Can You Guess This TV Theme? #49 - Answer

Congratulations to Patrick Tillett from 'Patrick Tillett - Extremely Overdue' for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme is from 'Felicity'! I don't mean to offend you in any way Pat, but when you posted the answer, I had to do a double take when I saw your name.... 'Pat Tillett watched Felicity? I did not see that coming....' I think you may have been the only Vietnam Veteran to have watched 'Felicity'.... By the way people.... If you haven't check out Pat's blog, do it.... It's amazing! His amazing stories about the life he's lived, the amazing Vietnam posts, and the amazing photography are.... well, amazing. The man knows how to tell a story.... Ok, now, onto this week's theme....

'Felicity' was a powerhouse from the get-go.... Created by two of the brightest minds in Hollywood, J.J. Abram`s and Matt Reeves, and produced by two of the biggest names in Hollywood, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, 'Felicity' ran for only four seasons, following Felicity throughout her college years....

Keri Russell plays Felicity Porter, a young high school graduate who decides to go against her parents' dreams of a fully paid Stanford Pre-Med education to follow a boy, Ben Covington (Scott Speedman), to the University of New York.

Felicity gets to New York and learns about herself, and develops relationships and friendships throughout her four years in college. Struggling in a love triangle with Ben and Noel (Scott Foley, originally playing Felicity's Resident Advisor).... Creating friendships with friends Julie and Elena (played by Amy Jo Johnson and Tangi Miller).... P.S. For those of you who recognize the name Amy Jo Johnson, but just can't remember who she is, she's the original Pink Power Ranger!

During the series, you're introduced to Sean Blumberg (played by Greg Grunberg, who on a side note is a childhood friend of the great J.J. Abrams, and has been cast in many of Abrams' projects.... He was in Alias, Mission Impossible III, and he was the pilot who crashed the plane into the island on 'LOST'! All three are Abrams' works....), Ben's original roommate and the guy who comes up with all sorts of crazy new ideas (e.g. The Before and After Restaurant - Where they only serve appetizers and desserts)....

I could go on, but there were so many characters, and each character plays such a pivotal role in the show.... I've already put most of you to sleep.... I'm not even going to talk about Donald Faison and Jennifer Garner being on the show.... Or even Tyra Banks' short run on the show....

Anyway.... On to what everybody knows about the show.... The controversy about what killed the ratings. The Haircut vs. The Network's Decision To Move The Show To A New Night.... The producers had the idea to snip Keri's lovely locks, to symbolize a fresh new start after a breakup with Ben.... After the 'haircut heard around the world', and the time change, the ratings decreased significantly and never fully recovered.

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #49 - Update

Everybody was stumped by the first theme.... So, as promised, here's the second theme.... Don't forget, these themes were both for the same show. Is the second theme any more recognizable?

Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #49

Happy Friday everybody! Here's today's deal with 'Can You Guess This TV Theme'.... This show had two different themes. Both themes had a good run, and should be recognizable, but the show's first theme had no lyrics.... I'm posting the show's first theme at 7:00 a.m., and if nobody can guess the name of the show from the first theme, I'll post the show's second theme at 12:00 p.m. (all PST).... As always, the answers will be posted at 3:00 p.m.

Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #48 - Answer

Congratulations to Liz at 'A Belle, A Bean, & A Chicago Dog' for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme is from 'Coach'!

In 'Coach', actor Craig T. Nelson stars as Hayden Fox, college football coach of the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles (and later the Orlando Breakers).

'Coach' not only focused on football, (I don't remember if I actually ever saw anybody actually 'play' football during the show), the show focused on the relationships of Coach Fox, his significant other, his daughter and the assistant coaches.

Throughout the program, Coach Fox is constantly wooing and developing his relationship with television news anchor Christine, his significant other played by Shelley Fabares.... Of course, the coach has trouble understanding women, and always uses football analogies to make sense of his romantic relationship....

Jerry Van Dyke and Bill Fagerbakke starred as Coach Fox's trusted and loyal (and simple) assistants coaches. Van Dyke stars as absent-minded Luther Van Dam, and Fagerbakke stars as the gentle giant Michael 'Dauber' Dybynski.

After his successful tenure at Minnesota State University, Coach Fox is given the chance to realize his dream of coaching a professional football team, the Orlando Breakers. The Breakers are owned by widow Doris Sherman, played by Katherine Helmond (Mona from Who's The Boss?)....

Coach was on the air for 200 episodes! I've got a lot of television to watch this weekend!

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #48

Happy Friday everybody!!!! It's been such a busy week this week (knock on wood), but there always time to guess this week's TV theme! So, Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #47 - Answer

Congratulations to TS Hendrik from 'The Non-Review' for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme is from 'Pushing Daisies'.

