| One thing I like the most about the internet is the | | | | felt sad when they stopped airing it in 1993. Succeeding |
| immense volume of free down loadable MIDI music | | | | sitcoms like Friends never quite captured my interest |
| from various locations. Also, the variety of MIDI music | | | | since Perfect Strangers ended. Equally memorable |
| available in the web is almost limitless. They range | | | | was the shows theme entitled Nothing's Gonna Stop |
| from classical to pop to rock music. Think of any song | | | | Me Now written by Jesse Frederick and Bennet |
| or music and chances are you'll find one lurking | | | | Salvay, and was performed by none other than David |
| somewhere in the web. Thanks to the musicians who | | | | Pomeranz. I consider it one of the most inspirational |
| took effort in arranging these music and uploading | | | | TV theme I've ever heard (with lyrics like: Standing tall |
| them to the Internet. | | | | on the wings of my dream, Rise and fall on the wings |
| My favorites of course, are the wide selection of | | | | of my dream...) The voice version of the song is far |
| movie and TV themes available in MIDI format. Ever | | | | superior, and better listened to than the instrumental |
| since we were little boys me and my brothers love to | | | | (MIDI) version available here. But then, this MIDI version |
| hum, sing or play our favorite TV or movie themes. | | | | is enough to give you an idea of how melodious this |
| We even played this game where one of us hum or | | | | song is. |
| play the theme and we guess the TV show or movie | | | | 6. Doogie Howser M.D. - It was during my early teens |
| it was taken. | | | | when Doogie Howser was aired.(1989 - 1993) Naturally, |
| Most of the themes I will feature here are 1980's | | | | I came to love the TV comedy-drama because it |
| classic. Maybe one reason for this is that, during my | | | | tackled teenage issues. Yes, Doogie Howser was a |
| teenage years (which is in the 1990's), they stopped | | | | genius(a 16-year-old doctor), but he lives a very normal |
| making the type of shows that I came to love during | | | | teenage life, thanks to his friend Vinnie Delpino, a typical |
| my childhood days - which is the 1980's. (I was really | | | | teenager, who keeps him grounded in life outside his |
| disappointed when they stopped airing McGyver.) Of | | | | profession. As a young musician, I was also drawn to |
| course, they tried to revive some of the classic TV | | | | the show's theme song. Interestingly, the theme song |
| shows, like Star Trek (I lost count of the versions they | | | | feature's the sound of the YAMAHA DX-7 |
| have made), but I thought none could surpass the glory | | | | synthesizer which was popular in the mid to late 1990's. |
| of the classics and I totally lost interest in the newer | | | | Sadly, I was not able to find a MIDI version that closely |
| releases. Another reason was that, as my thinking | | | | resembles the original. Are there only few musician's |
| started to mature, I became interested in shows which | | | | out there who are also Doogie Howser fans? (One of |
| had more mature and intellectual themes such as L.A. | | | | these days, I may publish here my own version of the |
| Law, which has theme songs that I do not find | | | | Doogie Howser theme. I remembered during my high |
| appealing in MIDI form. | | | | school days that I became instantly popular in my |
| So much for the nostalgia, and let us start examining | | | | school just by performing the Doogie Howser theme.) |
| each of my featured TV themes. I realized it was hard | | | | 7. The X-files - "The truth is out there", "Trust no one", |
| to trim down my choices to 10. But after much | | | | "I wan't to believe". These are the slogans featured in |
| consideration, I finally did it. Sorry for those who's | | | | X-files - a show that tackles paranormal phenomena, |
| favorites I did not include. But then, these are my | | | | government mistrust, conspiracy theories, and the |
| personal choices. | | | | belief in extraterrestrial life. The enigmatic sound of the |
| | | | X Files theme song (featured here) accurately |
| 1. Knight Rider - Need I say more?. Surely, most of us | | | | captures the show's mysterious nature. |
| who already had consciousness before 1986 know | | | | 8. MacGyver - Again, anyone who developed |
| about KITT, a highly sophisticated, autonomic car, | | | | consciousness before 1992 (the year the show ended) |
| ridden by none other than David Hasselhoff, AKA | | | | knows MacGyver, a laid-back, extremely resourceful |
| Michael Knight. In fact, the connection between | | | | secret agent, played by Richard Dean Anderson. We |
| Hasselhoff and this show was so impressed on me | | | | are awed at how MacGyver escaped from extreme |
| that until now, I still call him Knight Rider. The theme | | | | situations just by using simple and ordinary day to day |
| music was composed by Glen Larson and Stu Philips. | | | | things, and his most trusted swiss army knife. He was |
| The arrangement featured here was that of Don | | | | so well known at this that we sometimes say the |
