Dr. Frank's What's-it

Karen Valentine was really attractive, in a very non-threatening way, that appealled to me as an adolescent.

Or are you suggesting that the groovy Black teacher has the same sort of vibe as Obama?

The theme music sounds "inspired by" Fool On the Hill.

Very groovy to see everybody just getting along, man. I mean, dig it, the white folks are talking to their yellow and brown friends, without even tripping on the different shades of beautiful.

I'm pretty sure the fabulous theme song is by Jerry Goldsmith and/or Benny Golson. Which makes sense since the show was created by the folks who brought you Mary Tyler Moore.

Hey, the "groovy" theme and much of the original score was indeed composed by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith. (Not Benny Golson, though good guess). You can even buy the score (a 12 minute assemblage of cues) on the FSM CD label, partnered with a longer Goldsmith score. It's hard to argue that this theme had to have been inspired by Fool On The Hill, for sure. But compared to today's "sampling" culture, at least what Jerry did was use it as a starting point, but crafted it into something that was also uniquely his, in terms of style and being able to say A LOT in, what, a minute and a half. The fact that we all remember it 30 years later says something. So much film and tv music today is utterly disposable. But in the hands of people like Goldsmith and Williams, even when it was derivative, it was totally enjoyable, memorable and even timeless. Think of John Williams' Lost in Space music from the same era. A good deal of it was totally an homage to Bernard Herrman's Day The Earth Stood Still themes, but it also transcended and became its own, totally wonderful thing. Anyhow, couldn't resist throwing a little background into the ring.