Last night’s Emmy telecast was punctuated by an interlude where the Oprah-approved crooner Josh Groban ran through a medley of classic television themes; during the four-minute performance, he managed to channel Les Claypool, Will Smith during his Fresh Prince phase, and the lead singer of the dancehall act Inner Circle. Also he used a lot (a lot!) of vibrato in weird places. (I guess moms like that sort of thing?) But even more importantly, there were some curious omissions from the medley, which I’ve taken the liberty to list below.
It was a minor show on the Emmy scale of things, but this song was actually the first one I thought of when I heard Groban would be giving TV themes the medley treatment. Doesn’t your heart just feel warmed by hearing the first note of this song?
4. The Monkees
Sure, I’m biased, but you have to admit that it’s better than the goddamn Friends theme by a long shot.
I guess now that the Chipmunks are into coprophagia, this song was ruled out for not being family-friendly enough. Rock and roll, man. Rock and roll.
Hey, if the producers thought that the Law & Order “chunk-chunk” was an appropriate representation of the theme song (NB: it isn’t, and I’m sure Mike Post would agree), surely they could have had Groban mime a hula shake or two while the band wailed in the background.
At least this sounds like something Groban could sing. I mean, that Les Claypool impersonation should have been a fineable offense!
Josh Groban 60th Annual Emmy Awards [YouTube]
I would’ve also liked it if the band played a bit of the sad piano music from The Incredible Hulk.
@Mike P.: or Taxi?
@Mike P.: That said, I would’ve been thrilled to see this one in there.
If only Man or Astroman? could have cameoed.
What about “Hey Sandy” from Pete and Pete?
Catchy song from the best TV show ever, The Prisoner:
Why does Groban anger me? The first time I heard him, I nearly broke the television with the remote.
I just can’t explain it.
@futurehorse: Man, Polaris. I actually own their “Music from Pete & Pete” disc and I love it. Good jangly garage pop.
i’m surprised there were no cracks at the seinfeld or arrested development themes.
i enjoyed this performance quite a bit. i’m no fan of groban’s but it was nice to actually see him enjoy himself and demonstrate that he actually had a sense of humour.
as i watched the josh groban train wreck (which was the 2nd best thing on the show), i thought, “he better do…”
then i thought, “well, he should at least attempt…”
@silkyjumbo: This seems like as good as any a place to put this little gem, which I found last week:
Cartman was great, Weezy…not so much.
I’m surprised he didn’t do WKRP or Welcome Back, Kotter, or even Family Ties…or these:
- The Greatest American Hero
- The Fall Guy (for my money one of the five greatest intros of all time)
- Dukes of Hazzard
I would have also accepted this:
@Thierry: What’s that last one? It’s not available in the States.
I would have also accepted:
I also thought the Groban thing was a train wreck. Really glad I decided to start drinking at the start of it.
That said, I would’ve been thrilled to see this one in there.
@Maura Johnston: Saved By The Bell. I thought about including “My Secret Identity”, too.
Also:
I’ve just wasted almost an hour watching 80s theme songs. I hate Youtube.
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned CHEERS!? I know they played 2 or 3 notes of it at the very end and showed a picture of the outside of the bar but come on! He didn’t even sing one word of it. He should’ve sang that whole song! It’s one of the most famous and singable tv themes of all time!!
And I agree with the Monkees too!
You got the disc? I got the three-track cassingle which came in a box of cereal. Seriously.
Woke Up this Morning- do I even need to say what that’s from at this point? Hasn’t it represented one of the most influential (if not the most influential) series in modern TV? I think that excluding that song represented just one more of the glaring omissions that seemed to reach into every corner of those awards.
Now, a song like Way Down in the Hole would also have been nice, but nobody watched that show anyway, least of all Emmy voters (apparently).