Redd Foxx had always been known as one of the “bluest” comics out there …
His LP’s were considered X-Rated before the term ever existed …
So the very idea of Foxx heading up his own television series seemed somewhat preposterous at the time …
How on earth were they ever going to be able to control him?
(And how were his fans going to accept a much tamer and toned down Redd Foxx???)
It just seemed like no matter how much guys like Norman Lear were pushing the limits with censorship, this one was just a disaster waiting to happen.
But it was Lear himself who took on the challenge …
And two of his shows … All In The Family and Sanford And Son ... regularly battled for the #1 spot in the ratings.
(In fact, there were also all kinds of behind-the-scenes battles between the shows’ leads, Carroll O’Connor and Redd Foxx, too, regarding who should be the highest paid actor on TV.
At one point, I believe a contract was actually written that stated that no matter HOW much money they agreed to pay Redd Foxx for his services, Carroll O’Connor would ALWAYS receive one dollar more!!!)
This funky theme set the tone for these junkyard dogs …
And who can forget “Hold on, Elisabeth, I’m comin’” … and all the hysterical barbs against Aunt Esther?
Sanford and Son ran for six seasons on NBC ...
(and this theme song will likely stick in your head for the rest of the day!!!)
THE PATTY DUKE SHOW (this one was an “Extra” in 2013)
Actually, I always liked this one, too ...
A very catchy theme that sets the stage for the whole premise of the series.
A clever idea (taking in the technology of “The Parent Trap”) but raising the stakes a bit higher by adding the Patty / Cathy dynamic as two polar opposites.
Patty was the All American Boy-Crazy Teenager … while Cathy (from across the pond) was much more refined and posh.
Still they always seemed to find a way to help solve each other’s problems.
One of the first great legal dramas, Perry Mason only
lost one case during his nine year run on CBS.(You can add to that tally a slew of tv movies after the show went off
the air ... and a not-for-everybody, myself included, prequel that ran on HBO earlier this year starring Matthew Rhys of "The Americans.")
We didn't end up with a lot of television themes from the 1950's on this year's list ... but this one's a classic.
It finished at #25 the last time (in 2013) ...
So it's fallen off a bit to land at #40 this time
around.
Joe Cocker’s version of “With A Little Help From My Friends” is my favorite Beatles cover of all time.
When I first saw him perform it in the Woodstock film, he completely blew me away.
So, of course, when they selected this as the theme to The Wonder Years (one of my VERY favorite shows at the time … Kevin Arnold was living MY life up on the TV screen every week), I was all in.
But is it really a TV Theme? Or just the use of a GREAT song?!?!
We left that decision up to you … and nearly two hundred of you decided it’s BOTH!
With 184 votes, that puts it at #41 in our 2020 Favorite TV Themes Countdown.
Here are a few more TV Themes Favorites that didn't make The Top 50 ...
But still earned over a hundred votes each ...
CSI (This one was an Extra in 2013)
As the votes came in for this one, I couldn’t help but wonder if folks were really voting for the theme of the tv series (a great choice, by the way, thanks to the medical DNA tie-in to the song's title, "Who Are You") or The Who song that has become a Classic Rock Staple for the past five decades!
Still, the minute that opening beat hit, it grabbed you immediately, and you knew exactly what show you were watching. (A revival is planned for next year starring most of the original cast members.)
Obviously it was popular with its fans … a very loyal audience …
The series ran for fifteen seasons … and spawned several spin-offs.
(Trivia Question / aka Old Bad Joke:
With all the spin-off series that this show launched, why were plans for a CSI: Ozarks edition scrapped???
They couldn't come up with enough convincing storylines because everyone there has the same DNA.)
TAXI (this one was an “Extra” in 2013)
One of MY favorites, this smooth jazz piece by Bob James enjoyed minor chart success (#83 in 1979) under its REAL title “Angela.”
