Yesterday’s discussion of musicals and musical theatre left me with philosophical thoughts in my head, along with the echoing strains of Christian and Satine’s love theme (though, to be honest, that’s been stuck there since we recorded ‘Zach On Film’ Tuesday night.) As earworms go, though, it’s better than the week and a half I spent with the Bonanza theme Shawshanking its way through my gray matter. Themes seem to be a dying breed these days, as more and more shows give up on the opening in favor of more advertising space or something, but they still have the power to thrill. A recent attempt to introduce a friend to the world of Super Sentai wasn’t exactly the screaming success I had hoped for, but damned if she didn’t enjoy singing the “Let’s go! Let’s Gokaiger!” bit of the theme song. Walk up to anyone in the know and say “Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state” and you’re likely to start yourself a sing-along, which both makes me happy and begs a query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) knows that people say we Monkee around, but we’re too busy singin’ to put anybody down, asking: What’s your favorite theme tune in pop culture history?
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Even though I’m not a huge fan of the show (I enjoyed it, but am not constantly clamoring for its return), the theme to Firefly is often running through my head. Also, songs from both Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog and the first season of Flight of the Conchords are big favorites that get a lot of iPod playtime.
Sing it with me now “Take my love take me land take me where I cannot stand…”
Firefly is in my top five.
Ulysees 31, Stingray, Space 1999, Defenders of the Earth, Duck Tales and Cheers
“Duck Tales” – aWOOoooo
Transformers or course!
Samurai Jack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e51hgWIsY4M)
My wife voted True Blood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxINMuOgAu8)
Notable mentions:
Batman Brave and the Bold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55S4v4Pdvw4)
The TIck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WII0B0J20QE)
The Wire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ABR4UpDSU)
I like an orchestral score something with a bit of grandeur like Battlestar Galactica (original) or Game of Thrones.
Vader’s march
Philistine from No More Heroes 2
Spider-Man, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o29VoxtsFk) and Spectacular Spider-Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnPlEmr3fLA).
Glass Shattered for Stone Cold Steve Austin. When you heard the glass shatter you knew business was about to pick up in the Attitude era.
Fun!
Jack of All Trades http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VNsjjYRgjc
Darkwing Duck http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa3wlWzLli0
Mighty Orbots! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an5VfHRSmnY
Not sure if it counts since it is an occasional alternate ending theme, but “Girls in Trouble” from Dekaranger is one that I can’t seem to get out of my head. My goddaughter and I end up randomly starting to sing it all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjw5jRCcfMg
If my avatar isn’t obvious enough, both the Japanese and American themes for “Digimon Tamers” (Digimon season 3 in the US)
Japanese – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se-2l5A2wu4
English – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNPQU_HTPmw
The opening theme to “Highlander: The Series” (“Princes of the Universe” by Queen).
I could list so many more themes I like (Buffy, Firefly, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, etc) but I think those will do for now.
It’s a toss-up between the themes to “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch.” You have to love a Sherwood Schwartz joint for recapping the entire show concept in the opening credits for new viewers.