# TV shows which use existing songs for themes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205 "2016-08-18T20:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/21 "2016-08-18T21:48:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t have the DVDs, but producer David Mirkin said the reason they took so long to be released was they wanted to secure the rights to all of the music used on the show. Presumably this includes _Stand_. > > [Get a life - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Life_(TV_series)#Home_video) Including the **Star Trek** fighting music from “Gamesters of Triskelion”? **Benny Hill** used “Yakety Sax.” **Golden Girls** used “Thank You For Being a Friend.” ---
**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:** [August 18, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/22 "2016-08-18T22:02:56Z")
One interesting case is [Nadia’s Theme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia%27s_Theme), which is known mostly as the theme music for the soap opera “the Young & the Restless.” “Nadia’s Theme” was actually the theme music for the 1970/71 movie “Bless the Beasts and the Children” (and I think Karen Carpenter sang lyrics over the music.) It then got recycled sans lyrics as music for a promotional short about the gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and much to everyone’s surprise became immensely popular, even chartiing on Billboard. Then it became the theme music for “the Young & the Restless”, which has been running ever since (while the Nadia Comaneci and the original movie have been mostly forgotten.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/23 "2016-08-18T22:34:09Z")
“The Norm Show” used “Too Bad” by Doug & The Slugs. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/24 "2016-08-18T23:17:41Z")
This Old House used Fats Waller’s “Louisiana fairy tale” And it’s a technicality but the theme from MASH was from the Movie and was, therefore, “existing” for the TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/25 "2016-08-18T23:23:56Z")
**Designing Women** used “Georgia on My Mind” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/26 "2016-08-18T23:54:21Z")
_Cybell_ used the Gershwin’s “Nice Work If You Can Get It.” **The Jack Benny Show** used “Love in Bloom.” Bob Hope usually used “Thanks for the Memories” for his specials. Burns and Allen used “Love Nest.” In all cases they were song from their vaudeville days. For years, the Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC used the second movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. No royalties to the composer, and if they used the NBC Symphony version, they could probably use that for free, too. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/27 "2016-08-19T00:08:54Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > And it’s a technicality but the theme from MASH was from the Movie and was, therefore, “existing” for the TV show. The same is true of _ **Star Trek: TMP** _ and _ **TNG** _. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/28 "2016-08-19T00:18:47Z")
“Those Were the Days” for _ **All in the Family** _? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/29 "2016-08-19T00:35:44Z")
“Alfred Hitchcock Presents” used “Funeral March for a Marionette”. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/30 "2016-08-19T00:38:37Z")
Season 2 of “The Leftovers” used “Let the Mystery Be” by Iris DeMent. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/31 "2016-08-19T00:56:57Z")
**The Wonder Years** - “With a Little Help From My Friends” Joe Cocker version. Or maybe it was the John Belushi version. I can’t tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/32 "2016-08-19T01:04:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Those Were the Days” for _ **All in the Family** _? :dubious: Nope, written for the show. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/33 "2016-08-19T01:18:46Z")
American Bandstand: [Bandstand Boogie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR1WPkLnnZo) The game show Definition: [Soul Bossa Nova](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ALPzS0QfQ) This Week in Baseball: [Gathering Crowds, from a little remembered show called Jackpot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBeD74f5_6w) ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/34 "2016-08-19T02:20:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The short-lived _The Texas Wheelers_ - starring Jack Elam, Gary Buddy, and a pre-_Star Wars_ Mark Hamill - used John Prine’s “Illegal Smile,” probably the oddest choice ever for a TV theme song. Why a light-hearted comedy about a Texas family used a song about marijuana use seems inexplicable. > > [Here are the opening credits.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhUKVq7LyNw) John Prine typically states a “disclaimer” before performing _Illegal Smile_. I have seen him perform it at least 3 times and he has always had a bit of monolog before the song. > **[John Prine (album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prine_(album))** > > John Prine is the debut album by American country/folk singer-songwriter John Prine, issued by Atlantic Records in 1971. In 2012, the album was ranked number 452 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was later ranked number 149 in a revised version of the list published in 2020. > Prine was offered a recording contract by Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records after the record executive saw the singer perform several of his own songs at a Kris Kristofferson show a... Prine explains that he wrote “Spanish Pipedream” when he started performing and that the album opener “Illegal Smile” was “not about smokin’ dope. It was more about how, ever since I was a child, I had this view of the world where I can find myself smiling at stuff nobody else was smiling at. But it was such a good anthem for dope smokers that I didn’t want to stop every time I played it and make a disclaimer.” ---
**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:** [August 19, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/35 "2016-08-19T02:39:48Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > **The Wonder Years** - “With a Little Help From My Friends” Joe Cocker version. Or maybe it was the John Belushi version. I can’t tell the difference. lSWYDT 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/36 "2016-08-19T03:40:04Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > The British show **Peep Show** had its own lovely theme song for a season but then switched to using Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta’” for the rest of its run. Boring. > > **House** used the song “Teardrop” by Massive Attack. Wow. You nailed the first two songs/shows I thought of! I was actually re-watching Peep Show a couple of months ago and totally forgot they didn’t have “Flagpole Sitta” as the theme, but rather a more atmospheric intro with percussion sounds and a minimalistic little ploppy synth ditty over it. ---
**Author:** ![lew\_cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@lew\_cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lew_cody)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/37 "2016-08-19T04:10:59Z")
Going into game show land– “Now You See It” (1974-75 and 1989) used Quincy Jones’ [“Chump Change”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r_Ha4_epDk), a composition first heard on “The New Bill Cosby Show” in 1972-73 and then issued on Jones’ album _You’ve Got It Bad Girl_. [“A Swingin’ Safari”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AISyVGLZjGA) was composed by Bert Kaempfert and released on an album in 1962. It was used as the theme for the original “Match Game” for most of its run. [“The Savers”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwsdTsNFPyo), originally released on the 1967 album _Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music From Way Out_ by Perrey and Kinglsey, was used as the “Joker’s Wild” theme from 1972-74. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/38 "2016-08-19T05:31:55Z")
“The William Tell Overture” for _ **The Lone Ranger** _. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/39 "2016-08-19T05:56:17Z")
**Weeds** used “Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds. The first season used the 1962 original; seasons 2-3 used a new cover version each week, ranging from Elvis Costello to Linkin Park. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/40 "2016-08-19T06:02:34Z")
“journey of the sorcerer” by The Eagles is forever linked to “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” (Radio, TV and Movie I believe) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205.md?page=3)