Mr. Belvedere - Theme Song

Theme Song

The show's theme song was performed by ragtime singer Leon Redbone. It was written by Judy Hart-Angelo and Gary Portnoy, who had previously written the theme songs to Cheers and Punky Brewster.

The song was originally composed in 1984 for a rejected TV pilot called Help (which was later resurrected as Marblehead Manor for NBC in 1987). It starred a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards as an inept member of an eccentric couple's household staff, who were perpetually conniving to pull the wool over the eyes of the mansions' newly hired head butler. With a minor lyrical re-write, it quickly became the theme song to Mr. Belvedere.

In 2007, a never-before-heard full-length version of the theme was released by Portnoy on his CD, Destiny.

For syndicated reruns, a shorter 30 second version was recorded, in order to accompany the shorter opening for the syndicated airings. The original theme song was 55 seconds long. The 55 second version has been restored on Shout! Factory's DVD releases.

There were three different ending themes during the show's original run:

1. An instrumental version of the theme song was used as the ending theme for Seasons 1 and 2.
2. A Dixieland rendition of the ending theme was used in Season 3.
3. A jazzier rendition of the ending theme was used in Seasons 4–6.