The little break we’ve taken from this series was unintentional. Life happens, right?? Nothing bad has occurred…I’ve just had other things going on. At any rate, we’ve reached the halfway point!! Thanks to those who have enjoyed the project thus far, but if you’re a newbie just go here to get caught up, and we’ll see you when you get back.

60 We’re the Chipmunks (The Chipmunks)

We’re the Chipmunks

C-H-I-P-M-U-N-K-S

We’re the Chipmunks

Guaranteed to brighten your day

Alvin, Simon, & Theodore were introduced to the masses in 1958 with the holiday tune Christmas Don’t Be Late, and made their television debut in 1961. The incarnation I best remember aired in the 1980s when I was not yet too old for cartoons but pretty damn close. While the Christmas tune is still heard regularly each December I haven’t paid attention to the various movies & TV shows that have been produced in the last few decades. That 80s theme is still memorable though.

59 Hill Street Blues / The Rockford Files / Greatest American Hero / The A-Team / Magnum PI

You’ve probably never heard the name Mike Post, but if you watched television in the 1980s you undoubtedly heard his work. He is perhaps the most prolific composer in the history of television, winning five Grammys & an Emmy in the process. He also produced the 1998 album Van Halen III, the band’s only one with singer Gary Cherone. VH purists often dump all over it, but it has a few good songs.

58 The Smurf Song (The Smurfs)

La la la-la la la, sing a happy song

La la la-la la la, smurf the whole day long

Okay, okay…so I liked cartoons when I was a kid. Sue me. Much like The Chipmunks, I haven’t kept up with The Smurfs as an adult, but their Saturday morning show in the 1980s was good, and the theme song is simple & upbeat.

57 Love & Marriage (Married…With Children)

Love and marriage, love and marriage

They go together like a horse and carriage

This I tell you brother

You can’t have one without the other

You can’t go wrong with Ol’ Blue Eyes!! I wasn’t a fan of the show, which struck me as rather crass & borderline vulgar when I was 14 years old. I’m sure there was something else on in the same time slot as well, and DVR wasn’t a thing nearly four decades ago. In hindsight I understand that the creators (and the powers-that-be at fledgling network Fox) were being contrarian, intending to foist upon the masses a satire of traditional family sitcoms. I guess I wasn’t ready to appreciate such cynicism yet, which is ironic given how my personality developed thru the years. Love & Marriage was a Top 5 hit for Frank Sinatra in 1955.

56 Hogan’s Heroes March (Hogan’s Heroes)

Hogan’s Heroes is one of those shows that came & went before I was born, but found new life in syndication. I seem to recall my father enjoying it because, at that time (in the early 1980’s), he was going thru that phase that so many Dads experience when they’re really into war movies & TV shows. At any rate, the military style march used for the theme is undeniably memorable. 

55 It Takes Diff’rent Strokes (Diff’rent Strokes)

Now, the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum

What might be right for you may not be right for some

A man is born, he’s a man of means

Then along come two, they got nothing but their jeans

But they got, Diff’rent Strokes

It takes Diff’rent Strokes

It takes Diff’rent Strokes to move the world

Whatchu talking ‘bout Willis?!?!?? Actor Alan Thicke is remembered for starring in his own sitcom Growing Pains, but before that he was a successful singer & composer. Along with his wife Gloria Loring, Thicke wrote and/or performed the theme song for this show, as well as The Facts of Life and several game shows. This particular tune is a core memory for Gen X.

54 A Little Less Conversation (Las Vegas)

A little less conversation, a little more action please

All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me

A little more bite and a little less bark

A little less fight and a little more spark

Close your mouth and open up your heart and maybe satisfy me

First we had Sinatra, now we have Elvis Presley. When this program aired a couple of decades ago I had developed a hardcore Vegas fetish. It is still a dream vacation but will likely remain an unfulfilled fantasy. The show itself went thru too many changes and was moved around NBC’s schedule, to the point that I pretty much checked out when James Caan left the cast before the final season and was replaced by Tom Selleck (no disrespect intended toward Selleck, who is a great actor and seems like a cool guy). The song wasn’t a big hit for Elvis in 1968, but obviously people appreciate all of his music now.

53 Spider-Man (Spider-Man)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves just like flies
Look out!
Here comes the Spider-Man

Modern audiences are more familiar with the big screen adaptations starring Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland as Spidey (aka Peter Parker), but numerous live action & animated TV shows starring one of our greatest superheroes have been produced, with some version of the same theme being used.

52 Everywhere You Look (Full House)

Everywhere you look, everywhere you go

There’s a heart, a hand to hold onto

Everywhere you look, everywhere you go

There’s a face of somebody who needs you

Okay, I’ll admit it…despite the fact that I was a high school student then a drunken frat boy, I enjoyed ABC’s TGIF lineup of sitcoms like Full House, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and Boy Meets World, amongst others. I was familiar with John Stamos from his brief run on General Hospital in the early 80s, and found the rest of the cast charming & funny. The older I get the more the theme song resonates. What did happen to predictability?!?!?? 

51 Come and Knock on Our Door (Three’s Company)

Come and knock on our door

We’ve been waiting for you

Where the kisses are hers and hers and his, three’s company too

During an episode of Friends Chandler Bing once deadpanned “I think this is the episode of Three’s Company where there’s some kind of misunderstanding”, and it was hilarious because it’s true. They called it Jiggle TV, and as a young boy in the late 70s/early 80s I appreciated the visuals, even if I didn’t fully understand the urges they stirred in my loins. At any rate, like alot of other television programs of that era, Three’s Company was a product of its time that won’t ever be remembered fondly by erudite, critical types, but holds a special place in the hearts of Gen X. The theme song was, ironically enough, composed by the same guy who did the music for Sesame Street and The Electric Company.

I’ll get to Part 6 MUCH FASTER than we arrived at this point…I promise!!