Whatever happened to TV theme songs and intros?

What do you think of when we say . . ."Here's the story of a lovely lady..." or, "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..."? It's a trick question, of course; we know exactly what you think when you hear those things, and the TV producers that commissioned those songs knew that getting stuck in your head and never leaving was one of the purposes they would serve. You might notice, though, that they also serve another, very specific purpose — and it's one that modern TV productions don't have quite as much of a need for.

- Mike Floorwalker, www,looper.com, "The Real Reason There Aren't TV Show Theme Songs Anymore," September 15, 2022

Whatever happened to TV theme songs?  I really miss them, but they seem to be a dying art form - for several reasons, which I will discuss later.  But first, let's take a trip down memory lane.  Remember the following.

The Ballad of Jed Clampett from The Beverley Hillbillies, lyrics by Paul Henning

Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
And then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground come a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
The kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly

Hills, that is. Swimmin' pools, movie stars.

Remember how Archie and Edith Bunker (Craroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton) sang "Those were the Days" before every episode on All in the Family.  

Boy the way Glen Miller played,
Songs that made the hit parade,
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days,
And you know who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men,
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again,
Didn't need no welfare states
Everybody pulled his weight,
Gee our old Lasalle ran great,
Those were the days

Remember how Mary Tyler Moore "turned the world on with her smile."  And then there's Maude.  Remember the lyrics.

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider

She didn't care if the whole world looked

Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her

She was a sister who really cooked

The Jeffersons moved on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky.  And of course, Cheers was the place where everyone knew your name.  There are many more, but there isn't the space to mention them all here.

TV theme songs have gradually become an endangered species. Some shows still have distinctive instrumentals over their opening credits.  However, the 30-to-60 second theme song is becoming more and more a thing of the past on broadcast TV.  According to Mike Floorwalker, they no longer serve the purpose they once had, which was to set up the premise of a show.  For a long time now, network TV has not been the only choice for viewers.  Now there are so many more alternatives.  With an assortment of streaming services, video recorders and DVDs, you can always catch up with missed episodes or "binge watch."  In the past if you missed watching a series from the beginning, the theme song provided a brief summary.   

Another reason for the demise of TV theme songs is that the amount of advertising on TV shows has increased.  Some of that theme song time is now used for commercials.  It appears that TV theme songs will only live on in reruns.

- Joanne