For most baby boomers, it will only take three words to bring back this entire song. "Here's the story ..." is the beginning, and at that point most of them will be singing along. "The Brady Bunch" was one of the most iconic TV shows of the 1970s, and seems to be one that every boomer watched at least once.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel, Schlamazzle, Hossenfeffer Incorporated" is the beginning of this theme song. A spin-off from "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley" became famous in its own right, showcasing the antics of two lower-middle class girls in 1950s Milwaukee.
This 1960s show was based on the premise that a Frankenstein monster would marry a vampire woman, and that they would have a variety of supernatural children. Plus one niece who looks like Marilyn Monroe and is pitied by the rest of the family for being so plain. The show might have been typical 1960s sitcom ridiculous, but the theme song is a classic. "Duh duh duh duh, snap snap." Just about anyone who was alive in the 1960s can sing along at that point.
This might have been the only theme song of a major network TV show that was a full rap song. Sung by Will Smith, this theme song tells the story of a street kid from South Philly who gets into some trouble with gangs and is sent to live with his rich uncle and family in California. The premise might have been far-fetched, but the song lives on today.
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale" begins the story of the Minnow and how it was lost. "Gilligan's Island" was another of the 1960s silly sitcoms, but the song remains in the memory of a surprising number of people who spent their childhood afternoons playing Gilligan.
Few TV theme songs became hit records, but the theme to "Friends" is one of them. This anthem of disillusioned 20somethings in the 1990s (your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA) has been memorized by hundreds of thousands of Generation X fans.