# TV Show theme music: yea or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376 "2004-01-08T07:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/1 "2004-01-08T07:17:58Z")
Over in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=233381) there is a listing of people’s favorite TV theme songs/music. A large number of recent shows have omitted the music altogether or go for just a few notes of intro (_Everybody Loves Raymond_). So, is this a good trend overall? Would you rather see a show with no music or one with a catchy theme? Since this is IMHO, I’ll throw my HO in to start things off: I think original music for TV shows is a good thing. If I say _Hill Street Blues_ or _The Bob Newhart Show_, _Magnum P.I._ or even _The Brady Bunch_ I’m guessing that most Dopers can conjur up that music in their minds. The fact that I can remember a show’s music (and on the other hand hear the music and remember the show) for something that has been out of production for many years has got to mean something! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/2 "2004-01-08T17:12:07Z")
There are really very few shows with no theme music of any type. The beginning theme is usually shortened so that the show moves quickly, and the end theme is usually replaced by the network with promotions. You have to watch some of the shows in syndication to hear the end themes; for instance, there is a theme song to _…Raymond,_ the reason I heard it is that the local TV station doesn’t run many promos over it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/3 "2004-01-08T17:35:36Z")
I don’t watch a TV show for the theme music, so I could take it or leave it. Some shows have original theme music which really sets the show up. _Married…With Children_ for example. Any show that has some popular song (song you could hear on the radio) as it’s theme music has producers who need to be fired. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/4 "2004-01-08T21:36:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \* > \*\*Some shows have original theme music which really sets the show up. _Married…With Children_ for example. > > Any show that has some popular song (song you could hear on the radio) as it’s theme music has producers who need to be fired. \*\* These two sentences contradict each other. _Married…With Children_ had as its theme not an original song, but the old standard _Love and Marriage_ as performed by Frank Sinatra. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/5 "2004-01-08T23:17:41Z")
I like the theme music for “The Shield”. Short and sweet, then back to the action w/o a comercial break. Well, maybe not sweet-- short and edgy. They often finish the show with an obscure song as they flash between scenes of the various characters. Works for me! ---
**Author:** ![HumanStromboli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@HumanStromboli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HumanStromboli)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/6 "2004-01-09T01:31:16Z")
This is hyperbole, of course, but I practically tuned inot _Night Court_ for the theme song; it was just **that** cool. I prefer longer theme songs and title sequences than we have these days. More than that, I think it’s shameful how the networks flash the closing credits at supersonic speed—while of course, splitting the scene and putting a distracting promo on the other side. Surely, the key grips and best boys deserve a clear credit. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/7 "2004-01-09T02:34:36Z")
I loved what the character Michael (the yuppie media-mogul wannabe) on _Newhart_ said in one episode: “If the show can’t give me its premise and major characters in a catchy theme song, then it’s way too pretentious.” ---
**Author:** ![peritrochoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peritrochoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peritrochoid)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/8 "2004-01-09T04:15:45Z")
IIRC, _Sports Night_ (which I mentioned in that other thread) rarely started with the full theme. It would very often start “cold” or nearly so, meaning they jump right into the episode. It became part of the show’s charm. Only once or twice that I recall, did they play most of the theme at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/9 "2004-01-09T13:24:11Z")
Of the ones mentioned in the OP, only The Brady Bunch is familiar to me. I always loved the opening theme to Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/10 "2004-01-09T13:33:14Z")
**HumanStromboli** , I agree. When I visit my friend who plays the bass guitar, the two things I invariably try to play on it are the opening notes to the themes to “Night Court” and “Barney Miller.” What I’m not so sure I like is when a show changes theme music, though “The Drew Carey Show,” in my mind, pulled it off. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention earlier in the run of the show, but did “Everybody Loves Raymond” always play Steve Miller’s “Jungle Love,” or is that a recent thing? Seems kind of random to me. ---
**Author:** ![Adamcomic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Adamcomic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adamcomic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/11 "2004-01-12T06:47:29Z")
Mystery Science Theater 3000 ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-theme-music-yea-or-nay/223376/12 "2004-01-12T07:54:38Z")
**nineiron** , I believe “Everybody Loves Raymond” changes their opening credits every season. For the first few, it was just Ray talking, and at one point it was “Ode to Joy.”