Favorite TV Theme Songs with What Difference Does It Make Podcast

Babies, I'm so pretty the City. Hello, I'm Sharon Johnson and this is Susan Lambert HadAM. Welcome to Eighties TV Ladies. We have a very special crossover episode today where we are bringing on the folks from What Difference Does It Make? An Eighties Music podcast, so that we can continue the discussion we started on their show and just kept talking, so you guys get to hear the last half of the conversation.

Please introduce yourselves and welcome to the show. Happy to be here. This is Dave and I'm Holly. Thank you for having us. All Right, the exciting conclusion.

We're very excited to be a part of this episode. We are the What Differences to Make podcast. We're happy to be here with the Eighties TV Ladies. We're eighties music, you're eighties TV. We're cramming them together to make one amazing show where we talk about TV music or music from their eighties TV music eighty.

I'm sorry, well, Finn, we get right into it. Let's do if you want to hear the first part of this conversation, jump on over to their podcast What Difference Does It Make? The links are in our description. It is sort of funny how many of these theme songs were played on the radio, which, you know, we don't really have theme songs anymore, and we don't really have a lot of radio although Kate Bush had a number one hit thanks to Stranger Things her placement on the well, yeah, no, there's a lot of retro things going hun right, Well, I just use as an example. I'm sure there's other.

You know, there's been other you know, it's all about placement. Like my kids know songs that were you know, because they've been on a Netflix show. Suddenly they know the words to you to running up that Hill. And but it's interesting. We were just actually we did a special episode talking about Barbie, which is not eighties, but we felt we need to talk about it.

But that was the first sort of soundtrack in a long time that I went to find right, Like I was, you know where It's like, I wasn't just one song. I was like, no, I want to listen to every song involved with this movie. And you know, I kind of missed that. I kind of miss you know, wanting the soundtrack to movies and those shows. But it's harder to have iconic moments that everyone is listening to and music that everyone hears.

It's not that that's never anymore, that's that's a thing of the past. I mean, yeah, can you name a number one song? I mean, as I'm listening off these number ones, you know, like mentioning where they were on the charts, I don't know the number one song. I no idea. Yeah, I mean if someone said this was the number one song, I wouldn't know it, even though I pay fairly close it to right, you know, I try, and yet up, I wouldn't.

I wouldn't know the number one song, especially on Spotify. Like I look, I've looked at those charts and it's I feel very old. Just really. That's the other thing. There are multiple places that that claim to name the number one song these days, and back then there was really basically one source that tracked all of that, and it was all of you know, we're all looking, yeah, we're all looking at the same thing.

And that's part of what's changed and made it different in those in that regard. But also along those lines, we can all claim to be number one somewhere right right, Yes, yes, the source, well you know, our own made up so we do. We do it on our podcast we're number one on Good Pods. I don't know if you know, because I know, I don't know how they figure out their charts, but I've got you know, I do a screen shot. I got it.

I got it. We were number one there for a minute. We'll take it exactly, all right. So speaking of number one, there was what's the song I'm thinking of? That was from a show that was these two character came together.

They had their dance together on this show. It's you know, Okay, I'm gonna go as part of Mussy TV. I'm sure it was on. It was on before Cheers. I believe it was on.

It was one of those Thursday shows and Field and Let's cut Out, and it wasn't Cosby it was it wasn't, but it wasn't Sheers. And I think it was on at eight thirty on Thursday. It wasn't Moonlighting. No, But that's another good one. I love.

I just played it yesterday and I was transported back. I love, love love that. Are you guys gonna do Moonlighting? You should totally do. We will we will love Moonlighting at some point.

I love that one. And that one was great. That was Sunday Nights This was Thursday Nights, I'm told was most TV. Well that we're looking, we're looking at the eighties. It was a family, you know, family times whatever it was.

Yes, I would have been if we were playing password, I would have been thrown out, but I would have been buzzed. Wait a minute, what's that Family ties to? Michael J. Fox was at on NBC. It was I was thinking it was on another network because I was thinking, what would you think?

Yes, that song, but I was like, no, it can't be that. So yes, yeah, very good. Well because a family, yes, very good. Sharon knows Billy Billy Vera and the Beaters together as we love Them went to number one. It did go to number one, and it was song.

And it was because of that that one scene with with Michael J. Fox and his future wife Tracy Pollard Pollen Pollen, Okay, Tracy Pollen, thank you, Holly. Holly's always correcting me on I went to high school with a Tracy Pollard or something like, I'm sure, all right, so Tracy Pollen. But yeah, that was Yeah, that that one moment, like like you mentioned, it was a moment that everybody saw and all of a sudden, like Okay, I want to I want to hear this song on the radio. I'm going to buy the forty five, you know, I I love this this Oh that was the one.

Yeah at this moment, that was the song. Do you think I would give at this moment if you stay out some tracks one O my life, I'd fall down on money, kiss the ground that you walk on and became the wedding song for people. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, TV moments. I'm not saying that Sopranos brought back this song, but you know when you talk about TV moments, that's what pops into my mind immediately. We just playing association.

Okay, I think of Gleam when I think of Don't Stop Believe It. Yeah, that's but they didn't watch The Sopranos except for very little. But I know about the song at the end of the last episode. I think everybody knows anything about The Sopranos was about that song. You want to get fade to black, you want to you want to feel old?

