TV ACADEMY DROPS EMMY FOR THEME MUSIC

Time was when everyone could hum the theme songs of their favorite TV shows. No longer. Aside from a few animated favorites, like The Simpsons, the TV theme has gone the way of the Western, the miniseries, and the primetime variety show, a victim of cut-throat programming scheduling and dramatic devices that seek to grab viewers’ attention in the first few minutes and keep them from clicking their remotes to see what else is on. On Monday, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences took note of that situation and eliminated the “main title theme” as an Emmy category beginning in 2011. (The last award in that category will be made this year.) In its announcement, the Academy acknowledged, “This change was made due to the decreasing number of traditional television main-title theme [songs].”