The Age Old Question: A Podcast for Music Fans · Rich Price and Clint Bierman

What Is The Greatest TV Theme Song of All-Time?

·54 min·3 clips

The Rembrandts made an estimated $10 million each from “I’ll Be There for You.”

The episode opens with Rich Price and Clint Beerman treating TV theme songs as one of those sounds that settles into a permanent corner of the mind. On the surface, the question sounds simple, but it opens into memory, taste, and a fair amount of friendly argument. After a busy hiatus, they return ready to revisit a debate they have been circling for years. The conversation starts with cartoon themes, where the hosts point to the orchestral richness and complexity of the songs they grew up with. They suggest that those early themes may have doubled as a kind of musical education. From there, they shift to the sitcom era, where the theme song becomes a sharper, more concentrated hook. Friends and Cheers come up as familiar touchstones. Golden Girls gets a longer look because it stands out almost immediately in the discussion. The hosts note that the song was written by Andrew Gold and appeared on his third album. They also point out that it reached number 25 on the US Top 100 in 1978. The television version was repurposed and sung by Cynthia Fee. Rich and Clint then add a studio-side detail that gives the tune extra color: Jeff Piccaro played drums on it. That sort of fact is exactly what the episode seems to enjoy most, because it ties a familiar melody back to the people and sessions behind it. The discussion keeps moving with the same light, conversational pace the show uses whenever it takes on a big fan question. It is less about declaring a final winner than about narrowing in on what makes certain themes last. The hosts keep returning to the difference between the older, richly arranged cartoon music and the leaner sitcom approach. They circle the idea that some of these songs were built to lodge themselves in memory and return years later without warning. Near the end, the show opens the floor to listeners with the usual invitation to weigh in, be kind, and keep the argument going. The episode closes by nudging support through Patreon so the hosts can keep answering more music questions.

As heard by us

A warm, trivia-heavy look at the TV theme songs that stick.

The episode is a lively run through TV theme songs, with Rich Price and Clint Beerman treating the best-theme-song question as a music fan's puzzle rather than a simple rankings chat.

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Why you'd press play

You want cartoon-era orchestration and sitcom hooks in one quick nostalgia sweep.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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