BJ McKay and others

I was reading this blog post today, and my mind quickly sailed away to happy land ... :-)

Television Tunes.com is easy to get sucked into. The site boasts an archive of 7,028 theme songs and a promise that if you can't find a theme song, you can email the creator and he will try to get it for you.

So where does one start? I already have some of my favourite TV theme songs on my iPod, and a few for nostalgic value, but what would really challenge a site like this? Well, for starters, I found BJ and the Bear. I remember absolutely nothing about the programme, except one line from the theme ("BJ McKay and his best friend, the bear"). It's been kind of frustrating all these years. I also found "Curious George, the curious little monkey", The Littlest Hobo (boring programme, but I still remember the dog), and countless others.

Enter this site at your own peril. For some reason, I spent a good half hour on a Friday night reliving my childhood with 1980s children's TV themes (none from NZ, but not sure it's worth emailing him). And then I got sidetracked by typing in the names of random, old-time shows ... my sweetie was really quick at recognising themes that I vaguely remembered. We had a go at the quiz.

Here are some themes we listened to:

• Falcon Crest. I was 8 and in hospital with suspected appendicitis, just before the start of the Los Angeles Olympics (go on, now you can work out how old I am), and remember hearing this theme on tv at night while I was stuck in the children's ward.
• 21 Jump Street. This was the coolest, and made us first fall in love with Johnny Depp.
• Hill Street Blues. I was so thrilled when I learned how to play this on the piano.
• CHiPs. Who can forget Ponch and John wearing those tight little pants?
• Happy Days. Such happy, happy days.
• Mister Ed. TVNZ played repeats of early 1960s programmes to celebrate 25 years of television in New Zealand in 1985.
• Bewitched. For years, we tried to wriggle our noses in just the right way.
• The Greatest American Hero. My brother and I would run across the floor from the dining room to the kitchen, ripping off our pyjama tops, and trying to fly. We didn't get far.