I was thinking about TV theme songs that introduce the cast.
I was wondering what determines which actor gets the final credit, where they usually give the character name and the word “and.” As I started to make a list, I noticed that in nearly every example the “and” actor was the father figure. The trend crosses different genres over different eras.
“and starring Tom Bosley as Mister Cunningham”
”and Bob Uecker as George” (though I suppose one could argue Mr. Belvedere was a father figure in a way George could never be. That’s why they needed him)
”and Erico Colantoni” (this one is missing the character name, Keith Mars)
“and Dennis Haskins as Mr. Belding”
“and Greg Evigan as Joey” (I’m sure the producers of My Two Dads struggled with which dad to put in the final slot. For those unfamiliar with the show, they picked the “fun” one.)
“and Joel Higgins as Edward Stratton the III” (I don’t expect anyone to know this one offhand, it’s Silver Spoons)
“and Peter Boyle as Frank” (Frank goes last, but before him there’s a “with Doris Roberts as Marie”)
“and Anthony Stewart Head as Giles” (sorry for the quality on the video, this is the version of the Buffy credits on YouTube that isn’t a fan remix. There’s one that uses the Buffy theme with Lois & Clark footage.)
”and Tim Roth as Ray” (You might not recognize him by name either, he’s the dad from Sister Sister)
I had never really thought about this paternal pattern before, but when CollegeHumor made it’s Lost theme I remember insisting one joke had to be “and Terry O’Quinn as Locke.”
EXCEPTIONS:
The pattern doesn’t fit for shows built around the father character, like Home Improvement, Married With Children, or The Facts of Life.
Friends has no “and” character, but it also has no dads.
Alf doesn’t fit the pattern either, but then again Alf was never one for playing by the rules.
One odd exception seems to be TGIF shows, which almost all featured this style of credits. Nobody gets a character name on TGIF shows (like you didn’t know who Urkel was anyway). Peggy Rae, the grandmother on Step By Step who was only around for one season, goes last (in case you aren’t clicking all these YouTube links, I just wanted to let you know someone used their digital camera to shoot every version of the Step By Step theme on their television and then uploaded it to YouTube.) The Perfect Strangers theme only introduces Larry and Belky. Full House usually used the baby. Boy Meets World doesn’t bother introducing anyone, and it’s also the worst theme song on this page.
I don’t usually ask for comments, but I would love it if people could link to more examples.
