How I Became The Prince of a Town Called Bel-Air

“You get the limo out front (ooh)

Hottest styles, every shoe, every colour

Yeah, when you’re famous it can be kinda fun

It’s really you but no one ever discovers”

 – Hannah Montana

I don’t know if I have many poets reading this entry, but this kind of structure and audacity is what you should be aiming for. When I heard this theme song, I not only believed that Miley Cyrus was Hannah, but that I, too, was Hannah Montana. Whipping a blonde wig I didn’t have and deliberating whether I wanted to be with Jake or Jesse. And it was the earlier stated poetry that put me in that mindset – that is the power of a theme song.

Take The Bait

Radio shows featured jingles to build identity and audience loyalty, making it a natural step for TV shows to adopt the same approach. Radio used to have shows sponsored by companies and they used the themes as an advertising opportunity, In the same way, when only a couple of people had TVs in the 1940s, some companies were able to sponsor a whole show, hijacking the theme song as a way to advertise their products. This gave us show titles like ‘The Dinah Shore Chevy Show’ (1956-63), ‘Texaco Star Theatre’/‘Buick-Berle Show’ (1948-56), ‘The Colgate Comedy Hour’ (1950-55), all with shameless plug theme songs. Eventually, more people got TVs and the price of sponsorships increased, so theme songs were left to find their own way. They moved to theme songs acting almost as an alarm clock, alerting people that ‘The Flintstones’ was on; almost training us to sit down when the song sounded.

Some shows like ‘The Flintstones’ would summarise the premise of the show to bring the audience right into the action. 

Here are the lyrics to the theme song for ‘The Brady Bunch’:

Here’s the story of a lovely lady

Who was bringing up three very lovely girls

All of them had hair of gold like their mother

The youngest one in curls

It’s the story of a man named Brady

Who was busy with three boys of his own

They were four men living all together

Yet they were all alone

‘Til the one day when the lady met this fellow

And they knew that it was much more than a hunch

That this group must somehow form a family

That’s the way we all became the Brady bunch

Theme songs got shorter in the 80s with the rise of TV remotes and the change in show style but they still formed the identity of the shows – shoutout to ‘WandaVision’ which demonstrates the TV theme song eras really well. You could see this with ‘Gilligan’s Island’, ‘The Addams Family’, ‘The Nanny’ and even up to the 90s with ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. But Fresh Prince seems like an anomaly of the time, with the theme song era changing into working with ready-made songs and then redefining them into the show’s world. The aim shifted from laying the plot to setting the mood of the show. There came a point where theme song writers needed to have the same skillset as those who write radio hits, as it wasn’t just the plot that had to be written, but they had to articulate the emotion that the show would bring. And they did a very good job! When the ‘Friends’ theme song starts, I always think it’s a great foundation.  Some songs just become synonymous to the show even though they were not made for it. Could you tell me who sang ‘Suits’ theme song? Yeah, exactly. If I hear “you’ll never stop this flame, I will never let you go” on the TV, I’m not thinking of Celeste, I’m thinking of the league table.

Think of the Children

One thing that I am grateful for is that they cannot take away what has already happened. The epidemic of childhood theme songs and how they become the soundtrack to our lives. Play the theme to ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’ and I’ll be sat. The ‘That’s So Raven’ theme song is like a siren to me, play it and I’ll meet you where you are. A few of these intros still relied on the plot for their song, like ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ , but it was necessary – and iconic. The visuals that came with the themes added something too, like it was clear that ‘Kenan and Kel’ would always be up to something from the opening credits alone. What I liked about a lot of these kids shows is that the songs were catchy originals sung by the stars of the show. As the demographic ages, we steer away from this. However a factor that stands the test of time is that many drama programmes don’t even put lyrics to their songs. It is becoming way more popular to do across genres now and I don’t think I like it. I understand it’s not always warranted and we are going for a more cinematic aesthetic that transcends borders now but this it’s not cute anymore! So give us something please.

My name is Tunrayo and I love the ‘Skip Intro’ button

Netflix came up with SKIP INTRO button in 2017 and it is pressed around 136 million times daily. Theme song composers have voiced their disdain, with Nicholas Britell, the creator of the ‘Succession’ theme saying that “TV theme music is incredibly important. It’s almost a show’s DNA identifier. It serves as an overture to bring you in and sets the tone. I think that formal entrée is crucial.” I completely understand the plight. The effort you put in the set the scene through the music is crucial. However, I also understand the button. In the world of binge-watching, you don’t need to hear the theme song again, the table has already been set. And no offence to Nicholas or anything, but the ‘Succession’ theme song is long – beautiful, but long. ‘The Office US’ theme for me is rarely skipped – it’s short, sweet and upbeat. But nowadays, the songs are longer and more sombre, which people don’t seem to have time for. If Skip Intro is a crime, you’re gonna have to lock me up unfortunately. But I get that the button can sometimes undermine artistic intent and can even reduce our attention spans. This is duly noted x

Then again, this is for shows that even have theme songs. By the 2010s, many shows such as ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ removed their theme songs in later seasons in a bid to make the show tighter and more engaging. Programmes like ‘Fleabag’, ‘Peaky Blinders’, ‘Atlanta’, ‘Black-ish’ and ‘The Bear’ rely on title cards rather than theme songs. Others stick to a visual motif, like ‘Scandal’ that tries to blind me every episode with the camera flashes. Music efforts have been redirected to show moments rather than the an overacting theme. But at what cost?

So, I say all of this to say, should Screenscope have a theme song? What instruments would be appropriate to set the mood? Keys? Synths? Recorder (my specialty instrument)? Let me know in the comments or on socials – @screenscopeblog on Instagram!