By a narrow margin, the theme to the Norman Lear produced sitcom "Maude" emerged victorious in the recent poll. The sitcom, starring Bea Arthur as the outspoken Maude Findlay (cousin of Edith Bunker), also featured one of the best and most memorable TV theme songs... period. Performed by the late Donny Hathaway, the song name checks some of the most famous women throughout history (Lady Godiva, Joan of Arc, Isadora Duncan, and Betsy Ross).
Coming in a close second was the theme to "The Jeffersons", which features lead vocals by Ja'net DuBois (aka Wilona Woods of "Good Times"). Although it made a late surge, the theme to "All In the Family" didn't have enough steam to overtake the themes to "Maude" or "The Jeffersons". Archie would not be pleased!
If it had come down to a tie, it would have been a difficult choice for me to make. When I was chatting online with my niece Pjazzy yesterday, I told her that my vote would have gone to the theme for "Maude". However, when I hear Ja'net's strong lead vocal and those hand claps, it's hard for me to resist "Movin' On Up".
There were a few things that surprised me about the poll. I didn't expect the lack of love for the themes to "Sanford and Son" and "Good Times" (both shows tied for last place). The other thing that surprised me was the support that the theme to "One Day At A Time" received. Early on in the poll voting, it actually held the lead for a brief time. Although I wasn't wild about the sitcom itself, I did enjoy the bouncy theme song.
Here are the final results:
Maude-27%
The Jeffersons- 24%
All In the Family- 18%
One Day At A Time- 12%
Good Times and Sanford & Son- 9% each
Below is one of the opening credits sequences of the winner. Right on Maude!
8 comments:
I grew up in a town so conservative (Cincinnati) that they didn't always air some shows, Maude being one of them. Instead of playing some of the more controversial episodes (e.g., the one when Maude had an abortion), they'd play old WWII documentaries.
I did appreciate the theme song. I would have gone with Sandford & Son next. I think that one was by Quincy Jones.
X. Dell: I can imagine that this policy pissed off some of the more progressive town citizens. Tuning in expecting to see "Maude" and getting something like "Victory At Sea" instead. You are right on the money about the composer of the "Sanford & Son" theme... it was by Quincy Jones.
All of these themes were really great sounding and fun to sing along with. I love television theme songs and the ones for the Lear shows were among the finest produced. I would not have been upset had anyone of these songs had won the poll. I personally picked "Maude" although I did not think it would win because it, along with "One Day At A Time" is not seen regularly on television. "All In The Family", "The Jeffersons", "Good Times", and "Sanford & Son" are always in heavy rotation on TVLand among other networks, so they are much more familiar to newer audiences.
Hey X.dell: I was sorry to hear about you living in a place more similar to a Nazi Regime than a place within America. I mean we are talking about the city that was the model for "WKRP In Cincinnati" a progressive show for its time. I don't like censorship or think that it is fair for government to choose what programming is or is not appropriate for public viewing.
PJazzypar, Maude wasn't the only show. When the Sonny and Cher show split into two different shows after the divorce, they wouldn't show episodes of her show. They censored a lot of what's now considered classic tv (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Soap, and probably others).
Mark Twain once wrote that if he knew that the end of the world were coming, he'd hightail it to Cincinnati, because "They're fifteen years behind in everything."
That's taking it a bit too far, I think. I've always been of the opinion that Cincy is arguably the most progressive 19th century town in America today.
Maude...seriously? Who voted in your poll, those crazy kids from Palm Beach?
Pjazzy: I was surprised that the theme to "Maude" won as well... for the same reasons you mentioned. Even though I included the links to all the themes so that it would put them on equal footing, I thought that some might still vote based on what was familiar to them.
Beckeye: You're dogging out the theme song to "Maude"? I would say that you are slipping... but you've already slipped. :-)
Tell me, which Norman Lear theme would have received/did receive your vote?
My husband would not be able to relate tomost of the shows because his father was very "selective" about the TV viewing in their house.
I watched all the shows on your list, but the song that always moved me was "The Jefferson's" theme.
Sassy Lucy: It's a shame that TV themes such as the ones in the Norman Lear sitcom poll are such a rarity these days. At least your husband can catch up on what he missed as a kid by checking out the DVDs or watching channels such as TV Land.
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