The im sorry the sun. That was the same age as Tony soprano at the start of the seat. Yeah, okay, I just yeah, just all bringing it back to being old Okay, this show, this, this does have lyrics. I don't think it made it on the charts at all. But do we do we love?

What do we think? If I said Jack Jones, what was the song that he sang? Oh, love boat? There you go like like I'm an idiot. Yes, of course, love exciting and come aboard, We're expecting you.

Yeah, God, we could sing it right and very very nice, very nice. You could sing it. I could tell you the lyrics, but you can sing it. You Sharon can sing it. Oh, Sharon and our producer Melissa are the singers on our show.

I like to sing, but should not. Oh, Susan, you hold her own. You're doing you do very well. Yeah, that was remember lyrics. But former Bosom Buddy was on the love Boat.

Everybody, everybody was on the Love Boat exciting and we're expecting. As I looked at this, thirty two Oscar winners were on the Love Boat. Wow. Can you believe that? It's like Olivia to Havelin, Shelley Winters, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, Donna Michikthy Bates, Jamie Lee Curtis was on the show.

Tim Robbins, Gene Kelly Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds. All right, it's so, I just I was looking up something for the eighties, right, And this is what's so crazy and really does take you back to a different time, is finding the promos. So there was a promotional episode of the Love Boat featuring the stars of all the ABC shows. So literally it's the special love Boat episode with you know, Gopher and the Captain Stubing and all the characters walking around to talk to all the stars of the new ABC fall shows going. So Brian Keith tell us about Hardcastle and McCormick and Daniel Hoho.

Kelly is like, yeah, and it starts me too, you know, like it's the goofiest thing, and it's so conceptually weird, right, It's like, Okay, it's literally the characters from one very successful show in the setting of the Love Boat introducing all the actors and stars of the new upcoming television shows on ABC. And it's all very sort of tongue and cheap. But Gopher is there as a fan taking polaroid pictures of everybody. It's so weird. It's so it's so like tele network promotional fall schedule stuff.

Did they did it? Run in the regular time slot of a love boat like they the regular time slot, they've been a special, but it wasn't a love boat episode. It was just that, like I presented as sort of a love boat special. Okay, so there's not a love boat episode, any storyline happening other than seems like Gopher once to get a picture of Captain stuping with all these stars a polaroid. Yeah, I think back then that that is a brilliant way to promote because people will watch and they won't be offended the way we're offended now when something is so obviously promotion Well, you didn't have access to stars the same way.

Yeah, right, Brian Keith wasn't on Twitter or they book or Instagram. So the only way to see Brian Keith talking about, you know, his show or just him being Brian Keith was in People magazine or talk show and that was about it, right, So they like, oh, we're going to have a star studded event and you'll get to see all of our stars and remember the like what was the bait like where they played Baseball of the Star I was about, I was about thank you. That was the one I was going to bring up. That's what I look forward to. I loved Battle of the Network Stars because I see it a couple of times in person.

Yes, because at Pepperdine, because Gabe Kaplan was serious. He brought it, he brought his game. So did Robert Conrad and h and the and you know, as a twelve year old, I loved the Dunk Tank. It was all great. I loved every moment a Battle of the Network Stars, and I missed that those days, which they could never happen again, but still it was so much fun for me.

At least back then the actors were able to be convinced to or were willing to be a part of promotions like that. You can barely get them to do anything these days, just asn't aside. I was a as I like to call it, an underling at ABC until recently in the marketing department and just trying to get them just to do, you know, regular promo stuff. It's like pulling teeth. They just don't want to.

So you would never have something like that where you have all those people from all those shows in one place, all at the same time, like Susan you saw on that Love Boat, on that Love boat thing that was amazing in and of itself. So and for kids, you didn't even necessarily, like because we were pretty young, you didn't immediately recognize it like this was programming. You know, this was just fun programming, right, so you didn't necessarily immediately recognize it as promotion were so cynical now, but I remember as a kid, actually for the fall season, even for like Saturday Morning cartoons, I remember there was like a pregame like in August they would have coming at Saturday morning shows and it would be hosted by, you know, someone that you knew from, you know, Sigma and the Sea Monsters or something, and they would they would show their new like here's a clip from our new new cartoon series or something.

And yeah, I loved all that stuff because you only have three choices, that was it. Yeah, that was exciting as a TV viewer, not just that kind of programming to see what's coming, but the TV guide where it had the listing of all the new shows and all returning shows and what was going to be on when and all that kind of stuff. That was really exciting. I know, I kept a few of those TV guides, say maybe in a box somewhere God knows, but yeah, that certainly was a different time. We have all of Richard's TV guides.

Oh yeah, of the garage. It's going to come crashing down one day from the worst. It might be a fire hazard. Yeah, oh, I'm sure it is. You mentioned montage.

Did you have a favorite montage intro? You know, you have the music and then you had like these these fun montages. I remember. I don't know if you've ever seen Adam Scott has done like a parody of like a recreation of Ye Simon, Yeah, Simon and Simon exactly. Just the way he does it, it makes it looks, it makes it look so ridiculous, too close for comfort.

