Anyone who lived through the 80s will remember the A-Team‘s orchestral instrumental theme song. Think about that, you can probably sing the instrumental melody as well as Star Wars or Superman or Indiana Jones. It had that level of pop culture impact but from the comfort of your living room couch.

It was composed by Pete Carpenter and Mike Post, two names which should be as well known as John Williams for their contribution to society as between them they’ve created the theme songs to Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, Bewitched, CHiPs, Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., and Hill Street Blues.

But lets not forget the video accompaniment. It starts with a 20 second voice over that manages to introduce the whole premise and backstory of the show in that tiny amount of time. Then proceeds to give you a good idea of each character’s personality and ends with an army jeep flying through the air and landing upside down! Pretty sweet for 6 year old Aaron’s eyes.

The show unfortunately doesn’t hold up very well. It’s still fun to watch but more in a “oh look how bad the stunt double is for George Peppard” or “whoa, that was pretty sexist/racist/homophobic” sort of fascination. This short clip of a bar fight will give you an idea of what I mean. It’s definitely one of those shows that was of it’s time.

The Wombles is based on a series of books from the 1960s about little creatures who live underground and recycle rubbish that they find in the surrounding areas for their homes and contraptions. Uncle Bulgaria is the patriarch of The Wombles and is joined by the likes of Madame Cholet, Bungo, and Orinoco. It wasn’t long before the books were turned into a stop motion TV show narrated by Bernard Cribbins (that’s right Doctor Who fans, Donna Noble’s Granddad).

The episodes were quite short, only 5 minutes long, but the theme tune is quite memorable due in no small part to the massive popularity of the show and it’s surprising impact on pop culture. Here is a full episode you can watch. Blink, and you’ll miss the one verse theme tune.

You can watch (what looks to be all their episodes) on the Wombles official youtube channel.

The show somehow hit the zeitgeist of the 70s as the movement towards recycling was just starting. It also seemed to hit Britain in the midst of a long period of novelty pop records. We spoke about TV show theme tunes entering the charts in the Minder article and The Wombles is no different. In fact, The Wombles went a step further and had a number of different songs in the charts. Here is arguably their biggest hit “Remember You’re a Womble”.

The footage in the following video isn’t great but it’s worth including for the bizarreness of it all. When Britain hosted the Eurovision in 1974, during the intermission for voting, they introduced The Wombles to the rest of Europe. I love it, if for no other reason than the poor presenter who had to translate The Wombles into French.

They haven’t gone away either. The Wombles played Glastonbury as recently as 2011. We’ll never be able to forget that we’re a Womble now…

This is one I’ve been planning to cover for a long time. I sing this to myself far more than a man of my age should. I recognize that there was more than one intro song for the show but this is the one that always stuck with me.

Garfield and Friends as a show was split into two halves. There would be stories from the eponymous cat but also from Orson’s Farm (which, I’m just finding out now was a strip called U.S. Acres in America… huh) and the title sequence represented that beautifully by having the two teams battle it out for the attention of you, the viewer.

The lyrics and visuals perfectly compliment each other. The fast pace and manic scene changes also give an insight to the type of anarchic humour in the show, which would often break the 4th wall. Plus, you can’t beat an old-timey radio announcer introduction.

The show itself totally holds up today despite it now being 20 years old (20? Holy fuck I’m old). There are a lot of cheesy jokes but it’s mixed in with a knowing wink and nod from writers who were really writing for a wide age demographic. G&F doesn’t really feel like a show aimed at kids, despite it’s habit of giving a life lesson on a regular basis.

Take for example, the character Sheldon:

Sheldon is the twin brother of the chicken Booker but he decided the moment he was hatched that he didn’t like the outside world so he chose to stay in his shell. It’s a funny visual but it’s also a wonderful representation of people who are naturally shy, withdrawn, and put up a barrier to the outside world. Add to that the premise that he had all sorts of impossible things inside the shell (it acted very much like a TARDIS where he has rooms and possessions inside) and you get the idea of how much fun the writers were having.

The Golden Girls is a true classic of sitcom television. One of the few shows to be based solely on 4 women, and women of retirement age, it bucked a lot of trends on TV. None of the actors were particular stars, although Bea Arthur and Betty White were both well respected actors and comedians. To say that this show would be lucky to see the light of day now, in a industry obsessed with “young and sexy” talent, would be a major understatement.

Despite all that, or perhaps to spite it, The Golden Girls became a huge hit and it’s down to some great comic writing (that stands up to this day) and wonderful performances from the whole cast. In fact, the girls are so good on the show that whenever they have other performers guesting, you can see a real gulf in the quality between the stars and the guests. A lot of the men, who pop up from time to time, are often cringe-worthy in comparison.

