Not sure how i forgot, Unsolved Mysteries is a legit banger.
Ive got it going super deep in my overall bracket. Its just about a perfect theme
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If anyone wants to make the case for a particular Spider-Man theme being the authoritative one, please do, and if it has more views than the one I posted, we’ll update the spreadsheet. You’re invited to vote for whatever is your favorite “Spider-Man” theme regardless of what I post.
I was pretty worried about the voting strength of the Muppet Show when it was losing the early vote. Glad it’s been sharply corrected. MASH is a strong theme, but the Muppets should legitimately contend for the whole damn thing.
I dont think it survives next round.
It certainly should. But people do some weird shit, so who knows.
Did Deadwood not make the cut? Or is it in Round 2?
Deadwood didn’t have enough YouTube views to automatically qualify, and while it got one vote to earn it a play-in, it never got the second it needed. Thus, it didn’t seem like there were many fans willing to go to bat for it.
If I were to run this again, and I won’t, I’d also let people selectively force highly-seeded entrants to endure play-ins against fringe contenders, again on the basis of two call-outs. That could have ousted some bullshit like Little Einsteins and Heidi. Alas, the benefit of hindsight
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Been some lamenting in this thread of really good theme songs getting rough first round draws, but hey, that’s just a testament to the parity in the sport. There have been a lot of good theme songs over the decades.
And…Teen Titans Go has recorded two votes. Think that makes it pretty official that there will be no shutouts in the tournament. No entry that won a round is getting full-on shut out in a subsequent one even though some will get slaughtered pretty handily.
Round 1, Block 7 justifications:
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Fresh Prince vs. Y&R-This match up isn’t fair. Fresh Prince is hands down one of the best and most explanatory themes in TV history. It’s a great music video as well as a great lyrical explanation of the show in this longer version. This is a theme song that is never skipped in regular TV watching. Y&R made it past the play in, but it was alley ooped out of the competition by one of the greatest themes in TV history.
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Mission: Impossible vs. The Rockford Files-The king Lalo Schifrin vs. the king of TV, Mike Post. The Mission: Impossible theme is iconic and Lalo Schifrin hit a home run with it. Perfectly arranged, great tension, memorable. The Rockford Files is very heavily into Mike Post cheeseland. This show was probably Post’s turn from occasionally cool songs to heading almost entirely into cheeseland. The Rockford Files is one of my favorite shows. Its theme is not one of my favorite themes, though I always loved the answering machine messages at the beginning of every show.
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Olympics vs. Night Court-There is only one word to describe the suite of themes John Williams created for the Olympics. That word is ‘perfect’. The arrangements are the best he’s ever done. The horns never even remotely cross the cheesy line and from top to bottom the orchestra sounds incredible. I’d argue these themes are almost better than any iconic movie themes Williams has ever done. Either way, they are an experience that makes the Olympics better. Night Court is a somewhat cheesy lounge theme that accompanies the dingy court show well, but it’s up against an all-time great, so…sorry.
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers vs. The Office-My mentor mixed a bunch of later Power Rangers stuff, so the nostalgia of thinking of him made me pick that between these two extremely weak themes. The Office theme sounds like it took the composer 10 minutes to make and I never liked it. And that’s all I have to say about that.
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X Men vs. I Dream of Jeannie-X Men is a serviceable theme, bland and boring but fine. I Dream of Jeannie is great and always a song I loved listening to when I would watch it before heading off to high school every morning. I think I Dream of Jeannie was one of my favorite shows growing up, though it’s a bit rougher revisit these days when I’ve tried. The show had a myriad of problematic stuff in it, but the theme song wasn’t one of them. Easy pick here for I Dream of Jeannie for me.
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The Big Bang Theory vs. The Wonder Years-The theme for TBBT is fine, explanatory, and does everything it needs to for a show I’d never watch. The Wonder Years re-defined that Cocker song with its main titles. I can’t stand that song but it perfectly captures the nostalgia era for people who lived through it. My mom loved that song and that show, even though she would have been about 24 or so when the show’s timeline began. I’m gonna pour one out for my mom as I give the relatively close match up to The Wonder Years.
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Happy Days vs. Chainsaw Man-I’m not really a fan of the Happy Days theme, but it sure does its job capturing the 50s in the 1970s and 1980s sitcom. Chainsaw Man just ain’t gonna do it for me, so I have to give it to Happy Days in a romp.
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Hill Street Blues vs. The Odd Couple-Growing up, the second that Hill Street Blues theme hit me on Thursday nights, I’d change the channel (to what I don’t know). I’ve never seen and never will see an episode of that show. The theme still does nothing for me today. I never really liked The Odd Couple theme that much, but it’s one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. The song perfectly encapsulates the rather sad pairing of our two heroes and because of that, and me just not liking the Hill Street Blues theme, it got my vote.