He did with that one as well. Yeah, didn't he do the two cops blonde and the one with the dark hair. I'm sorry, I can't remember. Yeah, they did that one too. Oh my god.

They're so hilarious. Soas were always fun? Did you what was your favorite intro? Like, what was the one that got you excited? I love I really love and I'm not saying it's just because they were just they're on our podcasts.

I really love the Cagney and Lacey one. There's just so many interesting and at first it's in New York City and they clearly shot most of it there, and I love that one in the course of music is great, So that is one of my favorites, I think. Yeah, there's a couple of very iconic moments in that montage that are sort of burned into my head as part of eighties television. One is them walking down the street amongst the crowd. Then there's another where Sharon Glass Cagney goes back to look at an outfit in the window, and then Time Daily goes and grabs her, and it was like, we got a good going kind of And then at the very end, they're coming out of the subway with a perp and and they pass a flasher who flashes them, and Sharon Glass Cagney again gives him a look that basically is like is that all you got?

Like it's just very nonplussed, and it's a very end of that montage, and it's really a moment that is really, I don't know, part of eighties television forever for me. Yeah. Yeah, And Sharon on our podcast told us that the moment when she goes back and looks in the in the window. Something she just did spontaneously. It wasn't planned.

She just thought I should go look in this window and she did. And now, of course that's that's a Susan mentioned it's it's one of the best moments in that whole montage. I love that one. Do you have another favorite, Susan Well, I, you know, to take it back to Remington Steel and please do. The montage is for Remington Steel.

They sort of switch up a little bit a tiny bit every season, but in I believe it's season two or three two, they basically have the two characters sitting in a movie theater watching a montage of themselves from the show and reacting to it as as if somebody put these little nippets together and they're like, you know, and she's looking like, oh, yes, I did do that, and he's like, how dare you do that? Like they're reacting to the clips of their own lives this movie they're ostensibly watching, and then of course they leave and leave the popcorn behind, so you think they've cod off, like they got all sexy time. But it's such a weird use of the montage. It's such a nod to the show itself, which was so influenced by movies and television and often referenced movies that you know, they used in the case they're like, oh, this is just like you know, one like a you know, some like a hot which it was never like that, but I couldn't think of anything else.

But but and so it was such an interesting sort of meta opening montage. But that montage is really great. It's really great sort of montage of them in action. And I'm a big fan of the hardcast and McCormick opening again Stephen Cannell Rockford Files again. Not so much the montage, but the opening answering machine is so iconic.

I know that's seventies, but that's okay. Yeah. The Golden Girls montage is great also, it's it's it's really great. So we get to see all of the ladies and get a little glimpse of you know who they are. So yeah.

Oh and the Rosanne, the Rosan montage with that camera that circles that, the table, the table, it's just so great. Really, all right, Sharon, which Golden Girl are you? Oh uh, there's there's no question for me. And of course I can't think it would be Arthur's character's name, but that's Dorothy. Yeah, that would be me.

That would be me. I'm definitely definitely Dorothy. Nice and Susan. You know that's a that's a good one. I'm gonna say I'm Rose.

I mean, like, I feel like I'm often clueless to the conversation, like not one that I've prepped for, but one that I walk into. Sure, I feel that way alone. Yeah, are you also a Rose, Holly Dave? I would prefer for you to tell me who you think I am. I'm curious.

Well, you always say you're you're a little of everyone. That's you can't say choose because I don't do I don't do decisions. I'm making terrible with decisions. Yeah, yeah, I can't get And so my default is I can tell you today who if you like, but tomorrow it's going to be some es my favorite today I can tell you, but acknowledging that tomorrow will be totally different. Yeah, fair enough, but I can't tell you.

We have not mentioned any of these shows, the ones that I liked in the in the eighties. I liked the weirdly that I don't know if you call them procedurals, but like La Law, Hill Street Blues, which was a little bit earlier, Hill Street Blues was no Hillstree talking Yeah, and l A Law. I loved those and I liked that. I liked the female characters on those shows. I like the attornance.

I loved Susan Day and Jill Eikenberry in La Law. M I love those and Victory Hamill and NYPD Blue, Hillstree, Hillstree b Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love those shows. Are those procedurals? Would you consider them procedures? Yeah?

Those those are they practically well? LA Law for sure is a procedual. Yeah. Hill Street Blues is sort of a soap, I would say, yeah, because it really was more about the cops and their lives than the case of the week. Oh it's so weirdly right, Like it became more character as much about the character as it is about the cases, you know what they're what they were working on.

Yeah, that's true. But there were some like with LA Law they're talking about like LA Law, I'm talking about Hill Street Blues. Yeah, LA Law is case. Yeah, is Case of the Week. I mean there's characters in there, obviously, but see, I it's been I have to admit It's been a very long time since I've watched in the La Law.

But if I had had to choose, I would have said it was more character as opposed to a case of the week. Driven that it was that there may have been a case of the week, but the characters and the their lives are more important than case. No, you're right, Sorry, I'm thinking Law and Order. Oh oh yeah, No, No, I'm like, but that was totally case of the week. The lawn shows in my head and I always go for those, but those, for some reason made a huge mark of me.

Dave, did you watch those? Not so much? No, I was. I was always uh yeah, more more of the comedies. I liked my my Thursday lineup.

