# In My Head, These TV Stars Sang the Theme Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104 "2009-06-26T20:09:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/1 "2009-06-26T20:09:38Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/2 "2009-06-26T20:16:57Z")
The first thing I thought of when I read the thread title was _Three’s Company_. I’m with you on that! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/3 "2009-06-26T20:46:55Z")
“Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs.” ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/4 "2009-06-26T20:49:41Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > “Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs.” Oh, good one! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/5 "2009-06-26T20:54:46Z")
The title takes on a slightly different meaning whern you remember that male actors on the show, Kelsey Grammer excluded, were predominantly teh ghey. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/6 "2009-06-26T20:55:09Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > “Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs.” 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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/7 "2009-06-26T21:02:02Z")
It’s apparently a common misconception (that I once shared) that Richard (Les Nessman) Sanders sang the opening theme to _WKRP in Cincinnati_. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/8 "2009-06-26T21:09:58Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > Uhhh, I believe that actually is Kelsey Grammer singing that one. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/9 "2009-06-26T21:23:41Z")
Gilligan (not Bob Denver) absolutely sang the theme song to Gilligan’s Island. Betty and Wilma got all hep and sang the Flintstones theme. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/10 "2009-06-26T22:18:48Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s apparently a common misconception (that I once shared) that Richard (Les Nessman) Sanders sang the opening theme to _WKRP in Cincinnati_. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/11 "2009-06-27T00:35:04Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/12 "2009-06-27T11:19:28Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/13 "2009-06-27T16:06:16Z")
_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). ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/14 "2009-06-27T16:40:21Z")
The voice singing the opening of _Firefly_ always sounded like Jayne to me. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/15 "2009-06-27T18:29:23Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Really? I did not know that. Is that a whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/16 "2009-06-27T20:43:14Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > Is that a whoosh? It sounds like his voice, but it doesn’t sound much like a song the _Frasier_ character would write or perform. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/17 "2009-06-27T21:21:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It sounds like his voice, but it doesn’t sound much like a song the _Frasier_ character would write or perform. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/18 "2009-06-27T23:48:20Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > 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 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. > [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > 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. 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.” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/19 "2009-06-28T00:33:28Z")
Craig Ferguson wrote \*and \*performed the theme for his _Late Late Show_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104/20 "2009-06-28T00:47:43Z")
It always sounded to me as if Alan Young sang the theme song from “Mr. Ed”. He didn’t. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Ed#Theme_song), it was Jay Livingstone, who co-wrote the song. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-head-these-tv-stars-sang-the-theme-song/501104.md?page=2)