Engelman 1

AudreyRoseggEngelman

EntertainmentMedia

Dr.NaeemahClark

December5th,2016

MysteryPaper

WhatHappenedtoThemeSongs?

WhenatelevisionfanatichearsCaroleKingsWhereYouLead,theresusuallyalittle

sighfollowedbyadeclarationoftheirloveforGilmoreGirls(20002007),howmuchtheymiss

it,theiropinionsontherevivalorevenwhichteamtheyareon(#TeamLogan).Isthereanyone

whocantrapTheFreshPrinceofBelAir(19001996)themesongorwhodoesnotwishthey

couldhavebeeninthecarwiththecrewfromThat70sShow(19982006)?Kidsandadults

alikecanbeltouttheSpongeBobSquarePants(1999Debut)theme.Therearethousandsof

onlinelistsclaimingthemselvesasthedefinitivetop20,25,50,100TVthemesofalltime.

InthefirstepisodeofMonkseasonsix(20022009)titledMr.MonkandHisBiggest

Fan,MarciMaven,playedbySarahSilverman,complainsthattheychangedthethemesongof

herfavoriteshow.Attheendoftheepisode,shemakesMonk,playedbyTonyShalhoub,

promisethatifheevergetshisownshow,hewontchangethethemesong(IMDB).Asthe

creditsstarttoroll,Monksseasononethemesong,writtenbyJeffBeal,forwhichhewonan

Emmyin2003,startstoplay(Burlingame).RandyNewmansItsaJungleOutThere,

replaceditinseasontwo,sparkinglettercampaignsandpetitionstoUSANetworkdemandingits

return(IMDB).AthemesongissoimportanttoashowthatthereisevenaPrimetimeEmmy

awardforOutstandingMainTitleThemeMusic.
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Thoughavidtelevisionwatchersbecomeattachedtovariousthemesongs,thesetitle

sequenceswereoriginallyattachedtotelevisionshowsforthesimplereasonthatTVshowswere

modeledaftermoviesandmovieshadtitlesequences.Theoriginalpurposewastoliterallylist

whohelpedmakethemovieandtheircontributions.Intheearlydaysoftelevision,these

sequencesmightincorporatesomethingthathintedatthegenreorthemeofthemovie

(Karpovich).Forexample,ascarymoviemighthaveacreepylookingfontorthebackground

wouldbeafoggytown,buttheywerenotasspecificandcreativeasthetitlesequences

audienceshavecometoknowandlove.

Beforethis,movietitlesequencesweremodeledaftertheatricalplaybills.Itwas

completelyseparatefromthemovieandneitherthemusicnorthevisualswereinfluencedbythe

moviestheme.Oncethesequencehadconcluded,themoviecouldstart(Karpovich).

Inmorerecenttelevisiontitlesequences,themaindifferencebetweenanopening

sequenceforamovieandfortelevisionistherepetition.Theviewermustwatchatelevisiontitle

sequenceweekafterweek.Itmustaddresstheoverarchingthematicandnarrativeconcernsof

theentireseries,ratherthanaddressingspecificepisodes.

Thethemesongsetsthemoodofthepiece,passingalongimportantinformationabout

thegenre,settingandcharacter.Mostimportantly,itgrabstheattentionoftheviewerbyacting

asaroadblockbeforetheshowbeginsandbybuildingupanticipationforwhatistocomeafter

(Karpovich).Thetelevisiontitlesequencehintsatthegenreoftheshowandcreatesviewer

expectations.Itisacrucialpartofthebrandingoftheshow.

ThethemesongforTheBigBangTheory(2007Debut),givesabriefhistoryoftheworld

andzoomsinontheunlikelygroupthatstarsintheshow.Itsfastpacednatureandnerdy
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factsletaviewerknowwhattheshowisaboutbeforeyouevenmeetacharacter.TheBrady

Bunch(19691974)literallygivesthefamilysbackgroundinthethemesong.