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Round 1, Block 8 Justifications:
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Pokemon vs. Mister Ed-If there was a way to make the Pokemon theme cheesier, I’m not sure how it could be done. Every single choice they made in this song is pure cheese. From the horrible drum machine snare sound to the cheesiest vocals possible, to the goofy electric guitars and keyboards, it just really gets there on the cheese factor in all ways. Better arranged with better sounds and singer, there might be something here. But they didn’t go for that at all. They went full cheese. As for Mister Ed, you know you nodded your head to this song. It’s catchy, tells the show’s story, and is great and memorable. It’s an easy win over that Pokemon cheese for me.
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Oshi No Ko vs. The Simpsons-Oshi No Ko is trying hard to be cheesy and is failing miserably. This is a verifiably cool theme, well done. I have no idea what’s going on, but I don’t care. Normally, The Simpsons would win this in an easy walk for me, but Oshi No Ko was so good that I’m saying f*** The Simpsons. Bye Felicia.
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Duck Tales vs. Twin Peaks-I always wonder how songs like Duck Tales are made. I just don’t know how you ever arrive musically at whatever that was from scratch and how it makes it to the TV show like that. How many versions did he make? Was it just an instrumental track that got pitched and then he had to put words to it? What were the rejections of other pitches like? Man, that song is bad. Good thing it ran into iconic theme song Twin Peaks. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether the song makes any sense at all for the show, but when you hear it, you instantly know it’s the Twin Peaks theme, even if like me you never watched the show. Twin Peaks takes this down easily for me.
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Teen Titans Go vs. In Living Color-The Teen Titans Go theme is fine but it’s about as substantial as one of those tiny spicy chicken sandwiches. You’re like, ‘that’s good, but where’s the rest of it?’. The In Living Color theme is outstanding and this is not even a competition. I really miss that show.
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Seinfeld vs. Magnum, P.I.-Seinfeld is very intentionally cheesy and memorable. Can you guess who did the theme for Magnum, P.I.? That’s right king of TV theme songs, Mike Post. This has cool bits and cheese bits, so he must have been holding this theme in his quiver from before his cheeseland turn. This time, the king takes it for me.
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King of the Hill vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-What does this King of the Hill theme song have to do with anything? I hope it ain’t gonna have anything to do with winning but it’s looking good for it right now for some reason. Teenage Mutant Turtles wins this solely for me for this line in the song, ‘And they’re green’. It’s also way better than the King of the Hill theme, but that line is why it wins for me.
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Spiderman vs. Unsolved Mysteries-I totally forgot what the Unsolved Mysteries theme was, but it’s legit good and beats the bland meandering of the Spiderman theme like combine potential rookies sprinting past Rich Eisen in the 40.
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The Muppet Show vs. M.A.S.H.-The Muppet Show sets the tone right for the show and the song is good. You all know I don’t like elevator music and I always hated the M.A.S.H. theme. The show is great but I couldn’t wait for that song to end when I’d watch the show. It’s the Muppet Show in a walk for me.
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The committee only responded with “mistakes were made” when I called 
I’m sleepy so I went twin peaks, earlier in the day I go duck tales.
Oshi no Ko vs The Simpsons…ouch
Still voted for Oshi no Ko though.
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Also did The Adventures of Pete and Pete get chosen?
@nunnehi 's analysis is prob my fave part of the competition. Now I feel justified in fading The Simpsons. I think it’s the nostalgia bomb of nostalgia bombs. An ok theme, but would be extremely forgettable if not attached to the GOAT cartoon and the visual gags in the openings (which aren’t supposed to be included for this comp. I don’t think).
I think everything as a whole should be judged. The more the visuals integrate the better, such as The Wonder Years. But each person can judge on their own criteria. The Simpsons has elite changing visuals every episode, but I just liked the other song too much.
Thanks for the kind words.
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From the previous round, I know The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air won in a blowout, and as much as it’s an all-time great theme song, I did have a tough time picking it. I’ve never liked soap operas, but I had a very close friend in college who absolutely adored The Young and the Restless. She would get so excited to tell me all about the latest episode, who cheated on who, every silly story line. I couldn’t have cared less, but to watch her eyes light up was just great. We were just friends for the longest time, but one day, it just hit me: I had feelings for her. It made me so happy to see her happy that sometimes I’d go over to her apartment and just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air.
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Nice, I read it to the cadence of the theme song starting at ‘She would get so excited’.
In college, I was given the task of reporting on soap operas for two friends of mine who couldn’t watch it when it played at a time I was working (we had TV in the place I worked). I had no idea who was who and would write hilarious write ups of what happened in each episode they couldn’t get enough of. So I know what you mean about soap operas and how they can land for people.