Which TV theme songs have changed?

Cafe Society
41

Originally posted by Annie-Xmas

This is the most convenient theme change of all time. You can instantly tell if the episode is worth watching (Rock Around The Clock). If you hear “Sunday, Monday, Happy Days”, you bail fast.

“The Munsters” song changed, and it was only on for 2 seasons. The first 2 bars are different, but the rest of it sounds about the same to me.

I swear there are two versions of the “Cheers” theme. One has vocal harmonies during the chorus and one doesn’t.

I think there are some sort of union rules that require themes to be rerecorded every few years. I’m hard pressed to think of any that never have. Has “The Simpsons” theme ever changed? Or “King of the Hill”? The “CHiPs” music always sounded the same to me, but I’m probably wrong.

42

I remember they changed the theme of the Bob Newhart Show about midway through the series. In the beginning it was just an easygoing, very light jazzy tune with lots of brass. It was quite typical for a TV theme tune of the time.

Then they changed it to something that was still brassy, and probably played by the same musicians, but now had some funked-up touches and sounded like a dance song. It wasn’t terrible, but it just didn’t seem to fit the character of the show.

43

Eight Is Enough used an instrumental theme in early seasons, then switched to a smarmy song (“eight is enough to fill our hearts with love…”) sung by Grant Goodeve (David).

This site has links to numerous sitcom theme songs in all their variations.

44

Well, if it’s the Doug I’m thinking of (animated adventures of a young boy), the whole series did get an overhaul, including theme, once Disney got the rights.

45

If you listen to Lisa’s solo, you will note that the Simpson’s theme song changes every episode.

46

Not only five different themes, but five completely different intros with different voice overs each tailored around the theme of the season; sort of a reminder of what happened in previous seasons, and a hint for what was ahead. It is a cool idea and I wish more shows would do it.

Farscape did something similar I believe. (Though I can’t remember if it intro changed after every season or only after a few).

47

The first season of the original Law & Order had a different recording of the familiar theme music, although the spoken words were the same.

WKRP in Cincinnati originally showed someone in their car changing radio stations, playing little snippets of different stations, until they landed on the station that would play the theme song. In later seasons they just started the theme song.

48

Not quite every episode.

However, the closing theme has changed many times (often a variation of the main theme in the spirit of the subject of the show). Also, the theme often changes (marginally) if it complements the various couch gags.

I seem to remember the Barney Miller theme getting a “facelift” mid-run.

49

The Simpsons theme also replaced a man with a sandwich in the background behind Homer at work with Burns and Smithers.

How about the A-Team? When they added that Hollywood guy and went to the synthesizer theme, the show went from stupid fun to just plain stupid.

50

The “and the rest” part might have had something to do with the fact that the Professor & Mary Ann weren’t in the original pilot episode of the series. There was a ‘Professor’, but played by a different actor, and instead of Mary Ann, there was a sarcastic brunette actress whose character was named “Bunny.” I only saw the pilot once, and don’t remember what they did for a theme song, but I’ll bet the characters were recast & retooled at the last minute, after the theme had written & performed. They didn’t include the Professor & Mary Ann until the color episodes, a year later, when they would have had to change the opening any way.
The Mary Tyler Moore show: Aside from the changed lyrics & music from the first year, I recall seeing some episodes of thewith a truncated instrumental-only version of the theme in the opening. It was for later, post-Rhoda episodes, and I suppose they thought everyone was sick of hearing the whole song every week.

51

Drew Carey started out with “Moon Over Parma”, then switched to “Five O’Clock World”. It finally settled on “Cleveland Rocks”. Last season they used different recordings of all three songs performed in different styles.

52

According to the IMDB, the pilot had a completely different theme written by a guy named Johnny Williams. He later went on to score movies, mainly for Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Lucas.

53

The Cosby Show, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, Happy Days, All in the Family (same song, re-recorded each season) and Wings.

Three’s Company has a few extra bars of music in some early episodes.

54

Garfield and Friends started with “Friends are there to help you get started / to give you a push on your way” and changed to “We’re ready to party, we’re ready / I hope you bring lots of spaghetti”.

