In My Head, These TV Stars Sang the Theme Song

Cafe Society
1

Did anyone else ever sort of have a similar feeling? When I was a kid, in my head I sort of thought the theme song of Laverne and Shirley was sung by Cindy Williams (Shirley).

I knew Isabel Sanford (Louise Jefferson) wasn’t the singer of “Movin’ On Up”, but you can’t tell me that no one else thought that Sherman Hemsley wasn’t adding a guest voice on that tune too.

I also was old enough to be quite positive that John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt were NOT singing the theme to Three’s Company but when I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what the singers looked like, it was still John Ritter using a “goofy” voice and Joyce DeWitt.

Am I the only one?

2

The first thing I thought of when I read the thread title was Three’s Company. I’m with you on that!

3

“Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs.”

4

Oh, good one!

5

The title takes on a slightly different meaning whern you remember that male actors on the show, Kelsey Grammer excluded, were predominantly teh ghey.

6

Uhhh, I believe that actually is Kelsey Grammer singing that one.

If we’re talking TV theme songs sung by actors who are also stars of the show, well there are lots: The Brady Bunch, All in the Family, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, etc.

Also from Happy Days, Anson Williams lip syncs a bit from the theme song -the one they used after Rock Around the Clock- though he obviously isn’t the one singing on the track.

7

It’s apparently a common misconception (that I once shared) that Richard (Les Nessman) Sanders sang the opening theme to WKRP in Cincinnati.

8

Really? I did not know that.

I remember that Linda Lavin, the star of Alice, did sing the theme song for that one too.

But back to mis-imagined… Obviously William Katt sings Greatest American Hero, in my imagination, no one else will do.

9

Gilligan (not Bob Denver) absolutely sang the theme song to Gilligan’s Island.
Betty and Wilma got all hep and sang the Flintstones theme.

10

Yeah, but the song doesn’t make any sense if Les was the singer. It’s would only make sense if Johnny Fever or maybe Andy Travis were singing it. The singer’s voice sounds a little bit like Richard Sanders though.

11

This! Totally this! My parents used to watch The Jeffersons when I was really young. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized that George Jefferson did not contribute vocals to the opening theme song (I also alway pictured him playing the drums too because the theme has a great groove with the kick). I believed that Louise Jefferson hummed the closing credits.

12

Oh, I was only commenting on the similarity of the voices. As for what character is singing the song, it’s Andy, or at least he quotes the theme song, unironically, in one of the episodes while describing his transient life: “town to town, up and down the dial.”

I figure the theme to The Brady Bunch was being sung by an older Cindy, describing her childhood. The second rarely-heard stanza is about how her stepfather abandoned them to move in with his boyfriend and Jan, ever feeling overshadowed, slipped into a life of drugs and cheap one-nights-stands.

13

The Fall Guy would be a perfect example except that Lee Majors actually did sing the title song.

I could always see Cooter singing the Dukes of Hazzard theme song (though not in tune).

14

The voice singing the opening of Firefly always sounded like Jayne to me.

15

Is that a whoosh?

16

It sounds like his voice, but it doesn’t sound much like a song the Frasier character would write or perform.

17

Yes, it most definitely is him. See the IMDb trivia page on the show for a cite.

“Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs” refers to the crazy callers on his show. Also, the style isn’t quite so nutty for the character; he does have a sense of musical humor (“Dum dum, dum dum-dum, don’t spit on the floor / Use the cuspidor / Whaddya think it’s for?”) and he also sang Sinatra-style at his (great?)aunt’s funeral.

18

I thought this too, but I’m sure the fact that the theme song starts off with Cindy and Penny Williams doing that rhyme “Fivesixseveneight…(etc.)” helped suggest it.

I always imagined it was Jack and Chrissy singing the song, which only puzzled me when Suzanne Sommers was famously fired from the show, and they continued to use ‘her voice’ in the theme.

Other sitcom songs - “One Day at a Time” Always imagined MacKenzie Phillips & Valerie Bertinelli singing it.

And as dumb as it sounds, I always pictured Lt. Uhura doing the scat singing in the opening of “Star Trek.”

19

Craig Ferguson wrote *and *performed the theme for his Late Late Show.

20

It always sounded to me as if Alan Young sang the theme song from “Mr. Ed”. He didn’t. According to Wikipedia, it was Jay Livingstone, who co-wrote the song.