That's what I was always attuned too. Yeah. I was more Hill Street Blues than La Law. For sure. I didn't watch I watched them both.

I loved them both. They were all Yeah, I do know that. Yeah, they're all great looking actors. That's all I know is that they're all beautiful, beautiful people and just and just yeah with their problems doing yeah, solving their problems, yeah, just doing doing what they have to do. But everyone was good looking on TV unless you are meant to not be, you know, unless that was the intent.

Go back to my favorite character and Cheers, whose name I cannot remember, but he was married to gene case him and he was Nick. Nick was his name Nick? And the it was Nick on Cheers. Yeah, but we yeah, it was just kind of just this Carla's husband. Yes, yes, that's yeah, my favorite.

I loved him every time he stepped up. He was a scene stealer every time. Well, what's interesting is to me, there were actually so many more character actors on television in the seventies and eighties that weren't all traditionally good looking or in good looking in the same way. And yet every television show now everybody in front of it is so fit. It's on one hand it's great, and on the other hand, you're like, is there no one normal looking?

Yeah? We just wh of course, I mean this may not be fair, but we're catching up on sex Lives of college Girls, which, by the way, totally delivers on the title absolutely every episode. Yeah. Yeah, but also the men in that show. Oh, it's ridiculous.

It's it's apparently every frat is filled with magic Mike people. But yeah, did you uh anybody watched Wednesday, Yes, yes, they're Okay. So there's one iconic scene I'm going back to the bringing that a dance. In the eighties, there was the Cramps. Uh they did Google Muck and Jenny Artega dances to that, like just this iconic scene now, and that kind of helped help the Cramps.

Uh yeah, suddenly kids know who that is. I have to admit I had heard about the dance, that there was some sort of dance at some point, and then I watched it and went, huh, okay, okay, I don't get it. Is that? What's that? What your well, I it's it was.

It was interesting, but it wasn't something that I would have if I had not known about all the hype around it, that I necessarily would have thought would have created that kind of reactions, just like a fun scene. Can you just seem like that? What were you? Okay? Yeah, I mean it was just a it seemed like it was like a you know, it was like a TikTok moment or something like kids were starting to copy what exactly this?

Damn you know. It was choreographed kind of like thriller, same same, same idea. Anyway, I liked it. I'm glad the Cramps got their moment as well with with that No I'm me too. After admit I didn't recognize the song.

It was like a song from the sixties at the Cramps like okay, yeah that they actually I wrote. It was originally by Ronnie Cook and the Gay Lads. Seriously, that's what I released in nineteen sixty two off a small label based in Bakersfield. Well, that makes me want to go back and watch the scene or at least find the song yeah to listen to, So I will definitely do that. Sure, that song was also featured on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre too, So you want I'm sure what else were you watching?

Were you watching? Car? I remember that you were, Well come out, No, No one's a horror movie fan. Nothing, nothing of the eighties the first one maybe the first one, but since any of them all Friday the thirteenth, Well, Nightmare on Elm Streets. Well, sure, Nightmare on Elm Street, because that was I am I'm too much of a chicken.

I can't. I can't. You can't do so. I could do it a little bit in my youth, but yeah, I am such a baby now. We were showing my son Poulter Guy, which I've seen many times.

I just went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to watch it this week, this last week. And it was great. That looks amazing. It was. It was great to see it there.

And yeah, packed with with kids to watch this. Kids meeting thirty and younger that we're watching this, and and yeah, everyone was. And it was quiet too, like people were into the movie. People. We were paying attention to the movie.

Yeah, so cool, Yeah, very cool. So we were cool. Yeah, so we were watching it. A big jump scare happens, and I punched my child. I think I reacted so strongly that I accidentally that's him.

That's great. So are you do you sit your children down and watch and force them to watch it? Wasn't he wasn't a little child. This was only I know. But are you saying like you need to watch this, or you need to see this, or mom's doing some research.

Sit down with me because I want you. I want to get your opinion of it. Okay, So my husband's a television writer. We're both writers, so yes, we watch a lot of things and talk about it, much to our children's sugrin because they just liked to watch stuff. And literally we've been told by them, we don't want to like examine it, and we don't want to just we'll tell you if we liked it or didn't like it.

That's it. Stop talking. And we are not allowed as parents to what's become known in our family as skyfalling. We're not allowed to skyfall things. It's because we took our older kids who were younger, who were you know, preteens are I don't know whenever it came out to see Skyfall and it was like the first Bond movie.

We took them to see in a movie theater and we came out and both my husband and I immediately started talking about the movie and basically breaking it down, which is fun for us. Even if we like things, we tend to like go okay, and then this and then that and oh yeah, now this didn't work and that worked in blah blah. And we get in the car and we're like, oh, yes, what did you think and they're like, well, now that you've skyfallowed it, I kind of liked it before you started that talk about what was wrong with it, And so we have now have to keep our mouths shut after seeing something less we skyfall it. But yeah, so we often have sat down and said, Okay, here's here's the thing with our you know, it's really only worked with Owen, our oldest, who loves movies.

The other two really just don't care. And in fact, the more we try to do that, the more they resist it. But they have come to like stuff. So basically, with our youngest, we just watched The Office over and over and over again, the BBC or the Steve Carrell, no, the American version. Have you ever shown them the Well, if they liked the Office, the kids love the Office.

