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.

 

 

 

This style of [[Theme Tune]] is also the most common for a [[Show Within a Show]], and is practically universal when the fictional show is meant to be mocked.

 

{{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...''"

** The (undubbed) 5th season, replaces the standard opening theme, "Moonlight Densetsu", with "Sailor Star Song", which was written just for the show (the lyrics were actually written by the Mangaka of the original manga) but still isn't really this.

* The dub of ''[[Kinnikuman Nisei|Ultimate Muscle]]'' had a quite [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ac3Cr965jM catchy], but blatantly expository one. It manages to be less of a [[Spoiler Opening]] than the Japanese one, due to the increased speed of the animation making it more difficult to pick out all the characters shown.

* ''[[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.

* The abortive ''[[Gundam]]'' spin-off ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8um1N78AhY Doozy Bots]'' had one of these, which was as cheesy and [[So Bad It's Good]] as the series itself nearly was.

* ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'''s original dub opening. "''Step into the Grand Tour, Grand Tour, Grand Tour''..."

 

 

 

 

== 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.

== Films -- Live Action ==

* ''[[Ghostbusters]]''

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

* Expository Theme Tunes for movies were common in the 1950s, very rare nowadays. The most famous is undoubtedly "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" from the classic western ''[[High Noon]]'' by Dimitri Tiomkin (again) and Ned Washington, which lays out the hero's motivation and objectives while appealing to his wife to stay with him in spite of what he's about to face. Despite the line "look at that big hand move along nearin' high noon," it can hardly be called a [[Title Theme Tune]].

* The movie ''High Society'' features an opening song explaining the premise sung by [[Louis Armstrong]].

* In ''[[Baseketball]]'', Trey Parker's character turns on the radio and listens to a song that describes his situation in absurd detail.

** "Look out ahead, there's a truck changing lanes/You've got some yellow crumbs on your upper lip..."

* The theme song of ''Maniac Cop 2'' is an Expository Theme ''Rap Song'', [http://www.dreadcentral.com/story/maniac-cop-remain-silent-no-longer explaining the premise of the series].

* ''[[¡Three Amigos!|Three Amigos]]''

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

* ''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].

 

 

** "''[[Green Acres]]'' is the place to be/Farm livin' is the life for me!" ... "Dahlink, I love you, but give me Park Avenue!"

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

* ''[[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 ''[[Knight Rider]]'' intro explains who David Hasselhoff's Michael Night is. Arguably, it fits more in the [[Theme Tune Roll Call]] trope, except only one character is introduced.

* ''[[Small Wonder]]''

* ''[[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...")

* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' ("Ahhh! After 10,000 years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth..." "Alpha, Rita's escaped! [[Lampshade Hanging|Recruit a team of]] [[Recruit Teenagers with Attitude|teenagers with attitude!]]")

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

*** 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.

* The mostly dramatic (and certainly not a sitcom) ''[[Sea Change]]'' manages a pretty expository theme tune: "Don't want to live in the city/My friends tell me I'm changing". Complete with shots of the drive out of the city to the coast.

* ''[[F Troop]]''

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

* ''Here Come the Double Deckers''

* Parodied in ''The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'' whose theme song raves on about how brave and selfless the sheriff is (though we know he's actually greedy and incompetent) played over a montage of the disasters Lobo and his men cause. It ends with Sheriff Lobo, who's been striding down a line of deputies standing by their patrol cars, calling "Move 'em out!" whereupon they all drive off at the same time causing one big pile-up.

* ''[[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..."]]

* ''[[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).

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

* ''[[Sonny With a Chance]]'''s theme song starts off with "Off to the races; I'm going places; Might be a long shot; Not gonna waste it; This is the big break; And it's callin' my name"

* 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]]''

* ''[[Hank]]''

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

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

* ''[[Frasier]]'''s [[Ending Theme]] is technically something of an exposition describing the title character, but it's so meandering, oblique, and metaphorical that it barely counts.

* ''[[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).

 

* ''[[Call of Duty]] 4'' does this in an incredibly hilarious fashion.

** The [[Zero Punctuation|sole black cast member]] [[Poe's Law|unironically]] [[Zero Punctuation|raps over the end credits]]. {{spoiler|Despite being dead.}}

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3UNOEWBDN8 Headdy the Hero] in ''[[Dynamite Headdy]]'' qualifies as this.

* ''[[The Wonderful End of the World]]'' does this with the menu music.

* In part, Chris Ballew's "Get Together" from ''[[Backyard Sports|Backyard Baseball 2007]]''.

* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' for the song ''Otherworld''. "An Other-world awaits you", "and you will fight, fight, fight... fight, fight, FIGHT", "Go now, into the sand and dust in the sky, go, for it is better to do than to die".

* [[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.

** "''[[Duck Dodgers]] of the 24th and one-half century! Defending the powerless and the weak!''"

* "''[[Thundercats]] are on the move!/Thundercats are loose!/Feel the magic, hear the roar!/Thundercats are loose!/THUNDER-THUNDER-THUNDER-Thundercats!/THUNDER-THUNDER-THUNDER-Thundercats!''"

* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987]]'': "''When the evil Shredder attacks, These turtle boys don't cut him no slack!" and "[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Turtles]] / Ninjitsu action / Turtles / It's a [[Unusual Euphemism|shell]] of a town!''"

** Also both of the direct sequels to the 2000 series, ''Fast Forward'' and ''Back to the Sewer'', have this.

* ''[[O'Grady]]''

* ''[[Clone High]]'': "''Way way back in the 1980s / secret government employees / Dug up famous guys and ladies / and made amusing genetic copies...''"

* ''[[Jane and the Dragon]]'' includes a theme song that helpfully explains that the show will be about Jane. And a dragon.

* ''[[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.

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

** According to the first season DVD bonus features, Glen Murakami ([[A Mere Servant Of God|I]] believe) lamented the fact that "cartoons don't have theme songs nowadays" like "''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' or ''[[The Partridge Family]]''" and actually set out to make sure ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' would. So there you go.

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''

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

* 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!...''"

* ''"Now he's got superpowers, he's no ordinary kid, he's [[Ben 10]]!"''

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

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

** Do, however, forget ''[[Stargate Infinity]]''. [[Fanon Discontinuity|It Never Happened]].

* ''[[Sonic Underground]]'': "''Triplets born, the throne awaits/A seer warns of a deadly fate...''"

** Now THAT was a theme song... unlike [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog|that other show!]]

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

** "'''Cross the rainbow bridge of Asgard/Where the booming heavens roar/You'll behold in breathless wonder/The God of Thunder, [[The Mighty Thor|Miiiiighty Thor]]!''"

* ''The Adventures of T Rex'': "''Across Rep City, Big Boss and his crew has dinosaurs reaching for the stars/the boys pay their respect and put the Corporation back behind bars.''"

* ''[[Hammerman]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8WYh8uz3pQ describes the entire premise of the show in painstaking detail.]

** "Autobots wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons" also kind of sums up part of the plot.

** 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.

* "[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]]''.

* Played for laughs on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" with "The Lovematic Grandpa" (a parody of ''[[My Mother the Car]]''): "''While shopping for some cans, an old man passed away/He started up for Heaven but he got lost upon the way/Now he's The Lovematic Grandpa...''"

** Don't forget the ''Flintstones'' parody.

** "''[[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|They fight,]] [[Cats Are Mean|they bite,]] [[Rasputinian Death|they fight and bite and bite!]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|Fight fight fight, bite bite bite,]] [[Title Drop|The Itchy and Scratchy]] [[Show Within a Show|Shoooow]]!''"

* ''[[Carl Squared]]'': "''One night I was in my room,/Surfin' online like I always do/Found a way to be so much more,/With a drop of DNA my clone was born!/I'm stuck with myself again, my clone is my new best friend. Carl squared/Freaks of a feather, now and forever. Carl squared./He may walk and talk like me but don't believe everything you see!/Nanananana Nanananana./He's my clone, CARL squared!''"

* ''[[Sushi Pack]]'': "''They're very, very strong, but only two inches long, the super hero sushis that are sitting on my plate!''"

* Even one-shot [[Merchandise-Driven]] pilots can have these. ''[[P.J. Sparkles|PJ Sparkles]]'': "''She closed her eyes and made a wish for people to love and care for, and in a beautiful blinding light, she got everything she asked for!''"

* ''[[Megas XLR]]'': "''Living here in Jersey/Fighting villains from afar/You gotta find first gear/In your giant robot car...''" [[Crowning Music of Awesome|And then it becomes an anthem for giant robots.]]

* Both the 1970s and 2000s version of ''Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings'' have one of these:

** "''Well you know my name is Simon/And the things I draw come true...''"

* ''[[Cro]]'', one of the few theme songs to admit, however euphemistically, that most of the characters had been dead since the late Stone Age and were being remembered by a [[Human Popsicle|Talking Mammoth Popsicle]].

** Cro was a smart boy, he had a lot on the ball. But the family that took him in was total Neanderthal.

* ''[[Word Girl]]'' had a theme song about the characters of the show and such.

* "''He's a Superdog / He's a Superhero / He came to Earth from outer space / And his name is [[Krypto the Superdog (animation)|Krypto the Superdog]].''"

* ''[[Potatoes and Dragons]]'': ''"Long ago in Potato Land/There was a king noble and grand/Some revered him/Others did fear him/One there to jeer him/A dragon not a man!/Hey-ho away we go/Get the dragon..."''

* ''[[Braceface]]''/My life is complicated/Boyfriend!/Don't wanna talk about it/Teenage!/I'll work it out in the end/''Braceface!''.

* ''[[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!''

* ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius|The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'': ''A kid with a knack for invention/ With a superpowered mind, a mechanical canine/ Rescues the day from sure destruction/ This is the theme song for Jimmy Neutron''

* ''[[Here Comes the Grump]]'':

''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]]'':

* ''[[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]]