Expository Theme Tune: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A [[Theme Tune]] which explains, fairly specifically, the premise of the show. An [[Opening Narration]] in verse. It might also throw in an [[Intro Dump]] for the central characters during the middle 10 seconds.

 

 

Some shows might use the '''Expository Theme Tune''' as an excuse to [[One We Prepared Earlier|dump you into the action right away]], since you already know the premise. Conversely, if the '''Expository Theme Tune''' would spoil the premise of the premiere, you might not see it on the first episode.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime ==

* The 4Kids dub of ''[[One Piece]]''. (The original and Funimation dub uses a standard [[Anime Theme Song]].)

** And who could forget the opening to the original ''Pokémon Chronicles'' (''Raikou, Legend of Thunder'' in Japan)? The opening sounds like a freaking ''advertisement'' when the announcer reads, "Old friends! New adventures! Never-before-seen stories from the world of Pokémon!"

** Just the US dub? Japan does it too y'know. The title of the Japanese season 1 opening outright translates as "Aim to be a Pokémon Master".

* The ''[[Nerima Daikon Brothers]]'' opening has shades of this, but the English dub cranks it up a notch.

* The English dub of ''Amazing Three''. "''Spacemen with a mission, you must make a very big decision...''"

* ''[[Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan|Bludgeoning Angel Dokurochan]]''

* The English dub of ''[[Monster Rancher (anime)|Monster Rancher]]''. "''I was transported / to a faraway land / in a world where monsters rule. I played the game like an ace / now we're in this place / to save the monsters from the [[Big Bad|evil Moo]].''"

* The theme to the English dubbed version of ''[[8 Man]]'' combined this trope and [[Never Trust a Trailer]], as the theme and ([[Importation Expansion|American animated]]) opening sequence described 8th Man fighting aliens (which he never does) and flying (which he can't do).

* ''[[Ulysses 31]]'': "''Ulysses! Ulysses! Soaring through all the galaxies! In search of earth, flying into the night!''"

* ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'', while being one of the better dubs in existence, suffers from a particularly repetitive, if kind of catchy, theme song.

** [[Digimon Frontier]] on the other hand, has a more vagueish, yet still quite expository theme.

 

 

 

 

== Fan Works ==

** Here are the Lost titles done ''Battlestar Galactica'' style, "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUShe6H6eVE Battlestar: Lostica]".

** And [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waIyUb_3vSE another], inspired by a ''[[Shortpacked]]'' strip.

* ''[[Ghostbusters]]''

{{quote|''When there's something strange

* ''[[The Guns of Navarone]]'' and ''Gun Fight at OK Corral'', both composed by Dimitri Tiomkin.

** [[The Western|Westerns]] seem to like this—there's also ''[[High Noon]]'' (another Tiomkin, actually) and ''[[3:10 to Yuma]]'' (the 1957 version), sung by Frankie Laine (who sang the title-song for "Gun Fight at OK Corral"). Oh, and of course ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'', which was also sung by Laine.

* ''[[¡Three Amigos!|Three Amigos]]''

{{quote|''One for each other and all for one

* ''[[Flash Gordon (film)|Flash Gordon]]'':

{{quote|''"dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum

* ''If you're living in a bubble and you don't have a care/Then, you're in for trouble, cause we're gonna steal your air!/Cause what you got is what we need/And all we do is dirty deeds/We're the [[Spaceballs]]!/Watch out, we're the Spaceballs!''

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q39f4YzK6sU Yor's] from ''[[Yor, the Hunter from the Future]]''.

* [[Tom Lehrer]] felt this was what ''[[Oedipus the King|Oedipus Rex]]'' was missing, so he [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScdJURKGWM wrote one].

 

 

* ''[[The Patty Duke Show]]''

{{quote|''Meet Cathy, who's lived most everywhere

* ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'' (Subject to somewhat of an [[Memetic Mutation|Internet fad]] -- "Now this is the story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside-down..." )

*** For a hilarious parody, search [[YouTube]] for "fresh prince gangsta version".

** It's not just an online thing. Quoting a bit of the ''Fresh Prince'' theme to a friend in a crowded bar where the majority of patrons were tweens and teens in [[The Nineties]] quite often results in a [[Crowd Song]] situation.

