I sported the Jennifer Aniston haircut. I threw the Melrose Place watching parties. I bawled (every time) Joey and Dawson broke up. I started college in 1990, beginning what would be a decade of newfound independence, painful reality checks, entry-level salaries, and romantic heartbreaks. The characters from the era’s primetime soaps and hit sitcoms were my companions. We were learning about life together. A few opening chords from the Beverly Hills 90210 theme song can still take me right back to my days hanging with Brenda, Brandon, Andrea, and the gang. Here are my favorite theme songs from the ’90s:
Dawson’s Creek
“I don’t want to wait for our lives to be over. I want to know right now, what will it be.” The song made Paula Cole marginally famous and every week kicked off one of the all-time best teen soap operas. Unlike characters on today’s Gossip Girls, Dawson and Joey were unapologetically earnest. Just thinking about Dawson, dressed in his sweater vest, walking through the marsh grass in Joey’s backyard makes me nostalgic.
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Dawsons_Creek.html
Beverly Hills 90210
The cheesy instrumental was the perfect musical backdrop for the show’s opener—with the cast goofing around, putting their arms around each other, and being silly. Am I the only one who remembers how the whole group lifted Donna (clad in pink pants) up or how Brandon threw a few fake punches Dylan’s way? The jokesters! They had so much fun being teenagers! That’s why I was friends with them!
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Beverly_Hills_90210_-_1990.html
Ally McBeal
Music was a big deal at Ally’s wacky law firm. Remember how Barry White’s voice used to appear out of nowhere? And how the lawyers took turns singing at the mike during happy hour? The words of the theme song certainly captured Ally’s determination to find love, despite all her emotional issues (remember the dancing baby who haunted her?) and ridiculously short skirts: “I have made mistakes in my life that I just can’t hide, but I believe I am ready for what love has to bring.”
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Ally_McBeal.html
Friends
These people really were my friends right? They were my age and seemed to be living through the same things as me. The show’s song, which became a hit for the Rembrandts, will always conjure up an image of the gang dancing in front of the sofa and side tables, which were inexplicably outdoors. Joey had the long-in-the-front hair and Chandler wore that horrible oversized sweater vest.
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Friends.html
ER
The theme song had a certain forbidding tone. It seemed to warn viewers that soon we would be watching minor characters battle for their lives, die on gurneys, undergo painful procedures, and get lots and lots of tubes stuck down their throats. Though ER is still on the air, I don’t think anyone has watched it since all the cool guys left. Remember the good old days with Mark, Carol Hathaway, and Doug? When Carter was just a kid trying desperately to impress Benton?
http://www.televisiontunes.com/ER.html
Roseanne
The theme song, which had a bluesy feel, ended with Roseanne’s loud cackling laugh. I can picture how the blue-collar family was sitting around the kitchen table while the music played. I loved this show. I still love this show. It took the family sitcom and added a much-needed edge with characters who were fat, ugly, poor, and foul-mouthed—but still cared about each other. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with them?
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Roseanne.html
Sex and the City
Like just about every woman in America, I considered Charlotte, Samantha, Carrie, and Miranda to be my friends. For real. I cannot wait to catch back up with them at their new movie. As for the theme song, when I hear that instrumental, I immediately picture the bus going by with Carrie’s face on the side and splattering her with muddy water while she is wearing that silly tutu. Those were the days, right?
