Joel's All-Time Top Ten Television Theme Songs (Sitcom Edition)
10. "As Long As We Got Each Other" (Growing Pains) - This is a fine example of a theme song being superior to its show. If I never saw Growing Pains again, I'd be happy, but I sincerely love the sappy sentimentality of this theme, sung by pop singers B.J. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" Thomas and Jennifer "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" Warnes. (Note: I can't find a clip of the opening credits with this version of the song, so you'll just have to deal with the Seaver clan staring at you creepily instead.)
9. "Without Us" (Family Ties) - I kind of enjoyed Family Ties when I was a kid, but it was a little bit over my head with the political and social themes. My sisters watched it pretty often, mostly (I assume) because of the dreamy Michael J. Fox. The theme song , sung by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, has resonated with me since the first time I heard it, and it has a sappiness similar to the Growing Pains theme.
8. "Night Court" - This instantly recognizable instrumental is pretty much always on repeat somewhere in my brain. I still find the show to be immensely enjoyable too, though it is a bit dated (existing from 1984 to 1992 will do that to you, I suppose). I love that the first 8 seconds kinda make you think it's a gritty cop drama you're about to get down with, then the title screen appears and it's clear that you're in for comedy gold.
7. "Yo! Home to Bel-Air" (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - This show is an anomaly in my life, because it was a show about a rapper that my dad and I enjoyed together. My dad is in no way racist, but he does think hip-hop is bunch of bullshit. We didn't have cable, so our programming choices were more limited than many families' at the time, but I really think my dad would've watched this show anyway. This lesser-known, longer version of the theme song was used in the first three episodes, and is a bit more awesome. The song was co-written by Will Smith and Quincy Jones. Spoiler alert: this is not Mr. Jones' only appearance on this list.
6. "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (Cheers) - There's very little I can say about this song. It's a classic, and I don't know (or care to know) anyone who doesn't like it. It was co-written (with Judy Hart Angelo) and sung by Gary Portnoy, who also co-wrote the theme from Mr. Belvedere ("According to Our New Arrival") and the theme from Punky Brewster ("Every Time I Turn Around"), both of which are in my All-Time Top Twenty-Five Television Theme Songs (Sitcom Edition).
5. "Those Were the Days" (All In the Family) - All In the Family has long been regarded as a ground-breaking sitcom, and for good reason. The theme song is well-known, and was endearingly performed by the show's stars, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton, both singing in character as Archie Bunker and his lovable dingbat wife, Edith. Her shrill notes are simultaneously terrible and wonderful. Homer and Marge Simpson later did a wonderful parody/tribute at the beginning of The Simpsons episode entitled "Lisa's Sax."
4. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" (Perfect Strangers) - This is another example of a theme song being better than it's source program. I certainly enjoy Perfect Strangers much more than I enjoy Growing Pains, but I still can't want to watch more than a couple of episodes without getting bored. This theme song, however, is uplifting and inspiring, and it's a lot of fun to sing along with.
3. "It Takes Diff'rent Strokes" (Diff'rent Strokes) - Before Growing Pains and Thicke of the Night, Alan Thicke co-wrote TV theme songs. This song alone makes him more talented than his R&B singing son Robin, but he also co-wrote the theme to The Facts of Life (Top 50). I love how the opening credits make it look like Mr. Drummond was just prowling Harlem in search of two little black boys to take home with him.
2. "WKRP in Cincinnati" - I think this show is funny, but as it went off the air when I was five years old, I've only ever really seen it in syndication. My cousin Jason, who is two years older than me, had a major thing for Loni Anderson when we were kids, so I watched it with him occasionally, and it's one of the first TV theme songs that I can remember loving. It's very much a product of its time.
1. "The Streetbeater" (Sanford and Son) - If Quincy Jones had never written another song in his life, he would still be one of the greatest songwriters of all time, because he wrote the theme from Sanford and Son. This show went off the air just under one month before I was born, but my older brother watched it all time in late-night syndication, and I watched it with him, because I thought he was cool (for the record, he is pretty cool). I instantly loved the show and the theme song, and I still love them both just as much as I ever did. This is, without a doubt, one of my All-Time Top Ten Favorite Songs (Any Genre), and I could listen to it for days. My super-awesome wife and I were introduced at our wedding reception to this song.
And here's the full-length version, because you can literally never hear "The Streetbeater" enough times, even if you lived to be 382 years old.
So that's it - my personal All-Time Top Ten Television Theme Songs (Sitcom Edition). The themes from Barney Miller, Fish (both of which were co-written by Jack Elliot, who also wrote the theme from Night Court), The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Three's Company all fought valiantly for a slot in the Top Ten, but were ultimately bested by the rock-solid lineup you see above. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on my picks, and on TV theme songs in general.
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