I have CB Head Honcho Josh Tyler to thank for inspiring me to spend the last hour scouring Youtube for some of my favorite TV theme songs. Remember back in the day when shows opened with a theme song that you knew by heart? A memorable theme song (complete with lyrics) seems like something of a rarity for TV shows these days. Sure, some shows still have some kind of music playing during the opening credits, while others run the credits right through the beginning of the episode and skip the song altogether.
Once upon a time, the theme song was an integral part of the show, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite theme songs from back in the day. All of the videos featured below are for songs that had words (many of which I doubt I’m alone in still knowing by heart). Further down I’ve given a nod to some theme songs that were memorable even though there were no words to sing along to. Are these the best and greatest of all TV theme songs in the world? Probably not and since the list was long enough, I decided not to go back to shows that were a bit before my time (The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laverne and Shirley) despite them being memorable enough that I’m familiar with them.
The Golden Girls - And the card attached would say, thank you for being a friend…
Diff’rent Strokes - They’ll have theirs, you’ll have yours and I’ll have mine…
The Facts of Life - Because there really is a time you’ve gotta go and show you’re growin’ now you know about the facts of life. The facts of life. I went with one of the earlier seasons, before the girl’s hair started to get really big.
Three’s Company - I used to love this series as a kid even though I didn’t get most of the jokes.
Perfect Strangers - Now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - He’d like to take a minute, just sit right there. He’ll tell you how he became the prince of a town called Bel-Air. If you were a kid in the 90’s, you may have attempted to rap this song with your friends on the school bus. Here’s the full version of the song, which I only ever remember airing once or twice:
Charles In Charge - Of our days and our nights… I went with one of the later seasons for this video since that’s the one I remember most. It’s a little bit peppier than the original version of the song.
Full House - This old familiar theme song is … waiting just around the bend!!
Growing Pains - “Sharing the laughter and love….” Gotta love it.
Cheers - I wasn’t even that big of a fan of this series (I know, it’s kind of a crime but I was a little too young to appreciate it at the time) and yet I still know the words to this one:
Married With Children - Something about watching Al hand over all of his money to his family that always cracked me up.
Blossom - Ok, a little light on the “classic” side but in my opinionation, it was a great theme song.
Salute Your Shorts - It’s I hope we never part, now get it right or pay the price! CB writer Mack Rawden reminded me of this one. For those of us who watched Nickelodeon back in the early 90’s, this one is a classic. If now, you’ve probably never even heard of the show.
Friends - Probably one of the last great sitcom theme songs, this one actually made it onto the radio.
I need to add that I wanted to include The Jeffersons and Fraggle Rock on this list but I couldn’t find embeddable videos for them.
