Beech Tree News Network

A month or so ago, I started a two-parter on television theme songs.  This week, we’ll finally get around to the second part.  This week: the A-Team.  The A-Team debuted in January 1983 and ran for five seasons(98 episodes) on NBC.  The series was created by Stephen J, Cannell(who would be a regular decades later on Castle but that’s another story) and Frank Lupo.  It is one of the most recognizable instrumental theme songs of the ‘80’s.  Mike post is credited The Greatest American Hero, creating Rockford Files, Magnum P.I, Hill Street Blues, Hunter, L.A. Law, Doogie Howser and Quantum Leap among others,  

Next up is the M*A*S*H theme.  The song is called “Suicide Is Painless”.  Bright and cheery, isn’t it? Written by Johnny Mandel(music) and Michael Altman(lyrics) for the 1970 film of the same name that the show was based off of, it was performed by characters in the film.  It plays during the title sequence as sung by The Ron Hicklin Singers.  The song was written for Ken Prymus, the actor playing Private Seidman, to sing during the faux suicide of Walter “Painless Pole” Waldowski in the film’s “Last Supper” scene.  Director Robert Altman had two stipulations for composer Johnny Mandel: it had to be called “Suicide is Painless” and it had to be the “stupidest song ever written”.  Mission accomplished. He gave the task to his 15-year-old son Michael, who reportedly wrote the lyrics in five minutes.  (www.wikipedia.com)

We wrap this week with another instrumental:  Newhart.  Written by Henry Mancini and performed by the Royal Philharmonic, Newhart has to be one of the most recognized songs in television history.  The show itself ran 8 seasons, from October 25, 1982-May 21, 1990.  A&E named the Newhart series finale as one of the most memorable in television history.  In November 2005, the series finale was named by TV Guide and TV Land as the most unexpected moment in tv history.  The episode was watched by 29.5 million U.S. viewers, ranking as the most-watched program that week.  In 2011, the finale was ranked #4 on the TV Guide Network special TV’s Most Unforgettable Finales and in 2013 was ranked #1 in Entertainment Weekly’s 25 best finales ever.  (www.en.wikipedia.org)  Below are links to my podcast, Blendertainment:

https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=w5jHghPVRmaTaP5ZEI-wzQ

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172