Daily Dirt: ‘Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name’

Daily Dirt for Sunday, July 21, 2024

Remember when a show’s theme music was as important as the program itself? Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,011 of The Daily Dirt.

1. One of the most important elements of a successful TV program is its theme music, preferably a song with words so we can sing along week after week after week.

The following are my choices for the top theme songs of all time for the three decades most important to anyone who calls themselves a boomer. I’ve included a snippet of each show’s lyrics, so please sing along as you are reading:

1960s

1. “Green Acres”
New York is where I’d rather stay.
I get allergic smelling hay.
I just adore a penthouse view.
Dah-ling I love you
But give me Park Avenue.

2. “The Addams Family”
They’re creepy and they’re kooky
Mysterious and spooky
They’re all together ooky
The Addams family

3. “The Flintstones”
Yabba-dabba-do!!
Flintstones, meet the Flintstones
They’re the modern stone-age family
From the town of Bedrock
They’re a page right out of history

Honorable mention: There is only one of these on today’s list, but I felt “The Rifleman” deserved some sort of mention. Can’t you just picture Chuck Connors walking down Main Street in North Fork after he’s blasted a couple more bad guys?

1970s

1. “Happy Days”
Sunday Monday happy days
Tuesday Wednesday happy days
Thursday Friday happy days
Saturday what a day
Rockin’ all week for you

2. “All in the Family”
Boy, the way Glenn Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade
Guys like me we had it made
Those were the days
Didn’t need no welfare state
Ev’rybody pulled his weight
Gee our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days

3. “NFL Monday Night Football”
As you know, in the beginning, the intro was music only, but what memorable music it was. “Monday Night Football” began airing on ABC in 1970 and kicked off with an opening theme of “Score,” composed by Charles Fox. The funky pop number was produced by Bob’s Band, headed by Bob Israel, who also created theme songs for other ABC shows such as “20/20” and “Nightline.” “Score” remained the show’s intro song until 1975.

1980s

1. “Cheers”
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name

2. “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

3. “ESPN SportsCenter”
SportsCenter’s “DaDaDa, DaDaDa” theme was composed by Grammy and Emmy-award winning artist John Colby, who was ESPN’s music director for eight years. The instantly recognizable chords have become one of sports’ unofficial anthems.

2. Did you know (Part 70) …

• Before George C. Scott was cast as “Patton,” the original choice was John Wayne.
• The role of Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean” was originally meant for Hugh Jackman, not Johnny Depp.
• Tom Hanks’ role in “Philadelphia” was originally designed for Daniel Day-Lewis. Denzel Washington’s role in the film was originally supposed to be played by Bill Murray.
• In the 1990s famed director Barry Sonnenfeld had plans to direct a “Jetsons” movie starring Jim Carrey and Nicole Kidman. The plan never got off the ground.
• Before Marlon Brando landed his famous “On the Waterfront” role, the original choice among the filmmakers was Frank Sinatra.

3. Many pro athletes have waited one year too long for retiring, stepping aside. The final images of some have been painful, but some of the worst choices in this regard have been made by pro wrestlers. Granted, it’s difficult to leave the limelight and the cheering fans, but I would think the following three — if they had it to do all over again — would have retired much earlier than they finally did. Their final images within the squared circle were quite sad:

• Ric Flair finally retired at age 73. At times in his final years, especially the last one as an active participant, The Nature Boy found it difficult to even get to the ring.
• Sting did not call it quits until he was 65 and was a mere shadow of himself by that time.
• Shawn Michaels was 53 when he retired, and like Sting, he no longer had the presence inside the ropes.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
In recent years, I’d say the “Big Bang Theory” theme music by the Barenaked Ladies is the best.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Steve must have eaten a bad batch of raspberry-flavored Zingers and isn’t feeling well, because he picked two sports-themed songs over The Rockford Files, Sanford and Son, WKRP in Cincinnati, Friends, Welcome Back Kotter, The Brady Bunch, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies … oh, the list is endless. And can you even count the Married with Children theme song, which Frank Sinatra popularized in the 1950s?