I know they like the US version. The BBC I think is kind of interesting, like it's only it's very interesting. We've watched it with all of them, the BBC one, but it's been a few years. But yeah, the Office is something everyone can agree on, even though we've all seen it five times. Right, That's that's comfort food for them.

The Office Parks and rec for me too, Like I love parks and rec that I just put kids put it on the background, the good place we're rewatching. It's not as comforting because it becomes so thoughtful, like so twisty and morally challenging, but brilliant still brilliant, brilliant. Yeah, okay, now plug your stuff. You just humbly said, yeah, we write for TV, bub Ba, where can we find Well, my husband writes for TV. So he was on the HBO show Titans for four years.

Well it was actually five years, is four seasons because COVID and then obviously he is now on strike and so but he's written, He's written a lot of He's written a lot of scary stuff. He's kind of a supernatural dude, so he wrote movies first. So he wrote The Mothman Prophecies, a movie Richard Gere, Laura Lenney movie. But it's a great movie. But he works in television, so he's worked on Graham and Supernatural and which is of East End and all sorts of shows.

And I write really independent stuff, mostly theater right now, so you two dying industries. It's great right right now, which is why everyone podcast now. So yeah, yeah, but I used to write movies, and I used to write more in Hollywood, mostly features and then and TV movies, and then it was becoming no fun. So I moved to theater. Okay, and Sharon, how did you the two of you meet?

I don't even what is your your meat cute moment? Well, through a friend, Yeah, our formation friend Brittany, who I actually met in line for the first screening of all four Star Wars movies, the original series, and we were in line for six hours and you know what else you're gonna do but sit and talk and over pizza and stuff like that. And so we kept in touch, and then Brittany went off to usc film school and she met Susan there and that's how I met Susan, and we've known each other ever since. Sadly, our friend Brittany passed away twenty years ago, believe it or not, but we've we've stayed in touch, and Susan was the one that came up with this great idea to do this podcast and called me and said, hey, do you want to do this podcast with me?

And I said yes, I would without without sharitation. Sharon watches everything like it was like who can talk about television and also watches more than I do because I don't watch as much modern stuff just because of mostly time. But yeah, and so I was like, oh my gosh, Sharon, because we had been talking and we all we talk about movies and television, what have you seen? And all this kind of stuff. And I also knew that you're in love podcasts, so it felt like, who can I sit and talk with about things that we love?

Who can I skyfall with? I need someone who exactly very good. I love that you have a term for it, but I as long as it's after I've seen it, because I'm a huge spoiler folk, So I just found this out. I knew you were a spoiler folk, but I did not find out that you actively avoid trailers for movies, and I refused to engage with movies. Whatsoever?

Do you walk in the theater? That's my hat's off to you. I don't know how you do it, And yeah, it's it's actually not as hard as you might think. But yeah, occasionally I had to go to great lengths, and it mostly has stood me in great stead. You know.

For instance, I said earlier about the Wednesday Dance, if I had seen it without people telling me, oh my god, this they were hearing out so amazing, and then it was it was fine. My favorite story is I had not read the Dan Brown book Da Vinci Code. I deliberately didn't. I am literally driving to the theater to see it. I am listening to NPR, and they gave it away before I had a chance to reach over and turn the radio off.

Now, when they do that, that's the worst. They probably figured the book's been out for a few years. People must know. No, not everybody, and usually you get a little bit of warm anyway. So I still enjoy the movie.

But still, yeah, he said, it's it's not as hard as you think it might be to just avoid stuff if you really don't want to want to know, all right, I don't want to tell you what soil and Green is people, So I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I had to let you know. I don't know if it's somehow I know that even though I don't think I've ever seen the movie, right, I know, I was trying to go as far back i'll go while you're talking, like I need to find some sort of referenced way way way job. No.

I mean, it was one of those things, at least, especially even then, that you almost couldn't not know if you were paying attention, right, But nevertheless, it's probably wouldn't have been on my to do list anyway, So I was afraid of Still I'm to a certain extent science fiction scares me. So all right, so we know that now no horror, no science fiction. Yeah, I'm really trying to My son, who's now sixteen, is watching The Walking Dead. Oh nice, And I'm trying, but I I just what about Sometimes I'm like, I gotta go. Did you watch The Room?

What about The Last of Us? Did you watch that? I haven't watched The Last of Us? Again, it's really hard. I'm so good, That's what I hear.

Yeah, sometimes I feel like we're kind of living and well, there's things so much that I don't feel like the need to watch any fictional version of it. I get it. But also the character, because I'm with you, I don't do any of that. I don't do the horror. I don't even do supernatural stuff.

And but the Last of Us, everybody, you know, I was talking about it. My husband wanted to watch, so it hooked me immediately. And it's a character, you know, I mean, when it's written, when it's well written, you know, you can appreciate that no matter what you know, what it's said in M highly recommend I have seen The Last of us most of it. Anyway, there are lots of things I fast forwarded through because you know, are you one of those like Okay, I get it, I get it. Then you're faster Yeah, well wow, I don't.

