And down the stretch they come!!!! If you need to catch up just go here and it’ll take you everywhere you need to go. It has always been my understanding that cream rises to the top. As much as I appreciate the previous 80 tunes we’ve discussed, I believe these last few entries are truly legendary earworms that have stood the test of time. Anyone of a certain age can probably sing, hum, whistle, or play these songs on some kind of instrument. Sadly, if you are under a certain age you missed out on the greatness of classic television theme songs, but hey, atleast you have binging & reboots going for you, which is nice I suppose.

20 The Office (The Office)

I was fashionably late to The Office party. I never watched a single episode when it originally aired on NBC from 2005-13. And then we had a global pandemic in 2020. I’ve spoken of my various issues during that time so there’s no need to beat a dead horse, but suffice to say I found myself with ample downtime, which is when I discovered The Office on Netflix. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as it has been reported that the show was, by far, the most streamed program in 2020, setting new records. Five years later, The Office is available on Peacock and airs frequently on Comedy Central, meaning that it is just as relevant & popular now…perhaps moreso…than first run episodes were a decade ago. Anyway, the composer of the synth-laden theme also wrote the score for 1989’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, which seems oddly appropriate.

19 The Facts of Life (The Facts of Life)

When the world never seems to be livin up to your dreams

And suddenly you’re finding out the facts of life are all about you

Actors Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) & Gloria Loring (Days of Our Lives) were married from 1970-84. Younger folks with questionable taste in music might be familiar with their son Robin Thicke. During their marriage Thicke & Loring wrote and performed two notable television theme songs. The Facts of Life was a spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes that actually lasted longer than its parent show and, in my opinion, had an even snappier theme.

18 Rock Around the Clock / Happy Days (Happy Days)

When the clock strikes two, three, and four

If the band slows down we’ll yell for more

We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight

We’re gonna rock, rock, rock, ’til broad daylight

We’re gonna rock, gonna rock around the clock tonight

Sunday Monday happy days

Tuesday Wednesday happy days

Thursday Friday happy days

Saturday what a day

Rockin’ all week for you

Okay, stay with me…

Happy Days can’t outdo The Drew Carey Show and its three different theme songs, but it did have two. The first season utilized a revamped version of the 1954 hit Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets. Starting in Season 2 and for the remainder of the show’s run a song called Happy Days (obviously) was written & performed specifically for that purpose. I assume due to music rights issues. 

17 Making Our Dreams Come True (Laverne & Shirley)

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! 

Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

More than four decades after Laverne & Shirley aired its final episode, I’m willing to bet almost anyone who has tried to sing its theme song gets it wrong, but that’s alright…it’s an infectious tune that stays with those of us who enjoyed the show back in the day. Happy Days was undoubtedly the superior sitcom, but its most famous spinoff has the more memorable (kind of) theme.

16 Batman (Batman)

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na

Batman!

The 1966-68 superhero comedy is a bit controversial amongst fans of The Caped Crusader. Comic book purists sometimes rail against its kitschy vibe that couldn’t be more different than the dark tone of the original stories. Most big screen adaptations of Batman have embraced the traditional noir aura, with one notable exception…1997’s Batman & Robin. That film seemingly paid homage to the TV show and got lambasted as one of the worst movies of all time. Personally, while I agree that it isn’t a great movie, I feel like it’s not THAT bad, and that opinion likely stems from my appreciation for the television program. Its theme is influenced by spy films & the surfing craze, and performed by a group of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew who also contributed to the Beach Boys seminal album Pet Sounds, Sonny & Cher’s signature tune I’ve Got You Babe, as well as The Godfather film score.

15 The Fishin’ Hole (The Andy Griffith Show)

Whether it’s hot, whether it’s cool

Oh what a spot for whistling like a fool

What a fine day to take a stroll and wind up at the fishing hole

I can’t think of a better way to pass the time of day

Did you know that the TAGS theme has lyrics?? Neither did I until a few years ago when I was working on a project and stumbled across that fact. Fans of the legendary television show are used to hearing the song whistled by its composer Earle Hagen, which adds to the innocence & charm that we love. To be fair, the whistling version was the original, and then a year after TAGS’ debut someone somewhere came up with the idea of updating it with lyrics (sang by Andy Griffith himself). Thankfully it was never used on television.

14 I’ll Be There For You (Friends)

You′re still in bed at ten and work began at eight

You’ve burned your breakfast so far

Things are goin’ great

Your mother warned you there′d be days like these

But she didn′t tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees that 

I’ll be there for you

Not too long ago I saw a headline that said something to the effect that kids viewing Friends nowadays find it super offensive. Thankfully I don’t give a rat’s ass what Zoomers or Gen Alphas think. In the 1990s Friends landed at the perfect time to make 20-somethings of that era feel seen. The fact that it was a Top Ten show for a decade and continues to be popular on streaming services validates its greatness. R.E.M. turned down the opportunity to have their 1991 hit Shiny Happy People serve as the theme song, so series creators wrote a tune themselves and Warner Brothers asked The Rembrandts, whose only notable success at the time was the 1990 song Just the Way It Is Baby, which charted in the Top 20, to record it. 

13 Welcome Back (Welcome Back Kotter)

Welcome back

Your dreams were your ticket out

Welcome back

To that same old place that you laughed about

In retrospect, Kotter is mostly remembered as the launching pad for John Travolta’s career, but that’s a bit unfair. It was a well written, funny show with a great cast. It stayed in the Top 20 during its first two seasons, but in its fourth & final year a confluence of events…new writers, new characters, Travolta taking a step back into a part time role as his movie stardom exploded…led to declining ratings & cancellation. The theme song was written & performed by John Sebastian, former frontman of The Lovin’ Spoonful, whose hits include Do You Believe in Magic? and Summer in the City. Welcome Back became a #1 hit for Sebastian in 1976.

12 The Ballad of Jed Clampett (The Beverly Hillbillies)

Come and listen to a story ’bout a man named Jed

Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed

Then one day he was shooting at some food

And up through the ground come a bubbling crude

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea

I tend to be overly sensitive about the way southerners, rednecks, hillbillies, hayseeds, hicks, yokels, and bumpkins are portrayed in pop culture. Having lived my entire life in West Virginia I long ago grew weary of jokes, ridicule, and preconceived notions that are largely off base, atleast in my personal experience. At any rate, there are exceptions to every rule, and the Clampetts hail from Tennessee anyway 😂. The show’s nine season run ended the year before I was born, but it’s another 60s sitcom that was in heavy rotation in syndication when I was a young boy. The theme song was recorded by legendary bluegrass duo Flatt & Scruggs and succinctly sets up the program’s entire premise. It actually spent a few weeks atop the country charts.

11 Thank You For Being A Friend (The Golden Girls)

If you threw a party

Invited everyone you knew

You would see the biggest gift would be from me

And the card attached would say

Thank you for being a friend

During its seven seasons The Golden Girls won eleven Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, and a variety of other accolades. All four actresses in the cast…Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and Bea Arthur…won Emmys. I was a 12 year old seventh grader when the show premiered, certainly not the target demographic for a sitcom about retired women sharing a house in Miami. However, because of its superb writing & top notch cast, The Golden Girls is one of those rare cases of something being so good it defies any traditional parameters. Thank You for Being a Friend had been a Top 25 hit in 1978 for Andrew Gold, although the TV show utilized a cover performed by a female artist.

Please stay tuned for the Top Ten…you don’t want to miss it!!