* ''[[Gilligan's Island|Gilligans Island]]'' ("...Five passengers set sail that day / For a three-hour tour / A three-hour tour...")

* ''[[The Nanny]]'', in a deliberate retro spoof of 1960s shows ("... That's how she became The Nanny...")

* ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]''—in the same vein as ''[[Animaniacs]]''. ("Someday the mountain might get 'em but the law never will.")

* ''[[The Addams Family]]'' ("They're creepy and they're kooky / Mysterious and spooky..." -- * snap* , * snap* )

* One of the games in the American version of ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'' is based on this concept.

* The theme song to ''[[The Weird Al Show]]'' tells the long and convoluted story of how a very strange man came to get his own TV series ("Oh-h-h-h / This is a story 'bout a guy named Al / Who lived in the sewers with his hamster pal...").

* ''[[H.R. Pufnstuf]]'' ("But the boat belonged to a kooky old witch/Who had in mind the flute to snitch...")

** Even more so in the [[Theme Tune Extended|full-length version]] of the song.

{{quote|''They've got a power and a force that you've never seen before

*** The short version of the song loses its exposition after the first season (and the first episode of the second).

** ''[[Power Rangers]]'' actually waffles back and forth with this quite a bit. Disregarding generalizations like "We'll protect the world," quite a few of them aren't (''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'', ''[[Power Rangers SPD|SPD]]'', ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'') while a few (''[[Power Rangers Zeo|Zeo]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy|Lost Galaxy]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Operation Overdrive]]'') do it quite heavily, with ''Operation Overdrive'' doing so GRATINGLY. ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury|Jungle Fury]]'' does this to such an extent as to render watching the actual show moot, as it basically gives everything away save the ending.

* ''[[F Troop]]''

{{quote|''The end of the Civil War was near

* The first two seasons of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' do this after the theme, which was disguised as a distress call describing the situation.

** The closing theme was originally meant to be an Expository Theme Tune referring to Lister's overall plan to settle on Fiji when they returned to Earth ("I want to lie, shipwrecked and comatose/Drinking fresh mango juice"). Since this was never mentioned after the first few episodes it's largely meaningless, something the composer is quite happy with.

* ''[[One Foot in the Grave]]''. The opening and closing themes sung by [[Eric Idle]] describe the main character, Victor Meldrew, quite well. ("It's true that my body has seen better days / But give me half a chance and I can still misbehave")

* ''[[Phil of the Future]]'': [[Ear Worm|"Meet a boy named Phil and his family, on vacation from the 22nd century..."]]

* ''[[That's So Raven]]'' ("It's the future I can see / It's so mysterious to me...")

* ''[[Remote Control]]'' ("Kenny wasn't like the other kids...")

* ''[[Hannah Montana]]'': "Who would have thought that a girl like me / would double as a superstar?"

* ''[[The Goodies]]'' had two sets of lyrics over the course of its run. The first set listed some of the services the Goodies might be able to provide (A circus or a seaside pier/A sausage or a can of beer,/A stripper or a clown/Prices going down/We can make it happen here). The second was a more generic description of the Goodies themselves (Here we come, into town/Gettin' up, fallin' down).

* ''[[Wonder Woman (TV series)|Wonder Woman]], Wonder Woman./ All the world's waiting for you,/ and the power you possess./ In your satin tights,/fighting for your rights/And the old Red, White, and Blue!''

* ''Do, Do, Do, Do You Have It? [[Nickelodeon Guts|GUTS]]!''

* Why even bother watching the first episode of ''[[Beetleborgs]]''? The theme song is basically a synopsis of the whole thing.

