Sad Closing Themes.

I’ve written a lot (and even recently) about my childhood obsession with staying up late, and how my old junky television was such a big part of that.

I didn’t have cable in my bedroom, so as the hours ticked by, the pickings only grew slimmer. I remember a number of sitcom repeats that ran last in their blocks, each signaling a switch to infomercials, boring news shows and other things that I only ever watched because there was no other choice.

Knowing that there’d be nothing good on after them, watching those “final” shows was always a little depressing. The worst was when they were finally over and all I had left were the closing credits. To this day, I still associate the ending theme music of certain shows with a low-key sense of pain. Here are some examples:

At one point or another, each of those shows ended a late weeknight block. After them, I had to fend for myself, so thank God for my Nintendo and the VCR.

It didn’t help that so many of these closing themes were already kind of depressing, however unintentionally. Like with Cheers — I love its ending music, but doesn’t it make you feel like you’re locked in a box or something?

Did you guys have shows like this? The ones that ended the night long before YOU were ready to end the night? Compare notes, in the comments!