# TV theme songs you assumed were sung by a cast member, but weren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959 "2015-02-17T22:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/1 "2015-02-17T22:28:02Z")
I read something online recently about Woody Harrelson having sung the theme song to [Cheers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mi0r0LpXo). Of course, that’s not true - Harrelson didn’t even join the show until a few seasons in. But at the same time…yeah, if I had to guess at any of the cast members as having sung it, it would be Woody. It also reminded me that when I was a kid I assumed that Rue McClanahan sang the [Golden Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiQzUEc_FmI) theme, though I don’t believe that’s true, either. Anyone else experience this? What TV theme songs did you imagine were sung by actors on the show which actually weren’t? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/2 "2015-02-17T22:48:11Z")
There’s a brief passage in the closing theme for “Gilligan’s Island” (the earlier ‘folkie’ version, not the later ‘sea chanty’ version). The words are, “The first mate and his skipper too, will do their very best”. As a young kid, I always assumed it was Bob Denver singing that passage, because it sounds just like him. In fact, it’s sung by the folk group the Wellingtons. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/3 "2015-02-18T00:24:06Z")
Archie Bunker and Edith sang their theme song, “Those were the Days” ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/4 "2015-02-18T02:55:35Z")
It’s far more common for someone other than the stars of a show to sing the theme song. Other than _All in the Family_ and variety shows staring a singer (_The Dean Martin Show_), I can’t think of many. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/5 "2015-02-18T03:23:12Z")
Didn’t the Brady Bunch kids sing their song in at least one season. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/6 "2015-02-18T03:34:28Z")
I’m not sure if Mike Nelson sings the MST3K song during his run but it kind of sounds like it ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/7 "2015-02-18T03:46:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s far more common for someone other than the stars of a show to sing the theme song. Other than _All in the Family_ and variety shows staring a singer (_The Dean Martin Show_), I can’t think of many. The cast of Family Guy sings their own theme song (in character). To get back to the OP, The Partridge Family’s theme fits. I remember hearing it on The Wrecking Crew documentary a while ago and checked wiki to confirm that it was one of the things they mentioned. Most of the music they made on that show (including the theme) was all studio musicians with David over the top as the lead singer. As far as I know, David was the only person that made music on that show. The rest of ‘the family’ had nothing to do with the music. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/8 "2015-02-18T03:58:33Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The cast of Family Guy sings their own theme song (in character). > > To get back to the OP, The Partridge Family’s theme fits. I remember hearing it on The Wrecking Crew documentary a while ago and checked wiki to confirm that it was one of the things they mentioned. Most of the music they made on that show (including the theme) was all studio musicians with David over the top as the lead singer. As far as I know, David was the only person that made music on that show. The rest of ‘the family’ had nothing to do with the music. To be fair, David Cassidy does sing the lead in the show’s theme song, and the studio musicians that sang back-up no doubt varied, but always went for the same type of sound. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/9 "2015-02-18T04:19:14Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The cast of Family Guy sings their own theme song (in character). > > To get back to the OP, The Partridge Family’s theme fits. I remember hearing it on The Wrecking Crew documentary a while ago and checked wiki to confirm that it was one of the things they mentioned. Most of the music they made on that show (including the theme) was all studio musicians with David over the top as the lead singer. As far as I know, David was the only person that made music on that show. The rest of ‘the family’ had nothing to do with the music. I recall seeing a TV interview with Shirley Jones in which she said all throughout the run of the series, people kept coming to her telling her “You and those kids have to go out on the road and really MILK it! Look at how much those Brady Bunch kids are making!” And Jones had to explain again and again that “there really ISN"T a Partridge Family.” I always assumed Cindy Williams sang the theme song to “Laverne & Shirley.” ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/10 "2015-02-18T04:37:07Z")
If DVD commentaries count, at least one episode of _Game of Thrones_ had its [theme song sung by the cast.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REasBBiJm00) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/11 "2015-02-18T05:03:50Z")
Nell Carter sang Give Me A Break. I always imagined Janet Dubios sang the theme to Good Times. There’s no reason why I imagined that. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/12 "2015-02-18T05:33:00Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Nell Carter sang Give Me A Break. I always imagined Janet Dubios sang the theme to Good Times. There’s no reason why I imagined that. She sang the theme to _The Jeffersons_, so, not unreasonable to think that. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/13 "2015-02-18T05:48:58Z")
I always thought that the actor Gary Sandy, who played Andy Travis on _WKRP_ sang its theme song. It certainly seemed to be about his character, judging by his role as the new guy in the pilot episode, but I also thought the voice seemed to match. It wasn’t him, it was Steve Carlisle. _Wikipedia says popular trivia had it as Richard Sanders singing it. Les Nessman? Really?_ ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/14 "2015-02-18T06:02:09Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > _Wikipedia says popular trivia had it as Richard Sanders singing it. Les Nessman? Really?_ This is something I remember my family discussing back when it was airing. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/15 "2015-02-18T06:07:24Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I always assumed Cindy Williams sang the theme song to “Laverne & Shirley.” She didn’t. It was sung by [Cyndi Grecco](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyndi_Grecco). It was even released as a single in 1976 and made it to #25 on the charts. The theme song to “The Monkees” was performed by studio musicians with Micky Dolenz being the only Monkee to sing on it. ---
**Author:** ![RobotDevilDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RobotDevilDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobotDevilDog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/16 "2015-02-18T06:37:21Z")
There are numerous examples of cast members singing theme songs. The theme to “Alice” was sung by Linda Lavin. The theme to “The Fall Guy” was sung by Lee Majors. The theme to “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” was sung by Will Smith. The end theme to “Frasier” was sung by Kelsey Grammer. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/17 "2015-02-18T12:01:17Z")
Drew Carey sang the original theme to _The Drew Carey Show_, before “Cleveland Rocks,” “5 O’Clock World,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/18 "2015-02-18T13:23:08Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Drew Carey sang the original theme to _The Drew Carey Show_, before “Cleveland Rocks,” “5 O’Clock World,” etc. “Moon Over Parma” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/19 "2015-02-18T13:39:51Z")
I had always assumed that Andy Griffith did the whistling on the Andy Griffith theme, but do we even know who did it? ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959/20 "2015-02-18T13:47:31Z")
In the UK there is a joke (most specifically a running joke in the comedy show **Little Britain** ) that Dennis Waterman sings the theme tune to all the shows he’s been in. He doesn’t by the way. His first theme tune was to comedy drama **Minder** and the song “_I Could Be So Good For You_” which was released as a single and became a top three hit. He later did the theme tunes for his sitcoms **Stay Lucky** , **On The Up** and police drama **New Tricks**. He’s even managed an album of songs but while he isn’t marketed as a novelty act his singing, and tastes will vary, is arguably pretty poor. TCMF-2L [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-theme-songs-you-assumed-were-sung-by-a-cast-member-but-werent/712959.md?page=2)