Theme songs were the bread and butter of TV. Theme songs does for TV that junk food does for your mouth. You just can't help but go "wow." You could watch your TV shows week after week and not ever get tired of the song that introduces the spectacle that you'd be watching for the next 30 minutes or an hour. Now, when I watch TV, I can't help but feel incomplete.
Producers have done away with TV theme songs to make room for more ad time. They have also shaved off a few minutes of each episode, but that's a whole 'nother thing to complain about. What used to be one of the best things about TV has been reduced to about 10 seconds of perky music, or for most shows nowadays, nothing.
The reason that theme songs were created was to make time for credits (after all, you DO have to credit people for their work, right?). This also gave the viewers an added bonus of enjoyable TV moments. I guess the reality of all this is that when it comes down to it - money matters. In an effort to earn more cash, they've lost sight of the thing that perhaps drew in and kept their viewers. Maybe this is why ratings are lower?
I remember way back when the theme songs lasted for about a minute while images of the actors and their names flashed on the screen. I remember way back when I laughed or smiled before the show even started. I remember being eased into something gently rather than have something thrown in my face. It was the equality of easing slowly into a hot tub, savoring the moment rather than just jumping in.
Not only have they pretty much eliminated theme songs, they've also messed with the credits. They are usually shown during the opening scenes of the TV show, but who actually watches that? I know I don't. Some TV shows have credits stashed at the end, running through them quickly in a 1/2 window while the other 1/2 is showing an advertisement. I've even see TV shows run through the credits so fast (in 5 seconds or less), that you'd have to pause to actually be able to see what they were. Pretty sad.
Not all is lost, though. There are a still few TV shows that have theme songs, but I wonder how many seasons they'll go before they wise up. True Blood, Dexter, United States of Tara are among a few that are still clinging to the old tradition.
I give it just a few more years before theme songs become completely extinct, and before that happens, I'd like to acknowledge some of my favorites..
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - a nice rap that catered to their African American audience, and also tasteful enough for us "whites" who like to feel involved.
Saved by the Bell - a classic. Enough said.
Growing Pains - a great "family" song about loving, smiling and getting through hard times together. How can you not like that?
Doogie Howser - the perfect perky song. It doesn't get any better than that.
Can you come up with some of your own favorites?
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1 comment:
I never thought about theme songs because I am profoundly deaf but I remember that I loved the beginning of "The Growing Pains", now I see that was the time for the theme song but it was fun for me to watch before the show startred. When I was in elementary school, I loved the "theme song" part of the "Thunder Cats" and "He-Man", ha. Sometimes that was all I could watch before the school bus picked me up in the mornings!
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