…Your heart is true. You’re a pal and a confidant.”
You know the rest of the words. Even if you don’t like the show (I don’t. An college ex ruined it for me because she preferred watching Blanche and Co. instead of letting me watch baseball. A major no-no). Anyway, keeping with this week’s music theme, here are a few of television theme songs that pop up in my head from time to time.
Yes, it's a different world from where we come from ...
5. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. If I hear this song (The Who’s “Who Are You”) on television I’m all but guaranteed to lose an hour of my life. I’m gonna watch the show. It’s an addiction of mine (Vegas, Miami and especially NY). I do believe that watching CSI can keep a person from thinking they’ll get away with murdering a family member or loved one.
4. The Beverly Hillbillies. I don’t know why this stays in my head. I think it’s because I used to watch this show when I got bored as a child and didn’t have cable. It was on, so it watched me. I can’t remember anything from it, save the theme song. *hangs head in shame*
3. A Different World. Second half of the best hour of television during my childhood. It’s weird because I learn more from watching the show now than I did watching it while I grew up. Suppose it’s because I can relate a lot better now to the different stories that are told during the show. Same goes for the song.
2. Cheers. Disliking this show is as un-American as Roseanne Barr’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. “Wouldn’t you like to get away? Sometimes you wanna go, where everybody knows your name … ” I feel like everyone should have a Cheers-like experience in their life, even if it doesn’t involve copious amounts of alcohol. Then again, it wouldn’t be Cheers.
1. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Do I even need to explain this? Cool points to anyone who knows the actual full-length version of the track by heart (that’s what I linked).
By the way, this is the best elevator music I’ve ever heard.
What theme songs stick with you and why?
This May Concern You 
Hey, y’all.
@Damon: You and your baseball…lol. 😉 I actually enjoy the sport but not nearly as much as you.
Fun post! I agree with you on The Golden Girls, Cheers, The Frech Prince & A Different World.
Other theme songs that stick with me when I hear them are:
– Good Times
– Friends
– The Wonder Years
– Married With Children
– The Brady Bunch
*As usual, I’m sure there are others but these came to mind first. If I really like a show, the theme song is usually a favorite too (or evetually grows on me). 🙂
Shawnta took all the good ones!
I would say Andy Griffith
and the musical theme to Whats Happenin!
and of course JEM
she’s truly outrageous
truly, truly, truly, outrageous
@Shay_d_lady: Oops…sorry! 😉 You’re right about Jem; when you were younger didn’t you want a hologram? I thought that was so cool…lol.
@shay: The Andy Griffith Theme Song came back into my head when Drake mentioned it … It had been MIA for about 10 years, but yeah I definitely remember it…
I was listening to the Drake song yesterday in the car and the Andy Griffith line got that theme song in my head. I remember trying to learn how to whistle JUST to sing that song. I did finally learn. 😉
The Wonder Years is my fav sitcom ever, so I have to stick it here …
But yeah, there are so many I could have named, especially Married With Children … as dumb as that show is/was … I found myself watching it entirely too often ….
Oh, and Living Single.
That rap was always my favorite. lol
So, keep your head up (WHAT?)…
I used to go crazy with the “what”.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a whole baseball game on TV, and only half paid attention to the one I was forced to attend in person.
But enough about baseball…….I sang every single theme song you posted and all of the ones that Shawnta posted too. I think y’all pretty much covered the key ones. I can’t think of anything else to add.
I do wonder what happened to theme songs. I don’t watch sitcoms so maybe the new ones still have theme songs but most of the hour long dramas don’t have them anymore (LOST for example).
@Tam: Baseball is on the very short list of sporting events I actually enjoy attending. Going to a baseball game in person is so much better & more fun than watching on TV but I will watch on TV. However, I cannot, under any circumstance, listen to a baseball game on the radio. I have an old aunt that would do that while cooking dinner or cleaning the kitchen and while I loved hanging with her, it drove me batty.
Another show’s theme song that I sing along to is The Wire. I loved the version in Season 4.
This was actually on my mind earlier. The theme to “Family Ties” always comes up in my head from time to time. Cheers theme particularly is one that has rendered me teary eyed when away from home and missing familiar faces. The Nanny’s theme because this is now a new staple in my kids TV viewing diet but I loved and still watch Martin so it is in my head regularly.
But, it’s funny how these songs from these shows connects us to diff eras in our lives and sometimes just hearing them have the power to take us back. Sometimes when I catch one of these old shows on, I curl up in my bed and give myself permission to feel like a kid again. When all of life’s problems could be solved in 30 minutes.
