‘Gilligan’s Island’ tops list of 20 all-time best TV themes

Posted Nov 19, 2009 by Walt Belcher

Updated Nov 23, 2009 at 09:23 PM

Just sit right back and hear a tale about the favorite theme song of couch spuds.

After five rounds of voting, AOL TV users have selected the theme from “Gilligan’s Island” as their favorite. For more than a month, AOL Television has been hosting a five-round poll that pitted arguably the best TV songs of all time against one another in an all-out battle to see who, once and for all, would emerge as the best TV theme song of all time. The battle was intense.

Theme songs have just about disappeared, so most of the top 20 songs in the AOL poll are from a bygone era. 

Missing from the list are some of my favorites, including “Mr. Ed,” “Maverick” and “Have Gun Will Travel,” but the picks are good.

“Gilligan’s Island” topped “Happy Days” in the championship round, squeaking by with just over 50 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, “The Andy Griffith Show” beat “Mission: Impossible” in a consolation round, to finish in third place. 

Here is the AOL list:

1. ‘Gilligan’s Island’ - WINNER

Sample lyrics:
“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip
That started at this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship”

2. ‘Happy Days’

Sample lyrics:
“Sunday, Monday, Happy Days
Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days
Thursday, Friday, Happy Days
Saturday, What a day
Groovin’ all week with you”

3. ‘The Andy Griffith Show’

Trivia:
The whistling in the theme song was provided by songwriter Earle Hagen.

4. ‘Mission: Impossible’

Trivia:
The theme features bongos, which were played by percussionist Emil Richards.

5. ‘Bonanza’

Trivia:
A vocal version of the ‘Bonanza’ theme was used in the pilot. A number of artists have since recorded their own versions of the song, including Johnny Cash.

6. ‘M*A*S*H’

Sample lyrics:
“‘Cause suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
...and you can do the same thing if you choose.”

7. ‘The Addams Family’

Sample lyrics:
“They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky
They’re all together ooky,
The Addams Family”

8. ‘Green Acres’

Sample lyrics:
“Green acres is the place to be
Farm livin’ is the life for me
Land spreadin’ out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside”

9. ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’

Sample lyrics:
“Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have the town, why don’t you take it?
You’re gonna make it after all!”

10. ‘Hawaii Five-O’

Trivia:
Sammy Davis, Jr. recorded a version of the song, called ‘You Can Count on Me (Theme from Hawaii Five-O)’

11. ‘The Jeffersons’

Sample lyrics:
“Well, we’re movin’ on up, to the East Side
To a deluxe apartment in the sky
Movin’ on up to the East Side
We finally got a piece of the pie!”

12. ‘Laverne and Shirley’

Sample lyrics:
“And we’ll do it our way, yes our way
Make all our dreams come true
And we’ll it our way, yes our way,
Make all our dreams come true
For me and you”

13. ‘The Brady Bunch’

Sample lyrics:
“‘Til the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew that it was much more than a hunch
That this group must somehow form a family
That’s the way we all became the Brady bunch”

14. ‘Rawhide’

Sample lyrics:
“Move ‘em on, head ‘em up,
Head ‘em up, move ‘em out,
Move ‘em on, head ‘em out, Rawhide!
Set ‘em out, ride ‘em in,
Ride ‘em in, let ‘em out,
Cut ‘em out, ride ‘em in, Rawhide!”

15. ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’

Sample lyrics:
“Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out.
Welcome back,
To that same old place that you laughed about.”

16. ‘Cheers’

Sample lyrics:
“Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name.”

17. ‘The Monkees’

Sample lyrics:
“Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees
You never know where we’ll be found
So you’d better get ready
We may be comin’ to your town”

18. ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’

Sample lyrics:
“Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
And then one day he was shootin’ at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin’ crude”

19. ‘The Golden Girls’

Sample lyrics:
“And if you threw a party,
Invited everyone you knew,
You would see the biggest gift would be from me,
And the card attached would say ‘Thank you for being a friend’ “

20. ‘Friends’

Sample lyrics:
“I’ll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I’ll be there for you
Like I’ve been there before
I’ll be there for you
‘Cause you’re there for me, too”