TV theme songs are a very big deal - or at least they used to be. Before Seinfeld introduced the concept of the 4-second theme song (leaving more time for show content), we would spend our first 45 seconds or so listening to a catchy tune about how the castaways got stranded on Gilligan's Island or how Jed struck oil on The Beverly Hillbillies.
Often, the songs became hits: the themes to Welcome Back, Kotter and Miami Vice both went to #1. Others weren't hits, but became part of the fabric of the show, setting the melancholy tone for M*A*S*H or making Cheers feel like a home away from home.
See how much you know about some legendary TV themes – and the artists who may or may not have recorded them – in this Fact or Fiction.
Further Reading:Often, the songs became hits: the themes to Welcome Back, Kotter and Miami Vice both went to #1. Others weren't hits, but became part of the fabric of the show, setting the melancholy tone for M*A*S*H or making Cheers feel like a home away from home.
See how much you know about some legendary TV themes – and the artists who may or may not have recorded them – in this Fact or Fiction.
90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TV
TV Themes the Last 4 Decades
~Jens T. Carstensen
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