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.

Image credit – Adrian Patino