What about Greatest American Hero? I’m not sure if they give a backstory or not, but I have a vague recollection that they do.
The Big Bang Theory has a story-telling intro, albeit one that has nothing to do with the show or any of it’s characters…
Welcome Back, Kotter.
The Lost Islands, an Australian series about five kids who end up stranded on some remote islands. I’ve always thought the composer of the theme song had been listening to too much Pink Floyd (Cymbaline.)
Well, duh…WKRP in Cincinatti.
The Cleveland Show
My name is Cleveland Brown
And I am glad to be
Back here in my hometown
With my new family
…etc.
The Nanny
“The Fresh Prince” was the first one I thought of (heck, the first line is “this here’s a story all about how . . .”) but since I was beat to that punch I’ll mention “The Partridge Family”. No explanation in it about what happened to Mr. Partridge, though.
I always liked the theme to The Gary Shandling Show. It’s more the story of how the singer came to be singing it (Gary called him up and asked if he would write his theme song! ) but it always made me sing (and whistle) along with it.
A horse is a horse, of course, of course
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed
Heck, not only does that set up the premise of the series, it pretty much tells you everything there is in the whole series.
Maverick–“Luck is his companion, gamblin’ is his game.”
When asked why the theme songs to The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island explained the premise to the show in their theme songs, Sherwood Schwartz (who co-wrote the songs as well as created the series) responded, “Because the confused cannot laugh.”
Animated series, particularly those intended for children, seem to be a big offender in this category: Pinky and the Brain (and its Elmyra spin-off), Animaniacs (which in typical fashion commented that “now you know the plot” after hearing the theme song), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (written by Chuck Lorre, of all people), SpongeBob SquarePants (maybe)…probably one of the best in this category was the theme to the short-lived Weird Al Show, which, in typical Weird Al fashion, told a backstory to the show that made absolutely no sense nor had any bearing on the premise of the actual show itself (which was basically “Weird Al and a bunch of goofy friends do silly things and also shoehorn a lesson in because the FCC forced them to”).
How about Have Gun, Will Travel?
“Have Gun, Will Travel is the story of a man,
A knight without armor in a savage land.”
And Mr. Terrific, around the same time.
Regards,
Shodan
Actually, Mr. Terrific had a spoken rhyme, not a song, and I salready posted it in the “spoken intro” thread a while back.
One of my favorite cartoons when I was a lad, Fantastic Voyage had a very long spoken intro setting up the series.
Anyone else remember Far Out Space Nuts, with Bob Denver? “I said Lunch, not Launch!”