The show revolved around Ned the pie maker and owner of 'The Pie Hole', played by Lee Pace, and his gift of giving life back to the dead.... As a young boy, Ned finds out that he can revive the dead by touching their lifeless bodies. However, Ned also finds out that with great power, comes great consequences, and he learns that his ability to revive the dead comes with a few stipulations:

1. If the subject that Ned has revived is brought back to life for more than one minute, something or someone nearby will die to 'restore balance'.

2. If Ned touches the revived subject a second time, it dies again, this time permanently.

Private investigator Emerson Cod, played by Chi McBride of 'Boston Public' and 'Human Target' fame, catches wind of Ned's gift and makes him an offer he can't refuse.... Ned would bring murder victims back to life, find out who killed them, then get paid to solve the crimes....

Ned, now working with PI Cod, runs into the corpse of his childhood love, Charlotte 'Chuck' Charles played by the beautiful Anna Friel.... Ned brings her back to life, and struggles with his emotions throughout the series.... Ned loves Chuck, but can never touch her (because she'll die again), and he's lived his entire life with the fact that her father died because he brought his mother back to life for more than a minute....

Kristin Chenoweth, the little woman with the big voice and the original 'Glinda' from Broadway's 'Wicked', won an Emmy Award for her role as Pie Hole Waitress Olive Snook.... Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz play Chuck's synchronized swimming and anxiety-ridden aunts Lilly and Vivian Charles.

The scenery for 'Pushing Daisies' was like none other.... Everything was so colorful and magical. I think it was best described as 'storybook-esque'. It was a great show for people like me, who are easily distracted by colorful or shiny things.... All of the colorful and shiny things were on the screen in 'Pushing Daisies'!

Did you know that the show's narrator, Jim Dale, has won two Grammy awards for his narration of the Harry Potter Audio Books and was the evil Dr. Terminus in Disney's Pete's Dragon! Hey, you try saying Passamaquoddy!

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #47

Happy Friday! Is everybody gearing up for the big three day weekend?

I'm keeping today's theme short and simple.... Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #46 - Answer

Congratulations to Lisa Marie from 'The Domestication Of A Party Girl' for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme is from 'Party Of Five'.

Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf, Lacey Chabert, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jeremy London, Matthew Fox.... 'Party Of Five' could be the most beautiful show ever!

After losing both of their parents in a car crash with a drunk driver, the Salinger children are left to figure out life on their own.... One of my most favorite shows! I'm going to be spending a lot of time watching 'Party Of Five' DVD's this weekend....

There's a tie in though.... There's always a tie-in.... The 2 1/2 hour series finale of LOST is on ABC this Sunday! I can only imagine that it will be the best episode of television of all time! Matthew Fox will be Dr. Jack Shephard for the last time.... It's the end of an era....

I remember sitting in my living room, watching an episode of the first season of LOST with my wife, my sister-in-law and her ex-boyfriend.... This was before we got our DVR.... What I didn't know is that minutes before the show started, my wife had found out that she was pregnant with our first child.... Not wanting to ruin the episode of LOST, my wife waited until the episode ended to tell me that we were 'with child'.... I wonder if she's going to have any big news for me tonight?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #46

Happy Friday everybody! It's that time again! Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #45 - Answer

Congratulations to TS Hendrik from 'The Non-Review' for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme is from the epic television show 'Doogie Howser, M.D.' He answered the question while waist deep in Tennessee flood waters....

Neil Patrick Harris starred as Doogie Howser, America's favorite boy genius! Trying to create a balance between being a teenager and a doctor, Doogie learns about life with his parents (played by James Sikking and Belinda Montgomery), his colleagues (played by Lawrence Pressman, Kathryn Layng and Mitchell Anderson), and his best friend Vinny Delpino (Max Casella of Newsies fame).... At the end of every episode, Doogie translates his life lessons learned throughout the episode into poetic prose that he types into the blaring blue screen of his computer journal (or personal blog, as I like to call it)....

This show was awesome 20 years ago, and it's still great now! I've been watching episodes all day, and it's amazing amazing Neil Patrick Harris was as Doogie....

Do you remember Vinny always coming in through Doogie's second story bedroom window? Did he ever use the front door?

Did you know that Steven Bochco and David E. Kelly, the creators of the show, have said that if the show would not have been canceled so abruptly, they would have had a season long story arc in which Doogie becomes disillusioned with medicine and in the end, becomes a writer?


