Never Judge A Show By Its Theme Song

What do Gilligan’s Island, The Brady Bunch, Three’s Company, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air all have in common? I’ll give you a hint: it has a melody, lyrics and will be stuck in your head for the next 4 hours!

It’s no secret there’s a new trend in television land.  Shows seem to be straying from the classic theme songs we all know and love. Who can resist the fun and catchy “Now this is a story all about how / My life got flip-turned upside down”? These songs literally provide the back story to the next 30 minutes of viewing. Today, with melodramas like 90210 and Gossip Girl, or action-packed shows like Heroes, isn’t it even more crucial that we clue in the audience to what will follow?

Instead, writers have abandoned the traditional theme song use for a shorter and perhaps sweeter approach. However, are these songs doing justice to the shows about to follow? Do the songs with the catchiest, corniest, and most telling theme songs have the most staying power?

I’m a huge fan of the new show, Glee, seeing as I review it every week right here. However, its one syllable, high-pitched, curt theme “word” (you can’t even call it a song!) is disappointing. It doesn’t do the fiasco and angst-filled drama justice…at all.

Other theme songs, overflowing out of the usual mold, have utilized this new trend to their advantage. A show like How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) is a great example of this. The intro is merely an upbeat musical interlude of “Ba ba ba’s” (catchy, nonetheless) that plays as old school photos of the characters flash quickly on the screen. These photos epitomize the HIMYM gang, exuding their carefree, troublemaking, bar-going selves. I often times find myself casually humming along.

Or take Two and a Half Men—a show whose song contains but a single word, yet repeated over and over and over again. However, the well-harmonized tune seems to surprisingly work in the show’s favor. Like HIMYM’s musical intro, the song is incredibly fitting to what follows.

Which brings me to my next question: does the theme song make the show or does the show make the theme song?

I’m not going to argue that the shows with the most famous songs are actually the greatest pieces of value-added entertainment. All I’m wondering is if it’s possible that one or the other is the standard. Or else, can we readily assume that both variations occur?

If the latter is true, then it seems obvious that we should not judge any show based on its theme song—they often don’t do the show justice!

Nonetheless, those that do work against all odds—especially in a decade when the death of the tv theme song seems upon us—seem to stand out and prove themselves even more than in the olden days.

One recent hit, Mad Men, is introduced with an instrumental—a quite sad sounding one in a minor key. Though the song doesn’t have lyrics, the actual introduction’s visual—a 1950’s ad cut out of a businessman falling from atop a skyscraper—greatly reduces the need for lyrics.

In situations such as these, we can appreciate the intro’s aesthetics in place of a more verbose greeting. The trend may be dwindling, dying or getting phased out for something shorter, less descriptive, and arguably worse, but in the rare occasion where writers and producers are able to make the most of these new circumstances, it becomes possible to judge a show by its theme song: it is these occasions where the show’s true character shines through in the most endearing way.

But with the many assorted strategies in this day and age, don’t judge by a couple simple notes. Take it from me: watch the damn show.

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Photographs courtesy of IMDbPro.