The time constraints of a television show’s opening theme make it so the songs have to be truncated and chopped to fit in the time allotted. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist in all their glory for you to hear.
Community has a catchy theme song that makes you want to sing a long with it. When the show starts I’m always left wanting the theme song to go on longer. Fortunately it does on the internet.
M*A*S*H, on the other hand went with something somber about suicide. It was a show based in a war zone that had wounded soldiers in every episode so having an upbeat theme would be complete horsefeathers.
Cheers has a theme song that even Shaq loves to sing out loud. Though it seems clear he’s not up for the full version as seen in the 200th episode.
In fitting Boston fashion, the original lyrics were an homage to the Red Sox losing.
Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose
It’s a crisis in your life
On the run ’cause all your girlfriends
Wanna be your wife
And the laundry ticket’s in the wash
Malcolm in the Middle has a straight forward cut of the They Might Be Giants without a lot of editing. It was already a reasonably well known song which makes it recognizable on its own or as a part of the show. Borrowing of this sort is similar to Chuck‘s use of Cake’s Short Skirt Long Jacket.
Scrubs provides a nice banjo intro and plenty of Los Angeles references. It does sound like the tempo was punched up for the version on the show though.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air had a lot more to say before the editing crew cut it down. Though in this case the edits cut out a lot of repetitive parts and less catchy verses. It was probably for the best.
Shout out with your own full versions of theme songs.
Picture: Flickr
