Monday, September 26, 2005

What is the all-time best Sitcom Theme Song? There is a tournament to determine this at Boston.com. Well, excuse me, Boston.com, but I'm having a tough time lending any credibility to a tournament in which Green Acres wasn't even nominated.

2 comments:

  1. Retrocrush got it right. It's obviously Sanford and Son.

    http://www.retrocrush.com/tvthemes/1-25.html

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  2. I don't think it was eligible.

    Retrocrush was picking all TV Themes, while boston.com is picking TV theme SONGS, with words and vocals, this eliminating Hawaii 5-0 and many other greats.

    Actually, Retrocrush's choices were too parochial, even given their definition of any music for any type of show. Of all the great TV westerns, Bonanza probably had the worst theme song, and the great shows from the 50s - Westerns, Adventures, and Cartoons would probably be about 20 of the top 25.

    Just judging from popularity, Danger Man ("Secret Agent Man"), Rawhide, Rockford Files, Davy Crockett, Hawaii 5-0 and Have Gun Will Travel all made the Top 40 at one time or another, and I think Cheyenne and Yancy Derringer were the two best of the bunch.

    If memory serves me, the theme from Route 66 was also a Top 40 seller. Were there others as well?

    Having said all that, I also have to admit that Retrocrush's choice for Gilligan/Brady is a proper one in the respect that just about every American can sing those songs. If you are going to do a sing-along, those are the two songs everyone can do.

    My choice, however, combining popularity, memorability, and quality, would be "Secret Agent Man", the theme from Danger Man, a song which is still played today by every garage band under the sun, and which Retrocrush picked 96th.

    If I'm just picking the one I like best personally, it's this one, which Retrocrush did not mention:


    Cheyenne, Cheyenne.
    Where will you be camping tonight?
    Lonely man, Cheyenne.
    Will your heart stay free and light?

    Dream Cheyenne
    Of a girl you may never love
    Move along, Cheyenne
    Like the restless clouds up above.

    The wind that blows, that comes and goes, has been your only home.
    But will the wild wind one day cease, and you'll no longer roam.

    Move along, Cheyenne
    Next pasture's always so green.
    Driftin' on, Cheyenne
    Don't forget the things you have seen,

    And when you settle down
    Where will it be, Cheyenne?

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