Jeopardy Thinking Music: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''Thinking, thinking, thinking hard. Think I've got it-- wait! Oh no, that's wrong...''}}

 

 

[[Merv Griffin]], the creator of ''Jeopardy!'' (and sister show ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]''), composed the well-known "Think" music. He [[Self Plagiarism|self-plagiarized]] it from "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ14PFZNoF0 A Time for Tony]", which he wrote as a lullaby for his son; the original "A Time for Tony" later became a prize cue on ''Wheel'' in the 1980s.

 

 

The version of "Think!" in Final Jeopardy! is played at 136 beats per minute and is 17 measures long, including the "bum-bum" at the end. This makes it exactly 30 seconds long. This is one reason it's used on ''Jeopardy!'': it's good for timing the round while sounding slightly more relaxing than a bare ticking clock.

* ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'': Mork insisted on humming or singing it on several occasions while waiting for answers to questions.

* ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show|Ren and Stimpy]]'' episode "Out West" uses [[The Jimmy Hart Version]] of the tune twice.

* Sports example: The tune is frequently played over the stadium loudspeakers during [[Useful Notes/American Football|NFL instant replay reviews]].

* In an episode of ''[[Family Matters]]'', Steve Urkel ''hums this aloud'', in a very annoying fashion, while waiting for Carl to make up his mind about something.

* In ''[[The Santa Clause]]'', the theme plays while Scott Calvin's co-workers wait for him to finish eating.

Wish instead I'd gone... on... ''[[Wheel of Fortune|Wheel]]''! }}

* In the first ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' movie (the live-action ones by Disney), when Gadget is being taught how to use his new abilities, one scenario is that he's supposed to stop a jewelry-store robbery by giving the robbers [[Incredibly Lame Pun|the slip]]. While he's thinking, a lightbulb rises from his hat and the first eight notes of "Think!" plays. When he gets an idea, the bulb lights up, and his next line: "Go, go, gadget oil slick." (buzzer sound) [[It Makes Sense in Context|Toothpaste comes out.]]

* Honestly, is there one among us who hasn't been subjected to someone "singing" this just to be obnoxious?

* The music that plays during ''[[Space Quest]] IV'''s copy protection sequence is a remix of the Space Quest theme designed to sound like this song.

* This shows up in a live rendition of [[Ray Stevens]]' "It's Me Again, Margaret". As the character in the song starts to dial the phone, he [[Overly Long Gag|spends way too long]] doing so, and the first two bars of "Think!" play.

* Played on ''[[Howard Stern|The Howard Stern Show]]'' when someone has been asked a tough question or is taking a long time to respond.

* ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]'' used a sort of variant of the theme: when Tulio asks Miguel to think carefully about what Chel meant to both of them, a little bell can be heard as if symbolizing Miguel's thought process. When he comes to his conclusion ("Chel is... off-limits?"), a ding goes off like a game-show timer.

* Appears in several episodes of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]''.

* The shorts featuring the mascot of [[German TV Stations|German children's station Kika]], ''Bernd, the Bread'', often feature "Think!" whenever Bernd is trying get something accross to his [[Too Dumb to Live]] "friends" or the producers, or whenever he is [[Deadpan Snarker|Deadpan Snarking]] about them not getting something which should be obvious.

* Used to underscore ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]''' naïveté/stupidity at one point in [[The Movie]].

* Misteroo's Flash Animation ''[[Arfenhouse]]'' uses the Think Music briefly.