Great Post!
@Toya: Family Ties was a great show…and good theme song.
Family Ties will always be a part of me for one main reason:
“Sit, UBU, sit. Good dog. (woof!)”
Ha, I dug The Nanny, too. And yeah, Martin’s theme song was in my head a lot too.
I love Family Ties simply because of the “sha la la laaa…” at the end. I insert it after random heartwarming moments to see if people are up on their sitcom game.
I’m gonna go ahead and represent the small amount of sports dorks here and nominate “This Week In Baseball” with Mel Allen.
Also, “Night Court” wasn’t very good but it’s theme song was terrific.
@TP3.0: I don’t remember the theme song to Night Court. I’ll have to YouTube it.
First of all, those damn CSIs are like crack. Once one of them hooks you, you cannot stop watching.
I’m a sports geek so the theme from SportsCenter stays in my head alot.
And though it’s not a TV show, the 007 theme sneaks up on me from time to time.
From my childhood, I have to go with the theme from Charlie Brown.
@OneChele: I think I’m one of the few people who doesn’t watch any of the CSIs. I will have to YouTube some of the theme songs because I don’t know them.
@onechele: The Sportscenter theme used to get me hypeas a child… as an adult, i find it annoying. In part because I kept it as a ringer for about a year or so for whenever my job called. I know, horrible decision.
But yeah, the CSI theme is one that gets me every time.
awesome post dame…here’s my ish.
–threes company: “come & knock on our door” nuff said.
–family matters: the instrumental intro was SO middle class black, lol. pop & soul.
–the jeffersons/sanford & sons: these kinda run together for me, perhaps because they used to come on back to back here in the Lou.
–OMG, matlock!: i have ALWAYS wished some dope MC would sample this…just imagine: http://bit.ly/rxJyd
–in the heat of the night: because that man was straight CROONIN’. lol. http://bit.ly/14iSyo
–and why has nobody said heavy d’s IN LIVING COLOR theme??? i used to dance in my black barbie PJs to this song! 🙂 http://bit.ly/2UcjJ
that link for ITHOTN didn’t work… this one should: http://bit.ly/127i0l
Yes, I remember that In Living Color track now!
@Tameka: GREAT call on In Living Color. I’ve never considered the Matlock them being sampled but after listening to it, I can see it. You’re also right about ITHOTN. He was serious in that song.
I’m gonna go with Growing Pains. You know: “Show me that smile again (show me that smile) … ” Despite the fact that it’s a cool theme song, it’s also just a cool song in general. And — I’m going old school and showing my obsessions — the theme song to my favorite, long-gone soap: Another World. Google it; it’s pretty nifty.
BTW: Damon, I’m staying positive that today will be far better than yesterday 🙂 *with my optimism hat*
@aye: Growing Pains is a good one too. That was a great sitcom – nostalgic…I miss those classic shows we grew up on.
You know, Another World was the one soap that almost got me. I spent like a month out of a summer watching it. *hangs head in shame*
and yeah, you better enjoy yourself today …
1. The Cosby Show: Because they remixed it so many times.
2. The Office: IT’s just classic.
@Nicki: I LOVE The Office. Steve Carrell cracks me up.
Girl yes.. he is hilarious! And so is Dwight. he is such a geek.
I forgot about Ally McBeal. LOVED this show and Vonda Shepard’s music.
And although it isn’t my favorite theme song, Saved By The Bell, is also good for looping in my mind once I hear it.
Another good one that I only know the first line to is Facts of Life.
I Dream of Jeannie sticks in my head too when I hear it…loved that show as a kid.
In the Heat of the Night makes me angry. My childhood was filled w/ watching the Superstation and my grandma asking why Tibbs can’t see the obvious break in the case.
Baseball song – ESPN’s Baseball Tonight/Wednesday or Sunday Night Baseball. Baseball on the radio is the best! Hearing Denny Matthews voice on the box @ night definitely is one of those summer things I look forward too.
The Fresh Prince is my favorite sitcom of all times, I know all the lyrics and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode.
“All That” had a pretty memorable theme song. I also know the full theme to “Gumby”. The Jamie Foxx show and the beginning to the Wayans Bros. Show (“We’re brothers. We’re happy and singing and we’re colored…GIMME A HIGH-5!”) is classic.