Two things about Mitchell Anderson, who plays Dr. Jack Maguire:

1. His hairstyle, while on Doogie Howser, is a exact duplicate of my hair now....
2. He was in one of my favorite movies from the 80's, with Joaquin Phoenix, Lea Thompson, Kate Capshaw, Tate Donovan, Terry O'Quinn, and many other awesome actors and actresses, 'Space Camp'!!!!! I'll save the details for 'Space Camp' for another post....

And I have the best news you're going to hear all day! Every episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. is available on HULU!!!!! Just click on Doogie and Vinny below to be magically transported to the Doogie Howser, M.D. - HULU site and enjoy the magic!

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #45

Good morning! Happy Friday! It's time to celebrate the arrival of the weekend with another edition of Can You Guess This TV Theme!

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #44 - Answer

Congratulations to Lisa Marie from The Domestication Of A Party Girl for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme was from 'The Bad News Bears'!

With the same premise as the 1976 film 'The Bad News Bears' starring Walter Matthau, Jackie Earle Haley and Tatum O'Neal, the television show revolved around the team's coach, Morris Buttermaker, played by Jack Warden.

As a former minor league baseball player, currently working as a pool cleaner, Coach Buttermaker gets upset after a client refuses to pay his bill and responds by driving the client's car into the sparkling clean pool. Buttermaker is given a choice of either "volunteering" to coach the Hoover Junior High baseball team or going to jail.

Coach Buttermaker chooses baseball over jail time and spends the entire series trying to teach a group of hapless kids how to play together as a team....

While coaching the team, the coach is under constant supervision from Principal Emily Rappant, played by Catherine Hicks. You may not recognize the name Catherine Hicks, but she played the mother on the WILDLY successful show '7th Heaven'.

The casting director for this show was able to pick up a fresh faced Corey Feldman (a favorite of Ally at Fourth Grade Nothing.... He sent her a letter!) for his first major acting role.... But other than that choice, I think think the casting director decided to cast the kids with the funniest names.... Gregg Forrest, Tricia Cast, J. Brennan Smith, Sparky Marcus, Rad Daly, Meeno Peluce, Shane Butterworth, and Kristoff St. John (who looked like a young Barack Obama) rounded off the team....

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #44

Happy Friday everybody! The weekend is finally upon us! Last week's TV theme was pretty easy, so I decided to make this week's theme a little more difficult.... Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #43 - Answer

Congratulations to Sam for correctly guessing that this week's TV theme was from 'Taxi'!

Taxi followed the lives and relationships of the employees of the Sunshine Taxi Company. Danny DeVito played the taxi dispatcher with a Napoleon complex, Louie De Palma, watching from his tower over his ragtag crew of drivers.

The crew included Judd Hirsch as driver Alex Rieger, Marilu Henner as artist and driver Elaine Nardo, Tony Danza as boxer and driver Tony Banta, Jeff Conaway as actor and driver Bobby Wheeler, Christoper Lloyd as Reverend Jim Ignatowski, and Andy Kaufman as mechanic Latka Gravas and Carol Kane as Latka's wife Simka....

I do have to admit that I have a bit of a selfish reason for choosing Taxi as this week's TV theme.... This scene from Taxi may be the funniest scene ever on television.... It makes me laugh out loud every time I see it! Christopher Lloyd (who went on to play Doctor Emmett Brown in the "Back To The Future" series) needs to renew his driver's license and the gang all head down to the DMV to help him out. The entire scene is very funny, but if you want to skip to the best part, go four minutes into the video.

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #43

Everybody was stumped last week, so this week's TV theme is a bit easier..... Happy Last Day Of April! Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #42 - Answer

I was able to stump everybody with the short and sweet theme from 'Caroline In The City'!

After Lea Thompson was the rocker who fell in love with a leather jacket wearing and cigar smoking talking alien duck in 'Howard The Duck', and after she was Marty McFly's mother in the 'Back To The Future' trilogy, she became Caroline Duffy in 'Caroline In The City'....

Do you remember 'Caroline In The City'? It was on the air for four seasons.... Lea Thompson played Caroline Duffy, a syndicated cartoonist who wrote a comic strip titled 'Caroline In The City'.... Caroline works closely with Richard, played by Malcolm Gets, who takes the job as her comic strip colorist to make ends meet.... Throughout the series, Richard hides his undying love for Caroline as she dates new men and complains about her love life.... Hilarity ensues....

I became quite addicted to this show when it was on at 1:00 am, after watching back-to-back episodes of 'Boy Meets World'.

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #42

Are the weeks getting longer? It felt like Friday would never come..... Well, it's finally here! Can You Guess This TV Theme?

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #41 - Answer

Congratulations to Jerry from My Thoughts Brought To The Light for being the first person to correctly guess this week's TV theme!

