Q 01/05

'Suicide Is Painless', sung in Robert Altman's 1970 war comedy, became the theme of which TV series?

A) Hogan's Heroes

B) M*A*S*H

C) Taxi

D) Barney Miller

Answer · why

B) M*A*S*H

Robert Altman wanted 'the stupidest song ever written' for his M*A*S*H film, and when he couldn't write it, he handed the lyrics to his teenage son Mi...

Q 02/05

Which sitcom's theme song tells of a 'three-hour tour'?

A) McHale's Navy

B) Gilligan's Island

C) F Troop

D) The Brady Bunch

Answer · why

B) Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island's first-season theme lumped two castaways in as 'the rest'; 'the Professor and Mary Ann' were written into the lyric from season two...

Q 03/05

Who wrote and rapped his own 1990 NBC sitcom's theme song?

A) DJ Jazzy Jeff

B) LL Cool J

C) Will Smith

D) MC Hammer

Answer · why

C) Will Smith

Will Smith wrote it for his first acting job, which he took on after the IRS had seized his belongings over unpaid taxes.

Q 04/05

Which new wave frontman composed The Simpsons' main theme?

A) Alf Clausen

B) Danny Elfman

C) Randy Newman

D) Mark Mothersbaugh

Answer · why

B) Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman, then fronting Oingo Boingo, suggested 'something retro' after Matt Groening showed him a rough cut of the opening.

Q 05/05

R.E.M. refused to let which sitcom use 'Shiny Happy People' as its theme song?

A) Roseanne

B) Seinfeld

C) Friends

D) Ellen

Answer · why

C) Friends

Friends commissioned 'I'll Be There for You' instead, and when radio stations played the minute-long TV version, The Rembrandts expanded it into a ful...