TV THEMES/THE '00s

The '00s
Classic TV theme: Phineas and Ferb
Written by the show's writers

There's a hundred and four days of summer vacation
Then school comes along just to end it.
The greatest theme song of the '00s is from a cartoon. Phineas and Ferb are stepbrothers who spend their 104 days of summer vacation creating stuff like time machines and roller coasters. It's clever and funny and it has great musical numbers, starting with the opening theme that every first grade boy knows by heart.

The show's creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh wrote the theme with head writer Martin Olson, and had Radio Disney mainstay Bowling For Soup record the song. Lead singer Jaret Reddick wrote some additional lyrics, and they recorded a full-length version called "Today is Gonna Be a Great Day."

As Phineas and Ferb matured, music became a bigger part of the show, with Bowling For Soup performing some of the numbers and Jaret appearing as the lead singer of an '80s band called Love Händel, which Phineas and Ferb reunited. Just about every episode features a musical number, which often turns into a Shrek-like production appealing to both kids and adults. The Phineas and Ferb empire has expanded to include a Christmas album, and more musical guests - their "Summer Belongs To You" special featured Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan.

Disney success has forced Bowling For Soup, whose hits include "1985" and "Girl All The Bad Guys Want," to adapt their lyrics, since so many of their songs have altered Disney versions, like in "1985 where "One Prozac a day" becomes "One workout a day." Jaret told us:

Our live show changed a little bit in that it wasn't rated R or NC17 anymore. Our big thing is, look, we can do PG13. And if it's a fair or something like that, we can do PG. But it's impossible for Bowling for Soup to do a G-rated show, because lyrically you just can't get around it. We've only done one G-rated show ever, and it was for Radio Disney's tenth anniversary. And I had to sing all of the edited lyrics. That was a great challenge for me, trying to sing the songs the way they don't go.
The '00s saw TV theme songs become even more scarce, but the music didn't die. More and more shows play songs during the action - not just theme music, but songs that might be on your iPod. Getting a song in a show is now seen as a promotional vehicle, and record companies will offer the songs for free if they think it will get some exposure. You'll often hear these songs in a touching montage or during a poignant bit of dialogue deep into an episode, and many times it's clear that the producers are trying a little too hard to create a mood. A new thing for the '00s was allowing a song's lyrics to play while the actors were talking - something a generation of multitaskers can handle.

Other famous theme songs from the '00s:

•"Boss Of Me" from Malcolm In The Middle - Written specifically for the show by They Might Be Giants.


•"One Of Us" from Joan Of Arcadia - A perfect fit for a show about a girl who encounters God in the form of everyday people.


•"I Don't Want To Be" from One Tree Hill - Gavin DeGraw's song wasn't written for the show, but became a hit when it was chosen as the theme song.
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