I don't need to see certain things. And sometimes it gets too exciting, so I'll sometimes the moments are so thrilling, I just can't. I know. Well, yeah, there was actually a moment, a musical moment in the series. Am I giving it and we'll be give it away?

Dave Right, the Linda Ronstep song. That episode was amazing, no question. Yeah, there there's like a standalone episode and that I'm neighbors with Gary White who wrote that song. Oh really yeah. Bringing it All Home, Love, living, God, everything to try and change and a thing love one of my favorites.

Yeah. He comes to our Christmas party every year, he and his wife, and they like it because then they can just walk home. So, and he has some amazing stories of being a songwriter in the seventies and eighties, got Bad. He wrote a lot of jingles as well. So and he's like a lot of my friends spend all their money on booze.

And as soon as I bought my house with a long, long time. Yeah, now I can do whatever I want. That's awesome, that's very cool and deserving. I mean, that's all right. Tell him we've got he's got a podcast that he needs to get on.

How do we get an invite to this Christmas party? If we do it, you'll have an invite, all right. My wife and I were just in Pasadena and we did like a tour of homes that were on TV shows. It's insane. They're all close together.

Like we went to the Benson Mansion, we went to the Peewee House. They're all they're all in this one back to the future. They're all in this little within fifteen minutes of each other. There's a lot of really interesting houses in Pasadena and South Pasadena. Yeah, you know, different styles of houses too.

That's one on things I like about our neighborhood. It's not like, oh, all the same houses, house types. Yeah, I'm living in Sherman Oaks, Dave. Have you been to the Brady Bunch House. Oh yeah, yes.

I lived literally down the block around the corner for years from that house, and somebody had told me that the house was nearby, and I'm like, it's not there, you've got it out of your mind. So I was. I was very surprised one day to real and I walked and I walked in the morning, ask my exercise, and I walked by it many times and never recognized it. Is that Yeah. Yeah.

It's like when you see a celebrity in, you know, at the grocery market. You're like, oh, it can't be because this isn't It doesn't register, like, no, this is not where this person is supposed to be. One one of my walks is the Modern Family House, the exterior, and I've been doing the walk for I don't know ten years before someone pointed out to me and I was like, now I can't miss it. Yeah, now you look at it, you go. Of course, how did I not see this for all these years?

Yeah? Yeah, I recently visited the Brady Bunch House because it went back on the market. I was gonna say it was for sale. Yeah did you buy it? Yeah?

Yeah I did. But it's right here. Yeah, and it's still twenty four hour security really to this day. Wow. Yeah, there's always someone there.

I mean they let you take pictures. You could do whatever you you know, take your pictures, enjoy, but yeah, but there's always someone there to make sure things stay because they also read they made it inside look like right right, Yeah, that's all I need is just someone peeking in all the time, just trying to get a picture of the interior. Yeah, I don't know, could you live in a house like that? Would you buy the You know, so, like, which TV celebrity house would you like to live in? What would My husband and I have looked at gals Way, which was where Hardcastle lived in Hardcastle and McCormick, Well, McCormick lived there too, in the guest house when they fought Crime together.

But it's in Malibu, and he was a judge and ex judge, so it was a very nice house and apparently his wife was a millionaire in the story of the show. But it's a real location in Malibu, very close to Paradise Cove, which is where they shot Rockford Files. So it was a favorite location of Stephen Cannell and so we I know that location very well. It was one of the first places I saw and recognized from television when I came out to LA and I was like, that's goes Oh my god, that's because it was a real house real place, and it had a big area in front where they could park the truck, so that's one of the reasons they used it. So we always joked that we would buy that house.

I think it's it's changed chance a lot. It's really got it got dilapidated. I don't know what date it's in now, but it's probably falling into the ocean at this point, because it was a bright omid ocean from what I can remember. I think I want not the house that Magnum lived in, but the main house. Oh yeah, why they're in the beach.

That's that I think would be at the top of my list. Where John Houseman lived there. You go, oh yeah, Holly, do you do you have a house like? No, I was I was just thinking of in your in the old neighborhood where you guys were you and Steve grew up the fast Times at Ridgemont High House. Isn't that Wasn't that in your old neighborhood which oh I don't, I don't even know was the Brad's and Brett?

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that was in your old neighborho the exterior, Yeah, never knew that. Yeah, I could be wrong. I'm going to check me on that. That's all right now, worries. I liked Laura Holt's house, which was in the first It was modeled after Stephanie Zimbolist's actual home, like almost exactly.

Wow, okay, but they blow it up in one episode and then she moves into a loft like with this big sort of loft door. I thought that was pretty cool. I was like, oh, yeah, I want to live there. But stefanitely talks about how it felt very weird to watch them blow up her house. Basically, that's funny.

They always talk about the Brady Bunch, how Mike was an architect, but this house was just designed horribly, you know, like you know, there's one bathroom between the six kids and just they're all in one bedroom. I mean it's just insane. Yeah, but Mike at least add on. Yeah. Well, they didn't have the addict I mean, who wouldn't want to live in that attict and anything house?

The Charmed house was pretty cool, right, ladies of the Charm. I think they lived in like with the big attic kind of area. I don't know. If you guys watch Charmed now and the house in first Prince of Belaire. Sure, why not?

