Sitcom Themes and Broadway

(Filmbo's contribution to the Short Film Blogathan hosted at Only the Cinema and Culture Snob.)

My studying for the upcoming season of DC bar trivia has pointed me once again toward the subject of sitcom theme songs. Last time I mentioned this subject in my blog, I pointed out that the highly memorable theme song to Friends may or may not have been a rip-off of My Two Dads. This time I feel the need to mention the uncanny resemblance between a sitcom's opening theme song, and the opening number to a Broadway musical.

Take the "Nothing's Gonna Stop me Now" number from Perfect Strangers:

Sometimes the world looks perfect
Nothing to rearrange.
But sometimes you just get a feeling
Like you need some kind of change.
No matter what the odds are this time
Nothing’s gonna stand in my way.
This flame in my heart, like a long lost friend.
Gives every dark street a light at the end.

Standing tall on the wings of my dream.
Rise and fall on the wings of my dream.

The rain and thunder, the wind and haze,
I’m bound for better days.
It’s my life and my dream,
Nothing’s going to stop me now.

Like any opening number to a post- Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, the lead character (in this case some narrator singing as an inner monolog) states the theme of the story and his own goals as the protagonist. Both aren't always combined into one song, as is the case with Stephen Schwartz's Pippin. With that show, the opening number, Magic To Do says what the show is about and Pippin states his goals in his follow-up ballad, Corner of the Sky:

Every man has his daydreams
Every man has his goal
People like the way dreams have
Of sticking to the soul
Thunderclouds have their lightning
Nightingales have their song
And don't you see I want my life to be
Something more than long.
...
So many men seem destined
To settle for something small
But I won't rest until I know I'll have it all
So don't ask where I'm going
Just listen when I'm gone
And far away you'll hear me singing
Softly to the dawn:

Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky

Both this and the opening theme song to Perfect Strangers share those broad-reaching lyrics about finding oneself in the big and scary world, sung with perseverance and passion that can exist with someone so young and uncorrupted.

And this is just one example. It's hardly a leap to say that most sitcom intros or drama intros -- when sung -- follow the same formula of a Broadway musical opening. Off the top of my head, shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mr Belvedere, That 70's Show, and even The Sopranos follow suit, even if the music itself is unconventional for Broadway. Yes, even Tony Soprano searches for his Corner of the Sky in the credits:

You woke up this morning
The world turned upside down,
Thing's ain't been the same
Since the Blues walked into town.
...
When you woke up this morning,
You got yourself a gun.

Two more pieces that seem worth mentioning. The first is the opening number to the failed Cop Rock and the second is Richard Lester's staging of "Comedy Tonight" from his adaptation of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Both blend the connection between the two worlds, even if the already close relationship was unknown.

Lastly while on the subject of musicals, I must interject that clearly stating the objectives (as if writing an essay for a seventh grade teather) and other uses of the obvious in musical theater have contributed to what's made the genre so kitsch-driven and so Disney-fied. With few exceptions and for many unfortunate reasons, the artistic merit of most musicals have been reduced to a song's catchiness, the economic simplicity in the characters and storytelling, and the visual art direction. If you are unfamiliar with what a musical can be like pre-formula, I urge you to take a look at the upcoming Lubitsch Musicals box set from Criterion/Eclipse. Yet another reason why Ernst Lubitsch was a gift from God.