TV Theme songs- they don't make 'em like they used to.

Show me that smile again.....


Maybe the world is blind, or just a little unkind. Don't know......


Everywhere you look....


What has happened to TV Theme songs? Gone are the days of great lyrics and vocal performances. Now its all orchestral pieces and melodic movements. Don't get me wrong, I tingle at the sounds of the themes from Downton Abbey or Game of Thrones, but its just not the same.


Here is a list of my favorite and least favorite theme songs of all time, in no particular order:


Favorite instrumentals:
Charlie's Angels (Glamour, pure glamour.)
Dallas (I still get excited when I hear it.)
Dynasty (Sounded like elegance.)
Knots Landing (This sounded like a smooth jam from the 80's, perfect for a roll in the hay with your housekeeper.)
The Dick Van Dyke show (Makes me want to fall over a footstool - in a good way!)


Favorite lyrics:
Punky Brewster (Sweet and sappy)
Silver Spoons (Some seriously tenor vocals.)
Family Ties (This could be a feminine hygiene product, but I love it)
The Love Boat (Full throated, lounge lizard delightfulness)
Courtship of Eddie's Father (Weird and wonderful)


Cute, sassy and fabulous:
It's a Living (Such and off premise for a show- chock full of Divas)
Laverne & Shirley (One of the cutest openings of all time.)
The Muppet Show (buuuuuuuut mostly American)
The facts of Life (Joy, pure joy)
Green Acres (Country bumpkin fun)


Favorite "Real" songs that were also theme songs:
My Life from Bosom Buddies (Vintage Billy Joel)
Believe it or Not from the Greatest American Hero (Easy Listening fantasy)


Funky Melodies
What's Happening? (What IS happening? That's a good question)
Sanford & Son (Makes me want to step!)
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Don't stop, get it, get it.)
Maude (So black for a white show!)
The Jeffersons (Yes, preach!)


Cartoon delights:
The Flitnstones (Gimme that big side of ribs- I wuv wibs)
The Jetsons (Interplanetary fabulousness)
Jem (The ultimate- my dream world.)
Fraggle Rock (A little folk-y for me, but great ending dripping in sarcasm)


Hideous, horrible, terrible, no-good themes (Steer Clear of these beasts!)
MASH (Yuck, makes me want to swallow poison)
Will & Grace (Great show, horrid song)
Hill Street Blues (Ewwww, gross)


Controversial, but not my favs:
Cheers (too sappy and syrupy)
All in the Family (I can't get in to that vocal, sorry.)
Who's the Boss (It should work, it just doesn't)


This list can keep going but if I had to narrow it down to my favorite of all time....
I have to go with The Golden Girls- never has a show been so beautifully captured by such a hokey 80's lyric. Brava!