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Back when television meant three American networks and two Canadian ones, virtually everyone was aware of everything on TV. Even if you didn\u2019t like or watch a particular show, chances are you knew about it. And one of the things that may have seeped into your mind was a show\u2019s theme song.<\/p>\n
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Even when the number of channels and programs expanded, TV theme songs were ubiquitous, with many of them becoming top 40 hits (Theme from<\/em> SWAT, The Rockford Files, Greatest American Hero, Peter Gunn, Hawaii Five-O, Miami Vice<\/em>, etc.) that generated additional awareness and cash.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a subgenre of music fans who love the subject of TV themes, the kind who were delighted when multi-volume collections like the Television\u2019s Greatest Hits<\/em> series (via the Tee-Vee Toons label) started appearing in 1985. I wonder if those aficionados know these stories.<\/p>\n The original theme from Rod Serling\u2019s anthology series has been covered many times. You\u2019re probably humming it right now. It\u2019s based on four dissonant guitar notes that signal that what we\u2019re about to see is strange and disturbing.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The origin of the theme itself is a little disturbing. In an attempt at union busting and saving money, CBS decided not to commission a new composition for the show. Instead, it found two different pieces of stock music from the CBS library and spliced them together. The composer of that stock music, Marius Constant, was paid nothing beyond the one-off payment he got for creating it.<\/p>\n This was the original music for the program when it first appeared on Oct. 2, 1959, and used for the first season. The composer was Bernard Herrmann, an Academy Award-winning orchestrator whose career began in the \u201940s and ended with Taxi Driver<\/em> in 1976.<\/p>\nThe Twilight Zone<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n