There was so much hype around Charlie Sheen when he was axed on “Two and a Half Men.” He filed a $100 million lawsuit. He rampaged. He unknowingly became the No. 1 spokesman for psychiatry in the world. But today, CBS announced his replacement on the hit TV show! Ashton Kutcher will come on as a wealthy, bearded Internet genius who’s unlucky with the ladies. His character is set to move in with Alan (Jon Cryer) and young Jake (Angus T. Jones).
They'rrrrreee baaaaaack
“Two and a Half Men” returns for its ninth season Monday. The show’s writers and producers had a couple of challenges dealing with the loss of Charlie Sheen, who met his end on the show in a a fatal car accident. But according to co-star Cryer:
The writers had an enormous challenge and you’ll see they handled it beautifully. Change is often shocking but it’s so true to the show. And sometimes stuff you don’t see coming happens in life. And in that respect it was very true to life.
Kutcher seems to be a good-natured, safe addition to the trio. I think after getting “Sheen-ed” last seaon, the show creators were looking for the goods Kutcher can deliver. But I guess we’ll see how the revamped cast pans out next week.
Click here for more on Sheen and click here to read the full news article.
Much of my childhood, at least on Friday nights, revolved around ABC’s TGIF lineup in the early 1990s. Everyone had a favorite sitcom during the two-hour weekly programming block, whether it was “Full House,” “Family Matters” or “Step by Step.”
Cousin Larry and Cousin Balki
But my favorite, then and now, is “Perfect Strangers,” a perfect sitcom for its odd couple pairing of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his previously unknown distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot), who hailed from the Mediterranean island of Mypos.
The show revolves around Balki’s failures and successes as he tries to adapt to the American way of life while living in his cousin’s Chicago apartment. When things went right, Balki would bust out his signature “Dance of Joy”; when things went wrong, it usually turned out Balki was more right than his stressed-out, neurotic cousin Larry when it come down to being a good guy and doing the right thing.
“Perfect Strangers” came from the production dream team Miller-Boyett, who also were behind pretty much every other good sitcom at the time, including “Full House,” “Perfect Strangers” spinoff “Family Matters” and “Step by Step.” And these guys really knew the value of having an awesome theme song, which explains why they relied on songwriting duo Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay to write the themdes for all the shows I just mentioned (and that explains why they all have somewhat similar themes).
But for whatever reason, I think it all came together perfectly in the minute or so of awesomeness in “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now,” an optimistic song about not giving up that’s a great intro to each episode of “Perfect Strangers.” The song, performed by David Pomeranz, went through several small edits and cuts through the show’s eight-season run from 1986 to 1993 but always kept the focus on the original theme’s inspiring lyrics:
Standing tall, on the wings of my dream.
Rise and fall, on the wings of my dream.
The rain and thunder
The wind and haze
I’m bound for better days.
It’s my life and my dream,
Nothing’s gonna stop me now.
Don’t get me wrong, “Full House” and “Family Matters” have classic theme songs, and I have always loved the catchy little ditty that kicked off each episode of “Step by Step.” But “Perfect Strangers” was the most solid sitcom ever developed by Miller-Boyett, and the show’s theme also stands above the rest of a pretty amazing pack of shows and songs that stemmed from these television geniuses.
But you don’t have to take my word for it:
And here’s the infamous “Dance of Joy”:
Awesome.
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Heralds Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read previous entries, and feel free to share!
I like plenty of TV show theme songs that are instrumentals – “30 Rock” has a pretty good theme, and the music that kicks off each episode of “MacGyver” gets me pumped up and ready to watch Mac’s practical wisdom save the day.
Louie (Louis C.K.)
But I really prefer a theme that has words because, let’s face it, there’s nothing better than a catchy song to sing along with, especially if you’re loyally watching the show and will be forced to hear the song over and over again.
