Posted on 04/12/2013 8:55:50 AM PDT by MissTed
We started our Theme Song Thunderdome bracket with 32 of the greatest TV theme songs ever. You responded with more than 277,000 votes. And now that the dust has settled, Yahoo! TV users have officially selected one theme song as the best of all time: "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle," from "Gilligan's Island."
We admit it: We clearly misjudged this perennial favorite, saddling it with a lowly 12-seed in the bracket. But it proved us wrong by rolling through the tournament, knocking off heavy hitters like "Diff'rent Strokes," "The Addams Family," and "The Andy Griffith Show" on its way to the final round. And even going up against an all-timer like the "Cheers" theme song in the finals, "Gilligan" found a way to squeak out a narrow win, cementing its status as your favorite TV theme song ever.
The enduring legacy of "Gilligan's" jolly sea-shanty theme is, of course, its impossible-to-forget lyrics (we know, we've tried) that told the entire tale of the S.S. Minnow's ill-fated "three-hour tour" in a single minute. And that was Sherwood Schwartz's intention from the start. Schwartz not only created the series, but also co-wrote the theme song (along with composer George Wyle), which Schwartz crafted as a quick way to get new viewers caught up without having to waste time on exposition. Schwartz went on to repeat this approach with another beloved '60s TV classic: "The Brady Bunch."
(Excerpt) Read more at tv.yahoo.com ...
Jennifer I think you would be disappointed, plus HIGH MAINTENANCE!
Baily I think you would be surprised!
Last TV theme I liked was from the FOX TV show “Action” ( 1999-2000 ). Warren Zevon’s “Even A Dog Can Shake Hands.” Not original to the show.
“Jennifer I think you would be disappointed, plus HIGH MAINTENANCE!
Baily I think you would be surprised!”
Agreed. Bailey would be an “enthusiastic participant.” Jennifer not so much. Same applies to Ginger & Mary Ann.
Thanks for the info!! True, probably not in the running, but it’s one I always enjoyed, anyway!!
I don’t know, the 1966 “It’s About Time” theme song is most irritating IMO.
Don’t listen to it, really...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1G-TsdNWGg
“It’s about time, it’s about space...”
I read every reply to this thread and, frankly, I’m SHOCKED that no one mentioned this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBMESyjIkgs
Theme for "Dallas"
Buffy :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYS-7mqpc7w
Also Mork & Mindy , Dallas, Knots Landing, SOAP,
BTW, SMG in a CBS sitcom Pilot with Robin Williams. R.I.P. Jonathan Winters
I wholeheartedly agree on that one. I liked Bonanza as well.
No Beverly Hillbillies?
Mr. Lucky by Henry Mancini
I LOVE Gounod’s Music.
A lot of Classical Music was used for the old TV and Radio Shows. Here are Just a Few:
Hitchcock-”Funeral March for a Marionette” Gounod
The Lone Ranger-”William Tell Overture” by Rossini
The Shadow- “Valse Triste”-Sibelius
Warner Bros cartoons:
Strange Bird:”Fingal’s cave”-Mendelssohn
Road Runner-”The Bartered Bride”-Smetana
Bug’s Piano recital-”Hungarian Rhapsody #2”-Lizst
I’m sure there is more! LOL!
There was also a puffed wheat commercial that used Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture! LOL!
The Jefferson’s ... “Movin’ On Up”. No doubt this was the best :)
This is the 30-second version, there was a 1-minute full version, but it was pulled:
And I remember CBS Sports Spectacular used ELO’s “Fire on High”.
Thinking back to Gilligan’s Island:
That’s where I first heard snatches of Bartok and also some Prokofiev (not “Peter and the Wolf” but the Symphony No. 5).
I remember most of these, and Bugs’ Piano Recital never ceases to make me laugh. Thanks for mentioning it, and the others you write about!!
The sad thing is most of today’s kids are completely clueless about classical music, so they would not recognize ANY of these!!!
Yes...it is sad.
I am actually a Rock Musician, but in my quiet moments I play Classical.
All eras of music (and the other arts) have their Giants and their mediocre hacks. For Every Beethoven there were probably dozens of Schlemiels and For Every Hendrix there are hundreds of Schmendricks.
We just immortalize the geniuses and forget the others! LOL!
That was going to be my pick. Had the 45 when I was a young feller.
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