# 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:** 3
**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:** [August 19, 2016, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/41 "2016-08-19T06:56:16Z")
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” uses “Temptation Sensation” by Hanz Keissling ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/42 "2016-08-19T07:00:34Z")
Does a Netflix series count as a “TV show” these days? I’m going to assume that it does. Netflix’s _Grace and Frankie_ uses a cover of the Stealers Wheel song “Stuck in the Middle,” sung by Grace Potter. HBO’s _Boardwalk Empire_ used the song “Straight Up and Down” by The Brian Jonestown Massacre. HBO’s _The Wire_ used 5 different variants (one for each season) of Tom Waits’s “Way Down in the Hole.” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/43 "2016-08-19T07:08:55Z")
Too late to edit: The HBO series _Treme_ used John Boutté’s “Treme Song.” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/44 "2016-08-19T10:37:48Z")
[Birds of a Feather (British Sitcom)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_of_a_Feather). [What’l I Do? by Irving Berlin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27ll_I_Do) “What’ll I do, When you are far away…” ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/45 "2016-08-19T11:52:34Z")
“Party of Five” used “Closer to Free” by the Waukesha band BoDeans The spinoff “Time of Your Life” used the BoDeans cover version of “I’ve Just Seen a Face” Brian ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/46 "2016-08-19T12:10:37Z")
Wings used a tune written by some dude named Franz Schubert. ---
**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 19, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/47 "2016-08-19T12:10:58Z")
The British superhero series **Misfits** used “Echoes” by the Rapture. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/48 "2016-08-19T12:54:04Z")
**Scrubs** - “Superman” by Lazlo Bane. This song originated from the soundtrack for _The Tao of Steve_ (2000), then Zach Braff suggested the song to **Scrubs** producer Bill Lawrence, which began airing in 2001. The song did not actually appear on a Lazlo Bane album until 2002. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/49 "2016-08-19T14:56:14Z")
“Community” used a song called “At Least It Was Here” by a band called “The 88.” ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/50 "2016-08-19T16:00:12Z")
_Suddenly Susan_: Beethoven’s _Ode to Joy_ _Grace Under Fire_: The Beatles’ _Lady Madonna_ _Eyewitness News_: the “Tar Sequence” theme from the film _Cool Hand Luke_ _The Dating Game_: Herb Alpert’s _Spanish Flea_ _Smallville_: Remy Zero’s _Save Me_ ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/51 "2016-08-19T16:14:21Z")
_Wonderama_: _I Ain’t Down Yet_ from the film _The Unsinkable Molly Brown_ ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/52 "2016-08-19T16:17:22Z")
**Cops** “Bad Boys” by _Inner Circle_ ---
**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, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/53 "2016-08-19T16:31:27Z")
“As Time Goes By” for the British sitcom of the same name. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/54 "2016-08-19T17:28:13Z")
In 1970, a UK song writer named Johnny Pearson wrote an instrumental for the BBC music library called [Heavy Action](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Action). In 1975, a little known American show called Monday Night Football chose it for it’s opening theme. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/55 "2016-08-19T17:36:36Z")
> [@lew\_cody](#): > > 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_. \ “Chump Change” is one kick-ass tune. Cosby is listed as co-composer and it’s on the same album as “The Streetbeater,” which is the “Sanford and Son” theme, which doesn’t count here as it was on the show before it was on the album, so I’m not going to mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/56 "2016-08-19T17:39:19Z")
The Matt Frewer sitcom _Doctor, Doctor_ had as its theme the Young Rascals’ _Good Lovin’_. And, of course, _The Syncopated Clock_ was the theme of _The Late Show_. ---
**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 19, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/57 "2016-08-19T20:05:25Z")
W5 is a Canadian TV news magazine show. In the '70s and '80s its theme was part of Fool’s Overture by Supertramp. ---
**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 20, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/58 "2016-08-20T00:51:55Z")
Mason Williams’s, “Classical Gas,” was used on TV news shows: > [@](#): > > From **Wikipedia** : > During the 1970s and early 1980s, many television stations (such as KIRO-TV in Seattle, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, WMGC now WIVT in Binghamton, WKYC in Cleveland, WBAL-TV in Baltimore, KNTV in San Jose, WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, WECT in Wilmington (NC), WIS-TV in Columbia, WCHS-TV in Charleston (WV), WFTV in Orlando, and WNEP-TV in Wilkes-Barre) used the composition – or a version of it re-recorded by Telesound– as their news theme. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/59 "2016-08-20T15:52:29Z")
British political / current affairs show **Weekend World** used **Nantucket Sleighride** by **Mountain** as the theme. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/60 "2016-08-20T16:37:49Z")
How about a double from one show? Very long running British pop music show (it went out weekly from 1964 until 2006) **Top Of The Pops** had various theme music choices along the way but the two best known were: A version of the **CCS** version of **Whole Lotta Love** by **Led Zepplin** lasted most of the 1970s and in fact was reprised and used again from 1998 and 2003. Insert own comment about how Led Zepplin were themselves playing a version of… Between 1981 and 1986 the show used a version of the **Midge Ure / Phil (Thin Lizzy) Lynott** song **Yellow Pearl**. Lynott was approached to write an original theme and he asked for stylistic guidance. When they said ‘Something like Yellow Pearl’ he suggested ‘Why not simply use Yellow Pearl?’ TCMF-2L [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205.md?page=4)