Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HOLLYWOOD Q&A
Q: I heard a rumor that the guy who made “The Big Bang Theory” also wrote the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” theme. Is that true?
A: If there’s a sitcom version of an earworm, “The Big Bang Theory” is it. It’s successful, memorable, infinitely rewatchable, but critics don’t like it. Thus, it’s a lot like the theme from the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” — anyone who saw even one episode of the smashhit ‘80s cartoon can hum at least part of the theme, but it’s doubtful they’d say they like it.
It makes some sense, then, that Chuck Lorre created both.
But perhaps I’m overthinking it. The fact is, both shows were enormous hits, so maybe that’s the link: everything Lorre touches turns to gold.
It is a little surprising, though, not only because the two happened decades apart, but also because writing songs and writing shows seem like very different pursuits. And, while the TV mega producer (also behind other hits such as “Mike & Molly” and “Two and a Half Men”) might be expected to be a bit sheepish about having once written a jumped-
up jingle, in fact he’d be thrilled to know you’re still thinking about the song.
Q: Does Neil Patrick Harris sing the theme for “A Series of Unfortunate Events”?
A: Much like his character, Count Olaf, in the sort-of children’s series “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” Neil Patrick Harris is a multi-talented master thespian. That means he’s a singer as well as an actor, as you can tell when you hear him do the show’s theme.
It makes practical sense to get the show’s star to do the theme in this case, because it changes repeatedly as the plot advances.
It also makes sense to get Harris to do your music if you can because he’s so darn good at it. He won a Tony Award in 2014 for his lead in the rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” and he seems to try to sneak songs in every other chance he gets, whether it’s on his short-lived talk show “Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris” in 2015, or his musical numbers during the various awards shows he’s hosted (the Oscars, the Tonys and more).