'The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin' was an animated series that followed Teddy Ruxpin, that cute little toy bear whose mouth moved and eyes blinked as he read you stories as a child, as he leaves his home on the island of Rillonia with his best friend Grubby, the orange octopede. Together, with the help of Gimmick (a harebrained scientist they befriend during their adventure), they follow an ancient map which leads them to find a collection of crystals and Teddy's missing father....

Apparently, each episode included a short segment titled 'Protect Yourself' which ran after a teaser for the next episode and prior to the credits. It featured an animated Teddy Ruxpin on a live-action set, who would introduce contemporary child stars who would give young viewers advice on topics such as avoiding strangers and what to do in an emergency. These guest stars included the likes of Jason Bateman and Corey Feldman.... I don't remember the 'Protect Yourself' segments, but I'm planning on getting the DVD's this weekend to see if they're added as an extra!

Did you have a Teddy Ruxpin toy? I seem to remember that my Teddy Ruxpin felt like it weighed around 40 pounds.... But I was a bit smaller, so the toy probably seemed a lot bigger than it actually was....

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #41

It's finally here! It's FRIDAY! The weekend is almost upon us! Enjoy this week's 'Can You Guess This TV Theme'!

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #40 - Answer

Congratulations to Amy at Listophelia for correctly guessing this week's TV theme!

'Murder, She Wrote', starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher, was on the air for twelve years and was amazingly successful!

I was going to try to sit and write something that would do 'Murder, She Wrote' justice.... But while I was doing some research on the show to try and find more interesting information, I found this article written by IMDB.com user 'Roghache'.... It's really a wonderful piece....

Before I get to the article, I was perusing the list of guest stars that had appeared on 'Murder, She Wrote' during the show's 264 episode run. Did you know that Paul Rudd, Billy Zane, Courteney Cox, Joaquin Phoenix, Megan Mullally, Jim Caviezel, Bill Maher, George Clooney, Neil Patrick Harris, Leslie Neilsen, Jonathan Brandis, Daniel Dae Kim, Julianna Margulies, Bryan Cranston, Greg Evigan, Kevin Sorbo, Barry Williams, Florence Henderson, Andy Garcia, Gabe Kaplan, Adam West and many, many more actors and actresses all made appearances on the show? Seriously, there's 483 names on the list! It's incredible....

Here's the article from 'Roghache':

"This series is one of my all time favourites, and I still eagerly catch it on re runs. Angela Lansbury is surely one of the greatest of all the entertainment world's ladies, growing simply more graceful, dignified, and endearing as the years pass. She made a superb Miss Marple in some of the Agatha Christie movies, but her role as Jessica Fletcher, Cabot Cove's retired high school English teacher and current mystery novelist sleuth, is the one she was born to play.

True, the series isn't very realistic, as Jessica invariably stumbles upon a murder each week and manages to ferret out the killer quite single handedly, while local law enforcement remains stumped. However, this is fairly typical of all fictional sleuths; look at Miss Marple herself. Certainly Cabot Cove has an astonishing murder rate! Some episodes are of course more captivating than others, but even when a situation is predictable, it's always a joy watching this lovely, clever, & kind lady in action as she uses her charm, wits, imagination, and instincts about human nature. Of course it's always fun to try figuring out the killer before she does.

Jessica's travels take her around the USA and indeed the world, as she makes frequent trips to her New York City publisher, visits friends & relatives around the country (ranches, ski resorts, Las Vegas etc.), and even travels abroad, for example to Hong Kong, Ireland, Rome, Athens, and Monte Carlo. However, my favourite episodes are set in her small Maine hometown of Cabot Cove. I always enjoy the depiction of her lovely old fashioned white house and small town New England life, her traveling about on her bicycle (like myself, Jessica does not drive a car), and especially her relationships with other townsfolk, notably series regulars Dr. Seth Hazlitt and Sheriff Amos Tupper. As Jessica is a widow, it's always interesting to watch her with her good friend, Seth; one is tempted to look for a glimmer of romance. Quite often Jessica's young nephew, Grady, appears with her as she tackles the solution to a case.

The guest list throughout the long running series does indeed read like a veritable 'Who's who' of Hollywood, including Hayley Mills, Shelley Fabares, Van Johnson, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Polly Bergen, Wayne Rogers, Lucie Arnaz, and David Ogden Stiers...to name but a few.

I'm thrilled that the series continues to live on in re runs and tip my hat to Angela Lansbury's twelve season stint as the mystery writer sleuth. Personally, I wish Jessica Fletcher had taught my son English in high school, would love to read one of her mystery novels, and think she would make a fabulous & interesting next door neighbour... except that I'd be a teeny bit afraid I might just turn up murdered!"