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We go for a little more structure this time and discuss what's happening with ourselves and our Top 5 TV Theme Songs. Dom realizes the theme from MASH has words. Alex doesn't want to hear from Dominique anymore . Lita admits to watching a TV show just for the theme. And Kevin explains why the Governator will be on the show.
Intro Music: Can I Be A Star by Burnshee Thornside.
Outro Music: Theme from Cheers.
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Trivia bit:
Flags for ship to ship communication? Semaphore
Here's one I didn't know details about before: There are also specific signal flags that declare specific things (eg Man overboard; Keep clear, maneuvering w/ difficulty; I am on fire); these flags serve double-duty as alphabet letters, so you can also use them to spell messages letter by letter.
Having a co-worker who is a licensed ship pilot is great for nautical info.
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Sorry I couldn't make it to the cast, but I had scheduled weekend events around the Saturday recording time; when you shifted to Sunday, it conflicted again.
Anyway, here's what I -would- have done for the Top 5ive TV Themes:
Cheat outrageously. Pulling a super-Dom, I was going to go with 5 types of TV themes. Cut & paste to follow:
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#5 Fun Songs, y'know, for kids:
The Smurf Song (Pierre Kartner)
The Disney Afternoon - Gummi Bears, Ducktales, Chip 'N Dale's Rescue Rangers, etc.
Tiny Toon Adventures & Animaniacs
#4 Where the monologue leads perfectly into the song:
The A-Team (Mike Post & John Carpenter) [orchestral]
Knight Rider (Stu Phillips & Glen A. Larson) [synth]
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Alexander Courage & Jerry Goldsmith) [classical]
Star Trek (Alexander Courage) [just classic]
#3 Instrumental
Star Wars: The Clone Wars [the instrumentation is a bit weird, but the theme itself is (do i sound like a broken record yet?) classic]
Hill Street Blues (Mike Post) [melodic, kinda sad; stark contrast to other cop shows]
Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini) [badass jazz]
Dragnet (Walter Schumann, Miklos Rozsa) [badass in general]
MacGyver (Randy Edelman) [simply badass]
#2 Arranged instrumental
The New Batman/Superman Adventures - I know people were knocking this show on an earlier podcast, but the music! Danny Elfman's Batman movie theme was arranged by Shirley Walker (may she rest in peace) for Batman: The Animated Series, and for this next DC Comics adaptation, they asked Elfman for a brand new Superman theme. And then Walker expertly mixed both into a back-and-forth piece, from Superman's triumphant trumpet brass to Batman's sepulchral orchestral strings and finally into a blend of both at the same time. I rank her right up there with Tanaka Kouhei in terms of both awe and respect.
#1 Doctor Who
Good God. When that first phrase of wavy notes hits the ears... I was just reading up on some of the history of this theme. This was done back in the 60s, all by hand. They recorded each sound on tape, cutting it, splicing it, speeding it up or slowing it down as required. Then, since there was no such thing as a mixer, they played the splices by starting several tape machines at the same time, and recording the result. Fantastic.
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Alex mentioned Magnum and Happy Days, and Kevin had Cheers, all runners-up for me.
Lita brought up Law & Order (another good Post theme) and Tiny Toons.
Dom hit B:TAS, and the animated version really was (IMO) better than Elfman's original, and I put credit squarely with Walker. Did you know that Shirley Walker was the conductor for the orchestra that recorded the original Batman movie theme? The two of them worked on lots of the same DC titles: The Flash (live action), Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond...
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Looking forward to meeting The Gubernator Arnold. Try not to shift schedule at the last minute again
Signal flag for the boats?
How do you get to Sesame Street? Do you all count reply as feedback?
Semaphore?
I just looked it up. It's a "burgee".
Where's the T**nt Needle?
(Yes, my ultimate objective is to irk Dom/Owen Fong/Any other handle he throws at our poor brain/Shirt Guy Dom)
The opening song for the movie M*S*H included the lyrics, but the TV show couldn't use the words. The censors forbid use of the words due to the reference to "Suicide is painless". Can't have it look like a network condones suicide, now can we? (Interesting note was that I saw the original movie as a child; my parents figured I would never be able to stay awake for the 2nd show at the drive-in. Bwwahaha! Give a 5 year old Coke to drink late at night and you will see an awesome display of the power of sugar+cafine+carbonated water.)
Semaphore is the name of the code system used to send messages using hand held flags. It does not apply specificly to sailing ships. My guess would be a generic "signal flags". Maybe some squid type would know; I was in the Army and we ignored those water borne taxi drivers when possible.
I'm very disappointed that Futurama's theme song wasn't on anyone's list.
ya know, I wish Tool toured as often as you think I'm going. =P
I hope you guys keep up the dummy advertisements in future shows. Hilarious stuff.
What makes you say they're fake?
Yeah, the Futurama theme and all it's variants are great.
you guys have mentioned Ian Mcconville a small number of times, and though i enjoy you both i was linked here through threepanelsoul.com where he said he was going to be on it. i either didnt catch the show or he hasnt been on. could you have him as a host for anothershow please?
He was on for a previous Stuff segment, I believe Stuff #2. We will be conducting an interview with him and Matt Boyd on an Interview episode soon (likely by end of April).
A television theme that I can never forget is the one for Angel. That is one of my favorite instrumental themes. I'd give DS9 a nod as well.
Slice of life anime? You guys ought to watch/read "Azumanga Daioh" and "Yotsuba&!".