Thursday, April 30, 2009

Actress Bea Arthur dies; theme to 'Maude' still torments me

Last weekend, a family spokesman announced that long-time television actress Bea Arthur had died of cancer. She starred in two long-running series, The Golden Girls and Maude. She won two Emmy Awards for her work.

I never really watched either show. I am sure they were entertaining, but they did not appeal to me. Our personal tastes can be quite subjective, and her shows were not up my alley.

I hope I am not being insensitive, but one aspect of her work did leave a mark on me. The theme song to Maude is one of those songs I can never get out of my mind once I think of it. When the tune starts, it repeats itself over and over and over again. It is like it is on one continuous loop.

The ironic thing is that for a television sitcom, the song really is not that bad. Sung by Donny Hathaway, it has some spunk.

It is not as bad as the theme to Three's Company.

My brain turns into a cement block when I hear that one.

5 comments:

Mister Jimmy said...

Wasn't Maude a child of All In The Family?
When I hear the theme song to Three's Company I look around for John Ritter, an actor who never got the respect (or the roles) he deserved. Anyone who ever watched Sling Blade knows what I mean.

Anonymous said...

Indeed it was. I believe Maude was on All in the Family once or twice, as Edith's sister, cousin ... something like that. Chris is right, the theme to Maude wasn't all bad. Plus, the show did kinda serve as a launching pad for Adrienne Barbeau. Ahhhhhh, Swamp Thing :-)

Larry J. said...

Re: John Ritter. I remember a movie he made while still on Three's Company called 'Hero at Large.' I have not seen it since it came out, but I remember it was thoroughly entertaining. Anne Archer was also in it I think.

Chris Martin said...

Nice references to Adrienne Barbeau and Anne Archer. When I was a teen, I had a thing for Anne Archer.

Joltin' Django said...

And then there's "Maude" ...

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