Next 5 Favorite TV Theme to Shows I Never Watched

About five months ago I discussed theme songs that I loved to TV shows I never watched. It takes a special kind of theme to become so popular that people know and love it despite never watching the show. Even if the show isn’t that great.


And I found five more!







#5.The Beverly Hillbillies
I am not sure why I never got into this show, but I didn’t. But the theme song, now that’s another story. Who doesn’t love the ballad of Jed Clampett played on that cool banjo? Like all good theme songs it sets up the premise of the show in a very memorable way. It was a very popular song making the billboard charts.




#4.Room 222
Now when I saw I never saw this one, I really mean it. I barely heard of it! But I came across the tune on a compilation album and just loved it! It quickly became ome of my favorite theme songs..even though I have never seen this show. At all. For those like me this show was a comedy-drama about a history class in a fictional school in California that aired in the early 70’s following The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family and before The Odd Couple. By the way according to Wikipedia the theme was written by Jerry Goldsmith. The guy responsible for many of the Star Trek themes (among dozens of others move themes). That may explain why I liked it so much. Follow the link and take a listen, you may be surprised by the nice soft melody.

A Look at Roseanne Halloween Episodes

Last year I took a look at the Thanksgiving episodes Roseanne has done. But when it comes to Halloween, this show went above and beyond. No show pulled out the stops the way this one did (well, except maybe The Simpsons) in creating annual Halloween classics every single year.


But, were they all classics? Today for the 31 Days of Halloween I am going to do a run down of these memorable episodes and discuss them for better, and for worst!










Apparently there was no Halloween episode that first year, so instead let’s dive right into season two.



“BOO!” (1989)
    
The Connor’s host a haunted while Roseanne and Dan compete to decide which is the master prankster

While not my favorite (we’ll get to it) this episode is probably a close second place for me. This is such a fantastic Halloween episode that it’s a freaking classic. one reason because it is before Roseanne got bogged down in social commentary (more on that later). This episode is just  the family having fun, as the Connor’s set up a  haunted house while Dan and Roseanne play pranks on each other. The haunted house is just amazing, and the costumes are fantastic including Roseanne as a witch. The best part comes at the end. I still remember laughing the first time at how Roseanne finally wins their little competition, it’s a moment of pure brilliance. If you’ve never seen it check it out!

My 12 Favorite "Reveals" From TV and Movies

When I discussed the Family Guy/Simpsons crossover the other day, I noted how much I loved the “reveal” that the Griffin’s had arrived in Springfield. I said it was just beautiful and one of my favorite reveals ever (haven’t seen it? Check out a clip HERE)


Then I got to thinking about other reveals from movies and TV that brought a huge smile to my face. When I say “reveal” I am referring to a moment in a TV show or movie where the audience is shown something they weren’t expecting or are told some secret information that is finally being brought to light. When done correctly, these moments are filled with wonder and surprise (and humor) and usually become very remembered, even famous, afterwards. Sometimes the reveal is no real shock but when done right it is still surprising and memorable. Sometimes the fact there will be a reveal is no secret and so we tune in (or go see the movie) with eager anticipation. And other times creators will throw a total curve, and surprise us with something we never thought we would see but man are we thrilled to see it!
Here are some examples of what I am talking about, in no particular order (except the last one).



Passions

This one is obscure but I decided to include it. Soap Opera’s are no stranger to reveals. You could probably write a book of all the times that some show revealed a villain or some other surprise. But one of my favorites came from an NBC soap called Passions. This show had may gimmicks, and one was that the head of the Crane household named Alasdair was always seen waist down or from behind. For several years we all wondered what this guy looked like. Finally needs of the story necessitated the face be shown, and the reveal is very lovely. It’s quick but does the job. See it HERE

Of course this gimmick of hiding a face has been done in all kind of other shows, some doing a reveal and others not. Home Improvement never did show us Wilson’s face,  or Vera on Cheers, but we did eventually see what Alan Brady looked like on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Nanny did finally let us see what Fran’s father, whose face was always hidden, looked like. I couldn’t find a clip but he looked an awful like Steve Lawrence.  We never saw Charlie on Charlie’s Angels but Magnum P.I. did finally reveal that Robin Masters was Higgins all along…..or was it?

