History Main / ExpositoryThemetune

->''[[SarcasmMode "And I'm sure viewership would triple]] if I had one of those crappy cartoon theme songs that bludgeons you over the head with the blunt end of the show's premise."''

** Technically this trope but with no actual show to expose [[Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow at the time]], "Theme Song" tells a rather intricate {{backstory}} for the band before mentioning that [[ViewersAreGoldfish they're the Aquabats]] a few times.

* Several segments of the ''Podcast/ThrillingAdventureHour'' feature these. Specifically the intro songs for "Sparks Nevada Marshall on Mars", "The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam", "Amelia Earhart Fearless Flyer", and "Down on Moonshine Holler."

* "WE BOUGHT TOO MANY GAMES!/Now we gotta play them all.../SO ALL ABOARD THE ''WebVideo/{{STEAM TRAIN}}!''" ("Choo-choo!")

* WebVideo/NecroCritic: "We watch crap movies, we play crap games/There's too much out there, causing us pain/The actors are rancid, the plot is stale/Necro is here to put an end to the fail."

* WebVideo/TheNecroCritic: "We watch crap movies, we play crap games/There's too much out there, causing us pain/The actors are rancid, the plot is stale/Necro is here to put an end to the fail."

** In the ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "best thing", there's the theme song from ''Limozeen: but they're in space!''.

* ''Limozeen: but they're in space!'' from the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' universe.
** Strong Bad also demonstrates what it would be like if he had one of these in the Sbemail "Theme Song" (Which also provides the page quote).
--> ''Strong bad, he's a wrestleman/ He's the email-checkin'-est guy in the land...''

* TheLegendOfNeil's theme song explains exactly how Neil ended up inside the game, then has a very hurried follow-up summarising events up to the beginning of the episode.

->''"I'm sure viewership would triple if I had one of those crappy cartoon theme songs that bludgeons you over the head with the blunt end of the show's premise."''

* Wrestling/{{Chris|Hero}} is awesome! He's as hot as it gets, the type to drop you quick, with a mafia kick![[/folder]]

* Wrestling/{{Chris|Hero}} is awesome! He's as hard as it gets, the type to drop you quick, with a mafia kick![[/folder]]

* Technically this trope but with no actual show to expose [[Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow at the time]], "Theme Song" by Music/TheAquabats tells a rather intricate {{backstory}} before mentioning that [[ViewersAreGoldfish they're the Aquabats]] a few times.
* Similarly, "Cartoon Heroes" by Music/{{Aqua}} is an expository theme of this type for a completely fictional TV show (the video does a good job of being the title sequence).

''With Mario the Retard and SMG4 the Idiot''\\

* "WE BOUGHT TOO MANY GAMES!/Now we gotta play them all.../SO HOP ABOARD THE ''WebVideo/{{STEAM TRAIN}}!''" ("Choo-choo!")

* Technically this trope but with no actual show to expose, "Theme Song" by Music/TheAquabats tells a rather intricate {{backstory}} before mentioning that [[ViewersAreGoldfish they're the Aquabats]] a few times.

* "CaptainScarlet / He's the one who knows the Mysteron game / and things they plan" (for its end credits, the titles are a case of NoThemeTune, at least in English).
** Incorrect. The opening titles have spoken narration. The original closing theme was instrumental, but a group was later recruited to record a vocal version.
* And then there is the theme tune to ''TheMuppetShow'' (you know the words).

-->-- '''Strong Bad''', ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail155.html sbemail #155]]

* Despite appearing in a non-audio medium, the {{Blackhawk}}s gained their own theme tune, complete with sheet music, in a 1942 comic. A modern recording of "The Song of the Blackhawks" can be heard [[http://www.comictreadmill.com/CTMBlogarchives/2005/2005_Individual/2005_05/000789.php here]].

This was fairly standard for the early SitCom. Later sitcoms moved away from this form in favor of the ThematicThemeTune, and then toward the SurrealThemeTune. Today, the ExpositoryThemeTune is limited mostly to children's programs. ''Series/GilligansIsland'', the most famous, used it specifically due to ExecutiveMeddling, so that people who tuned in after the pilot wouldn't get lost. Many kids' shows that use it don't even ''have'' a pilot, or air episodes out of order. (''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' are the big examples.)

Some shows might use the ExpositoryThemeTune as an excuse to [[OneWePreparedEarlier dump you into the action right away]], since you already know the premise. Conversely, if the ExpositoryThemeTune would spoil the premise of the premiere, you might not see it on the first episode.

A common Subtrope is the BraggingThemeTune and ThemeTuneRollCall