Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #16

#16

The Weird Al Show

Written: Al Yankovic

Performed: Al Yankovic

Appeared: Running With Scissors album

Weird Al wound up with a Saturday morning program on CBS and this was the theme song he wrote for the show. The theme has been used by Al to kick off his concerts since the ending of his TV show.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #18

#18

Friends

Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap

Title: “I’ll Be There For You”

Written: Michael Skloff (music), Allee Willis (lyrics), and show creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman.

Performed: The Rembrandts

The Friends theme started the show with high energy and a lot of fun. Seeing the cast dance around in a fountain, set the tone for the show.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #19

#19

Big Bang Theory

Title: “The History of Everything”

Written: Ed Robertson

Composed: Barenaked Ladies

Performed: Barenaked Ladies

Bazinga!

CBS’s long-running show had this frenetic theme song that followed every cold open of the show (except the finale, which had an accustic version recorded).

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #20

#20

Gilligan’s Island

The Professor and Mary Ann get their credit in this version. They are no longer just “AND THE REST.”

We enter the Top 20 of the Top 100 with one of the most famous sitcoms of all time.

Title: “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island”

Written:  Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle

Performed: The Wellingtons (season one); The Eligibles (season two and on)

Fact: The original theme that was replaced was a calypso version composed by EYG Hall of Famer John Williams.

Fact: Bob Denver (Gilligan) went to the studio and requested that “..the Professor and Mary Ann” was added to the theme song, and that Denver was willing to move his own credit to the end in order to accomplish this.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #21

#21

Cheers

Title: “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”

Written: Judy Hart-Angelo and Gary Portnoy

Performed: Gary Portnoy

The theme song from Cheers is one of those that everybody knows. It is welcoming and familiar and has that lovely “come on in” vibe.

This show lasted from 1982-1993, and this theme was basically the same the entire time.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #22

#22

X-Men ’97

Originally composed: Haim Saban and Shuki Levy (with work by Ron Wasserman)

New version composed by : The Newton Brothers

Guitar by: Nili Brosh

Originally releasd inthe 90s, this updated version of the theme was something that had to br any part of a return.

The Disney + series was highly regarded by fans of the original as well as new fans. The theme song is one of those that you NEVER SKIP. I always laugh at the “SKIP THEME” button when it comes up on Disney +.

It is so iconic of a theme, the Disney + series used a bit of the theme when they revealed that Kamala Khan was a mutant.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #23

#23

Laverne & Shirley

Title: “Making Our Dreams Come True”

Composed: Charles Fox

Lyrics: Norman Gimbel

Performed: Cyndi Grecco

Backup: The Ron Hicklin Singers.

“Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!”

Laverne & Shirley was one of my favorite shows in the early 1980s and it kicked off every week with those Yiddish words. Of course, I had no idea what they meant… or what the words were. I would just sing along making it as close to the sounds as I could.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #24

#24

Monk

Title: “It’s a Jungle Out There”

Written: Randy Newman

Performed: Randy Newman

Fact: Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music

This song by Randy Newman was quirky and odd, much like our title character, Adrian Monk. This theme replaced an instrumental theme from season and ran for seasons 2-8.

Season one theme:

Daily Countdown: TV Themes #25

#25

The Addams Family

*snap, snap*

Composed: Vic Mizzy

Written: Vic Mizzy

Performed: Vic Mizzy

Additional voice: Ted Cassidy (Lurch)

The Addmas Family theme is known by everybody, even if you are not a longtime viewer of the series. The iconic snapping fingers is a whimiscal addition to the harpsicord-driven theme.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #26

#26

Twin Peaks

Title: “Twin Peaks Theme” also associated with “Falling”

Composed: Angelo Badalamenti.

“Falling” Lyrics: David Lynch

Instruments: piano, synthesizer, and saxophone

The eerie, moody theme fits Twin Peaks’s mysterious tone to a tee. “Falling,” which is the version of the theme song with lyrics, was performed by Julee Cruise.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #27

#27

Green Acres

Composed: Vic Mizzy

Performed: Eddie Albert & Eva Gabor

Instrumentation: harpsichord, fuzz guitar, and bass harmonica

I used to love watching the reruns of this show when I was younger, and the theme song was one of the reasons I loved it. I could sing this one at any time.

Green Acres is the first of the shows appearing on the TV Theme Songs banner to find its place in the Top 100.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #28

#28

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Title: “Yo Home to Bel-Air”

Written: Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff

Performed: Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff

Fun fact: This theme song replaced a theme that had been originally composed by Quincy Jones.

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song has become iconic and it not only represented the show perfectly, but became an anthem for the 1990s.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #29

#29

Mr. Belvedere

Title:  “According to Our New Arrival”

Composed: Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart-Angelo

Performed: Leon Redbone

One of the lesser known shows on the Top 100 Theme Song list, Mr. Belvedere was a sitcom on ABC for several years. It featured Christopher Hewett and Bob Uecker as leads.

The theme song by ragtime singer Leon Redbone is full of jazz and lyrics of change.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #30

#30

The Brady Bunch

Composed: Sherwood Schwartz and Frank De Vol

Performed (Season 1): The first season featured studio session singers (Paul Parrish, John Beland, and Lois Fletcher) with the musical track from the Peppermint Trolley Company.

Perfromed (Season 2-): The Brady cast members (kids)

There are few theme songs in the Top 100 countdown more iconic than the theme from The Brady Bunch. It is known worldwide and parodied by many, including the prince of parodies himself, “Weird Al” Yankovic.

The opening credits are fun and set the tone for the offbeat series featuring two blended families.