Worst Music?

[chris319]

Which game show had the worst music?

The syrupy string music used on the Cullen version of TPIR was horribly dated, but it's up there. They used stock recordings on that show, as opposed to music which was custom composed and recorded for a specific show.

[Adam Nedeff]

The theme to Strike It Rich sounded like Hal Hidey forgot about it until due date and then drew up the sheet music while hiding in a men's room stall on his lunch break.

Runner-up: the music package for Sale of the Century I thought was pretty underwhelming aside from the main theme. TVPMM offered a package of music as a goody for subscribers a few years ago. I listened to the prize cues once, shrugged and thought "I have no desire to listen to any of that again" and just deleted the whole thing when I was done.

[Blanquepage]

TJW '90. It was the same 10 seconds looped ad infinitum.

[chris319]

On All New Strike It Rich it sounds like Hal Hidey had a music budget of 59 cents, just enough to cover the cost of electricity to power his synthesizer. The rest of the show is awful.

I was watching All New LMAD. They had a small combo including horns but the music just sounded cheesy.

Back in the day, they might have had Paul Taubman, Milton Kaye, Dick Hyman, Sid Wayne, Arlo or Dave Bacal banging away live on an organ that might have been used on some radio soap opera, and maybe some percussion. It didn't sound bad given the music budget they probably had.

[Chief-O]

Crosswits '86 has always been a non-favorite of mine. TTD '90 was quite an underwhelming theme as well, especially considering that Henry Mancini composed it.

[DoorNumberFour]

I never thought Mort Garson’s futuristic circus music fit with as many shows as it was slapped onto (Gambit, Marble Machine, Runaround, Baffle...), especially as the 70s progressed and we got such rich orchestration on many other shows. Aged horribly IMO.

[SamJ93]

I know it was the norm back then, and I'm conditioned towards the current theme since it's so ubiquitous, but the opening/closing theme on the Fleming-era J! was a generic big-band piece that seemed very out-of-place.

The theme to Temptation sounded like it came from a mid-90's CD-ROM game.

The current WoF theme is a horrendously generic one-chord riff. At least it sounds like they paid a real trumpet player to record the solo. (As a musician myself, I'm a wee bit biased against synthesizers subbing for real instruments.)

Speaking of fake horns, the think music for this year's J! College Tournament...dear Lord. I muted the TV every time it came on.

[Mike Tennant]

"Bob and Merrill's Theme" was a fine piece of music, but HS could have used some other cues. They seemed to have only the theme and a win cue based on it. It would have been nice to have different music under the Secret Square prize descriptions (of course, at first they used no music at all, which was even worse) and perhaps a separate SS win cue to distinguish it from a game win.

[Big Brain]

Weller's Win Lose or Draw, hands down, made so much more egregious because of the magnificence it replaced. By the time they switched back, nobody was watching to notice.

[SwohS Emag]

I submit the theme to BYUtv's Battle of the Ages:  https://www.byutv.org/battleoftheages.  The show has "Stone / Stanley" cheese written all over it, and the synthesized theme is insulting in its cheapness.  It starts as a swinging tune of sorts and ends up inexplicably in march form.  My blood boils from frustration every time I hear it.

[Mr. Matté]

On All New Strike It Rich it sounds like Hal Hidey had a music budget of 59 cents, just enough to cover the cost of electricity to power his synthesizer. The rest of the show is awful.

At least with Strike it Rich, you have at least a melody that you could hum after hearing one playing. The other Kline & Friends show from that era, Break the Bank, doesn't even have that and it's the same kind of crappy off-key electronic instrumentation. OK, the intro has a little bit of hummibility but the closing, when it's not drowned out by the applause, has nothing and is much sadder sounding than the more "exciting" intro music.

[aaron sica]

Bumper Stumpers I found nothing but annoying.

[chrisholland03]

Add my vote to Strike it Rich, with a close second and third to TJW'90 and TTD'90

[Fedya]

If memory serves, the Osmond Pyramid didn't use any arrangement of Tuning Up, but some generic "music" that didn't last more than a few seconds.

[BrandonFG]

Even at 11 years old, I remember being shocked that Henry Mancini gave us something as bland and goofy as the TTD90 theme.

I don’t hate the Strike it Rich theme but it was very repetitive.

I’ve never been a fan of using the Combs Feud theme for the current version. If you’re gonna use a retro version, the 94 theme actually fits better. Honestly, I was never a fan of the remastered theme itself...the drum kit they used sounds so synthetic compared to what the Dawson’s.

Count me in as someone who was never a fan of Mort Garson’s themes.