A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

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TV themes don’t always need words

Continuing my reflection of some of the finest TV themes that have been done, this is Part 3. And this time, we dive into the world of themes without words. The bulk of these themes will comes from the 80s and 90s as that’s what I consider the golden era of TV theme songs.

I have already posted about theme songs (with words) from the 1980s and 1990s. The installment after this post for this series will be an “everything else” post that will cover the themes that fell outside of the perimeters of the other posts.

But oh those catchy TV tunes. The ones that you caught yourself whistling or humming the next day at work or school. The ones that didn’t need words. The ones that within three seconds of it starting, you knew what show was coming on the tube.

Come on, like when you heard this in the background, you had no idea some crazy stuff was going to happen?

Such is the world of TV shows with those themes without words. So many great shows have been like that. Believe me, trimming this list down to the ones I’ll have below was not easy! There are a ton, especially in the 80s and 90s. They are catchy jingles that stay in you mind for hours, days, or more. But they were good. They weren’t just 20-second quickies to open a show. They had substance, much like the shows with words.

And seriously, when you heard this theme, you weren’t expecting some serious (well, you get what I’m saying) courtroom chicanery?

These themes are a part of television history!

Even though many of these shows ended more than a decade or two ago, the themes still work. They still fit the shows. And they still make it cool to watch some of the old shows. Even if just for the theme.

So, without further ado, allow me to give you my personal top 10. If you have thoughts of ones I might have missed, drop them in the comments below (especially if you have links!)

10. Northern Exposure

Loved this show. Loved this theme. Loved this intro. A moose in the intro. Awesome.

9. Benson

Another one of my all-time favorites. I see part of it has come out on DVD. I think I may have to look into this show for my collection.

8. Hill Street Blues

Ahh, this song rules. Great show, too.

7. St. Elsewhere

Another great theme. I really always liked the sound of this one.

6. Beverly Hills 90210

Oh come on, you know you love it! Admit it!

But, did you know there was apparently a different opening originally and it didn’t last long? For you 90210 nuts, let me know what you know about this. Apparently it was played for the first half of the initial season.

5. Alf

Ha!

4 (tie): ER

I lost a little touch with this in the latter years, but I was always a huge fan of the show.

4 (tie): X-Files

Despite being a top-10 list, this had to make it so it tied with the other theme that I was waffling about.

3. Magnum PI

You know that, at some point, somebody was probably going to get their ass kicked!

2. Miami Vice

Awesome!

1. L.A. Law

This is one of my all-time favorite shows and themes.

There are some others that didn’t make this list as I liked them, but not in my Top 10, such as Dallas, Newhart, Night Court, Roseanne, T.J. Hooker, and Doogie Howser M.D. Did I miss your favorite? Let me know!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

In West Philadelphia…

… born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days!

Oh, come on. I know you are signing along by now. In fact, you might even be giving the beat. And if not, then you fully ignored television throughout the 1990s. Even those who I know didn’t watch much television can finish this song for me.

Still stumped?

OK, I’ll give it away…

But note that this is the long version. It’s bad enough that we don’t get many theme songs anymore, but in this day and age I couldn’t see a nearly 2-minute intro! I miss these!

Welcome back everyone to another edition of “Where’s the theme songs?” This time, I visit the 1990s and themes with words. I’m still in search of today’s shows that have true theme songs. In my last post, when I hit up the 1980s themes, some people made a point that there are some shows with intros and songs. The songs now are short and quick-hits. They aren’t as fun as they were in the 1980s, and to an extent, the 1990s.

So I’m in search of some of the finest (with words) theme songs out there. This batch is the 1990s. Remember, the ones I post here are in no particular order, but are just some of my favorites. Eventually, I’ll finish off this series with a post about 80s and 90s themes without words (one post, most likely) and then an “Other” post, which will include theme songs from all generations that I haven’t covered yet.

When it comes to the 1990s, some of the theme songs started backing away from the 1980s (which I like to think of as the golden era for TV theme songs, personally). The themes got a bit shorter than in the 1980s, obviously opening up for more advertisers.

The 1990s saw some great themes — on the longer side. But, it also showed the start of switching to the shorter quick-hit ones.

Take, for example, Boy Meets World. It started with an instrumental theme for the first season or so.

