Stupid Questions

[random axe]

Ah, but you're not British.

Well, not recently.

[stormneedle]

She's got an eerily good American accent, does she not?

I haven't a clue where to start looking for this one...

[Detta]

Did you ever figure this one out Psi?  I have 5 of them if you want them.

[random axe]

At work today, a customer challenged me to name a 'golden' classic TV show that was great but had a terrible opening theme song or music.  His theory is that the opening theme is so important that a great theme makes a show and a bad one will kill any show.

I couldn't think of an example of a great show with a terrible theme, but there are plenty of classic shows that I can't remember the theme to, so maybe they were bad.  (I have a friend who seriously listens to those tapes of nothing but TV theme songs, and I don't regret that I don't do that.)  I have no idea if The Mary Tyler Moore Show had a bad theme song.

Still, it's easy to remember lots of 'classic' opening themes.  I personally hated the Laverne & Shirley theme, but I certainly remember it, and it was apt, and it conjures truckloads of warm fuzzy nostalgia for lots of people.

So . . . anyone have a great show with a truly lousy theme?

[stormneedle]

Wow, talk about subjective criteria. I could see somebody loathing "Lost in Space" the theme, but think the show was wonderful. I would assume that if you liked a show, you got used to the theme, even if you didn't like it at first.

If you reverse the question, "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" qualifies - the show was silly (as if LiS wasn't), but the theme was a work of art.

/Nelson Riddle owns you now

[mo]

I like this stupid question. I wish I didn't have to go to work - I'd sit around researching the theory on YouTube.

I think the theory might not be stated correctly though. Remember when I was looking for that word to describe a certain quality a song had due to outside influences? I think there's a similar phenomenon at play here. At some point in your viewing of a series, a Pavlovian type response to the theme song occurs, so it may be that initially you might not have cared for a theme song, but if you watched the show enough, and you enjoyed the show, then you would begin to like the theme song. I can't remember my initial response to the theme song of Gilligan's Island, but it's a pretty damn hokey song, so I can't imagine I would have liked it in the beginning.

I suppose it might be possible to intentionally come up with a theme song that was so horrible that it would override the show, like maybe something by The Chipmunks, but my theory is that over time it would grow on you.

NCIS has a pretty crappy theme song (IMO), and I've been watching that show ever since Defect mentioned it on here a long time ago. I've watched many many episodes, and that theme song hasn't really grown on me, but it does create a Pavlovian response that I'm about to be entertained for an hour.

LOST doesn't even have a theme song, just a sound effect, and it creates the same response.

Dammit, you're going to make me late for work...!

[mo]

Also, there are studies that show that the brain releases more Endorphins when you are told that you will receive a treat than when you are actually enjoying the treat itself. For example, the Endorphin release rate is higher when you are about to take a bite out of the doughnut than immediately after you have taken the first bite. Another factor at play here.

 

[random axe]

I realize how subjective this is -- I think the goal is to find an example that most people agree with.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space both started off serious and got hokier and hokier.  Lost in Space was intentionally changed to super-campy as a reaction to the success of . . . I think it was Batman, actually.  VttBotS got hokier mostly because its budget got slashed and slashed again, and hokey was all that was left.  Franky, though, underwater shows always flounder (pun not really intended) because they're hard to write.  They do sea monster, Atlantis, evil enemy submarine, and, uh, sea monster . . . Aquaman and Seaquest DSV and Man From Atlantis and so on -- it's never brilliant.  Gerry Anderson did a whole submarine show, and there's the Stargate one (which I never watched), but it's a thin herd.

People tend to love-hate themes like the Gilligan's Island song.  I'd have to say that that theme is more popular than the show, really.

[TFJ]

theme to sanford and son. gold.

[PVC Barbie]

Ah uh oh shit! Earworm!
*roll for saving throw*
..........
FAILED


AHHHHHHHHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHH

[stormneedle]

Be grateful you didn't throw a critical failure. No, I don't know what that'd do, and I don't want to.

[TFJ]

hail yeah! dow dow DOW now.... dow dow Dow now Dow now now... dow dow Dow now....

[flipper]

  Sanford and Son theme.

I can't think of any off hand, but I love all the hokey theme songs like Gilligan's Island, Mr. Ed, Lost in Space, etc.

[mrcookieface]

Tales From The Darkside.  Great show; hated the intro/theme.

The first season had the best episode where a stubborn old grandpa doesn't realize that he died.  He kept sitting in his rocking chair on the front porch, and he was starting to rot and draw flies.

People kept telling him that he was dead and he needed to go lay down for the big sleep, but he Bah'ed them away.  He was after all, quite stubborn.  If I remember correctly, his nose finally fell off his face and that's what finally convinced him that his time had (long past) come.  The last shot was grandpa walking up the stairs with his cane, and toward his "death bed".

Oh hey!  IMDB has the episode listed!

[Psidefect]

Did you ever figure this one out Psi?  I have 5 of them if you want them.

No, but I'm willing to pay $1.50 for each one if anyone wants to start collecting them.

Seriously, if any of you work with cash, this is a serious offer.

...

Dali, your subjectivity theories remind me of how one's perception of color is greatly affected by the colors in close proximity to it (example here, with shades of grey).

I'm not sure exactly how that fits with your theories, but that's what they made me think of. I think of stuff like this a lot when people talk about ranking or rating movies, music, tv shows, paintings, or whatever, but I've done a lot of drugs over the years, so take that wi- Ooo, shiney!

theme to sanford and son. gold.

AMEN!