* ''[[Branded]]''

* ''[[Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad]]''

* ''[[My Mother the Car]]''

{{quote|A 1928 Porter; That's my mother dear.}}

* ''[[Hank]]''

{{quote|He'll get his degree; His phi beta key; and get them all for free; That's Hank!}}

* ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]''

{{quote|Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me? M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.}}

* ''[[The Lone Ranger]]''

{{quote|A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty 'Hi-Yo Silver!' The Lone Ranger. With his faithful companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked man of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear." The Lone Ranger rides again! }}

{{quote|And maybe I seem a bit confused / Well maybe, but I got ''you'' pegged!}}

* ''[[Dick and Dom in da Bungalow]]''

* The short-lived 1981 sitcom ''Open All Night'' took this to its logical extreme by having a theme song that told the entire life story of the protagonist, from birth to the present day.

 

== Music ==

* "Hey, Hey, we're [[The Monkees (band)|The Monkees]] / and people say we monkey around / but we're too busy singing / to put anybody down..." ([[The Monkees (TV series)|also fits into the category above]])

* Similarly, "Cartoon Heroes" by [[Aqua]] is an expository theme of this type for a completely fictional TV show (the video does a good job of being the title sequence).

 

* [[Wacky Game Jokez 4 Kidz|WGJ4K]] "Mickey was a small time crook on the streets of NYC, he was stolen from the streets by an evil corporation called VGV, he is forced to write direct and star in a video game comedy show broadcasted in the net.."

* ''[[Weebl and Bob|Cat Face]]'': Cat Face, [[Captain Obvious|he's got a big cat's face]], [[Department of Redundancy Department|he's got the body of a cat, and the face of a cat]], and he flies through the air, 'cause [[Running Gag|he's got a cat face]], Cat Face!

 

== Web Original ==

* ''"Lee likes playing videogames/And when you really think about it, that's not really so strange/But you would wonder if it's why the man was put on this Earth/it's time to reevaluate how much a picture is worth/You can be informed and entertained/No need to explain, watch the review of a game/Lee is [[That Guy With The Glasses|Still Gaming]]!/And I'm pretty sure that is something that won't ever change/Lee is Still Gaming/and it won't just as long as he lives/as long as there are games."''

* [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]: "''He's gonna take you back to the past/To play the shitty games that suck ass...''"

* ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall]]'' has a theme song that lists off [[Atop the Fourth Wall|Linkara]]'s name, possessions, and mission, along with some of the stuff he reviews.

** For his anniversary show, the extended version of the theme appeared, including a verse which focuses on Linkara's pet peeves ("''They made ''[[Watchmen (film)|Watchmen]]'' without the slimy squid''") and At4W's supporting characters ("''He'll have you know that's pretty low / But not like the standards of the 90's Kid''")

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* As [[Marz Gurl]] mentions in her top 10 list of expository theme songs to animated shows, Disney has a bad habit of doing this.

** ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'': "''Some times some crimes/Are slipping through the cracks/But these two gumshoes/Are picking up the slack''"

** ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]'': "''Darkwing Duck! When there's trouble, you call DW! Darkwing Duck! [[Let's Get Dangerous]]!''"

** ''[[Bonkers]]'', according to MarzGurl, takes the cake in Disney's repertoire.

** ''[[Pepper Ann]]'': "''Who's that girl? What's her name? Is she cool? Is she lame? Oh, you're talkin' 'bout what's-her-name...''"

** ''[[The Weekenders]]''

** ''[[Kim Possible]]'': "''[[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World|I'm your basic, average girl/And I'm here to save the world...]]''"

** "''They're [[Pinky and The Brain]]! Yes, Pinky and the Brain! One is a genius, the other's insane! To prove their mouse-y worth, they'll overthrow the earth! They're dinky, they're Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain!''"

** ''"[[Crossover|They're Mindy and the Brain]], Mindy and the Brain. One's a small child, the other is... the Brain."'''

*** "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOzCeZUq3rQ&NR=1 The Huntsman]" segments of ''F!'' parodied this by having the theme tune take longer than the actual episodes.

** ''[[Histeria!]]'': "''We're gonna make fun of history!''"

* ''[[George of the Jungle]]'', one of the [[Ear Worm|most addictive of these tunes]]. The song served for both the animated series and the movies.

