The Spell (ing) Has Been Broken...

A few months ago I bought an IPod. It's a big 30GB thing, capable of holding 7500 songs, or a mix of video and music. Slowly I have added music and now have about a third of the space taken up, still that's a lot of music. I listen to it every day when I take a shower and sometimes at night to go to sleep. While I have a playlist labeled "gym music" it hasn't taken too many trips to a fitness center. It's becoming my ritual to flip through the IPod every day (afternoon) deciding what I want to listen to during my shower. I take long showers, taking advantage of the steamy surroundings to shave (my face) and let the water relax my usually sore shoulders. I listen to various things, two days ago it was Prince (The Hits # 1) and yesterday it was Stephen Lynch. Today for variety I scrolled down to the end of the list and started playing TV theme songs. I love theme songs, growing up a latch key kid with cable, I adored television in general. Like most kids I ate a steady diet of TV, much of it produced by Aaron Spelling or Norman Lear.

Much has been said of Spelling since his death last Friday from complications of a stroke. Family feuds, his lavish home and his humble raising all have been dissected. He created some of my favorite television shows, from "Hart to Hart" to "Love Boat" to "Fantasy Island" (which usually scared the shit out of me)and the show that was supposed to spur my young boy fantasies, "Charlies Angels". I did love that show but don't remember ever being turned on by the jiggling breasts that were so prominently thrust into the main of that show. Fast forward to my adult life and my friends and I gathering on Monday nights to watch "90210" and "Melrose" (and the wonderful 'Ally McBeal')and the short lived "Models Inc." which featured a return to television of one of my 80's favorite stars, Linda Gray. While I type this, another Spelling show, Charmed, is on my television. While his shows were panned at times for being fluff TV, compare them to what airs today. Shows like King of Queens, everybody Loves Raymond, these do not compare to Spellings hits. In addition to his string of hit television shows he also produced such fun little movies as "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" and a history of the beginning of the HIV/AIDS massacre "And the Band Played On". Somewhat unfortunately he also co-produced Tori Spelling, who has occasionally amused but usually annoyed audiences.

While Spelling was creating his shows, Norman Lear was creating sitcoms that pushed the envelope as well as entertained. Long before Roseanne broke molds with their depiction of low rent living, Lears "All in the Family" was making waves. Open discussions of race from a bigots point of view and other touchy subjects such as women's rights and even rape were all a part of the show. Lear was also the king of the spin off, directly spinning off "Archie Bunkers Place" and "Gloria". From that one show he created "The Jeffersons" (which had it's own short lived and forgettable spin-off called "Checking In" and the character Edith Bunkers cousin played by Bea Arthur had a hit with "Maude". This was another ground breaking show, culminated by Maudes decision at one point in the series to have an abortion. Maude had it's own spin off, "Good Times" featuring the ever annoying character, J.J. Evans. Another show of his that I liked and one of only two television shows to be set in my hometown of Indianapolis, "One Day at a Time" (the first season of 'Saved by the Bell' was the other set in Indy.) Moving into the late 70's and early 80's Lear gave us "The Facts of Life" and it's spin-off show "Different Strokes". Keeping with his teen theme he also created "Square Pegs" and "Silver Spoons." Lear continued his reign with the long running (and some say new low for television) "Married with Children." While it may have been a new low, it was old stomping ground to Lear, whose series have almost always created controversy. He attempted to re-create the success of All in the Family by creating "704 Hauser" in 1994. 704 Hauser was the address of the Bunker home and in this half hearted spin-off a black family moves into the home and re-addresses some of the issues put forth on the original show.

The one main difference between the two producers, other than Spellings penchant for drama and Lears predilection to comedy was one simple thing. The theme song. Most of Spellings shows had musical introductions, while Lears shows gave us some of the best TV theme songs ever made. This is the main thing I wanted to write about, how most shows created today are incomplete, they have no snappy theme song. There are exceptions like "Family Guy" and the long running "Cops" (Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do..)but most theme songs have gone the way of most television shows, whittled down to a sound bite and a formula. I guess I'll have to stick to my IPod and my showers can always be filled with the themes of lives long gone to re-run. Check out TV Land to hear some of the best theme songs ever made.