As part of last night’s Emmy award ceremony, singer Josh Groban performed a medley of TV theme songs. Since Groban got his big break singing on an episode of Ally McBeal, he was an appropriate choice. Though the concept of the showtune medley is getting mixed reviews, most are impressed by Groban’s vocal chops, ability to switch between styles, and openness to act a little silly.
Groban told People, “Thank god for Nick at Nite. That’s where I learned a lot of them. As a kid, I loved watching The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy and Gilligan’s Island.” The hardest part for Groban was apparently whistling part of The Andy Griffith Show theme. “It was hard to whistle on stage, and there was a guy telling me to whistle over the microphone, but I pulled it off.”
It’s unclear exactly what criteria the producers were using to select songs for the four minute musical number but it was clearly skewed towards songs from recent or very popular classic shows — rather than picking the best theme songs. Thankfully, of the 28 themes that were included, 19 of them are from shows that left primetime a long time ago.
If you missed Groban’s performance, you can see it below. We’ve also included videos to some of the themes that we wish had been included. Were any of your favorite cancelled shows missed?