# Queen's "You're My Best Friend" as TV theme song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 4, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585 "2000-05-04T18:32:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/41 "2018-01-01T15:12:03Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The station wouldn’t have but a Syndicator might have. It plausible they purchased the rights to the song and it only aired in a few markets since it wasn’t the most popular of shows. Maybe Queen sells the rights for cheaper than we expect? That’s a lot of “maybe” for which there is no evidence. 1. There is no money to be gained in this. 2. The show was very popular in syndication. 3. _The music just doesn’t fit the credits at all._ ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/42 "2018-01-01T15:34:01Z")
I can see a local station using the song in promos for the show. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/43 "2018-01-01T15:38:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I can see a local station using the song in promos for the show. I could, too-if it were shown to me. Otherwise, I really can’t envision them spending the money when commercials are already provided by the syndicators(with spots to insert the local logo built in). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/44 "2018-01-01T15:53:29Z")
Harry Nilsson would have been pissed off-he got royalties when that show was aired because it was his music that opened the show. It just didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![QueenSong\_EddiesFather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8797f3/32.png) [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenSong_EddiesFather)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/45 "2018-01-02T04:28:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely. _The Courtship of Eddie’s Father_ was on the air from 1969 - 1972. _You’re My Best Friend_ was released in 1976 on their album _A Night at the Opera_, four years after the TV show ended. Yes it was used for the reruns. I was too young when it first aired. I watched the reruns after Queens song was out for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/46 "2018-01-02T13:12:17Z")
> [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](#): > > Yes it was used for the reruns. > I was too young when it first aired. > I watched the reruns after Queens song was out for many years. Can you provide any evidence whatsoever? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/47 "2018-01-02T15:19:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can you provide any evidence whatsoever? I mean, isn’t his screen name enough? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/48 "2018-01-02T15:55:18Z")
This thread reminded me of something strange that happened to me 25 years ago. In the early 90s, I spent a month in Australia exploring the country with some friends. My roommate at the time had family in Canberra and we stayed with them for a few days. One night we rented the movie _BIG_ from the local video shop. The movie had an entirely different ending than the American version! It was the weirdest thing because I had seen the film in the theater when it premiered in New York and remembered it well. But in the Australian version, the character Susan goes back to the Zoltar machine and gets zapped down to the same age as Josh. I guess the American ending didn’t test well with Australian audiences or something. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/49 "2018-01-02T15:58:31Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > This thread reminded me of something strange that happened to me 25 years ago. In the early 90s, I spent a month in Australia exploring the country with some friends. My roommate at the time had family in Canberra and we stayed with them for a few days. One night we rented the movie _BIG_ from the local video shop. The movie had an entirely different ending than the American version! It was the weirdest thing because I had seen the film in the theater when it premiered in New York and remembered it well. But in the Australian version, the character Susan goes back to the Zoltar machine and gets zapped down to the same age as Josh. I guess the American ending didn’t test well with Australian audiences or something. :dubious:😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/50 "2018-01-02T16:05:17Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > But in the Australian version, the character Susan goes back to the Zoltar machine and gets zapped down to the same age as Josh. Was Sinbad playing the role of Zoltar? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/51 "2018-01-02T16:31:53Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Was Sinbad playing the role of Zoltar? No he was Shazam! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/52 "2018-01-02T16:35:51Z")
I thought that was Shaquille O’Neal ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/53 "2018-01-02T16:42:04Z")
> [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](#): > > Yes it was used for the reruns. > I was too young when it first aired. > I watched the reruns after Queens song was out for many years. The point is that our memories often play tricks on us. What would it take to convince you that you may be misremembering this? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/54 "2018-01-02T20:42:48Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The station wouldn’t have but a Syndicator might have. It plausible they purchased the rights to the song and it only aired in a few markets since it wasn’t the most popular of shows. Maybe Queen sells the rights for cheaper than we expect? The album that song’s off of - _A Night at the Opera_ - was an international hit. It sold platinum, and cemented Queen reputation as a major rock act. _The Courtship of Eddie’s Father_ was middling sitcom that was out of production and in syndication. There is absolutely no way they would have paid the licensing rights to get a song by the hottest rock band of the day to run over mid-afternoon reruns of a show that had been cancelled three years earlier. If there was a problem with the rights to the original score, they’d have got some public domain tune, or at most hired a bunch of session musicians to crank something out. The idea that they’d have licensed a Queen song instead is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/55 "2018-01-02T23:47:17Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > This thread reminded me of something strange that happened to me 25 years ago. In the early 90s, I spent a month in Australia exploring the country with some friends. My roommate at the time had family in Canberra and we stayed with them for a few days. One night we rented the movie _BIG_ from the local video shop. The movie had an entirely different ending than the American version! It was the weirdest thing because I had seen the film in the theater when it premiered in New York and remembered it well. But in the Australian version, the character Susan goes back to the Zoltar machine and gets zapped down to the same age as Josh. I guess the American ending didn’t test well with Australian audiences or something. > [@Telemark](#): > > Was Sinbad playing the role of Zoltar? > [@TBG](#): > > No he was Shazam! I can vouch for all of this—Al Traina told me it was true. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/56 "2018-01-03T00:30:51Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I too can conjure up a hazy memory of this song playing in the background as a “friends” montage is shown. I’m picturing a boy riding a bike with his buddy on the handlebars. > > Wiki lists these as containing the song: > > Hot in Cleveland > Will & Grace > EastEnders, > My Name is Earl > The King of Queens > The Simpsons > Shaun of the Dead > The Secret Life of Pets > > " . . . in addition to the promo for the American television adaption of Wilfred. It appears in a 2016 TV commercial for PetSmart." > > The song is used _a lot_; kind of the go to song when they want to show us the depth (and the wacky side!) of characters’ relationships. Could it be that the OPs wife heard the song so often in conjunction with these kinds of scenes that she mistakenly associated it with a particular show? There is a scene in that70’s show where Topher grace and Joseph Gordon-Levitt montage it up to a let me tell ya bout my best friend song. It kinda looked like a show opener and it is set in the 70’s ---
**Author:** ![QueenSong\_EddiesFather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8797f3/32.png) [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenSong_EddiesFather)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/57 "2018-01-04T00:55:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can you provide any evidence whatsoever? It would be very hard to provide proof (as in links to online video), because of all the digging online someone would need to do. I’ll give it a shot though (I’ll start with youtube). If I’m lucky I’ll find it in the commercials between other shows or sporting events (1970’s or 1980’s on youtube). Not holding my breath though. I’ll spend a half hour and see if I come up with anything. Other than that you’ll just have to take my (very clear) memory for what it’s worth to you. I guess you could call the Philly TV station that ran it but unless there’s something in it for them, they could care less about providing anything; I’m guessing they wouldn’t even talk to you. ---
**Author:** ![QueenSong\_EddiesFather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8797f3/32.png) [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenSong_EddiesFather)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/58 "2018-01-04T01:04:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The point is that our memories often play tricks on us. What would it take to convince you that you may be misremembering this? I’m 100 confident on my memory. I’m also 100 confident that local stations would have no problem doing something like this. I also remember thinking “othis tv station is so hip to use the Queen Song. They really like the same music I like”. Maybe they were trying to get more young viewers by using the music they listened to. Seriously, it’s clear as day. No doubts at all. But again take my memories for what they are worth to you. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/59 "2018-01-04T01:05:53Z")
> [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](#): > > It would be very hard to provide proof (as in links to online video), because of all the digging online someone would need to do. > > I’ll give it a shot though (I’ll start with youtube). > If I’m lucky I’ll find it in the commercials between other shows or sporting events (1970’s or 1980’s on youtube). > Not holding my breath though. > > I’ll spend a half hour and see if I come up with anything. > Other than that you’ll just have to take my (very clear) memory for what it’s worth to you. > > I guess you could call the Philly TV station that ran it but unless there’s something > in it for them, they could care less about providing anything; I’m guessing they wouldn’t even talk to you. I see that you’ve already provided outs for everything one could try to disprove your claim. Could you come up with others making the same claim? Have you at least considered what others have said about the near impossibility of something like this happening? Please show us that you are at least listening to arguments on the other side. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585/60 "2018-01-04T01:09:21Z")
> [@QueenSong\_EddiesFather](#): > > I’m 100 confident on my memory. > I’m also 100 confident that local stations would have no problem doing something like this. > > I also remember thinking “othis tv station is so hip to use the Queen Song. They really like the same music I like”. Nobody should be 100% confident of their memories, and I see no reason why you could possibly be 100% confident that local stations would have no problem doing what you claimed happened, especially after all the information you have been given in this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-youre-my-best-friend-as-tv-theme-song/18585.md?page=4)