbs grew to such a point on the set, that executives gave Harry her own spin-off. Sadly, after the pilot aired the show was not picked up and Harry was off the air.
The show continued on, but Harry’s loss was a blow the series never recovered from. For season 5, they brought in a whole new slew of characters, but they couldn’t save the falling ratings. Producers brought Harry back for the last 7 episodes of the season, but it was too late and NBC canceled the show.
#78 AMEN
Airdates: 1986-1991 (NBC)
Another staple on NBC’s powerful Saturday night sit-com lineup, this usually aired at 8pm right before 227. Remember when Saturday night actually had half descent original programming?
Set in a Philadelphia church, this sit-com dealt with the antics of the less than holy Deacon Frye. The opening credits were recently parodied by Cleveland on Family Guy this season. This show was absolutely hilarious and I love the old Pennsylvania license plate on his giant car!
And check out the bonus end credits that were attached to the video. Did you happen to catch Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a guest star? That had to be early in his career.
For the show’s entire run, these credits never changed, outside of the addition of new cast members names on screen.
#77 DOOGIE HOWSER, MD
Airdates: 1989-1993 (ABC)
A simple keyboard theme is all you needed for this one.
A super genius kid becomes a practicing doctor, before he’s even a teen! That can really happen, right? Not if the insurance companies have anything to say about it! But, of course it can – thanks to the magic of television.
At the end of every episode, Doogie would turn on his computer, which at the time was really only a word processor (his life would have been so different had the internet existed then), and type about what he had learned that day. It always had some witty line and always had a cut away of Doogie as he pondered what he had learned. I wonder how many kids ended up doing journals thanks to this show?
This was another series where the credits changed very little over the years, just new shots of Neil Patrick Harris as he grew up.
#76 MR. BELVEDERE
Airdates: 1985-1990 (ABC)
I love the creative use of photographs, not only of Mr. Belvedere’s adventures, but also the multi shots of the cast.
Just by listening to the song, you know you’ve got a legendary butler that moves in with a family from Pittsburgh. What more do you need?
Here’s a look at the opening credits from the first two seasons. The slide show like opening from the pilot makes me sick. Glad they only used it once!
#75 THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON
Airdates: 1962-1992 (NBC)
While the current incarnation of the show is hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Carson has long been considered the king of late night. Only David Letterman has recently passed this show on number of episodes and number of seasons.
Carson was not the first host of The Tonight Show. That was actually Steve Allen and it went on the air way back in 1954.
When Carson first took over as host, the show aired from 11:15pm – 1:00am. That’s 105 minutes! As more local stations began broadcasting 11pm news, Carson’s opening monologue was going unseen by the vast majority of the US. NBC then decided to move the show to 11:30 and trimming it to 90 minutes. In the 70’s, Carson grew tired of the 90 minute format and again trimmed the show to an hour. It was finally moved to the current 11:35 time slot in 1991, to allow affiliates more commercial time in their late news.
The opening credits have undergone massive changes over the years. Sadly, almost all of the pre-1971 shows have been lost. Videotape was expensive then and NBC would simply tape over the air checks with another show. There are years of great interviews and skits that will never again see the light of day.
#74 PICTURE PAGES
Airdates: in various forms 1974-1990 (CBS, Syndicated, and Nickelodeon)
I was so mad that I couldn’t have a pen that played music as you write. I’d still like to have one now to drive my co-workers nuts!
Bill Cosby would teach kids reading, writing, and arithmetic using a series of puzzles that you can send away for and play along.
The show actually started in Pittsburgh in 1974 when a local grocery store gave away the books. The segments went national in 1978 as part of the Captain Kangaroo program on CBS. Later, kids cable network Nickelodeon picked up the rights and aired it as a half hour show. Here’s a look at the seriously lame song on the Nick version:
#73 DUCKTALES
Airdates: 1987-1990 (Syndicated)
Scrooge McDuck and his three nephews were always going on an adventure to score more money. As a kid, I always thought it would be awesome to jump into Scrooge’s money pit vault. Now that I’m older, I realize that jumping face first into a deep vault of a zillion coins probably would really hurt. Also, money is quite filthy… who wants to swim in filth?
I actually won tickets to the spin-off movie DuckTales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp from a local TV station. The same station I ended up working at a decade later!
Thanks to the success of this show, Disney launched a whole afternoon of other cartoons including Tale Spin, The Gummi Bears, Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, and a few more that I forget. DuckTales was always the first and the best, though.
This show only lasted 100 episodes, but it seemed to go on forever! DuckTales Woo-ooh!
#72 BONANZA
Airdates: 1959-1973 (NBC)
http://youtu.be/NP8qKiTltj0
A fictional ranch in Nevada back in the wild west days was the setting for this long lasting series. Another show that started out in black and white and made the switch to color.
It is the second longest television western in history behind Gunsmoke. It will probably stay that way, because people don’t seem to want TV westerns anymore.
I’ve seen a handful of episodes, but the cool part of the credits is how they set the map on fire and luma key to the first shot of video underneath. Pretty great idea that was ahead of it’s time.
And holy moley Jeanne Cooper does not look comfortable posing for her guest star credit show!
#71 SIMON & SIMON
Airdates: 1981-1989 (CBS)
http://youtu.be/osYdKFhzzlc
They were two complete opposites, but they ran a successful private detective agency together. It was basically, The Odd Couple of private eyes! It was one of the many action drama/comedy shows of the 80’s.
I remember watching the show from time to time and reruns still turn up occasionally, but it was the awesome guitar sax combo of the theme song they used starting with season three that made this one memorable. The shot of Gerald McRaney getting cold cocked through an open door is pretty priceless as well! (He went on to star in the Army sit-com Major Dad, right after this!)
Take a look at how the opening credits were for the first couple of seasons and you’ll agree that the classic guitar sax combo was a hit!
THE 411
What: TV Theme Songs
Use: themes used to open a TV series or cartoon
Purpose: introduce main cast and introduce audience to the theme of the series
Numbers reviewed: 71 – 80
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:
I hope you enjoyed the look at the next group of themes. A few kids ones made it into the group this time. I still want a singing pen, Bill Cosby!
Check back next week when we take a look at numbers 61-70. We’ve got Zordon, a fat delivery guy that loves the Mets, and a talking horse!
I don’t own any of the rights to these, nor did I upload them to YouTube. This blog is presented for educational and informational purposes.
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