It hardly seemed a fitting theme for the stellar bunch of misfits who made up the cast … but, without question, Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Conaway and Marilu Henner were all at the top of their game for this comedy classic.
What does a yellow light mean???
CHICO AND THE MAN (this one did not make the list last time in 2013)
The rise to super stardom by Freddie Prinze is just another in a long line of celebrity tragedies.
Although already a successful stand-up comedian, this show pushed him over the top ... and not in a good way.
(The show itself really wasn’t very good … but I sure did love that opening theme song, sung by Jose Feliciano.) THIS should have been a MUCH bigger hit than it was. (It only peaked at #96 on the pop charts!)
DALLAS (this one was also an “Extra” the last time in 2013)
The underhanded dealings of oilman J.R. Ewing delivered top ratings for fourteen seasons on CBS in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s.
J.R., “honest” brother Bobby and their parents, Jock and Ellie Ewing, built an oil empire in … well, you can probably guess the name of the city, even if you’ve never seen a single episode!
Their main foils may have been Digger and Cliff Barnes (spread out over decades), but there really wasn’t an oilman, banker, politician or woman that J.R. wasn’t above screwing over. (He even helped to cause a miscarriage for Bobby’s wife Pam so that he and HIS wife Sue Ellen could produce the first Ewing grandchild.)
When the diabolical scoundrel was shot in his own office late one night (the “Who Shot J.R.” episode scored the highest television ratings EVER up to that point), fans around the world where stunned and beside themselves, having to wait an entire summer to find out Whodunit. (It was Sue Ellen’s sister, Kristin, just one of J.R.’s many flings.)
The show even made a television star out of Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ ex!
(And who can forget Pam Ewing’s year-long "dream" where her husband Bobby came back from the dead, showing up in their shower one morning??? And how about Donna Reed replacing Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ewing for a season?!?!? Man, fans loved this show SO much, they’d accept virtually ANY storyline!!!)
Once that theme song came thundering in every Friday night, you didn’t dare move from the front of your TV screen. The nighttime soap opera was born!
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER (this was an “Extra” in 2013)
Of all the family sitcoms of the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, this one was one of my favorites. A lot of the storylines just seemed so "real life" that nearly everybody watching could relate at some level.
Jerry Mathers and Tony Down were perfectly cast as brothers Theodore (“Beaver”) and Wally Cleaver … and who can forget Wally’s best friend Eddie Haskell??? (To this day, Eddie's name is used as the adjective to describe any kid putting on such an obviously phony front to deceive!)
I've always thought that the theme song to this one is a beautiful melody in its own right. (And I just love this six season mash-up on YouTube!)
LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE (this one was an extra in 2013)
Another one of those corny ABC comedies, “Love, American Style” ran for five seasons.
Each weekly episode featured any number of short, romantic skits, often starring well know (well, primarily B-List actors) in brief role designed to show the ups and downs of relationships.
Most famously, the episode titled “Love And The Happy Days” gave birth to the long-running ABC hit “Happy Days.” (You’ll find THAT theme a whole lot higher up on the countdown than this one!!!)
Here’s THAT episode opening …
The Cowsills recorded the “Love, American Style” theme, (their version was used on the first season), but it was never a hit record for them. By 1969 (when this series premiered), they were already established pop stars. (In 1969, their version of the song “Hair” from the hit musical of the same name, would top the pop charts.)
Ironically, they were themselves passed over for a tv series when the fictious Partridge Family was designed to play a Cowsills-like singing family. (Incredibly, producers didn’t find the REAL Cowsills “believable enough” to play the roles they inspired!!!) You'll find the theme from THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY a bit higher up the list, too.
FULL HOUSE (this one did not make the list in 2013)
Man, my kids LOVED this show … and were CONSTANTLY singing this song around the house!
(It was good, innocent fun … and I’ll have to admit that I started watching a lot more closely once The Beach Boys started making appearances on the program!)
Recently revived for Netflix (minus the Olson twins), I think I made through two or three episodes before I permanently called it quits …
(Boy, you thought it was bad before!!!) ...