That’s why I love “Brother Louie,” the 1970s Hot Chocolate song that serves as the theme of the hilariously smart FX comedy “Louie.” The original song is about 4 minutes long, dealing with the topic of interracial romance and a couple faced with racism. That might seem at odds with a comedy stemming from the twisted yet somehow relatable mind of Louis C.K. But mixed into the original song is a repeated chorus that works perfectly for a show about a depressed white dude named Louie:
Hot Chocolate didn’t get much attention for this song – you probably know them for “You Sexy Thing,” their 1975 classic. But “Brother Louie” rose to the top of the charts in 1973 when it was expertly covered by one-hit wonder Stories.
Here’s the song, as performed by Stories:
http://youtu.be/exl0oSfTSoY
And here’s a clip from “Louie,” a show you should definitely start watching if you haven’t already:
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read other Theme Song Thursday posts and feel free to share!
“Clarissa Explains It All” gave the world Melissa Joan Hart and was somewhat ahead of its time, being the first Nickelodeon television series to feature a female lead character.
Sam and Clarissa
But this early 1990s show really only made one contribution that matters – its amazingly simple theme song.
Rachel Sweet expertly performs this series of one repeated syllable with an occasional “way cool! or “just do it!” thrown in for good measure. Don’t look for any meaning in this theme; it is, literally, just a series of “na-na-na-na” with a few phrases added to it so there’s at least a few sections with lyrics.
My parent’s cable plan didn’t include Nickelodeon, so it’s not like I closely followed the exploits of Clarissa or grew up learning from her explanations of it all. Still, I seem to randomly think of the theme song once every few months and then spend the next week trying to get the tune out of my head. I don’t always need meaning, or actual words, in my music – sometimes all I look for in a good theme song is a little “na-na-na.”
http://youtu.be/m9gQD6i4htU
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read other Theme Song Thursday posts and feel free to share!
I might not remember the book reviews, and I’ve long since forgotten the guest stars, but I recently realized that “Reading Rainbow” has stuck with me well into adulthood for one big reason – its highly infectious, yet simple, theme song about the power of reading.
I can go twice as high
Usually I think of the song when I see a “butterfly in the sky,” the first line from the show’s theme performed by Tina Fabrique. The uplifting lyrics and can-do spirit, combined with the message of being able to do “anything” when you read, always take me back to my early grade school days.
I think my love for this show was due to a couple of personality traits I had as a young child – I absolutely loved reading, tearing through pretty much every book I could get my hands on, and I grew up in a house where “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was more likely to be on the TV than pretty much any other show. So I guess it wasn’t surprising that I watched this show all the time, both to learn more about the written word and to see how much more normal LeVar Burton looked when he wasn’t wearing that dorky visor that, apparently, is how blind people will see in the future (at least according to Star Trek).
LeVar Burton getting excited about reading!
My knowledge of “Reading Rainbow” helped me learn how to write the best vague book reports in grade school. I think my closing line in every fifth grade book report was “But you don’t have to take my word for it,” which actually is the exact phrase LeVar Burton would use to introduce kids’ book reviews on the show. With a line like that, it was easy to pretend that I meant my classmates should read the book for themselves to find out how it ends – but it really was just a convenient way of omitting the fact that I usually didn’t know the conclusion because I hadn’t finished the assigned book.
I stopped watching the show sometime in the mid-1990s (somewhere in the middle of the show’s 1983 to 2009 television run) and, eventually, forgot about my love for “Reading Rainbow.” But to this day, the theme song instantly pops into my head whenever I see a butterfly.
And who doesn’t like getting a blast of nostalgia from such a simple sight?
You can also check out a Chaka Khan version of the theme used in the show after 1999 (it’s pretty bad, but maybe you’ll like it better than me). And here’s a funny clip from “Community” when LeVar Burton visits a starstruck Troy:
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read other Theme Song Thursday posts and feel free to share!
NBC’s “30 Rock” has one of those catchy theme songs that highlight the show’s quirkiness. Its music is composed by one of the show’s producers, Jeff Richmond, who’s also married to “30 Rock” creator, writer and star Tina Fey.
The show’s loosely based on Fey’s experiences as head writer of “Saturday Night Live.” It’s hilarious, it stars Alec Baldwin and if you haven’t watched it, you should.
In 2008, “30 Rock” broke the record for most Emmy nominations in a single year with 17. The next year, they outdid themselves with 22. Among them was a nod for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music.
