Theme Changes

[Bob's TV Treasures]

Three SCREEN GEMS shows changed themes during their shows' run...
THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER (season 3), HAZEL (season 4) and
I DREAM OF JEANNINE (season 2). I've asked many experts and people in the industry,
and nobody knows why this was done. These were not just updated
versions of the themes, these were totally different tunes.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

I believe the change in theme for "THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER" (originally written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil) was primarily due to the fact the series began appearing in color for season three in the fall of 1965, and Screen Gems wanted a new theme and title sequence. George Duning wrote the new theme {a bossa nova motif} and score.

As for "I DREAM OF JEANNIE", creator/producer Sidney Sheldon wanted a light, sophisticated theme, and chose Richard Wess (best known as arranger/conductor for most of Bobby Darin's ATCO/Atlantic and Capitol albums and singles between 1959 and '66) to compose the first season's theme {a jazz waltz with a brassy finish} and score. Towards the end of the first season, as mentioned in his autobiography "The Other Side Of Me", Sheldon became dissatisfied with Wess' musical approach to the series, and began using other composers, including Nelson Riddle, to see if he could find a different "sound" for the upcoming season. He found it in Hugo Montenegro, who composed a new theme [the one we ALL know today] and score as the series "converted" to color for its second season. Montenegro's "offbeat" approach worked, and he continued to write new scores and cues (including the ones specifically created for "Jeannie's Sister" and "Djinn-Djinn") through the end of the series.

There were at least THREE different themes used for "HAZEL" (including the final one used for the final season on CBS in 1965-'66), ranging from Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen, to Howard Greenfield & Jack Keller. I don't know why, either....

[Bob's TV Treasures]

Thanks for the info. Just seems odd that SCREEN GEMS shows had
so many theme changes. One other interesting thing about HAZEL and
FARMER'S DAUGHTER - there were LYRICS to each, and those lyrics were
only used in the closing credits (first seven HAZEL episodes), and
I'm unsure how many FARMER'S DAUGHTER episodes - only to then disappear forever.

[Bob's TV Treasures]

We've also forgotten about the SCREEN GEMS cartoon
series THE FLINTSTONES. In season one, there was a
totally different theme song with no lyrics.
Only BOOMERANG has shown these early episodes with
the correct opening credits.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

When "THE FLINTSTONES" premiered in the fall of 1960, it was telecast in black and white (even though Hanna-Barbera filmed every episode in color), because ABC didn't have color braodcasting facilities at the time. The first two seasons used an instrumental theme by Hoyt Curtin [credited to him AND Hanna-Barbera] entitled, "Rise and Shine". When the show was finally transmitted in color in the fall of 1962 [among ABC's first scheduled color series], Bill & Joe was decided to film a new opening/closing title and replace "Rise and Shine" with another theme they composed with Curtin, originally used as background music in various episodes and first heard in its entirity on a 1961 Golden Records "Flintstones" cast album (featuring the original cast), "Meet the Flintstones" {vocalized by the Randy Van Horne Singers}. That's the one we ALL know today! When the show went into syndication in the fall of '66, it was decided to use the second theme (and titles) for the reissues of the first two seasons; "Rise and Shine" wasn't heard again until the show was initially seen on Cartoon Network in the late '90s.