Death of the TV theme song

“Ill be there for you” seems less likely these days

Since the invention of the Television in the early 20th century, Televisions have always had a spot in our homes. Be it from the giant tube televisions that had 3 buttons and 1 channel, to the infinity thin plasma screens that dominate our living rooms, Televisions have become a staple in the lives of the modern world. With TV comes Television programs. What used to be only a handful of programs that came on once a week, now consist of thousands of programs spread across hundreds of channels playing on a constant 24 hour continuous loop. But there is one thing all these shows used to have in common. It was something of a staple for most television programs, and that is the TV theme song.

The TV theme song came from the notion of radio. Most radio shows back in the day had little theme music they would play before the show began to let their audience know what was about to play, since TV was a new concept at the time and radio was still the number one source of entertainment, Tv programs sought to keep some of that magic alive by incorporating Visual theme songs into it’s program. They usually incorporated the title of the show, and the characters as well(it wasn’t until later did the actor’s names and producers and what not get integrated into it.)These themes were usually just instrumental music that went along with the tone of the show, and usually only lasted about 20 seconds long if that, but as the popularity of television grew, the need to incorporate more and fill more time on the episode slots(this was of course way before we had an onslaught of sponsors and commercials)TV producers and studios needed more, so the TV theme song as we know it today was born. By incorporating the actors names as well as who directed and produced and what not, it could both fill a gap for time as well as become informative about the inside of the show, which was something people where dying to know. TV execs also realized that by creating a theme song designed specially for the show itself, that more people would be drawn to it, and know exactly what they were watching, hence the lyric specific TV themes we have have all come to know and love.

Who doesn’t remember singing about “meeting the Flintstones”, “Moving on up” with the Jeffersons, hearing the story “of a lovely lady” from the Brady bunch, or “being there for you” with Friends. These are some of the most iconic parts of Television history. They not only told us what we were about to watch, but help set the tone of the show. The TV theme song was just as much a part of the show as the characters were, I mean when those first few bars start playing of whatever was your favorite, you instantly feel like you are being transported into the show, to “a place where everyone knows your name.” Which is exactly TV’s job.

Nowadays, TV themes are getting shorter and shorter or not even existing at all. Instead, opting for just a title card and the actors names randomly listed across the bottom of the screen. This in my opinion, kills part of the magic of the show. It becomes so uniformed and less of a fantasy. Sure you have the occasional show nowadays that still holds true to the traditional TV themes such as Cray Ex-Girlfriend, The Big Bang Theory and Fresh of the Boat but even these are very short lived. There is of course shows like Game of Thrones Sense8 and House of Cards which have theme songs that are nearing 2 minutes long, but those shows are on HBO and Netflix, where commercials and advertisements aren’t a thing, so they can spend as much time on their theme songs as they like. They aren’t trying to get in 30 seconds of extra screen time for their show, instead they are devoting their time and money to creating a beautiful and complete work of art, not just filling a gap.

We are supposedly in the golden age of Television, with more highly rated and critically acclaimed shows coming out than ever before. But the “Ill be there for you days” seems lees likely. Viewership is down and a lot of people are claiming that some shows just can’t draw them in anymore. I am not saying this is due to lack of theme songs.( I would say over saturation, multiple media formats and youtube are huge factors in it) But Television is still an art form, and it used to be made that way, now it’s all about product placement and over the top budgets on useless shows, with convoluted story lines, lackluster acting and no theme song.

Let’s go back to the day of the TV theme song, where Television was not only enjoyable, but also brought families and friends together to escape the harm plains of reality and to find themselves in another world; a world of pure wonderment.