But this IS a fun tune!
(Damn ... I made it thru that whole piece without even mentioning Aunt Becky!!! Ooops ... too late!)
The Tonight Show Theme was written by none other than Paul Anka … who, I’m sure, has earned a pretty penny over the decades from the nightly playing of THIS one!
Best served up by host Johnny Carson, I don’t think there’s ANYBODY out there that doesn’t know THIS one …
Even if you usually watched it between your toes while lying in bed each night!
In order to make The Top 50, a TV Theme had to earn 152 votes or more.
These next five shows fell into the immediate "Runners Up" position, earning between 151 votes (for "MR.ED") and 133 votes (for "PETTICOAT JUNCTION.")
Be sure to check out all the others in between.
(We'll continue to feature "Extras" throughout the countdown ... so be sure to check back every hour today between 6 am and 9 pm ...
And tomorrow between 9 am and 6 pm to see ALL the Winners!)
MR. ED (#27 in 2013)
A horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one can talk to a horse, of course, that is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.
TV theme songs don’t come any catchier than this one … and it finished at #27 back in 2013. (It has fallen a few notches this time around.)
SESAME STREET (this was an “Extra” in 2013)
As you’ll see, several children’s shows have been nominated and earning votes in this year’s countdown.
One of the best (and longest lasting ... they're celebrating their 51st Season this year on HBO Max!) has been Sesame Street, the PBS juggernaut that first launched in 1969 (and has remained a television staple ever since.)
Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar The Grouch, Elmo, Grover, Snuffy and many, many others have become part of our collective families as a result. (Crossovers to characters from The Muppets was a semi-regular thing, too!)
A HUGE plus here is that the writing and acting worked and appealed at both the child and the adult level. (I found it THOROUGHLY entertaining when watching it with my kids in their younger years.)
And the music was top notch as well. (Several MAJOR music stars guested on the program over the years ... and the song “Sing” even became a Top 5 single for The Carpenters!)
The opening theme earned 145 of your votes … not enough for Top 50 status, perhaps, but CERTAINLY worth an “Honorable Mention.” (By the way, THE MUPPET SHOW scored 122 votes as well!)
THE DUKES OF HAZZARD (#35 in 2013)
I never watched a single episode of this television series …
But I sure did love the clever theme song opening …
Especially the line “They keep showin’ my hands and not my face on TV.”
The song went on to become both a pop and country hit for country superstar Waylon Jennings.
RAWHIDE (this one was an “Extra” in 2013)
Clint Eastwood first rose to fame playing ranch hand Rowdy Yates in this popular western that ran for eight seasons on CBS.
The theme was revived in the first Blues Brothers movie for the bar scene where the band played behind chicken wire to protect themselves from the crowd.
Crooner Frankie Laine sang the TV title track … and Sheb Wooley (“The Purple People Eater”) played Pete Nolan.
PETTICOAT JUNCTION (this one was an “Extra” in 2013)
There are certain images that just never leave you …
Such as the three Bradley Sisters popping up out of their bath in the Hooterville Water Tower!
Another spin-off from “The Beverly Hillbillies,” Aunt Pearl (Bea Benaderet) and Uncle Joe ran The Shady Rest Hotel. Cross-overs with “Green Acres” also occurred throughout the series’ seven year run.
This one missed The Top 50 the last time around ... and JUST missed making it this time around, coming in at #55.
The countdown continues at 9 am ...
See you then!!!
Considered a MAJOR breakthrough in television programming, All In The Family was nothing short of revolutionary … and was soon the #1 show in the country.
The opening theme, sung by Archie and Edith Bunker (series stars Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton), was even released as a single in 1971. (Awful as it was … by design, mind you ... it managed to reach #43 in Billboard!)
That theme moves up one notch in this year's TV Themes Favorites Poll.
One of the first MAJOR television hits (Lucy’s son graced the cover of the very first issue of TV Guide) Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz built a production company empire, launching countless shows over the years.
