I can confirm that for Shirley Jones. I know the woman who sang all of Shirley Partridge’s parts. She also sang the well-known ditty: Rice-a-roni, the San Francisco Treat! Those ads are (were?) the longest running in history and she gets royalties ever time it airs.
I believe Holly Robinson sang the theme to 21 Jump Street.
diving into filth.
many people think that Two and a Half Men is sung by the actors, it is not.
You imagined that because it was true - the male singer wasn’t part of the cast, but DuBois sang the female part.
The one I originally thought was cast-sung but wasn’t: One Day at a Time.
I don’t know who sings the main part of it, but back when Jake was on it (and small), his last line “men” was sung by Bernadette Peters.
I always felt the Three’s Company song sounded like the main actors were singing it, and it definitely didn’t sound like the real singer (Ray Charles)
Sorry, Elizabeth (E.G.) Daily.
A different Ray Charles (thank Frith!). Look under Alternate Names in Personal Details.
Actually, there was. It was The Cowsills .
There was a Showtime documentary on them not long ago. Very sad.
I always imagined that Mrs. Garrett sang the theme song to “The Facts of Life.”
One of the great theme songs of all time!
You must hear this. 
A lot of people thought that the theme from Welcome Back, Kotter was sung by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, the actor who played Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington (the black Sweathog). He said he often got asked to sing it. I saw him perform it once, and he sounded nothing like the TV show.
Actually, the theme was sung by John Sebastian, the former frontman for The Lovin’ Spoonful. (And one of the whitest guys in show biz.)
In the first season, when there were different lyrics, Charlotte Rae actually did sing a few lines of the song.
:eek:
A lot of people? I thought it was mostly common knowledge that it was John Sebastian singing. It was a #1 song and got lots of airplay when it came out. The first card of the closing credits of Welcome Back, Kotter listed “Music Composed and Performed by John B. Sebastian.”
Also–John Sebastian sang “Welcome Back” (and played guitar, natch) on the very first Saturday Night Live (which was called “NBC’s Saturday Night” at the time) in 1975; George Carlin was the guest host IIRC.
Nope, not Andy - Earle Hagen, who also co-wrote it.
Did you know it had lyrics? Here is Andy singing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PVUit1-0Ck
I know it’s been a long time since the OP started this thread but I couldn’t help but write because I thought the same exact thing about both shows! When I was a kid, I thought Woody sang the Cheers theme and Blanche sang the Golden Girls theme. I also thought John Ritter sang the Three’s Company theme, the parents on Family Ties sang their theme, and Nicole Eggert sang Charles in Charge.
I guess when you’re young it’s just a natural inclination to associate the voice with one of the faces you associate with the show. Such a strange phenomenon. I thought it was just me!
Actually, he sang it on the 18th episode. He and Phoebe Snow were the musical guests, and Raquel Welch was the guest host.
Many people assume that the opening theme and closing theme tunes (especially the closing theme tune) to British sitcom Only Fools and Horses is sung by cast member Nicholas Lyndhurst, when it was actually the show’s writer John Sullivan who sang them. The reason is the voices of the two are uncannily similar.
People think Alan Thicke sang the theme song to Growing Pains. Thicke was the father on the show, but the theme was sung by B. J. Thomas. However, Thicke DID sing the theme to Diff’rent Strokes.