Atitlesequenceleadsviewerstoexpectacertainrelationshipwiththetelevisionseries,

whetherthatwillbeloveandheartacheorcomedyandlaughter(Bednarek).Thepointofthe

musicwithinatelevisiontitlesequenceistoprovidesomethingconsistentasthevisualmontage

maycontinuetochange.Thegoalistoprovideaconstantthatmakesupforthevisualshocks

(Gripsrud).

TheSimpsons(1989Debut)isaprimeexampleofashowthatusesitstitlesequenceto

relaythecontentoftheshow.Theoneminuteopenincludesafullyorchestratedoverturewith

soundeffectsandintroducesthefivemaincharactersoftheshow.Obviously,theshowisa

cartoon,butrightfromtheopeningyouknowthatitsgoingtobeacomedyaboutaslightly

dysfunctionalfamilyandtheirversionoftheAmericandream(Kutnowski).TheSimpsons

recentlyusedtheirthemesongtomakeapointafteritwasrealizedthattheywerethefirstto

predictaDonaldTrumppresidencyinanepisodefromtheyear2000.Oncethatclipsurfaced,

theyusedthepartofthetitlesequencewhereBartiswritingontheboardtosayBeingRight

Sucks(Parker).

ProducersfromtheNBChitFriends,wantedtohaveatitlesequenceandrecognizable

themesonginthehopesthatahitsongwouldboostviewershipandhelppromotetheshow

(Zaleski).WhatcamewasTheRembrandts,IllBeThereForYou,whichisalmost

synonymouswiththehalfhourcomedy.Theextendedmusicvideo(i.e.notthetitlesequence)

evenfeaturestheactorsfromtheshow.Thethemesongdidnotjusthelptheshow;Friendsalso

boostedtheappealofthesong.
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Friends(19942004)wasntanimmediatesuccess,butinJanuary1995,theshowhitit

bigandremainedintheNielsontoptenfortherestoftheyearandfinishedatNumber8

(DeRosa).SixmonthsafterFriendswasdeemedasuccess;IllBeThereForYouspenteight

weeksatNumber1ontheBillboardHot100AirplayChart(Zaleski).

DespitetheconnectedsuccessoftheFriendsthemesongandFriendsitself,useoftheme

songsandlongertitlesequenceshavedeclinedontelevision.Whentitlesequenceslastinglonger

thanaminutewereattheirpeakintheearly1980s,therewerefewercommercialbreaksand

commercialsingeneral.Now,halfhourcomediesarenottruly30minutes,but21minuteswith

roughlyathirdoftheirtimeslotdedicatedtocommercials.Dramasarefacingthesametime

crunch.Manyshowrunnersdonotwanttodedicate30seconds,letaloneoneminuteofthattime

toalongtitlesequencewithathemesong(Schneider).

Bednarekstudiedtheparticularqualifiersoftelevisiontitlesequences.Shefoundthat

theyrangedintimebetween2040secondsandthattheaveragelengthwas34seconds.The

sequenceslastingbetween90and105secondsweremostlyonpremiumnetworks,suchasHBO

orShowtime,andcable,likeFXandUSA(Bednarek).Premiumnetworksdonothavetoworry

aboutcommercialstakingupanyoftheirtime.

Producersarescaredthatthebreakintheactionwillloseviewersattentionandgive

themtheopportunitytoswitchtosomethingelse(Here'sthestory...).Networksareokaywith

ditchingthethemesongbecauseitquickensthepaceoftheshowandgetsintostorylinesfaster.

Premiumandcablenetworkshaveanothergoaltogetyoutorememberwhereyouare

watchingtheshow.Viewersremembertheopeningandrememberwheretheysawthatshow

(Burlingame).
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InthenewworldofDVRandondemandstreaming,evenifthereisatitlesequence,the

viewerismorelikelytofastforwardthroughitpreferringtoskiprighttotheaction.Thetitle

sequencewasoriginallyusedtoexplainthebasepremiseoftheshow.Thenetworknowassumes

itsviewersareattachedtotheshowandwatchingregularlysothereislessofanimpetusto

remindthevieweroftheshowsgenre,themeandcharacterseveryweek(Here'sthestory...).

