5. Maude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw Maude was a spin-off from All The Family, focussing on the out-spoken and extremely liberal titular character, currently in her fourth marriage. A sitcom with a lot of dark humour and drama, Beatrice Arthur's character was undoubtedly the star, even having a whole episode devoted to a monologue in the fourth series. So why does the theme tune take so long to even mention her? The Donny Hathaway track recounts famous women of history and why they were so great, ending simply on "and then there's Maude": it takes thirty whole seconds to even mention the main character of the show, most theme tunes aren't even that long. As much as they're trying, the whimsical organ and overly soulful backing vocals really don't ease the ride, giving the song a painfully cheesy tone, heightened only by Maude appearing from behind a door, waving, when the song gets to her bit. The song was
parodied in Family Guy, as Peter watched an extended version of the theme tune, questioning, "And then there's Maude?" all the way through, and calling it an ordeal, just waiting to get to her. He's not far wrong, and ironically, Peter begins to look disillusioned twenty seconds into the song; if he was watching the original Maude theme, he would still be waiting at this point.