That theme ran about a minute. But at the series went on, this is what most people probably remember:

Or, the one with words. This one ran the final few seasons, but again — very short.

As you can see, the theme song had a life of its own with this show. But which is the one most people remember? Probably the second or third one. But the one with the words is the one I remember best. The 1990s is when it really seemed like theme songs went from one step to the next. There were some great ones in the decade though.

So, without further ado, here are my favorites from the 1990s…

10, Party of Five

One of my favorite shows of the 1990s. And one I eventually need to own on DVD…

9, Blossom

Oh, come on, you all know you love this tune. When Mayim Bialik came jumping out to dance, you were singing along. Admit it!

8, Brotherly Love

Come on! A show with the Lawrence brothers? Whoa!

7, In Living Color

Hey, it starred James Carrey!

6, South Park

It’s shorter than many, but it’s hard to deny this theme.

5, Drew Carey Show

Not that Cleveland actually rocks, but ya know…

4, Daria

You know you love it!

3, Sopranos

Seriously one of my favorite shows of all time and the theme song (and intro video) rule!

2, Dawson’s Creek

I still remember the Summer-long promos for this show on the WB. And it had a heck of a good run, too.

1, Friends

This is, by far, one of my favorite shows of all time. I was always a huge fan and always will be. Another show I’ll eventually want to own on DVD.

Did I miss any? Remember the themes I chose were for shows that started in the 1990s and had words. There could be more that I didn’t watch or forgot. So let me know in the comments below.

There will be more to this series coming in future weeks!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

 

Hi… Billy May here…

A week or so back, I was surfing around YouTube and came across an infomercial I had never seen before. As a fan of these infomercials (I don’t buy the items, but I do like watching them… they really are funny), I was shocked I had never seen it. Especially this one. I mean, it’s about hot dogs!

Seriously, the Happy Hot Dog Man?? How do you not want to purchase one of these after watching this?

This, of course, got me thinking.

What are some of my favorite infomercials?

Let’s be honest here. These things clutter the television, but they have a purpose. And there might not be a product or idea that hasn’t been in an infomercial. Do you remember Don Lapre?

You know, he was the guy who placed tiny classified ads in newspapers throughout the country, all from his one-bedroom apartment. And he made millions!

Turns out Don wasn’t so good. He was charged with 41 counts of fraud earlier this year in conjunction with his get-rich schemes. Ooops!

But let’s get back to the good ones!

One can’t talk about these infomercials without mentioning Billy Mays, the ultimate TV pitchman. Mays was in many infomercials, pitching anything from OxiClean to food machines. His loud voice and his signal “Hi, Billy Mays here” was well known. Mays died in 2008, but through YouTube and other places, his commercials live on.

Here’s the Big City Slider:

His original OxiClean (before he got loud):

And the Quick Chop!

And then there’s Vince! Oh Vince, you with your tricky headset and microphone, wrapped around to your trap. You slay me! And what do you have for us, Vince? Oh! The SLAP CHOP???

Come on, Vince. Stick with the Sham Wow!

Ahhh, those television pitchmen!

Alas, not all infomercials have pitchmen. Some just have those voice overs and all the goofy clips showing how great of a product they have. Let’s take a peek!

Bottle Tops:

Incredible Gyro Bowl:

And the Instant Fisherman (note that there’s nothing mentioned about fishing licenses…)

What are some of your favorites? Drop a comment below and let me know. I left out all of the music ones, but those are great, too. Better yet, hook us all up with a link so we can enjoy them!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Becoming famous on the internet

Have you ever heard of Keenan Cahill?

If you haven’t, you aren’t alone.

I had never heard of him. I asked a few others and they hadn’t either. I guess that might be because I’m not looking for the next internet sensation or viral video. But, allow me to tell you who Mr. Cahill is.

He’s an Illinois teen who has apparently got quite the following on YouTube for his lip-synching of popular songs. He’s even teamed up with some of said stars for videos. Further, he suffers from Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome, where some people can develop dwarf-like appearances. That is true with Keenan.

I’m all for an Internet sensation. After all, who doesn’t like to be entertained.