The song’s lyrics sum up one of the core aspects of the show and that’s the security and love found within a solid friendship. This is something that women especially excell in more than men. I don’t think any kind of “bromance” really offers the same amount of support that women give to their best friends. And the whole premise of The Golden Girls is that at the end of the day the only people you can rely on are your friends and it nails this message in each episode to the point where I wish I was hanging out with these 60 year old women in Florida.

The song is one of those “must sing-a-long” sort of tunes. The melody is delightful and the lyrics are so easy that even after 20 odd years I’ve never forgotten them. In fact I’ve sung them to friends on many a drunken excursion.

If you haven’t revisited the show in years I advise you to do it. It holds up perfectly and can make some great day-off viewing.

When I acted in my first play a couple years ago, during the dressing room discussions before each show we would get energised by singing some songs and generally acting the eejit. Naturally enough, the songs that connected with the most amount of cast were often TV show themes. I can’t remember who started it (probably me) but we eventually ended up upon the brilliance of Animaniacs.

The fast-paced, manic, fourth wall breaking intro was the perfect introduction to what the show was actually like. I won’t even try to describe all the amazing levels of awesomeness to Animaniacs as it will be self evident to anyone who watches a single episode.

I haven’t watched an episode myself for a solid ten years at least, but somehow during this back-stage sing-a-long I found myself reciting two verses as if my body was possessed by the Warner Brothers themselves. Strangely, it was only the second and last verses that I had unconsciously memorized but nevertheless I won the hearts and minds of absolutely nobody during my rendition.

See how much you remember before playing the video. You may also surprise yourself.

I have to admit, I have never seen an episode of this show. Ever. I could argue that it was never shown on television this side of the water, but I think it was. Considering, however, that the show was cancelled the year I was born (1983) I don’t think it was shown during the years I could understand concepts such as comedy television.

What I do know is the show’s theme tune because… damn, it’s a good one. In fact, it was so good, for a long time I didn’t even know it was associated with a TV show. I thought it was just another cheesy 80s hit from Hall & Oates  or someone. On a side note, I also thought their name was Paul & Oates for a long time, a side effect of not really listening to what people are saying.

This hit was performed by Joey Scarbury when he was just 25 years old. I don’t know how fitting the lyrics are to the show. The Greatest American Hero was about a school teacher who was given a super suit by some aliens. I guess I can see some parallels in the words but you could also easily make it relevant to a show about becoming famous suddenly or also taking hallucinogenic drugs. Songs are often broad in that sense.

The video below is a fan cut edit of the theme tune. The song is exactly as it appeared but the video is re-cut to show different scenes from the show. I thought it would be a good example so if, like myself, you weren’t familiar with the program you could see a little bit more of what kind of crazy shenanigans went on. It ran for 3 seasons and it looks just as insane as Smallville. If only Clark Kent had those golden curls. Lois would have dropped those pants way sooner.

The team races against the clock to infiltrate the compound of sleazy dirtbag Ian Quinn and retrieve The Asset. Skye’s hacktivist roots come into play as she can get into a social gathering with little effort and help the rest of the team get inside. It’s good to see her develop some combat skills under Agent Ward (and I’m betting we’ll be seeing more of her under Agent Ward as the series goes on, yes?) and prove to be a valuable and quick-witted member of the team. But, honestly, the true highlight of her performance this episode was… Well…

I’m sorry, I’m only human! Chloe Bennet’s chest A) in that dress and B) in that wet dress, running, had me mesmerised! They were magnificent. Not even a little ashamed of that.

Onto the Coulson Mystery, we find him talking about how he feels rusty, and what used to be simple muscle memory has now become difficult for him, further adding to speculation of resurrection. In fact, the repeated use of the term “rusty” has me thinking he’s a robot of some sort, be that a Life Model Decoy or Synthezoid.

The Asset is a good episode for SHIELD after last week’s lacklustre efforts. We see a lot more science fiction-y elements, some good character development and a cliffhanger that promises more to come. When Dr. Hall falls into the mass of Gravitonium (the fakest sounding element since Unobtanium), Coulson takes the tech and the element and has it secured away in The Fridge, rather than launching it into the sun via Slingshot. As the vault is locked, the mass continues to pulsate, eventually forming an outstretched hand as credits roll. What does this mean?

This is the origin of the supervillain known as Graviton and we should hopefully be seeing him return as the series has been picked up for a full first season! Exciting times. With the promise of more super-powered beings in upcoming episodes, I’m excited again for SHIELD and I hope you folks will join us next week as we play a game of Eye-Spy.

After rumours for at least 3 years, it has been announced that the unmistakeably brilliant Vertigo comic book series 100 Bullets is coming to TV. David S Goyer, a man of a hit-and-miss professional past, will write and executive produce the show which is being made for the Showtime.

After uncontrollably weeping for hours at this joyous moment, I started to think about the implications of this news.

