"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale" of a time when television shows began with awesome TV Theme Songs. "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name" and sometimes you want to go back to when TV Theme songs were special. "Here's a story... of a lovely" time when TV Theme Songs served to identify, distinguish and set the stage for the television program that followed. "You take the good, take the bad, take them both and there you have" what unfortunately has become a lost artform. "Believe it or not", sadly it seems no effort or pride is taken in the TV Theme Song ever since Seinfeld proved a short synth-bass riff could be used instead. “Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!” This regular feature may not "make all our dreams come true", but it will remember some of the best TV Theme Songs from years past (with a focus on the '80s decade). "Come aboard, we're expecting you."
This time we will cover the theme song for Kate & Allie. "Just when you think there's no one around who's caring, along comes a friend who offers a hand in sharing, and things start looking fine." Kate & Allie debuted in March 1984 running for six seasons and 122 episodes. It starred Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James as the title characters, both divorced women with children who decide to live together in the same house. The sitcom was one of the more popular and critically acclaimed sitcoms of the '80s, consistently ranking in the Top 20 shows at least for its first four seasons. During its run, Curtin won two Emmy Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series while Saint James was nominated in the same category herself three times. They also had two cute teenage daughters played by Allison Smith and Ari Meyers.
The show's theme song is not as memorable as others because it only played during the closing credits. The shows usually featured a cold opening dialog sequence between Saint James and Curtin often shot on the streets in Manhattan. Then the theme song played only instrumentally over the title shot and opening credits. "Along Comes a Friend" only included vocals/lyrics when it played over the closing credits.
John Loeffler is now known as a top music industry executive for BMG. Before that, he was the CEO for Rave Music, a company he founded in the mid-80s, which was responsible for producing music for commercials, television, film and is probably best known for creating the theme music and score for the popular animated '90s television series Pokémon. But back in 1984, he went by John Leffler and he co-wrote the theme song for Kate & Allie along with Ralph Schuckett. Loeffler also performed the short relatively simple theme song himself. Here are the closing credits for Kate & Allie featuring "Along Comes a Friend" performed by John Loeffler...
This is the only show we've covered that only used the vocal version of the theme song during the closing credits. Many shows did the opposite and used an instrumental version during the closing credits. It is still a solid effort for an under-rated sitcom from the decade, so wanted to make sure we didn't forget about Kate & Allie. "Sometimes tears and sorrow are all the things you've got and just when you think you're all by yourself, you're not."
Hope you enjoyed tuning in for another "episode" of TV Theme Songs!