That was pretty cool too, That would be fun. Which which house do I want to live in? I keep going back to the Hawaii thing, as you like, Yeah, like I want a vacation. We're the White Lotus people where they're vacationing everyone at the White Lotus with you. Oh my god, yeah, I live like that.

Yeah, Oh my gosh. All right, it occurred to me that we never talked. And I'm sure this was eighties. It might be late eighties, early nineties. We should give a mention to Julie Cruise for Twin Peaks for the creating that the Twin Peaks sound was eighties or nineties or nine in the remember it?

I remember it well. But yeah, I retract because I thought, okay, well, no, that's fine, because that's that was a huge part of I mean, when you talk about the sound intertwined with it, just like psychologically intertwined with the show, I think that is totally representative. Ye. Well, and some of the other ones I had on my little list here China Beach and in the Heat of the Night, both again existing songs but became kind of tied to. There was a movie, a film directed by Norman Jewison, was based on a book.

But did they do the song for the movie or did they do the song? Yeah, it was Quincy Jones. Oh, it was for the movie. And then they used it for the television show which was from the eighties, Carol O'Connor and Howard Rowlands as Virgil Tubs. I've got trouble.

That song is very tied to that television show. It's sort of it's basically about a black cop working with a in the movie, more racist white cop, but in the television show it's Carol O'Connor, so he's sort of softly racist cop. It's it's a much softer version of the movie that is more procedural. But and then China Beach was it was Dana Delaney, right, wasn't it Lane and a great cast. And then the theme song was Reflections.

Diana Ross. Oh, oh, that's a really cool montage opening I remember. I mean, like again, I'm that's I haven't seen it recently. So when you hear reflections, you think of the mont China Beach. Yeah, yeah, through the mirror, time map to time as you reflection, love you and Me, reflections the way I used to me.

Yeah, and that's a show I will we do want to cover. I want to cover at some point, just because it's very sort of it feels like it is late eighties and it feels like a late eighty show, and yet it also is, you know, very much designed to be female driven. So I'm curious to look at it. I've never watched it me either. Well, just you got some fresh eyes for the team, All right, Sharon, did you have anything else on your list?

I had a different world the opening for that show. That song went through a couple of different iterations. Rtha Franklin probably most notably sang that song for the show and two to seven No Place Michael over Alone, Know that You're a love You don't need to roll. The opening song was by Marla Gibbs. Those are two eighties shows that were on my list in terms of theme songs, but then for not on eighties TV shows.

I think I think we've actually mentioned all of them except maybe Night Court. I really liked the theme song for that too. For the life of me, I cannot see it. I couldn't know. It's there are no lyrics, like instrumental, right, yeah, it's instrumental.

It's kind of upbeat and jazzy kind of but yeah, it's definitely not singable. Did they did they use the same thing for the reboot? See here's another show that that had a reboot. Did you did you like that? I think they did use the same music for the opening the new show is.

Maybe it'll find its way, but it was still kind of raw from at the beginning. So hopefully by the time it comes back, it'll found its footing a little bit better, maybe hopefully, and it will come back. You think I think they've already shot the second season. Oh okay, you know, they apparently had already started shooting it in the second season because of the impending strike, and I believe they had finished it, but I'm not sure. I'm sure a lot of TV shows did that.

Bang. Yeah, there's a lot of racing. Yeah, get things in the can. Yeah, And it helped. It's only a half hour show, so that's a little bit for lack of it, a pretty easier than an hour drama to try to, you know, bank some episodes.

All right, Every episode of Night Court opens and closes with a jazz influenced bass heavy theme tune composed by Jack Elliott featuring Ernie Watts on saxophone, while featuring video footage of prominent New York City landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge and then New York County Courthouse. There you go. You gotta have some bass in your bass and saxophone. That's all. That's really what you need for a theme.

Maybe a little guitar risk maybe, yeah, just a little a little walkie guitar. Yeah. Okay. So my favorite theme it's actually from the seventies. I had nothing to do with the show.

It was by Bob James and I can't remember the name of the song. It was an instrumental and it's just shows a taxi going over the bridge and it's for taxis. I was just thinking of that, Oh my gosh, and it just like, you have no idea what you're in for with this show, but it's just just chill music. And then and then it opens and then there's insanity. I just I just you know, there's Louis de Palmer.

I don't think he's doing it, but that was That's always been my favorite. That that opening, just simple and then surprising that it's something completely different. HOLLYO, what's your favorite TV intro. Just throw at one. I already told you Rockford Files that was I guess I would have to say it's my favorite, but it's the one that springs to mind, so it's the most memorable for me.

But oh my god, I mean there were so many, like I mean, I think about what this was seventies, so we did, we didn't mention it. But welcome back, Caughter, welcome by. Your dreams were your ticket eye m bye, that same old place that you laughed about. Well, the nuts have all change that you hung around, but those dreams every may and they turned around. Would have done in e Jore where we need you a lot because we got him on the spot.

Welcome back, welcome, welcome, Oh yeah, John Sebastian, Yes exactly. But also like happy Days in Laverne and Shirley, those were all I mean, you sing them, you actually sing this and yeah, don't get the Mary Tyler Moore open more show that song as well. That was that's a great one too. Yeah, so many right right on and on. Yeah.

