Family Ties opening credits "You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have The Facts of Life" "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him." Remember those immortal words? Sadly, the television theme songs and intros we once knew and loved -- good, clean, cheesy, fun -- are a thing of the past. If the '60s gave us classic tunes like Bonanza, Hawaii Five-O, and Batman, then the '70s brought on a whole new era of show openers. In many cases, these theme songs were far better than the shows themselves. In those bygone days, two families named Partridge and Brady would play that funky music while The Jeffersons were movin' on up. Those were Happy Days for all Diff'rent Strokes, like the romantics on the Love Boat or even roomies Laverne & Shirley, who were working One Day at a Time at the brewery in Milwaukee. Mork escaped Ork as the Battlestar Galactica was steadily approaching, while the Duke boys ditched the CHP and S.W.A.T. (Although we're betting they wouldn't have minded being handcuffed by Charlie's Angels in Dallas.) When the '80s rolled around, we were saved by our Greatest American Hero and the no-holds-barred A-Team -- if KITT or Airwolf didn't get there first. Crockett and Tubbs never left Miami, so they'd hire a Fall Guy instead. And the Growing Pains decreased in our Full House, what with Charles in Charge. So here's a toast to all the classic TV themes of yesteryear: Cheers! Suggested Sites... Retro Junk - the site for a flashback into the '70s-'90s TV, with just about every show's intro to watch. TV-Intros - nothin' but the intro. Sorted alphabetically and with a nice screenshot of the title card. retroCRUSH: 100 Greatest TV Themes - hey, we couldn't list them all! So here's about 70 more, including cartoon themes. IGN: Top 10 TV Opening Credits - this list focuses on recent shows, like "Big Love," "The Wire," and "The Sopranos." YouTube: The Office Brady Bunch - decent mashup, if only for Karen's "Alice" smirk at the very end.

Directory categories: TV Downloads and Video, TV Theme Songs and Soundtracks, TV Show History

Archived under: 1970s, 1980s, Entertainment, In Character, Music, Sitcoms, TV

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