There are FAR too many classic episodes to even begin to list them ... and most are just as funny today as they were nearly SEVENTY years ago when they first aired on television.
“I Love Lucy” was a MONSTER hit … and has never been off the air since it first premiered in 1951. The couple divorced in 1960 … but never stopped loving each other.
Proving that, in typical television tradition, no new idea goes uncopied, The Munsters premiered the same year as The Addams Family …
And every week, millions of yungins ventured over to 1313 Mockingbird Lane to visit with Herman, Lily, Grandpa, Eddie and Marilyn Munster. (Marilyn was the “ugly duckling” in this family … the others conveyed Frankenstein monster, vampire and werewolf tendencies!)
Ranked #38 in 2013, The Munsters theme come in at #47 in 2020.
From "Three Sons" to THREE’S COMPANY in two easy steps!
(This one was an “Extra” in 2013)
From the era of “Jiggle TV,” this is another one of those sing-along themes that everybody knew and loved.
It made a star out of John Ritter (gone too soon) and I think in hindsight that even Suzanne Somers would agree that she should have just kept her big mouth shut … she has never enjoyed this kind of success since.
Up next at #49 is THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER (this one was an “Extra” in 2013)
Based on the movie (which starred young Ronny Howard, who just happens to have TWO of his OWN TV shows represented on The Top 50 Favorite TV Themes List), this TV recreation took the very likeable Bill Bixby and placed him in the Glenn Ford role. (Bixby was having a pretty good run … he also appeared in a few Elvis movies, and starred in “My Favorite Martian” and then the TV version of “The Incredible Hulk.”) Newcomer Brandon Cruz was cast as the precocious little Eddie.
I loved the movie but never got into the tv show. (In fact, the theme song, by Harry Nilsson, just may be the best thing about it!)
Good family fare for its time … I mean we ALL watched it. (Keep in mind there were only three channels back then!) I’m not sure how well it would hold up today … I haven’t seen an episode in YEARS and my guess is that it probably looks pretty dated in 2020 … but everybody on there was certainly likeable enough.
Even as the older brothers left one by one, the show lingered on for twelve seasons …
And who doesn’t remember that “Foot-Stompin’” opening theme??? (This one's a personal fave ... and this TV Theme plays in my head a LOT all these years later)
>>>You know, this would make for a GREAT segment on your program Monday Morning (the 23rd) ... and I JUST happen to be off from work that day! (lol)
C'mon ... you can't let Landecker be the only one slipping in short clips of music these days!!! (kk)
C'mon Bob!
Power to the People!!
Next contest?
Who has the best radio station jingles of Chicago history!
Clark
Well, he hasn't asked me yet! (lol)
Maybe Landecker will want to get in on the fun ...
And then, when we're done, we can continue our discussion of Dick Biondi playing the first Beatles record in America!!! (kk)
Kent,
You asked if your readers knew
that Richard Chamberlain initially did CLOSE TO YOU before the
Carpenters. I just happened to know that bit of information.
Now as far
as themes go, knowing the subject matter of FH, to me the theme from the
tv show HAPPY DAYS should be right up there. Where is Pratt and McClain
when you need them? (1976) Larry Neal
Definitely in The Top 20 ...
In fact, it'll run back-to-back with another TV Theme hinted at below. (kk)
This is what I get for being so insanely busy the past
few weeks.
My only real trip of 2020 (eighteen days), my vehicle having
transmission failure (and a faulty DEALERSHIP repair of that, causing a
failure again 77 miles out of Macomb, IL) ... and my resulting decision to
trade-in and get something new**, all the election CACOPHONY,
transitioning from Macomb to Chicago until June, 2021, an out-of-town
visitor from Oklahoma, etc. -
SOMEHOW I ENTIRELY MISSED ALL of the
voting for favorite TV themes of all time.
