Carl Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 I think it was "I'll Be There For You," from Friends, but I want to make sure. We're talking about an original theme song created specifically for a TV show, that became a hit song with radio play and everything. What's interesting is that after "I'll Be There For You" did so much to promote the show, TV went in the opposite direction and started doing without opening themes. These are the same creative minds that brought us Homeboys in Outer Space, so it shouldn't be surprising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Maybe "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (from "Cheers")? I don´t remember which show is older... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farin Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 (edited) The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air by Will Smith is older I think... right? how about "Boss of Me" by TMBG for Malcolm in the Middle? (#21 in the UK) or the X-Files Theme by Mark Snow (#2 in the UK) and I don't know if that counts, but Green Day's version of the Simpsons' Main Theme (produced for the Simpsons Movie) was quite the hit edit: I browsed a bit through wikipedia and there's eg "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole for Dawson's Creek that reached #11 in the Billboard Top 100 "It's a Jungle out There" by Randy Newman for Monk won an Emmy for Best theme song, I dunno if it was a chart or airplay hit as well though Edited September 18, 2008 by Guest read Carl's post again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberjudge Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Maybe "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (from "Cheers")? I don´t remember which show is older... "Cheers" aired from 1982-1993. "Friends" ran from 1994-2004. edit: I browsed a bit through wikipedia and there's eg "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole for Dawson's Creek that reached #11 in the Billboard Top 100 "I Don't Want to Wait" was a hit before the premiere of "Dawson's Creek". It first hit the Hot 100 on 11/1/1997, while the show debuted on 1/20/1998. FYI: "I'll Be There for You" only reached #17 on the Hot 100, primarily because a single was not released until after the song's airplay had peaked. (Until 1998, only singles were eligible for the Hot 100. The song was #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for 8 weeks.) The last TV theme song to hit the Top 10 was "How Do You Talk to an Angel" by the Heights, from the show "The Heights", which hit #1 a week before the show was cancelled. The Theme from Mission Impossible was originally written for TV, and became a #7 hit in 1996; however it was a cover performed for the movie by Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen, rather than the original version of the song by Lalo Schifrin (which reached #41 in 1968). Also, while it was not the show's theme, "Wherever You Will Go" by the Calling was featured in the second episode of "Smallville", after which it quickly became a hit, peaking at #5. And, of course, numerous songs featured on "American Idol", including Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" and Daughtry's "Home", have gone on to become hits, in addition to those performed by contestants on the show, such as Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" and David Cook's "The Time of My Life". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_s_1987 Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Good thinking Martin - Boss Of Me was released in 2001. I certainly can't think of one that's newer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_s_1987 Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 (edited) I've just thought of what is probably the most recent TV theme to get to #1 - "Can We Fix It?" from Bob The Builder reached #1 in the UK in 2000 and Australia in 2001. Edited September 19, 2008 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted September 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Great call on Bob The Builder. It does sound like this Friends theme was the last American hit to fit. We've actually heard from the guy who wrote the Cheers theme - that one has an Interesting story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Udo Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 The theme from Moonlighting did well, iirc, but it was later than Cheers and before Friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jk Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 It's a kid show, but the theme to Hannah Montana, "Best Of Both Worlds" made the Billboard download chart at No.92 in 2006. Does that count as a hit? I don't know if the theme from "Bones"(2005) by the Crystal Method ever made it to a chart or not. The theme to "House"(2004) "Teardrop" by Massive Attack was a hit in the UK years before that, but it might've been in the US download chart afterwards, for all I know. Entertainment Weekly's website just had a discussion about what were the best TV themes. Here's a link: http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/09/tv-theme-songs.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Josh Grobin did a medley of tons of TV theme songs on tonight's Emmy show. Maybe it'll be on youtube tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted September 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2008 Definitely the highlight of the show, except the part where they did a comedic take on Suicide Is Painless. MASH know not to use the lyrics, and Josh should have left that one alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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