# 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:** 4
**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, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/61 "2016-08-20T16:44:25Z")
Another long running British music show **The Old Grey Whistle Test** used **Stone Fox Chase** by **Area Code 615**. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/62 "2016-08-20T17:34:48Z")
All these posts and no mention of _Louie_ (usually) starting with “Brother Louie”. ---
**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 20, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/63 "2016-08-20T17:51:07Z")
“Heartbeat” for the British TV series of the same name. ---
**Author:** ![ch51](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ch51/32/3111_2.png) [@ch51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ch51)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/64 "2016-08-20T17:54:11Z")
Cupid used “Human” by the Pretenders which was a cover / remake of “Human on the Inside” by the Divinyls. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/65 "2016-08-20T19:29:10Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > It has become a tradition in the UK for coverage of Formula 1 motor racing to be introduced with **The Chain** by **Fleetwood Mac.** > > TCMF-2L Similarly my experience of watching televised golf is inextricably linked with “Love’s Theme” by the Love Unlimited Orchestra. ABC Sports used that as their golf theme for years. ---
**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 20, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/66 "2016-08-20T19:34:29Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Mason Williams’s, “Classical Gas,” was used on TV news shows: One local station where I used to live used a recording of another TV series theme: the original _Battlestar Galactica_ theme. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/67 "2016-08-21T01:37:38Z")
The short-lived Jay Mohr comedy ‘Action’ had as its theme song ‘Even a Dog Can Shake Hands’ by Warren Zevon. ---
**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 21, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/68 "2016-08-21T02:16:47Z")
\*\*\*SCTV \*\*\*used a couple of preexisting tunes: [http://www.sctvguide.ca/features/theme.htm](http://www.sctvguide.ca/features/theme.htm) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/69 "2016-08-21T02:44:41Z")
Didn’t Danny Thomas use “Danny Boy” as the theme song to “Make Room for Daddy”? And " Que Sera, Sera" was used o. “The Doris Day Show.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/70 "2016-08-21T02:55:12Z")
Valerie Bertinelli had a short-lived show called “Sydney.” The theme song was “Finish What You Started” by her then -husband Eddie Van Halen. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/71 "2016-08-21T03:45:08Z")
_I’ll Be There For You_ by The Rembrandts is probably better known as the theme song to _Friends_. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/72 "2016-08-21T03:53:13Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The CSI franchise, which used songs by the Who: “Who Are You,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Baba O’Riley,” and “I Can See For Miles” A surprising number of people that go to Who concerts are there to hear the “CSI theme songs”. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/73 "2016-08-21T03:56:48Z")
Recorded for the show, but a cover of an existing song… The Young Ones (80s British TV series, featuring, among others, the late Rik Mayall) used a cover (by the cast) of the Cliff Richard song of the same title. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/74 "2016-08-21T04:13:19Z")
Masterpiece Theater (as I still call it) uses “Fanfare-Rondeau” by Jean-Joseph Mouret First two seasons of “Happy Days” used a 1973 version by Bill Haley and the Comets of"Rock around the Clock" ---
**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 21, 2016, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/75 "2016-08-21T09:44:46Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > _I’ll Be There For You_ by The Rembrandts is probably better known as the theme song to _Friends_. It “is” the theme tune to Friends. As in it was written as the theme tune for the show and only later recorded in a longer version as a single. 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 21, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/76 "2016-08-21T09:55:01Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Similarly my experience of watching televised golf is inextricably linked with “Love’s Theme” by the Love Unlimited Orchestra. ABC Sports used that as their golf theme for years. In the UK the coverage of snooker is linked to **Drag Racer** by the **Doug Wood Band**. 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 21, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/77 "2016-08-21T10:22:23Z")
British sitcom **Butterflies** (starring **Wendy Craig** ) used a version of the **Dolly Parton** hit **Love Is Like A Butterfly**. 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 21, 2016, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/78 "2016-08-21T10:33:37Z")
British made (but set in Holland) detective series **Van Der Valk** had a distinctive instrumental theme music ‘ **Eye Level** ’ which proved so popular it became a hit single. According to Wikipedia (who am I to question this) it was originally written as a piece of generic library music before being selected for the show. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/79 "2016-08-21T10:52:11Z")
Henry Fonda starred in a one-season comedy-drama series called _The Smith Family_, for which the theme song was _Primrose Lane_. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205/80 "2016-08-21T11:49:25Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > It “is” the theme tune to Friends. As in it was written as the theme tune for the show and only later recorded in a longer version as a single. > > TCMF-2L Fair enough. I was living in New Zealand at the time and am positive I heard the song on the radio well before the show started airing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-which-use-existing-songs-for-themes/763205.md?page=5)