And away we go...

I was watching a hit TV show the other night and just happened to be taping the end credits. I saw a name I recognized as the person who'd written the theme song. I had no idea that he'd done this theme, so that got me to thinking about other TV show themes written by musicians you might not have thought did those things. Now, I'm not talking about the CSI franchise that uses The Who's songs for their themes. These are, for the most part, original theme songs written for the specific programs although for the purpose of this quiz, one of the themes was re-recorded from a hit song.

So that's the basis of this week's quiz. Hopefully, I explained it well enough...so as Jackie Gleason used to say when he finished his opening monologue and segued into the rest of his weekly TV program..."And away we go".

QUESTIONS:

1. The theme from "The Office", the North American version (not the Ricky Gervais British original), starts with a short, catchy piano tune. It's a very distinctive theme. There are no words, but none are really needed. The composer of "The Office" theme is a former member of the rock groups Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne and scored two Top hits on his own. In 1978, he went Top Ten with "Thunder Island" and in '79 'Cruised' into the Top 40 with his second chart hit. Can you name this artist/TV theme composer?

2. Unfortunately, this singer/songwriter recently passed away, but during his career, he had one Top Ten hit and one that made the Top 30. His father and mother were famous musicians, although not in the rock field, and this artist wrote the themes for not one, but two successful TV series. One featured three 'Golden Girls' in Florida and the other theme was for a hit series set in New York starring Paul Riser and Helen Hunt. Big props if you can name the singer/songwriter AND the two hit series his songs were featured in as the theme.

3. "You're gonna make it after all" is a lyric that was made famous as part of the theme song for a super successful TV series starring a female actress who worked in a fictional TV newsroom with an angry boss and a kinda-sorta dumb anchorman. The series was usually # 1 during its run from 1970 until 1977. The theme was titled, "Love IS All Around" and another lyric from the theme was "Who can turn the world on with a smile. Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile." Sure, now you know the theme don't you? Ok, here's the tough part. Who wrote and sang that theme? (HINT: Think Buddy Holly, but remember he died in a plane crash in 1959).

4. The Disney Channel hit TV series "Hanna Montana" starred Miley Cyrus as a average everyday teen who lived a secret life as a pop star. The theme song that ran at the beginning of every episode was called "Best of Both Worlds" and was co-written by a man who had two Top Ten hits and a couple of other lesser hits during the late 1980's, early '90's. Who co-wrote the "Hanna Montana" theme song? (HINT: It's not singer Aaron Neville, but the name is somewhat similar).

5. Women tuned in to this hit TV series to see Bo and Luke, but men were glued to the screen when Daisy came on with her tight fitting outfits. This series, set in the southern U.S., also featured a famous car painted like a Confederate flag. The theme song was written and sung by a country music legend, who also narrated this series. Can you name both the singer and the TV series?

ANSWERS:

1. Jay Ferguson, the man who had a Top Ten hit in 1978 with "Thunder Island" and a Top 40 hit in 1979 with the song "Shakedown Cruise" is the gentleman who wrote the catchy theme for "The Office".

2. The late Andrew Gold wrote the theme for Paul Riser's TV series, "Mad About You" that ran from 1992 until 1999. The song was called "Final Frontier". Andrew's prior success was when his # 25 hit, "Thank You For Being A Friend' was adapted as the theme to "The Golden Girls" which aired between 1985 until 1992. Andrew Gold died on June 3 of this year at the age of 59. His father was Academy Award winning composer Ernest Gold and his mother, Marni Nixon, supplied the singing voice for actresses such as Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Deborah Kerr in "The King And I". Gold had played on records by and toured with Linda Ronstadt from 1973 until '77 and then occasionally during the '80's and '90's.

3. The Mary Tyler Moore theme song, "Love Is All Around", was written and performed by Sonny Curtis, who was the lead guitar player in Buddy Holly's Crickets. Sonny was also in Buddy's pre-Crickets group, The Three Tunes. After Buddy's plane crash, Sonny worked with The Everly Brothers. He's written several hit songs, including "I Fought The Law" which was a hit for the Bobby Fuller Four; "Walk Right Back" recorded by The Everly Brothers; "More Than I Can Say' which was a minor hit in 1961 for Bobby Vee and in 1980, went to # 2 with a version by Leo Sayer. Sonny also co-wrote the # 1 country hit, "I'm No Stranger To The Rain", sung by Keith Whitely. His songs have been recorded by Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Perry Como and Andy Williams as well as The Clash and Dead Kennedys.

4. Robbie Nevil and co-writer Matthew Gerrard wrote the "Hanna Montana" theme song, "Best of Both Worlds". Robbie's biggest hit, 1988's "C'est La Vie", went to # 2 on Billboard's singles chart.

5. The title song to "The Dukes of Hazard" TV series was written and performed by Waylon Jennings, who was credited as "The Balladeer". The hit TV show aired from 1979 to 1985 and Waylon's work was featured in 132 episodes, ironically more than episodes than the two stars, John Schneider and Tom Wopat, who are credited on 128 programs. The two held out for more money and left the show for a time. There were 146 episodes in the series in total. The Dukes car, known as the General Lee was featured in 142 episodes.