But I’ve watched several of Cahill’s videos and can’t see what the draw is. He doesn’t know the words for many of the songs he lip-synchs, he makes weird motions with his head and makes crazy faces. If I wanted to watch someone do that, I’d turn the camera on myself and hit record. I could do this.

The entertainment value of some of these videos are who he does them with. He has one with Brian Wilson and Cody Ross of the San Francisco Giants, which is very funny. The “battle” he has with WWE star Miz is quite funny, too. But that was funny because of The Miz. Cahill is awful in this.

He was on America’s Got Talent this week performing and was completly awful. If not for Nick Cannon helping him out a bit, it really would have been a train wreck.

I don’t see it. (But I also don’t see the whole Justin Bieber craze and he started on YouTube).

But I’m apparently in the minority. Why?

Some of his stats on his YouTube channel — 23,679,096 channel views; 288,013,725 total upload views; and 464,293 subscribers. (These numbers are as of when I looked at his profile).

Before I go any further, here’s his square off with The Miz:

To quote The Miz — Really?

Really?

This is entertainment?

Now, maybe some of you out there like Keenan. Cool if you do, but please explain what is so funny? Is it that he messes everything up? Is it because of the odd faces and moves he makes? What is it?

Maybe you agree with me, however, and there’s some sanity in this world.

Still, it got me to thinking — these YouTube sensations and viral videos. What makes it so crazy? The person? People? What happens?

Let’s take for example a video I found during my research for this blog post. It’s called “Charlie bit my finger – again!” As of me writing this blog, it has 365,278,284 hits. Yes, that number is real. Of those hits, it has 768,884 likes and 100,351 dislikes.

And I was stoked when the video I took of Ultimate Idol that I had on the blog yesterday hit 70 hits!

Again, I’ll let you be the judge.

My opinion? That’s freakin’ funny. Maybe not so all going on, but the reactions. “Charlie, that really hurt!” Well no crap, buddy, you jammed your finger into Charlie’s mouth and he bit you!

Is it worth that many hits? Who knows. But I laughed.

There are other viral videos, too. This one, “Star Wars Kid,” was named the most viral video on the Internet by some company in 2006. Apparently, at that time, it had over 900 million views. I would assume this is a re-upload on YouTube, with the count that they have…

Then, of course, there’s always the Numa Numa guy.

You don’t know the Numa Numa guy?

Really?

Well, far be it from me to not share…

That was one viral video. There have been re-makes, animated, a second video etc. Crazy, right?

I do have a favorite though.

This might be one of the funniest things I’ve ever watched on YouTube. I laugh every time I watch it. It has nearly 100 million hits. It’s a kid who was doped up after having some teeth removed at the dentist. His father (God bless him!) recorded parts of it. Classic stuff.

Now THAT is funny and worth watching.

As for Keenan Cahill? Not so much for me. He’s obiously got a following and kudos to him for finding something people would like and for him capitalizing on it.

But as we all know, the next Internet sensation is probably just around the corner.

So get that camera out as that next sensation could be you!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.

 

 

Get a chuckle and some entertainment

OK, I decided I wanted to laugh today.

Or at least be entertained.

And when I’m really in the mood for laughing and entertainment, I look around YouTube for some funny videos. And if I’m going to laugh a bit today, I should probably share it with those of you who read the blog, no?

So, without further ado, allow me to share videos I found on YouTube. Enjoy!

1. Several years ago, there was a commercial campaign by Molson in Canada called “I am Canadian.” It was quite a success, but it spurned many offshoots. The Quebecois one was one of my favorites. Here’s the original (which is funny in its own right) and the parody.

Original

Parody

2. One word — HILARIOUS.

3. This video is about 3 1/2 minutes long, but it’s one of the most incredible things I’ve seen when it comes to daring stuff. Wild. Enjoy this.

4. OK, if you’re a sports fan at all, you know Canada is hockey central. A few years ago, when the Edmonton Oilers were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this display happened during the signing of the Canadian national anthem. Pretty incredible stuff.

5. Good stuff here. Comedian Rob Paravonian takes a musical and funny look at the Classical piece “Canon” by Johann Pachelbel.

I hope you enjoy these videos. I’m not sure I’ll make this a regular weekly feature on A ‘lil HooHaa, but I might do it on occasion.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.