Top Ten TV Theme Songs

Let's continue our look at Paste Magazine's list of the Top TV Songs, this time #5 on their list:

5. All in the Family - "Those Were the Days" by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse

Few intros are as simple or as memorable as Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton at the spinnet piano live in front of a studio audience every week. This was the first song I (and many others) learned on the piano, as it used only the black keys. But only now have I learned that the closing lyrics are "Gee, our old LaSalle ran great." Or that a LaSalle was a GM automobile that went out of production in 1940.



All in the Family is an American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, the show was revamped, and given a new title, Archie Bunker's Place. This version of the sitcom lasted another four years, ending its run in 1983.

Produced by Norman Lear and based on the British television series Till Death Us Do Part, the show broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, miscarriage, breast cancer, menopause and impotence.

In a warning to viewers, CBS ran a disclaimer before airing the first episode (which disappeared from the screen with the sound of a toilet flushing):

"The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are."

All in the Family was notorious for featuring language and epithets previously absent from television, such as "fag" for homosexual, "hebe" for Jews, "spic" for Hispanics, "mick" for Irish, "dago" and "wop" for Italians, "chink" for Chinese, "Jap" for Japanese, "gook" for southeast Asian, "spade" for blacks, and phrases such as "God damn it." It was also famous for being the first major television show to feature the sound of a flushing toilet; it became a running gag on the show.

The show ranked #1 in the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976. As of 2008, The Cosby Show has been the only other show to top the ratings for at least five consecutive seasons. The series finale brought in 40.2 million viewers. TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time ranked All in the Family as #4. Bravo also named the show's protagonist, Archie Bunker, TV's greatest character of all time.

interesting tidbits:

Archie and Edith's chairs are now in the Smithsonian Institution.[17] Originally purchased by the show's set designer for a few dollars at a local Goodwill thrift store, the originals were given to the Smithsonian (for an exhibit on American television history) in 1978. It cost producers thousands of dollars to create replicas to replace the originals.

Part of the Bunker kitchen set was used more than 25 years after the show's debut for another CBS sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond".

Popular T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers showing O'Connor's image and farcically promoting "Archie Bunker for President" appeared around the time of the 1972 presidential election. A number of voters were said to have voted for the fictional TV character as a write-in candidate.

I still love the show, it ranks in my top ten of all time. Everybody, black, white, mixed- whatever- has some of Archie Bunker in them (although some would never admit it).

Vinyl of the show goes for around $10-20 for an LP