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Saturday, December 12, 2009
Saturday Morning Trivia
Because one can't be deadly serious all the time.
One of the "advantages" of an overstuffed memory (Say, do you remember every address and every telephone number you've ever had, all the way back to toddlerhood? There is no cure...and maybe no hope, either) is the spontaneous reassertion of a memory that won't let you be. In my case, the most common such occurrences are musical. Sometimes it's the theme from some great classical composition; sometimes it's a melody from a popular song; sometimes it's...a bit lower on the cultural scale.
This morning it was a television theme song: the one from the old Perry Mason show. It surged back because of a bit of name-association I won't trouble you with, took up residence in my forebrain, and pounded away at me for quite some time.
It occurred to me, after the immediate suffering had been blunted, that among the classic television series of my youth were several whose theme music would immediately spark remembrance in anyone near my age (57).
These occurred to me at once:
- Bonanza
- Perry Mason
- Walt Disney
- Rawhide
- 77 Sunset Strip
- The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Hawaii Five-Oh
- Mission: IMPOSSIBLE
...and yes, each theme, as I remembered them, inflicted an "earworm" upon me that was deucedly difficult to extinguish.
So, Gentle Readers -- those who are at approximately my stage of obsolescence, anyway -- which bits of "classic" TV theme music do that to you?
UPDATE: Reader Duncan, undoubtedly a creature of unbounded evil, has sent this link to a compilation site of television theme music. It's quite comprehensive and powerfully addicting; beware!
Comments
When Mrs. ‘Bix encounters any new instrument, she must immediately play the theme from The Brady Bunch. I haven’t heard it yet on a didgeridoo, yet, but who knows?
Posted by on 12/12/2009 at 12:53 PMST: TOS ... da-ta-ta, tah-ta-ta-ta-tah, tada!
The Monkees. The Avengers. Peter Gunn (yes, that’s digging back, but Mom had a record of it). Mission Impossible, definitely. Yes to Perry Mason and Hawaii Five-Oh. Batman.
And I didn’t watch Bonanza, but now I’ve got the earworm. Thanks.
And from a little later in life, the Mary Tyler Moore theme. All in the Family, ("Boy the way Glenn Miller played...") Can you do an Edith shriek on “Those were the dAAAAAYS!”? M*A*S*H.
M
Posted by Mark Alger on 12/12/2009 at 01:19 PMAmazingly enough, the two which first sprang to mind are both Quinn-Martin productions; “Combat!” (with Vic Morrow and Rick Jason!), and “Twelve O’clock High”.
And in no particular order (btw just a couple years behind you, at 54.5):
“Leave It To Beaver”
“The Andy Griffith Show” (That theme also makes me want to go fishing for some reason *grin*.)
“Dragnet”
“The 20th Century” (interestingly, it was the ending credits music which has stuck in my mind)
And on a side note, though not a tv theme song, every time I hear the “Magnificent Seven” movie theme, I want a cigarette!Posted by Guy S. on 12/12/2009 at 01:39 PM1. Thanks.
2. Look in on your site for righteous right wing wrath or spiritual edification and what do I get?
3. Earworms, that’s what.
4. Your selection was perfect for another child of the sixties.
5. Congratulations, I guess.
V/R JWestPosted by on 12/12/2009 at 01:58 PM1. Star Trek
2. Ironside
3. NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie (wasnt that the title of the McMillan & Wife, Banacek, Columbo series, the one with the guy with the flashlight?)
4. Carol Burnett Show
5. Andy Griffith ShowPosted by on 12/12/2009 at 02:20 PMI was a kid in the sixties too. Remember watching “I Married Joan”...(what a girl what a whirl....) with Mom.
It’s Howdy Doody Time!
and....M.I.C.K.E.Y...M.O.U.S.E..
Did that help?
Posted by on 12/12/2009 at 02:26 PMOne that’s on your list: Walt Disney’s theme, “When you Wish Upon a Star.” Thanks for the memory!
Posted by on 12/12/2009 at 02:49 PMSorry. Not that old. But I have my own.
The Magnum P.I. theme
The Simon and Simon Theme
The Theme from Star Trek, Next Gen
The T.J. Hooker theme…
And because I used to watch it in reruns...The Rockford Files
Posted by Blackiswhite, Imperial Consigliere on 12/12/2009 at 06:56 PMYes, the Andy Griffith thing is an earworm for me too. But the strangest one for me is the opening to the old Superman tv show… every time I hear it I unconsciously look at the clock because I “know” Dad is coming home from work. (I’ll be 60 next b-day)
Posted by BillH on 12/12/2009 at 07:32 PMdo do...DO DO...do do...Do Do...do do...Help! I’ve crossed into The Twilight Zone...again.
Look!!! It’s The Lone Ranger! Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear with the most powerful and memorable theme music evah.
Posted by on 12/13/2009 at 09:01 AMWell, late to the show. Most of the tunes mentioned are memorable (heck the Peter Gunn theme’s even a bit fun to play; takes the right ensemble though), but I don’t experience many pieces as “earwigs” (such things can be driven out by whistling, singing, playing or simply recalling other music).
The Andy Griffith theme was a sort of “earwig” in my youth, though, as I was still perfecting my whistling and used it as an “exercise piece” of a sort.
One thing that does strike me about many of the show themes mentioned is that they were well crafted. The Henry Mancini touch in the Peter Gunn theme (1958 or 59?) is a case in point. Even other, less memorable TV shows from later years such as Remington Steele, one of the “loved to miss it” shows of the 80s, that Mancini wrote themes for were well-written, sometimes (as in the Remington Steele example) much better than the shows they were written for, and of course he wasn’t the only steady Hollywood composer who wrote memorable tunes for TV, as the list above demonstrates--some better than others.
BTW, Akaky, Mancini also wrote the Mystery Movie Theater theme.
@Weetabix: your wife could give lessons to Torquemada.
Posted by David on 12/13/2009 at 10:13 AMFor some reason the theme of F Troop has been going through my head lately.
Posted by Joseph Hertzlinger on 12/13/2009 at 04:20 PMThanks. I spent about an hour on the site, but one of the tunes I enjoyed the most was the “D-Day March” by Mitch Miller & the Gang from The Longest Day. Dad was 3rd wave, Omaha Beach. He passed in 2000. Sorta brought a tear to my eye. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by on 12/13/2009 at 09:43 PMVictory At Sea, purpose-written and done by the NBC Orchestra. Still a goosebump-raiser. And the incidental music for Lone Ranger, especially the Liszt Prelude snippet. Sorry RotgutSaloon, the Wm. Tell Overture excepted.
Posted by Ol' Remus on 12/14/2009 at 12:49 AM
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