Obviously
too late but, for good measure, I'll list my favorites anyway ... or
several of them, at least. I'm not giving it a whole lot of time to
suss-out what they would be.
But ... DEFINITELY #1: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Big mentions: Superman (the original 1950s black and white series!); The Jetsons; the Flintstones; Rawhide
Another biggie, which I'm sure did NOT get very many votes: Murder, She Wrote (which is a TV show I didn't even like, lol)
My baby-boomer demographic is showing, lol
Frank Merrill
Boy, are YOU late to the party!!! (lol)
I CAN tell you that only ONE of your choices made The Top 50 ... but, thanks to some of the MANY extras we'll be featuring along the way, you'll also get to see and hear three others.
And, I can ALSO promise you a fun reveal as we make our way to the top ...
So hunker down and spend this weekend with us ...
As we count down America's Top 50 Favorite TV Themes. (kk)
Looking forward to seeing the results this weekend.
Rick O'Dell
Me-TV-FM
I cant wait to see the top 100!!
Will the TV themes in the Top 100 go from 100 to 1 in order of votes received?
Will that 1-100 list be available to print off, my friends will be interested (and me too)
Eddie C. Spencer
The countdown will run #50 - #1...
That’ll go up right here over the weekend.
When the countdown is complete, we'll posted the final Top 100 list (showing from #1 - #100) here:
Considering it only aired for one season (and is about as goofy as a show could be), this certainly give credence to a catchy opening theme!
The opening rap changed over the years …
But the scene of Richard Kimball fleeing the scene of the train crash that set him free is forever etched in our minds.
(And how about this heart-stopping moment???)
Dr. Kildare star Richard Chamberlain was able to parlay this success on the TV screen to a brief singing career.
His first three singles made The National Top 40 with “The Theme from ‘Dr. Kildare’ (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)” being the biggest. (#10, 1962)
Remakes of Elvis’ “Love Me Tender” hit #21 later that same year … and then his version of The Everly Brothers’ “All I Have To Do Is Dream” went to #13 in 1963.
DIDJAKNOW?: Chamberlain was the first artist to record the Hal David / Burt Bacharach song “Close To You.” It flopped miserably … but would go all the way to #1 in 1970 when it made its way into the hands of The Carpenters.
Not a show I ever watched (I couldn’t STAND any of the characters!) but I’ve got to admit that this is a GREAT theme, sung by the series’ star, Linda Lavin … so it’s worth a share today as we build up anticipation for our very special countdown.
This weekend we'll be counting down your Top 50 All-Time Favorite TV Themes, based on the nearly 24,500 votes we received over the past six weeks.
The countdown will run on Saturday, November 21st, from 6 am - 9 pm, and conclude on Sunday, November 22nd, from 9 am - 6 pm.
Every hour we will reveal another 1-5 titles as we make our way to the top of the list.
That means that during that timeframe you'll hear not only The Top 50 Favorites ... but at least another 30-35 "extras" that didn't make the list.
After the countdown is completed, we will permanently post The Top 100 All-Time Favorites on the other Forgotten Hits website, as there are just WAY too many great titles to only recap The Top 50.
In the meantime ... and, in the hopes of building up a little more excitement along the way ... we'll be running a few titles each day between now and then that did NOT make The Top 50 ... but are still well worth featuring.
So, sit back and enjoy ... at least another two dozen tunes that earned your votes ... but still fell short of the magic number needed to make The Top 50 List.
November 17th – Lt. William Calley goes on
trial for the My Lai Massacre
November 18th – Jerry Lee Lewis and his wife
Myrna are granted a divorce after thirteen years of marriage.Jerry married her in 1957 when she was just
thirteen years old.Oh yeah … and she
was his cousin!(The move nearly ruined
his career.)
Jerry Lee just celebrated his 85th birthday last month.
November 19th – James Brown, The Godfather
of Soul, marries Diedre Yvonne Jenkins on the front porch of her house in
Barnwell, South Carolina.They would
divorce eleven years later.