| Peake who did the show's music when Stu Philips left | | | | phrase, "we macgyvered our way out of a situation". |
| the series. This is the arrangement that I came to | | | | Although most recently, the Mythbusters (another one |
| know about. It's more electronic sounding (as against | | | | of my favorite shows) tried to test some of |
| Philips' symphonic style), which, I think, is a more | | | | MacGygers tactics and found that some, like the |
| appropriate style for the series' hightech-ness. | | | | ultralight airplane made of bamboo, plastic bags, and |
| 2. Battlestar Galactica - As a child, I was fascinated | | | | concrete mixer engine, are completely untrue (but |
| with sci-fci series. The earliest intergalactic series that I | | | | that's another story and outside of this blog's main |
| could remember was Battlestar Galactica. Although I | | | | theme). Along with a popular show comes a popular |
| don't quite remember its plot, and I cannot recall any of | | | | theme song. I still remember how the girls freaked |
| the episodes (all I remember was the big battleship | | | | when I performed the MacGyver Theme in my high |
| gliding through the vastness of space), its theme song, | | | | school. Some trivia: McGyver's first name is Angus. |
| with its sonorous french horn ensemble, still | | | | Teri Hatcher appeared on the show as Penny Parker. |
| reverberates in my mind. This arrangement that I | | | | (I knew it. A quiz show was wrong when it said that |
| downloaded, closely resembles the original theme. | | | | Hatcher's first appearance in TV was in Lois and |
| 3. Star Trek, The Next Generation - I considered | | | | Clark). |
| myself to be lucky being able to witness the revival of | | | | 9. The Simpson's - As a child I loved cartoons. But |
| the Star Trek series on September 28, 1987. Although, | | | | when I stepped into teenage life and started |
| I was able to watch re-runs of the original series, I didn't | | | | outgrowing my interest in them, The Simpsons came |
| quite liked it as much as Next Generation. The reason | | | | into the scene. It was a new breed of animated show, |
| is that the new series has far better special effects. | | | | tackling mostly more mature issues, not typical for |
| And of course, I love the majestic, marching sound of | | | | cartoons. It was the first adult-oriented animated |
| its theme song. | | | | sitcoms. Needless to say, the Simpsons became so |
| 4. Jeopardy - I love to watch game shows. Some of | | | | popular, that it is by now the longest running American |
| the many shows that I came to love are The Prize is | | | | sitcom, and longest-running American animated |
| Right, Wheel of Fortune, Name that Tune, Deal or No | | | | program. Its main theme song is equally interesting. Did |
| Deal, Family Feud, and of course Jeopardy. As a | | | | you notice that Liza's saxophone solo (aside from |
| student, I used to join (and at times win) inter school | | | | Bart's blackboard lines, and the sofa scene) is different |
| quiz competitions. That's why I came to love Jeopardy | | | | from show to show? Another trivia: Did you know that |
| and its theme music. The theme featured here is the | | | | Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has been adopted into |
| "Think!" music, played during the final jeopardy when | | | | the English lexicon? |
| the contestants write their final answer. Interestingly, it | | | | 10. Mission Impossible - Last on my list, but definitely not |
| lasts for exactly 30 seconds, the time limit given to the | | | | the least, is the Mission Impossible Theme song. It was |
| contestants. "Think!"(written by Merv Grifin as "A Time | | | | composed by Lalo Schrifrin. The version featured here |
| For Tony" as a lullaby for his son Tony) was first | | | | was from the 1966 show. It was given a fresh and |
| played in 1964 when the original Jeopardy debuted (I | | | | modern arrangement when the show was revived in |
| didn't know that Jeopardy was that old). When | | | | 1988. The film version of the Mission Impossible theme |
| Jeopardy was revived in 1984, the electronic version | | | | has an even more powerful arrangement. So while |
| of "Think!" was used as its theme. However, the | | | | Mission Impossible series as well as the films (although I |
| original is still used in the Final Jeopardy round. | | | | didn't like how they messed up the IMF team) became |
| 5. Perfect Strangers - I had vague memories of the | | | | very successful, so thus it's theme song which is |
| sitcoms I watched as a child, which include Different | | | | widely considered to be one of the most iconic |
| Strokes and Mork and Mindy. But not one of them | | | | television themes of all time. |
| were engraved in my mind as much as the antics of | | | | So that concludes my list of my 10 best TV MIDI |
| Balki Bartokomous and Larry Appleton in Perfect | | | | themes. I hope you enjoyed downloading these music |
| Stranger. I looked forward to every episode, and each | | | | and bring fond memories of the past. |
| one is sure to make your tummy ache with laughter. I | | | | |