I’m with you on the Wayans Bros. show … My brother and I are actually corny enough to re-enact that one from time to time …
And yeah, watching in the Heat of the Night for you is the equivalent to watching ANY western. My great aunt loved to force us to watch westerns with her, and they were the worst.
When I went to YouTube to find the theme songs for Night Court and CSIs, I found this and thought it was fun.
You guys pretty much named them all.
How about:
Law & Order
Family Guy
Simpsons
I’m gonna show my age with the next few:
Sailor Moon
Pokemon
SpongeBob
@peyso: I don’t even know what Sailor Moon is … that’s showing my age.
@Peyso: What is Sailor Moon? I’m going to look it up now…
Sailor Moon was this japanese cartoon
My niece used to stan for Sailor Moon so hard. Haha…I remember that theme song just from her singing it all the time. I used to watch it a bit, too.
i use to be a Law & Order/CSI addict, but once i started watching Matlock after church every sunday, how can u deny the genius that is Ben Matlock? He solved cases with only a his black P.I. (actor always changed from season to season) and relied on his own observations. never heard Matlock talking ’bout ‘we gotta take a hair sample, found DNA, etc.’
@nn: Matlock is another one of those that annoys me because my elders kinda forced Matlock on us … then there was a period where it seemed like Matlock was always on on two channels at once… too much. lol.
hahahaha, yes it is in syndication forever. but it’s a really good show. these older shows magnify just how much has changed in television. i was really taken back the 1st time on “better of ted” i heard one of the actors say the b-word uncensored! matlock reminds me of the days things were just cleaner, less hyper-sexualized-n-such.
Matlock the show, was kind of slow for me, but I lovved the theme. That bassline was CRACK!
Shows not mentioned:
Someone mentioned soaps – so of course I have to throw out the Young & Restless, those opening notes are captivating. I remember for a couple of years they tried to change it up with some type of sexy, jazzed up version that was TERRIBLE. Luckily they brought the piano version back.
Action show – Knight Rider (80’s version with David Hasselhoff). I was SO mad somebody sampled it in a rap song. Busta Rhymes maybe?
Childhood show – Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Mr Rogers, some TV show with Ben Vereen, also Step by Step
@D-milz: Reading Rainbow is a great one! I loved that show and would sing along each time.
@D-Milz: The Knight Rider theme was one of my favs … I actually mentioned it last night in a convo with someone … glad you mentioned it ….
And the Reading Rainbow theme… I meant to have that in the five I posted, and meant to say something like we need a show like that now because kids definitely do …
The Knight Rider theme is kinda nice.. I could see it in a song or some’n.
i used to want lavar burton to be my dad (only ’cause my dad was so darn strick sometimes). lavar always smiled and his voice could make anybody fall in love with a book.
this is one show i want the box set of for my kids ’cause lord knows what’s going to be in “cartoons” in the future.
@nn: I always wanted Levar Burton to put on his Star Trek visor … seeing his eyes actually scared me because I saw him on Star Trek first …
Somehow I forgot Quantum Leap …
@damon: I remember liking the show Quantum Leap although I only vaguely remember what it was about now…but I do not remember the theme song/music. I’ll have to look it up later.
Thanks for posting the link to Wonder Years…never get tired of hearing it.
Family Guy, Law & Order (even though there are no words), The Young & The Restless (no words again), Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, Threes Company, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Rugrats (no words again)….I know there are more!
My dad liked a show called “the greatest american hero” when I was young…for some reason I’ve remembered part of the chorus…”Believe it or not I’m walking on air, never thought I cold feel so free…”
Diff’rent Strokes
The Facts of Life
I loved the Jefferson’s theme song.
cold = could
And only because I just saw the commercial in the cafeteria…Fame. I do not know all of the words but I know a line or two that sticks in my head after hearing it.
Who remembers Animaniacs!!!!!!!!!!!
“We’re tiny,we’re toony, we’re all a little loony…”
@D-milz: Good one! I definitely remember that one and the one for Duck Tales.
Do I?
That was my SHOW. Tiny Toons, too. I knew the words to both of them joints. Dot on Animaniacs? I wanted to BE her as a kid. lol
That’s a great one, D …
“And in this cartonny we’re invading you’re TV!” I could keep going. I loved all the WB cartoons- Animaniacs, Hysteria, Tiny Toons.
I don’t think I saw anyone mention Ducktales. “Ducktales! a whoo hoo”
Last but not least on my list is Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers.