30 ROCK CAST
The show features seven original songs, some performed by Jane Krakowski, Tracy Morgan, Tina Fey and Jason Sudeikis. It’s not free of cover songs, but composer Richmond always adds his touch to contribute comedically. He arranged a version of The Gray Kid’s “Oh My,” for the Source Awards episode. They do a spin on “We Are the World” with cameos from Cyndi Lauper, Nora Jones, Clay Aiken, Mary J. Blige and many more for the “Kidney Now!” episode. There’s also a remix of “Midnight Train to Georgia” with the cast alternating parts by the Pips and Gladys.
“30 Rock’s” pilot aired in 2006, and season 5 finished its run this spring. It’s a show where every element helps conjure a laugh, and the music is no exception.
“30 Rock” theme
Muffin Top
Werewolf Bar Mitvah
As a bonus, for “30 Rock’s” season 4 finale, composer Jeff Richmond turned his Emmy-nominated instrumental theme into a gospel choir arrangement. It’s pretty wonderful.
Click here to read about Tina Fey expecting baby No. 2, and here’s a link to samples from the “3o Rock” soundtrack, which was released in 2010. (Think I’m gonna spring for it.)
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read other Theme Song Thursday posts and feel free to share!
Claire Danes. Before “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” Before “The Mod Squad” and even “Romeo + Juliet,” there was “My So-Called Life.” Maroon-haired Angela Chase battles angst and adolescence in the suburbs.
Cast sans Tino, who didn't make the shoot.
“My So-Called Life” debuted on ABC in 1994, and in many ways, it was one of the first shows of its kind. It was a teen drama that dealt with drug use, alcoholism, school violence, homophobia, adultery, censorship and even illiteracy. And these themes were ongoing. Conflict didn’t find a quick and easy resolution at the end of the episode. This was also B.D.C. (Before “Dawson’s Creek”) and pre-tween networks UPN or The WB. It only ran one season but ranked on Time magazine’s 100 Best TV Shows of all-TIME in 2007.
“My So-Called Life” featured music from R.E.M., The Ramones, Sonic Youth and Daniel Johnston, but the most memorable scene showcased music from Buffalo Tom. Their song, “Late At Night,” closes an episode at the height of its emotion. Jordan Catalano publicly owns up to his relationship with Angela Chase before all the disapproving, disbelieving eyes. It sounds kinda lame, but to be immersed in the plot at the right time, age and decade, it makes for a joyful couple of seconds.
Buffalo Tom’s song “Soda Jerk” is No. 3 on the soundtrack for “My So-Called Life.” Why “Late At Night” didn’t make the cut, I don’t know. For those of us who grew up watching, we’ll always associate this band and this song with this show. Because of that, I’m deeming it the show’s official theme.
For those who want a look-back at the “historic” scene, here ya go. It’s a two-parter.
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to view previous posts and feel free to share!
The 1990s were a time of introspection, and every now and then someone would try to answer some of the great existential questions of their time. But one of those mysteries still persists today: “How do you talk to an angel?”
That’s a tough question to answer, especially considering that doing so is like “trying to catch a falling star.”
The Heights at their height of fame (bad pun)
Those are about the only pearls of wisdom in The Heights’ “How Do You Talk to an Angel,” the chart-topping theme song for the 1990s teen drama “The Heights.”
No doubt this is a shallow song — a quick look at the lyrics shows it really is only a few sentences repeated over and over to make sure you understand just how difficult it is to talk to an angel. But the tune actually packs quite a bit of sappy charm into a few minutes, and this is definitely one of my favorite 1990s power ballads. I’d much rather endure The Heights than listen to Poison’s “Every Rose Has its Thorn,” probably the lamest power ballad of all time.
But I didn’t even realize that “How Do You Talk to an Angel” was a TV theme song — every time I heard it was on the radio, and I just assumed it was from some random one-hit wonder.
It was only during a recent conversation with my friend that I found out this classic got its start on the TV airwaves. And I’ve got a feeling most people think of this more as a radio hit than a TV theme. The short-lived series “The Heights” premiered in August 1992 and never gained a substantial audience. While it’s true “How Do You Talk to an Angel” was a huge success, becoming the first song from a TV show to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in seven years and garnering a 1993 Emmy nomination, Fox canceled the show less than a week after the theme fell from the top of the charts.
