S01E04: From CHECKMATE to Spielberg – The TV Theme Music of John Williams

In this episode (my most popular episode to date), presented in stereo for the first time, the TV theme music of award-winning film composer John Williams is explored. Mr. Williams is best known as the musical composer for nearly 100 movies, notably those of director Steven Spielberg, for whom he has composed every movie except for two (“The Color Purple” and “Bridge of Spies”). His prolific musical legacy includes the well-known scores to “Jaws,” all seven “Star Wars” movies, all four (soon to be five) Indiana Jones movies, “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Superman,” the first two “Jurassic Park” movies, the first three “Harry Potter” movies, “The Witches of Eastwick,” and many others. This survey includes the following themes to 14 series that aired beginning in 1960:

CHECKMATE (1960-1962) [opening] [closing]
ALCOA PREMIERE (1961-1963) [opening] [closing]
WIDE COUNTRY (1962-1963) [opening] [closing]
BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATRE (1963-1967) [opening] [closing]
KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE (1963-1965)[1963-64 opening] [1963-64 closing] [1964-1965 opening]
GILLIAN’S ISLAND (1963 pilot only) [opening] [closing]
LOST IN SPACE (1965-1968) [1965-67 opening] [1967-68 opening]
THE TAMMY GRIMES SHOW (1966) [opening] [closing]
THE TIME TUNNEL (1966-1967) [opening]
LAND OF THE GIANTS (1968-1970) [1968-69 opening] [1969-70 opening]
THE COWBOYS (adaptation of his movie theme; 1974) [opening]
NBC NEWS (“The Mission”; 1985-present) [opening]
AMAZING STORIES (1985-1987) [opening] [closing]
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (2006-present) [opening]

Also included in this podcast are four vintage commercials for everyone’s favorite soft drink.

Many thanks to Zerbinator for helping me get this podcast off the ground, and for his continued support. His encouragement and expertise are very much appreciated by me. You can find all of his fun-to-listen-to podcasts here. And I’d also like especially to thank him for providing the opening and closing theme music for TUBE TUNES; all of his fantastic music can be found here. Thanks, Burford.

Next Episode: “S01E05: Who Loves Ya, Baby? Detectives of the 1970s (Part 1)” (available January 25, 2016)

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