but let's face it, aren't the greatest tv theme songs the ones that make you want to sing along? or at least call up your friends while you're drunk to see if they can help you remember the words? and weren't they all from the 80s, when tv was all shiny and new, and sitcoms still had laugh tracks and tried to teach us family values?
- golden girls - this had to be number one, considering that this list was inspired by two days of marathon golden girls watching at the hotel in duluth (see below post for more details). i just want to thank them all for being a friend! it also makes me want to change number 5 on the list of things about me to "my favourite golden girl is rose".
- fresh prince of bel air - i don't know if anyone else has discovered this, but this song makes a perfect medley with "mary jane's last dance" when drunkenly played on a guitar (seriously - try it at your next party!) this is also basically the only time it's acceptable for a white girl to rap (and even this is debatable).
- who's the boss - i remember when this used to rerun at 7pm every night, and my friend jill and i used to sneak back into my house during our nightly neighbourhood hide-and-seek sessions, watch the episode, then go back out and make fun of everyone for not being able to find us while we were "hiding." i'm surprised they couldn't hear us singing along to the theme song all the way down the street.
- family ties - before who's the boss at 7, there was family ties at 6:30, just in time to watch while my mom, my sister and I were eating our meatloaf (later, much, much, later, when erin and i were both back living at home for whatever reason, it was breaker high, but that's another -- far more embarrassing -- story for another time). my favourite part (other than the theme song, obvs) was the "sit, ubu, sit. good dog!" at the end, followed by the little "woof!" ps, how awesome was it when justine bateman was on arrested development (rip) for those few episodes? it made me love jason bateman even more to see him helping out his sister like that.
- perfect strangers - i hated this show when i was younger, but somehow ended up watching it all the time. i think it was mostly for the "staaaaaanging taaaaall... on the wings of my dreeeeeeams..." followed by that little harmonica part before the upbeat little outtro.
- full house - up until really recently, i thought rod stewart sang this song. maybe he does, who knows? plus i had such a huuuuuge crush on uncle jesse (who ps, has aged incredibly well), and was so completely sad when he married becky.
- growing pains - when my friend jeff and i were first fusing our collective vast and complex knowledge of 80s tv themes songs into one cheesy (and possibly sentient) super-being, this was the only one we couldn't quite remember, even though it was right there on the tip of our vodka-soaked tongues... i can't remember which one of our friends it was who answered our drunken message and actually sang it to us over the phone, but if i did, i would totally hug them.
- cheers - this one would be totally so much higher on the list, being one of those seriously iconic songs (which i always thought was sung by woody harrelson... maybe he does, who knows?) if it hadn't recently been turned into a kelsey's commercial. and don't get me wrong, i love kelsey's and their ridiculously delicious buffalo chicken sandwiches, but i think it takes away from the tv-theminess of it (although now i totally want to do another top ten list with my favourite commercial jingles!)
- the littlest hobo - i know this one is a little different, but i think it's an important addition to a list that is severely lacking in both canadian content, and puppies. and who didn't want to be one of the new friends he made at every stop?!
- the facts of life - okay, i'll admit it, i saw this show again recently, and it was pretty bad. i mean, it really sucked. but the theme song is so relentlessly catchy and upbeat, it's hard to keep hating. but this youtube clip is really all you need to watch.