{{quote|''George, George, George of the Jungle!

** The other segments in the show had 'em too—complete with catch phrases—for ''Tom Slick'' and ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKss2pBYQ6Y Super Chicken]''.

* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'': "''When there's trouble you know who to call/Teen Titans!''"

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''

{{quote|''Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

* ''[[Galaxy High]]'' has an expository theme tune... but the words can hardly be heard through the vocoder.

{{quote|''Doyle was a high school star

* The theme song of the animated [[Space Western]] ''[[Bravestarr]]'' is a rhymed, spoken narration that explains the show's premise ("''In a distant time and faraway place/The planet New Texas floats deep in space...''")

* "''Into these worlds of unknown danger they ride / They're the [[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]], heroes in the sky / No guts, no glory!...''"

* ''[[Billy the Cat]]''

{{quote|''Now he lives on the street...

* ''[[Stargate Infinity]]'': "''Built by Ancients so long ago, the Stargate lay till we broke the code...''"

** And don't forget that ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' also has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqDE8kocoTI lyrics of its own]...

* ''[[Spider-Man]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUtziaZlDeE got a really memorable one] in [[Spider-Man (1967 TV series)|the 1960s show]]:

{{quote|''Spider-Man, Spider-Man!

{{quote|''Livin' on the edge

* The barely-animated ''Marvel Super Heroes'' cartoons of 1967 had Expository Theme Tunes for each of its heroes.

** "''[[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] makes you feel/He's a cool exec with a heart of steel...''"

** The 1986 ''Transformers'' [[Transformers: The Movie|animated movie]] also has an extended version of theme, which uses the TV theme as the chorus, played over the end credits that largely sums up the plot of the movie.

* The Australian animated series ''[[Blinky Bill|The Adventures of Blinky Bill]]'' had a theme tune which informed viewers of the show's premise. Given that it had long story arcs, this was a very good idea.

* "[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RIHEFlD_VDM Whenever Eric eats a banana an amazing transformation occurs... Eric is] ''[[Banana Man]]''."

* The [[Nightmare Fuel]]-laden [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VthsQVsXwEg opening theme] to ''[[Count Duckula]]''.

* ''[[Super Ted]]'': Quite abrasive. "This is a story about an ordinary Teddy Bear. When he was made, they found something wrong with him, and threw him away, like a piece of rubbish. Then, from outer space, a spotty man brought him to life with magic dust..." etc. Narrated by a former Dalek operator.

* Australian cartoon series ''Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table'':

* ''[[Muppet Babies]], we make our dreams come true!/Muppet Babies, we'll do the same for you!/When your world looks kinda weird and you wish that you weren't there/Just close your eyes and make believe and you can be anywhere!''

* ''Super fighting robot!/WesternAnimation/MegaMan!/Super fighting robot!/Mega Man!''

''Here comes the Grump! Here comes the Grump! Here comes the Grump!'' }}

* ''[[Spliced]]''

* ''[[Spiral Zone]]'': ''Darkness has fallen on the victims of the zone./Our world calls for courage/Peace and freedom we must own.''

* From the [[Animated Adaptation]] of ''[[Anne of Green Gables]]'': ''"Once upon an orphanage, my life was in near tragic state/I longed to find a brighter place, somewhere full of love and grace/I dreamed of fields with a cool ocean breeze, a home for my own family/When I got my wish, I pinched myself to make sure this home was real."''

* ''[[The Oblongs]]'':

* Do fake products count? If so, an in-universe example comes from ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'': ''It's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP0kWqJJZa4 lo[[og]/ It's lo]]]og/ It's big, it's heavy it's wood....

* ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]''

* Not only did the Australian series adaptation of ''[[Around the World in Eighty Days]]'' have the opening title explain the premise without singing ("So, Phineas Fogg, you want to marry me daughter?... Then prove yerself worthy! Travel [[Title Drop|around the world in eighty days!]]") but they had it in the lyrics of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyW_vM7hJJI the theme song]:

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Theme Tune]]