What happened to sitcom theme songs???

[Aragorn]

More time given to commercials means less time for the shows, so a lot of shows have skipped opening theme songs all together and just run the credits over the action. But a lot of them were catchy... especially from the 80s!!!

227

Amen

Baby Talk

Blossom

Charles in Charge

Cheers

Diff'rent Strokes

The Facts of Life

Family Matters

Family Ties

Free Spirit

Full House

Gimmie a Break

Going Places

The Golden Girls

Growing Pains

Just the Ten of Us

Mr. Belvedere

My Two Dads

One Day at a Time

Out Of This World

Perfect Strangers

Punky Brewster

Saved By the Bell

Silver Spoons

Small Wonder

Step By Step

Three's Company

Valerie

Webster

Who's the Boss?

 

[Amaris]

Oh man, that takes me back.
I used to watch all of those shows when I was little.

*sigh* Nostalgia.


J.

 

[Skywalker]

I prefer this one.

 

[TheSeeker]

Oh man, that takes me back.
I used to watch all of those shows when I was little.

*sigh* Nostalgia.


J.

Wow, you watched a lot of TV! I don't think I even watched half of them.

 

[Samurai8472]

It was probably due to advertising time(ala Stargate)

 

[TheArsenal]

Itchy remote fingers also came into play. The same reason some shows have no commercials between the end of one show and the start of another. They want to throw you right in before you start looking around for something else to watch.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I prefer this one.

That's pretty good.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I liked the evolution of the Facts of Life theme over the years...

Season 1
Season 2
Season 5
Season 9

I never noticed how much Mindy Cohn looks like Jorge Garcia from Lost.

 

[Mistral]

Changing viewer habits killed the good theme song. MASH, Barney Miller, Taxi, Cheers, Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore all had amazing themes that were hooks in their own right to hold the viewer but these days we have no patience...sad, really.

 

[Starbreaker]

Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and Scrubs all have short, but catchy tunes!

 

[nevermore]

Changing viewer habits killed the good theme song. MASH, Barney Miller, Taxi, Cheers, Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore all had amazing themes that were hooks in their own right to hold the viewer but these days we have no patience...sad, really.

It's actually a function of the fact that shows have a significantly shorter run-time now than they did in the 80's. I think they've cut out about 4 minutes of show time for more advertising, so many producers choose to forgo the theme song or severely shorten it in order to use that minute for actual show.

 

[nevermore]

Changing viewer habits killed the good theme song. MASH, Barney Miller, Taxi, Cheers, Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore all had amazing themes that were hooks in their own right to hold the viewer but these days we have no patience...sad, really.

It's actually a function of the fact that shows have a significantly shorter run-time now than they did in the 80's. I think they've cut out about 4 minutes of show time for more advertising, so many producers choose to forgo the theme song or severely shorten it in order to use that minute for actual show.

 

[Gojirob]

I never realized how sitcom themes had died out until Bruce Campbell's 'Jack Of All Trades' was on some years back.

Not to get OT, but I was amazed to learn that some themes that were otherwise instrumental, like Dick Van Dyke's, actually had words that never got sung.

 

[John Picard]

I never realized how sitcom themes had died out until Bruce Campbell's 'Jack Of All Trades' was on some years back.

Not to get OT, but I was amazed to learn that some themes that were otherwise instrumental, like Dick Van Dyke's, actually had words that never got sung.

And not to mention, I Love Lucy. Probably the best sitcom of all time.

 

[TGTheodore]

I loved one of the last episodes of Boston Legal (itself having a great theme) when Valerie Bertinelli guest-starred and they used some of the theme from One Day at A Time as she walked down the hall of the office.

A good theme will instantly whisk me back to a classic show.

--Ted

 

[Zachary Smith]

1960's had the BEST theme songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qycmb7_LvsA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkOGM6gHvao&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2WlYgDe1Vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-0YBr-6IxE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVwFADi4Y38

 

[stoneroses]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMX0FS0r280 by Eric Idle and John du Prez

 

[Aragorn]

I added Blossom to the original list.

 

[IndyJones]

Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and Scrubs all have short, but catchy tunes!

I love the song from HIMYM, and listened to the full song not too long ago. It was...disappointing. Two minutes that don't sound framiliar at all, follwed by the part we already know, then it's done.

 

[Jadzia]

In england, when I've watched some old stuff from the 60s/70s, the half-hour programmes would typically run for 29 minutes including decent length theme tune and end credits (about 1 -> 1.5 minutes each), thus allowing the station a 1 minute lead for the next programme. For the commercial-free BBC, this was the norm.

Although the BBC still don't interrupt programme to put adverts on, they do now have hefty blocks inbetween programmes for their own "here's what's ons"

On the commercial channels, advert space has increased. The sky channels were initially the worst for it, with over 25% airtime being commercials, but the other terrestrial channels are catching up, with 5 minute ad blocks every 15-20 minutes.

And to get to the point, yes, the title theme and end credits are being cut shorter to accommodate this.

The same is true on children's television. In the 60s/70s/80s, you got the full programme, often with a 2 minute "please wait while this programme starts" screen with a picture of a clown and a girl with some chalk.

In the early 90s, that was tightened up and programming was back to back. In the mid-late 90s, the presenters interrupted the credits to chat and engage in banter with edd the duck, and introduce the next programmes.

In the 00s, the credits have largely disappeared, and the presenters are only briefly visited before the next episode of "strobe lighting with cell shading at 1000mph" begins.