I love, love love, A Different World, The Golden Girls, and Cheers. But this…THIS…is my show:
“1. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Do I even need to explain this? Cool points to anyone who knows the actual full-length version of the track by heart (that’s what I linked).”
My roommate in freshie year of college was a HUGE Will Smith fan (she was a 2520 in case that matters…lol) and she had the CD with this song. She played it like the 2nd or 3rd day we were there and it was the first time I had heard the full-length version. She knew it word for word. It was incredible.
Theme songs that stick in my head from time to time:
1. Full House – This is an infamous “wrong lyric” song for me. I remember I used to say, “A LION is waiting to carry you hooooome” instead of “A light is waiting to carry you home”. Imagine my blank stare when I went to lyricsondemand to find the actual lyric. *facepalm*
2. Golden Girls: Another one I’m guilty of butchering. I would say, “…and the heart attack would say, thank you for being a friiiiend” instead of “…and the card attached would say thank you for being a friend”. Like Full House, I knew that made absolutely no sense, but I didn’t care. Especially with Golden Girls…my version of the lyric was pretty much insulting. lmao
3. The Jeffersons
4. Good Times
5. Law & Order: Not necessarily all the remixes…lol I like the “bow-bow-bow” guitar riff at the end.
6. Bonanza – Grandma days
7. Perry Mason – ditto to numba 6
Oh, the days, they were good and old…
ETA: Oh, I forgot my long lost love, Three’s Company. LOVED that show with a passion.
@Cheekie: This made me laugh because I have a good friend that is forever messing up some lyrics.
@cheekie: Your butchering is priceless … we have a post somewhere down the road dedicated to lyrics that we screwed up as kids … and do believe, Wanya Morris factors in heavily …
Now the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum…what might be right for you, may not be right for some. A man is born, he’s a man of means, then along come two, they got nothin’ but their jeans.
But they got, Diff’rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff’rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff’rent Strokes to move the world.
Everybody’s got a special kind of story
Everybody finds a way to shine,
It don’t matter that you got not alot
So what,
They’ll have theirs, and you’ll have yours, and I’ll have mine.
And together we’ll be fine….
Because it takes, Diff’rent Strokes to move the world.
Yes it does.
It takes, Diff’rent Strokes to move the world.
Mmmmm.
–The theme from Diff’rent Strokes was THE BEST!
For me it’s:
Family Ties (my sister, three years old at the time, used to always tell us, “Sha na na nah is on!”)
Married With Children (Frank Sinatra sings the intro, it has to make the list)
Martin
Silver Spoons
Three’s Company
Knight Rider (Busta Rhymes sampling it for the Fire It Up remix made it official)
Taxi (It makes my list because Tweet sampled it for Cab Ride)
The entire intro to Voltron (From days long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe…comes a legend…the legend of Voltron, Defender of the Universe!)
Transformers (of course)
Nobody remembers the smooth grooves of Roberta Flack with Valerie– later, the Hogan Family’s theme song? Ahem, Exhibit A:
Other favorites of mine are
* Perry Mason (that bassline was almost the reason I considered law- I wanted to enter every courtroom to that song.
* The Facts of Life (you take the good, you take the bad, and the other pish-posh)
* Gimme a Break (’cause I sho’ need one!)
*ALF- who woulda thunk an Alien Life Form could play the sax so smoothly?
*Sesame Street (before the stupid remixes)
by the way, I saw this and cracked up- don’t all sitcom intros follow this formula?
@Beez: Aww…Gimme A Break. Good one.
Dang! I forgot Punky Brewster- my favorite!
Evv…ry… tiiime… Iiiii,… turn around!
@Beez: Another good one…I don’t remember all the words to Punky Brewster’s theme snog but I do remembe that ‘every time I turn around’ part. Nice.
Animaniacs was dope.
The Law & Order theme songs are crack. i could be mid sentence in a convo, here that “DUN DUNN” and tell whomever i’m talking to that i have to watch Law & Order and the convo will be continued in an hour. and if it’s a marathon…tomorrow.
Beverly Hills, 90210. Rugrats. Doug. Living Single (one of my favorite shows STILL). Wayans Bros. soo many. hell, even The OC (don’t judge me lol).
It’s not from the television show, but I have to add it …
Damien Rice’s “The Blower’s Daughter” from the film Closer…
Growing Pains
Family Ties
Mr. Belvedere
Diff’rent Strokes
Ahh the list can go on and on… but the main reason is I watched an inordinate amount of TV as a kid…
Through you looking for details. It helped me in my mission