MovieChat Forums > Monk (2002) Discussion > Theme song change.

Theme song change.

posted 6 years ago by Heisenberg (6730)
7 replies | jump to latest

So your show wins an emmy for best theme song.
And not only it's great, but it actually fits the character of the series.
Why did they ever change it?

I'm really curious to understand the motivation, this goes against any production guidelines for the past 60 years of television.
I'm not just complaining about the shift from an excellent one to that unlistenable miscarriage of a song from season 2. I know that crap also won the emmy. I know the show creators addressed how many fans were pissed off with Sarah Silverman's character.
The only thing I can think of, some producer was a friend of newman, or owed him something, or newman was in debt with them so they fixed it with this song.
I just don't understand the logic behind it.
Does anybody know?

[–] hurricane (1960) 6 years ago

Personally, I preferred the "It's a jungle out there...." theme tune. It was quite catchy, and fit the humour of the show more.

Just my opinion.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 6 years ago

I think it depends on how you see Monk.
To me he's cooky but cool, that goes with that opening theme. I see him as someone dealing with his problems.
To others, he's weird and funny, but borderline retarded, a victim of his own problems. That goes with the jungle theme.
This is also just my opinion, but that theme, and how newman sings, really grates on me.

[–] hurricane (1960) 6 years ago

Monk walked a fine line, really. At some parts the character was a tragic figure. The loss of Trudy, the harsh upbringing, the knowing nobody would ever be like him.

I think that was balanced out by the humour that Tony Shalhoub brought to the role.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 6 years ago

Yes, he was very interesting because of this duality. Shalhoub is awesome in this one!

I wish the writers kept it more real, too often he appears to be idiotic. And in these cases too the humor helps make it more acceptable.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (575) 2 years ago

I'm not sure whether I think the original intrinsically fits the character, or whether it reminds me of the character simply because I heard it on his show. I like Randy Newman pretty well in very small doses, but I love the original theme (it's my ringtone!), so the switch was a major irritant for me. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if they'd kept the original for the closing credits (as they did the first time and for the Sarah Silverman episode). I do kinda like the instrumental version of Newman's theme -- but not nearly as much as I like the original.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

To me, they almost ruined the show with the change.

[–] moviechatterer (15697) 6 days ago

I agree , The Newman one is grating.
I didnt know who he was till I saw him on Family guy , being annoying.

Those "Skip Credits" buttons they have these days are great!