I binged the new musical show “Up Here” on Hulu last weekend, and I was surprised to hear a theme song with opening credits.
If I had to guess, they wanted to highlight the talent behind the Hulu show (it boasts the writers from “Frozen” and the director of “Hamilton”), but it threw me off. It didn’t help that the song is actually the big finale song, so it always felt out of place as the opening every episode.
But also because I thought we’d said RIP to the long theme song.
“Cheers,” “Friends,” “Full House”…all iconic theme songs, and all more than a minute long.
Nowadays, with streaming, lots of new shows, and the Skip Intro button, most TV shows don’t bother with an opening credits sequence.
We don’t need an intro to the cast that changes from year to year, season to season (Sidenote: It really bugs me that when you watch “Friends” on TBS, they only show the credits from season 7, regardless of what season is actually airing.).
With binge-watching, we’re not that dumb. We know the characters and don’t need a reminder of each one and their real name every 22-45 minutes.
The first time I remember being shocked by the lack of a theme song was “Glee.” Each show had a one-word note,”Glee,” with a black screen only. It was so simple, it was almost stark.
I miss the silly bops we got from theme songs, like “Scrubs” or “The Big Bang Theory.” What show can boast their theme song is by the Barenaked Ladies? Sure, they’re more retro now, but that’s pretty cool.
Or what about the heartfelt “Where You Lead” from “Gilmore Girls”? That’s an intro I don’t skip very often; I like the song so much.
Ultimately, longer theme songs mean less time to tell your story, especially on broadcast TV. On streaming, time isn’t as bound to a schedule, so you can play around, but let’s face it, people are probably hitting the Skip Intro button.
We want the story. We don’t want the theme song. We want to get into the episode without interruption.
RIP the theme song…another byproduct of streaming.