Anew,morecommon,typeoftitlesequenceisbasicallyjustatitlecard.Itisveryshort,

doesnotincludecredits,onlyanimatestheshowstitleandisaccompaniedbyarelatedsoundor

musicwithoutlyrics(Bednarek).ABCsGreysAnatomy(2005Debut),ABCsDesperate

Housewives(20042012),andFOXsNewGirl(2011Debut),arejustafewexamplesofmodern

showsthathavedroppedtheirlongertitlesequencesinfavorofashortertitlecard.Desperate

Housewivesusedthefirstthreesecondsoftheoriginaltitlesequenceastheshowstitlecard.

Eventhoughtheyareshorter,theseanimatedtitlecardsarestillrepresentativeofthe

show.Lost(20042010),anABCshow,neverhadalongtitlesequence.Instead,afterthe

openingscenesoftheshowwherethethemesongwouldusuallygo,thescreenwentblackand

thewordLOSTinblurrylettersfloatedacrossthescreenwithamysteriousbackgroundnoise.

TheCWshowJanetheVirgin(2014Debut),alsodoesnothavealongtitlesequence.

Instead,thetitleplopsdownoverafrozenpictureofwhateverhappenedinthescenebefore.

Often,thetitlegetseditedwithotherwordstotrulyfitwhatishappeningduringthatspecific

show.NowthatthetitularcharacterJane,playedbyGinaRodriguez,isnolongeravirgin,the

writerscrossoutthevirginandreplaceitwithsomethinguniquetothatepisode.CougarTown

(20092015),didthesamethingtotheirtitlewhentheshowbecamelessaboutcougarsand

moreaboutfiveolderfriendslivingtheirlivestogetherinFlorida.
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Astitlesequencescontinuetochange,producershavetodecideifthepotentialbenefits

ofhavingone,includingincreasedaudienceconnectionandrecognizability,outweighthecons

oflesstimefortheactualstorylines.Intheend,thejobofthenetworkistokeeptheaudience

captivated,whetherwithacatchythemesongoranalwayschangingopeningcreditsequence,

thegoalisviewershipandlonglastingappeal.ButwouldCheersreallyhavebeenCheers,ifwe

didntwedidntknowtheywantedtogowhereeverybodyknowsyourname?
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References

Bednarek,Monika."TheTelevisionTitleSequence:AVisualAnalysisofFlightofthe
Conchords."CriticalMultimodalStudiesofPopularDiscourse.Ed.EmiliaDjonovand
SuminZhao.NewYork:Routledge,2014.3655.Print.

Burlingame,J.(2009,June3).WhateverhappenedtoTVthememusic?RetrievedDecember5,
2016.

DeRosa,R.(1994,December29).ABC'sWiningWayWithComedy.USAToday.Retrieved
December5,2016.

Gripsrud,J.(1995).TheDynastyYears:HollywoodTelevisionandCriticalMediaStudies.
London:Routledge.

Here'sthestory...ofthedyingTVthemesong.(2006,October23).RetrievedDecember5,2016

Karpovich,AngelinaI."DissectingtheOpeningSequence."Dexter:InvestigatingCuttingEdge
Television.Ed.DouglasL.Howard.NewYork:I.B.Tauris&CO.,2010.2743.Print.

Kutnowski,Martin."TropeandIronyinTheSimpsons'Overture."PopularMusicAndSociety
31.5(2008):599616.Web.

Parker,R.(2016,March16).'Simpsons'WriterWhoPredictedTrumpPresidencyin2000:"It
WasaWarningtoAmerica"RetrievedDecember6,2016.

Schneider,M.(2013,November1).HowTheGoldbergsandOtherNewShowsKeptTheir
ThemeSongs.RetrievedDecember5,2016.

Stanhope,K.(2016,November2).'JanetheVirgin':SeetheCWComedy'sUpdatedTitle
(Exclusive).RetrievedDecember6,2016.

Zaleski,A.(2015,June11).TheRembrandtsIllBeThereForYouwasagoldenalbatross.
RetrievedDecember5,2016.
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