What are your favorite musical "bridges" in game show themes?
In music theory, a bridge is a musical phrase that acts as sort of a "break" within a song -- the melody is different. A bridge typically appears after at least two refrains or choruses, and at least one refrain follows it.
Think of it as "A-A-B-A".
My favorites include:
The Dating Game, original ABC '60s-early '70s. This was unusual in that the bridge could usually be heard in its entirety right at the beginning, during Jim Lange's intro. As a kid I really liked the way the bridge, which was akin to a slow march, ended with a single crash-cymbal sound. I think a later version of the theme music replaced that with a longer French horn blast, though.
Lots of the Chuck Barris music made use of bridges, including those 2 themes originally intended for their own shows but used as prize copy for other shows instead.
Match Game 70s. The bridge here was unusual in that it appeared after 4 repetitions of the main phrase, after getting more and more upbeat each time. I always thought of the bridge as being a "woooo, hoo" sound, sort of, repeated 3 times, with the fourth bar a lead-in back to the beginning of the main part. Now there was an alternate version of the MG theme that played a lighter and less-contrasting version of the bridge after only 2 repetitions; it then went into the usual bridge after 2 more. I think this was only used for promos and the like, rather than the show's main theme music.
Split Second, 70s version. This could primarily only be heard during the closing credits, and appeared then after 2 full repetitions of the main theme (the CD only does so once), each of which ended in a cold finish. The bridge had sort of a, IDK, looping roller-coaster-like progression. I thought it was cool how it ended with a rapid series of guitar notes!
One popular theme song without a bridge: Jeopardy! As most of us know, the longer version of the J! theme, after the introduction, merely repeats over and over again, usually with an up or down tonal change between them. And that refrain is none other than a jazzed up version of the think music. (The same arrangement of which was used in the original Art Fleming series, along with the first dozen or so seasons of the current one.) Is there a musician out there who can add a meaningful bridge to this theme music? If so, perhaps this bridge could work in elements of "Take Ten", the original theme music from the Fleming years. A tribute or shout-out, if you will. That theme ended in a cold finish with a single-note trumpet blast -- could that be used as the bridge's last note before returning to the refrain? I'll confess I tried to work those sounds together since I was about 5, as I had trouble reconciling that the think music and theme music weren't somehow connected.