55

In the first season of Hart to Hart, Max the butler did a voice-over saying “…'cause their hobby is…Murder!” which was changed in later seasons to “…'cause when they met…it was murder!”

[sub]I’ve never been happier with my anonymity on this message board. :o[/sub]

56

That was the same song, it was just performed differently.

There was the Bobby McFerrin year, and the electronica year, and the symphony orchestra year, and the swing band year, and the jazz band year, &tc. - but it’s exactly the same tune, same melody, same rhythm. So it’s not really like a different song.

57

I was just about to post that, amarinth.

Also, Law & Order’s theme song has never changed. Variations on the theme are heard on the spin-offs, but the familiar “bum-bum do-do-do-do-do” theme has been in place since “Everybody’s Favorite Bagman.” (Yes, I know Law & Order episodes by title.)

The theme to “Fact of Life” changed several times, always using the same basic melody, but with different singers (one season it was Charlotte “Mrs. Gaarrett” Rae, in another it was Gloria “Mrs. Alan Thicke” Loring) and different lyrics. None of the versions was very good, IMO.

I’m fairly sure that each version of “Survivor” has its own distinct theme, does that count?

58

Nice to see that the theme song that got the most attention in this thread (so far) is “Gilligan’s Island”.
When I first came to this board, I was hoping the postings would suit my urbane, witty, erudite sensibility.
Now that I have seen the incisive, intensive research given to the Gilligan’s Island theme (and the show for that matter) I can see this board has got “cultcha” !!!
Incidentally, I remember the pilot episode (only shown once - about 20 years after the show was cancelled !!!) Basically, the theme was a calypso styled vocal. So, technically, the show had 3 theme songs.

59

In a thread that started with Babylon 5, I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned Doictor Who, which has had 7 or 8 versions (not counting the TV movie and the spin-off radio shows and web animations).

And what a great theme it was, too. It started with Ron Grainer’s spooky early electronica, which was simpe, creepy and effective. Then when they changed actors for the Doctor, they added the new actor’s face to the opening and added some flashes and added a weird sweeping flourish to the theme, which frankly made it sound overworked. When the third actor came in, they redid the opening in color (with the new actors face) but kept the theme - except at least one episode in this run had a completely different theme, with the same tune played on a bouncy harpsichord, that sounded completely stupid. When the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker, the one you all know) came in, they redid the titles again, with the new face - but this time with entirely different graphics as well (a tunnel effect instead of a kaleidescope pattern). I think they might have changed the orchestration at the beginning of the theme slightly, but I’m not sure. It’s possible the MP3 I have just fades in at a different point.

So that’s 3 or 4 themes now (one of which was only used for a few episodes) and 4 sets of graphics. Then when the fifrth Doctor came in, they redid the whole thing from scratch, with starscape graphics and a theme with a faster tempo and electric guitars. It’s fairly cool (especially considering it was recorded in the 80’s) but is thinner and lacks the atmosphere of the original.

The sixth Doctor’s theme was like the second’s - they took the theme from the previous season and added some flourishes. The starscape got a blurry-line tunnel effect and the theme song got some spangles, but it’s essentially the same. For the sixth Doctor’s last season (the Trial of a Timelord), though, they kept the graphic but recorded a new theme. It’s got a slightly slower beat and sounds much darker. It’s more modern than the original theme but every bit as spooky. The stories themselves weren’t great, but Trial gets my vote for the best theme.

What are we at now - 6 or 7 themes (depending if Tom Baker’s was different or not, I can’t remember) and 6 sets of graphics. The seventh Doctor again got a complete revamp, with glitzy computer graphics (which, frankly, look like they’re trying too hard) and a synth-and-guitars theme that was nearly as cheesy as the harpsicord. What a horrible leap backwards electronica’d taken.

And then it got cancelled.

The TV movie, years later, had an orchestra, which was pretty interesting but a little plodding. And I’ve heard there were other versions for audio books, radio dramss, and the like, but I don’t know them.

So there you have it - 30 years of different themes for just one show.

60

There is also a horrible ‘urban’ one going on about how everybody loves Susan while characters dance around on the screen. It makes me cringe.