Double Dare / Card Sharks theme

[JakeT]

As many people here know, I'm rather fixated on game show theme music and I firmly believe that a game show's theme tends to set the mood and feel for the game that it is attached to.  So, with that thought in mind, I wondered last night about just what might have happened if the original CBS "Double Dare" had become a hit, making it impossible for the NBC "Card Sharks" to have had the theme that it had?  Would Score Productions have been able to compose a theme that would have helped to have made "Card Sharks" as memorable and as much of a hit as it became?  

As usual, just kinda curious...

Jake

[Jeremy Nelson]

Ya know, that's a purty good question. This is a what-if question, but it involves theme music. So I can't really invision what CS '78 would have sounded like with a different package. I'm sure Score would have composed some pretty awesome music for it nonetheless.

[DjohnsonCB]

About all I can think of is that the theme used for the Rafferty version might have been composed and used for the Jim Perry version.  I know it's a stretch, but this will always be a purely speculation subject, so it tends to make a bit of sense.

Still, the original Price Is Right on NBC with Bill Cullen was a big hit in its day, and two years after its final cancellation its theme music turned up once more on Snap Judgment for awhile.

[mcsittel]

So how is the typical GS theme composed??  Does the composer actually see the show, or know about it, when dreaming up a tune?  Or do they have catchy little ditties stored up for just such an occasion, and the producers go through a tape of possible tunes?

Just wondering...

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'mcsittel\' post=\'165209\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 10:26 AM\']
So how is the typical GS theme composed??  Does the composer actually see the show, or know about it, when dreaming up a tune?  Or do they have catchy little ditties stored up for just such an occasion, and the producers go through a tape of possible tunes?

Just wondering...
[/quote]

I would say without too much fear of contradiction that it's a case-by-case basis and that both scenarios are possible.

[BrandonFG]

About all I can think of is that the theme used for the Rafferty version might have been composed and used for the Jim Perry version. I know it's a stretch, but this will always be a purely speculation subject, so it tends to make a bit of sense.

Only thing is, even if you never saw the Eubanks/Rafferty version, you could tell it was contemporary for 1986, with all the synthesizers and electric drum beats. I doubt Kalehoff would've had that much vision in 1978.

If push came to shove, I guess they could've used a TPiR cue...only thing is I can't think of a cue (c. 1977) that would work on CS. I remember reading they almost went with a Price cue for Password Plus...

[tpirfan28]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'165229\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 01:25 PM\']
If push came to shove, I guess they could've used a TPiR cue...only thing is I can't think of a cue (c. 1977) that would work on CS. I remember reading they almost went with a Price cue for Password Plus...
[/quote]
Splendido sounds like it could work with the right open....but regardless of what tune they did use, it would have killed the open.  That thing could NOT have worked and been any cooler.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'165230\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 11:08 AM\']
Splendido sounds like it could work with the right open...
[/quote]
I could not agree less. Splendido is prize-description music. It is not a main theme. At all.

but regardless of what tune they did use, it would have killed the open.

Pretty sweeping statement, there, considering that the theme for the Eubanks version worked pretty well.

Personally, I always thought it sounded a little out of place, myself, but that might have had to do with me recognizing it as the Double Dare theme when I first heard it. But I did get used to it.

[tpirfan28]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'165233\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 02:12 PM\']

but regardless of what tune they did use, it would have killed the open.

Pretty sweeping statement, there, considering that the theme for the Eubanks version worked pretty well.

Personally, I always thought it sounded a little out of place, myself, but that might have had to do with me recognizing it as the Double Dare theme when I first heard it. But I did get used to it.
[/quote]
Well...I was going with the CS'78 open (with the music synced to the graphics on-screen) and how they gelled so well.  Unless they retooled the open completely, or somehow found a piece that worked similarly, you couldn't duplicate that open (one of my favorites).  CS'86 was a completely different dog, IMO.  The open seems too "suspenseful" for me, but the rest of the theme is good.

This is coming from someone who saw CS before DD, FWIW.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'165234\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 11:19 AM\']
Well...I was going with the CS'78 open (with the music synced to the graphics on-screen) and how they gelled so well.  Unless they retooled the open completely,[/quote]
...which I think is pretty obvious, since a show's open is usually developed around the music.

[Steve_Bier]

[/quote] If push came to shove, I guess they could've used a TPiR cue...only thing is I can't think of a cue (c. 1977) that would work on CS. I remember reading they almost went with a Price cue for Password Plus...
[/quote]

What cue was it?

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Steve_Bier\' post=\'165240\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 03:33 PM\']

If push came to shove, I guess they could've used a TPiR cue...only thing is I can't think of a cue (c. 1977) that would work on CS. I remember reading they almost went with a Price cue for Password Plus...

What cue was it?
[/quote]
From what I remember in a ATGS thread, the Double Prices cue. I can't find the thread (Google seems to have lost a few threads over the years), but I believe Chris Clementson mentioned Double Prices. Come to think of it, the P+ theme sounds like it was somewhat derivative from that cue.

Paging Chris Clementson. Chris Clementson to the white courtesy phone...

[MisterX]

[quote name=\'JakeT\' post=\'165203\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 06:49 AM\']
As many people here know, I'm rather fixated on game show theme music and I firmly believe that a game show's theme tends to set the mood and feel for the game that it is attached to.  So, with that thought in mind, I wondered last night about just what might have happened if the original CBS "Double Dare" had become a hit, making it impossible for the NBC "Card Sharks" to have had the theme that it had?  Would Score Productions have been able to compose a theme that would have helped to have made "Card Sharks" as memorable and as much of a hit as it became?  

As usual, just kinda curious...

Jake
[/quote]

If Double Dare was still on the air, along with Card Sharks, maybe Card Sharks would have used stock music from Score Productions. Or maybe other music from Score Productions from shows that went off the air (like Blankety Blanks, Password All-Stars, or Showoffs)...maybe Showoffs would be an interesting alternative to the Card Sharks theme.

Here's another interesting question. Was there ever a time when two or more game shows used the same theme simultaneously?

(And to Jake: Have you received my message about the Wizard Of Odds theme? If so, can you please e-mail me at tqprod88@videotron.ca. Thanks.)

[MTCesquire]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'165234\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 02:19 PM\']
Well...I was going with the CS'78 open (with the music synced to the graphics on-screen) and how they gelled so well.  Unless they retooled the open completely, or somehow found a piece that worked similarly, you couldn't duplicate that open (one of my favorites).
[/quote]

Had DD '76 become a hit, they would've had to retool the open.  The openings of both shows were the exact same, minus the spiel.  It's hard to picture CS '78 w/o the 4 boxes and that theme song, though.  Depending on what year they were composed, I think either TPIR's "Starcrossed" or "The Big Banana" could work well, seeing as how they're both high energy pieces and CS is a fast-paced, high-energy show.  As far as an opening sequence/spiel, I'm not even going to try.

[Chief-O]

[quote name=\'MisterX\' post=\'165246\' date=\'Oct 1 2007, 04:04 PM\']
Or maybe other music from Score Productions from shows that went off the air (like Blankety Blanks, Password All-Stars, or Showoffs)[/quote]

Blankety Blanks = Bob Cobert. Stewart never used Score themes.