We can mourn the passing of this cheesy 1990s drama, which according to Wikipedia is “centered on a fictional band (also called The Heights) made up of mostly middle-class young adults.” Sounds like a compelling plot…
While the show is long forgotten, and probably for good reason, at least we can take comfort in the fact that its theme song will still have a place at high school proms and wedding dances for decades to come.
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read previous entries, and feel free to share!
Today, Beyonce, Diane Sawyer, Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, Madonna and a crowd of 13,000 helped say goodbye to Oprah Winfrey during the double-episode farewell taping of her TV show, which will air at the end of the month.
Oprah announced in 2009 that she’d retired her show this year, and the date is set for May 25. I’m among the many who have been moved to tears by her talk show or cracked open a paperback touting the “Oprah’s book club” stamp. Oprah’s been at it since before I was born, and the end of the show marks the end of an era.
OPRAH, WELL-WISHERS
Looking through today’s photos, I wish I’d won one of the lottery tickets Harpo Enterprises gave away to attend. Tom Hanks emceed, Aretha Franklin sang “Amazing Grace,” Beyonce danced it out, Usher did his thing, Steve Wonder rocked the piano, Kristin Chenoweth Broadway-ed the audience with a song from “Wicked,” and those are only the a few of the entertainment acts. Seeing all of these celebrities and reading about the huge turnout in attendance, it’s clear her farewell is an event in itself.
Many people might have mixed emotions about Oprah leaving, but I share the same opinion as this woman:
Bessie Carroll, 70, of Chicago came to the show with her daughter. “I think we’ve gotten everything we could have and more than we should have from her,” Carroll said. “If she feels it’s time to go, we have to release her and let her enjoy her life.”
Reading up on Oprah, I’m reminded that she’s a force of nature, and a woman like that knows when to say goodbye.
The farewell episodes will air May 23-24. Click here to read the full Herald article and here to read more about Oprah Winfrey.
Learning about grammar is kind of boring. So what’s the best way of getting kids to actually look forward to learning about predicates, multiplication tables, history, and all the other nonrecess subjects they detest so much?
Nostalgia in cartoon form
Turns out, the answer is writing awesome songs that pack a strong dose of education without the kids even realizing it.
I’m talking, of course, about “Schoolhouse Rock,” perhaps the coolest educational video series ever made. This show was before my time, ending its original run in 1985. But my grade school teachers were fans, so I remember watching quite a few episodes about grammar and history.
The show was at its prime for 37 episodes airing from 1972 to 1980, including my personal favorite, “I’m Just a Bill.” American history was far from my favorite subject as a kid, but I instantly took a liking to this classic song. I joked to my friend recently that this song is still how I remember the U.S. government process. And while that’s not totally true, this song is the first thing that pops into my head when I hear about a bill.
It’s performed by Jack Sheldon, my favorite “Schoolhouse Rock singer” who also was the voice behind “Conjunction Junction,” “Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla” and “The Tale of Mr. Morton,” among others. With his performance as Bill, it’s hard to not feel bad for “that sad little scrap of paper” who’s hoping and praying that he’ll become more than just a bill:
Another personal favorite is “Three is a Magic Number,” a song that actually was how “Schoolhouse Rock” got started in the first place. According to Wikipedia, the show’s origin goes back to an idea by commercial advertising executive David McCall. He noticed his son was having trouble remembering multiplication tables but somehow knew the lyrics to popular rock songs. Bob Dorough soon wrote and performed “Three is a Magic Number,” which was quickly released on a children’s record and, eventually, was set to animation.
The 1973 song is fun to listen to even if you don’t need help remembering 3 x 5, plus it later received an awesome cover by Blind Melon that’s worth checking out. Here’s the Bob Dorough version that helped launch “Schoolhouse Rock”:
Theme Song Thursday is a weekly look back at memorable, not-so-influential, nostalgia-inducing theme songs by the Herald’s Melinda Lavine and Ryan Johnson. Click here to read previous entries, and feel free to share!