Firstly, I’m pleased they chose to do a TV series rather than a movie franchise. The plot of 100 Bullets while having a simple enough premise, a mysterious man with a briefcase gives you irrefutable evidence and the whereabouts of the person who has ruined your life then gives you a gun with 100 untraceable bullets and the option to do what you want with it, would make a good movie on it’s own but the real plot, the long story, is so intricate and layered that they could never do it justice on the big screen nor would they even try.

Secondly, I’m glad more comic book projects are being brought to TV in general. As a rule, I think the small screen works much more fittingly to the serialised nature of comic books. With The Walking Dead and now this, two of my favourite comic books series ever will be getting a weekly screening on my telly box and that makes me way happier than having one 90 minute butchered version I have to pay a lot of money to sit through.

Thirdly, holy shit they could mess things up! A faithful adaptation would be an almost endlass vault of bad assedness (real word) but we all know that some hollywood folks don’t know what the words “faithful adaptation” means. But lets not think about that right now because there is only so much crazy we can store in this site and most of it is being used for our Muppet movie articles.

Anyway, it’s too early to talk much about the show but because it is so early into production it does give me the opportunity to bring up something that I have been thinking about for years… what actors should be in it.

I won’t get into all the parts available. Cole Burns, Victor Ray, Jack Daw and Wylie Times despite having awesome names could be played by anyone in particular and as long as they do a credible job acting the part, I couldn’t really care less who does so.

The part of Dizzy Cordova has been an obvious choice for celebrated angry latina Michelle Rodriguez and it’s such an easy pick that you’ll find fan images made just by googling the name of the character. However, at this point, Ms. Angry is probably a bit too old for the part of Dizzy so it will be interesting to see if the casting director feels the same.

Personally, all I care about is Graves. Agent Philip Graves (Phil Graves… fill graves, get it? It’s a play on words!) is the man. Not just in hip lingo but also litterally to the story. Graves is the lynchpin that the crazy tale is tied to. Nothing can work without him. So of all the characters in this future show, he has to be gotten right otherwise the whole thing will struggle.

Now, as I said, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I have come up with a name that I am convinced will work. So convinced am I, that I am hereby declaring a campaign to get this man the job. I will not rest until he is given the role and I see no reason why not to give him the chance. That man I speak of is…

… SPOCK IN THE HOUSE, YO!

I’m a genius right? Not only does Leonard Nimoy seem like a perfect physical match in both age and build but think about the voice. That voice. Telling you about the briefcase and it’s contents. Leaving more questions than answers with his statements. Messing with your mind!

We know he has the acting ability. He’s due a come back on television if you ask me and I really truly think this could be that vehicle. There is action involved in the role and I know a man of his age may not want to take that sort of strain on but from my recollection Graves himself does nothing more strenuous through the whole tale than lift a gun so I’d like to think that he’s in good enough shape for that.

Either way, I’m looking forward to following all the news for this show as it inevitably gets leaked online. and I’m sure I’ll be back to disect those nuggets of info as we get closer and closer to the air date.

In the meantime, if you haven’t read the books yet you’ll be doing yourself an injustice if you don’t. They are collected in 13 trade paperbacks (remember that number, it’s no coincidence… and nothing in the book will be a coincidence) and is worth every penny.

If you have any personal picks for casting please let us know!

It may be based an old idea, but ‘V’ is the best new science fiction show I’ve seen since Stargate Universe. Maybe it’s my lady-crush on the lovely (and in this case horrifying) Morena Baccarin of ‘Firefly’ fame, but mostly it’s just great television. If you haven’t had the chance to catch an episode of ‘V’, which has just wrapped up it’s second season, you are missing out. So what’s the deal with ‘V’?

Visitors have arrived on earth, professing to be of peace and bearing gifts of advanced medicine and technology. It all seems too good to be true, and it is. The visitors want something from us, and it is up to FBI Agent Erica Evans (played by the ever-talented Elizabeth Mitchell, best known for her role as Dr. Juliet Burke on Lost) to figure out what the V’s want with humanity…and with her son, Tyler. As it turns out, they want everything. But it’s a little bit more complicated than just a mere invasion…

Unfortunately, like most good sci-fi that makes its way onto prime time tv, ‘V’ is in danger of not being renewed for a third season. Though the first season did do better than the second in terms of ratings, ‘V’ has always attracted at least 5 million viewers per episode. The second season of ‘V’ was cut down by ABC to only ten episodes after an original order of thirteen episodes,  further adding to the feeling I have that ABC will not allow this show to last much longer.

Hopefully ‘V’ will be renewed for a third season, as producer Scott Rosenbaum promised in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly that the best is yet to come in season three. For those currently watching the show, it is clear that Erica will be mighty upset when she realizes what has happened on the New York mothership during the season two finale. Season three of ‘V’ promises to deliver the all-out conflict that we have been waiting for since the show began, which would make it even more tragic if this show were to be cancelled now.