Okay, so Susan, maybe you have someone lightened or either one of you. Why why is there no theme music anymore? What is it just we just got to get is that that's the reason because the time that used to be devoted to theme songs is now being sold for commercials. Oh okay, so you know the episodes are shorter, and that means that they use the extra time to sell more commercials. So they found that that was better for the bottom line than you know, having these minute a half two minutes opening songs.

That. Yeah, it really has come down to that. It really is so precious in television shows now. It really there's so much story packed into so many shows, and shows aren't the same thing anymore. Right.

It used to be something you settle into, get your TV dinner, gather everybody around, somebody hits the bathroom, like it was like the overture of a musical. We don't really have those anymore either, right, Like, it's very rare you have an overture. You know, so much as consumed streaming and all this kind of stuff, and that skip the intro is right there, and a lot of people I think do that because yeah, I've heard that. You know, you're not getting settled in anymore. You're just consuming pretty quickly.

So it's an easy open package now and you're not trying to set the tone, like you're not leaving. You know, it was an interesting thing. You needed to set a tone. You need to remind people where they were what they were watching. You didn't always know what you were going to get unless you were paying attention, right, Like, Okay, I'm turning on what's on NBC right now?

It's eight thirty. Oh, I just got home whatever, you know. Like, it's like music. We don't have quite the same way we approach music either. It's kind of a shame.

It'd be interesting to see it come back. Yeah, you know, if I may qualify what I said though, I was speaking specifically about network television that supported television in terms of and that's where it started. But now as streamers are getting more you know, prolific, there are starting to be some shows that do have pretty great openings. I'm thinking of Game of Thrones and Game of Turns. Was you know I was going to mention Succession as well, because that's that was been my favorite theme of shows its stream don't have the pressure of needing to fit in to a certain amount of time for each episode.

They have more flexibility. Madman is another one. If you want to go back a little bit earlier, even even though that aired on a cable channel. They have flexibility in terms of the length of each episode that network shows do not, So that is where it started. So it'll be interesting to see if it becomes more prolific in terms of having an opening, like more of an opening.

But I don't know if audiences have the patience anymore to sit through it. Personally, I love the always love the opening of the game. I'm a big Game of Throne stand anyway, I won't get it. Opening is great opening, yeah, and it tells you where you're going to be each episode. It takes you across the breadth of the space that this world exists in.

And yeah, it has all kinds of things going on in it that are very interesting and really great tone setting for the show. I think to a certain extent that's a little bit of an exception rather than the rule. But I'd like to see more of that. I do. I do really kind of miss it.

Clearly, we miss it because we're good talking for two hours about this, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Should we haven't? I was just gonna because you're absolutely right, Sharon about consume. We just we consume now, and I'm so excited to get to my programming every day that you know, I do skip, I skip all interest and every so off of my husband. Well, we'll say no, don't, don't, don't hit the button yet.

Are there any aside from Game of Thrones that you would watch now and wait to get to your actual programming? Nothing else immediately comes to mind? Office. Yeah, we've watched it so many times and we still still because we love because it's got the little teaser. There's usually the teaser and then they go into the opening, and that opening is as iconic as the British opening in terms of just a you know, it's not a vocal but it's really okay, Yeah, I just thought.

I just thought of another. The Good Fight on Paramount and has an amazing opening that doesn't always come at the top of the show. Sometimes it's been as much as fifteen minutes into the show before they get to that. Sometimes it's friend the beginning somewhere, it's in between. But again, they have flexibility.

They're not trying to hit a commercial break. It's it's a streaming show. The opening on that show is really is really great. Yeah, it's interesting they're doing it with movies too that you know, just like waiting to get to the title, you know anything else. We've taken so much, I know, it's I think we've covered so much.

We could just keep talking. Yeah, it's a very special thing to do, a very special episode. So anyway, thank you Susan Sharon. This was wonderful, so much fun. We love talk TV.

What a great opportunity. Thank you guys so much, thank you, Thank you. Hey allids, Welcome to the What Difference Doesn't Make? Podcast and mostly Hadies music podcast. Yeah, we talked to the artists in the music industry, insiders that made the eighties the greatest decade for music.

If you listen to only a new wave radio station back in the eighties, if you can name all five members of the MTV vjas, if you remember spand Out La or The Go Goes or the Smith Ens or Drama Rama or When Chung or an Emotion, or if you remember the eighties at all, then this is going to be the podcast for you. We are What Difference Does It Make? And we have new episodes every Friday, so check us out. You can follow us on our social media pages, which can be found where at W DDIM podcast and on YouTube, where we will have lots of outtakes from this chat with the Eighties TV Ladies and much more at What Difference Does It Make Podcast on YouTube. Thank you for joining us for this very special crossover episode with the eighties music podcast What Difference Does It Make?

Listen to part one over at What Difference Does It Make? Podcast? That's w D d I M podcast dot com. Be sure to check out our next episode for the return of the nineties TV Babies. We're going to find out what they think about.

It's a living. It's going to be exciting and new. Come aboard. We'll be expecting you. That's a difference income.

We're expecting, Oh love boat. As always, we hope Eighties TV Ladies brings you joy and laughter and lots of fabulous old and new shows to watch, all of which will bring us closer toward being amazing ladies of the twenty first century. Y and so pretty to the city, My ban World by the Lads