Random Thoughts-Family Guy/Simpsons Crossover

Your first questions may be, why did I even watch this? People who follow my stuff regularly probably know I am very passive Simpson fan. Even worst, I hate Family Guy. So, why then would I watch a crossover between a franchise I hardly like and a franchise I despise? Because I’m a sucker for crossovers. Whether they be TV, movies, or comic books–I love them! So when I heard about this event I had to watch it.

Then I saw the five minute preview that was released a few weeks ago and…I found many people were all ready disappointed. Now I am no major fan or either as I made clear so it could be that while it seemed cool from a casual viewer like me maybe it was lacking something a real fan would catch. So I watched the whole episode Sunday night called “The Simpsons Guy” . The premise being the Grifin’s have to leave town. Their car is stolen and they end up in Springfield.  And?


First of all I have to say one thing. That shot when we establish the Griffin’s are in Springfield was BEAUTIFUL! Nothing anyone else says will take that away, I loved that reveal. It was one of the best reveals EVER! Taking in the town with the Simpsons theme music, perfect! All capped off by the obligatory joke about which Springfield they are in (“I’m sure we’re not authorized to say”).

Five Lame Time Travel Plots (From Various Media)

I love time travel! It’s no coincidence that two of my favorite movies are Star Trek IV and Back to the Future. The idea of being able to travel back to see the past, even change mistakes made, is a fantastic one. Not to say anything about the chance to go ahead and see what our future will be like.

While I love time travel stories, I have to admit that some creators will come up with very….odd plots with time travel.



Now I don’t expect everyone who puts time travel in a story to have an advanced degree in quantum mechanics, and I concede even the best time travel stories require some suspension of disbelief, but some creators seem to lack basic common sense when it comes to how time travel might work. Making things up, or using time travel as a plot device, even if it makes no sense whatsoever.


Here are five examples of what I mean:



Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

I know I know, this a kids show and it’s probably not fair to make fun of it. But thanks to my nephew (and being out of work last year) I got see lots of episodes. I love nitpicking the silly plots, but the one that really annoyed was the one where Prof Von Drake builds a time machine. How does it work? Goofy goes through it and is somehow transformed into a baby. No he isn’t swapped with a younger version of himself, he is changed into a baby! Yeah, that’s not what time machines do!!!!! I mean obviously the kids watching wont care but the writers had to have some knowledge of time machines, why not called it a “transmorpher” or some other name that would make a little more sense? Or is the thinking that kids wont know the difference so why even try?

SPECIAL Face-Off:Superman Returns vs Man of Steel

Many people say that you can’t compare the new Superman movies to the Christopher Reeve movies. That the Reeve films, while great, belong to a different time. Ok, fair enough. So let’s just compare the last two movies.



While I have discussed Man of Steel I haven’t really said anything about Superman Returns. I was so disappointed with it I never even acknowledged it in past articles except to trash it. But…maybe I am being to hard on it. I mean it had it’s moments and it’s even possible that Superman Returns is a better Superman movie than Man of Steel. Man of Steel, on the other hand, I expected to hate and while flawed I ended up liking things in it more than I expected to. Though there were things about I did not like!



Which is really the better Superman movie? Let’s see if we can figure that out as today I present my first movie related face-off (obviously following the sitcom face-off format), as we have :

VS 
Superman Returns came out in 2006 and did not do so well. It was so badly received that the next movie was a total reboot, Man of Steel of course came out last year. Some loved it, others did not. But which was better? And yes I know I am not the first to do this kind of comparison.  I’m doing it anyway and of course all opinion feel free to disagree.

Underrated Trek:Encounter at Farpoint (TNG)

Welcome to a special edition of Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. In keeping with my unintentional theme this week of pilots for TV shows, I decided it was time to look a look at the very first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This episode premiered September 28, 1987 and kicked off a while new era of Star Trek! Most people have mixed feelings about this one, but is it good….or kind of lame?