Alan Neal solves mystery of unknown song stuck in his head

You know what it's like when you've got a tune in your head and can't figure out where the song came from? That was the exact melodic problem plaguing All In A Day host Alan Neal.

Listeners tried to help Monday but in the end PBS came through with the answer

Alan Neal · CBC News · Posted: Nov 10, 2015 12:24 PM EST | Last Updated: November 11, 2015

Alan Neal has a song in his head and he is going crazy trying to figure out what it is. He needs your help.

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Scroll to the bottom for the answer.

You know what it's like when you've got a tune in your head and can't figure out where the song came from?

This is the exact melodic problem plaguing All In A Day host Alan Neal, as he explained on Monday to Doug Hempstead.

Alan had thought it was the theme song from Lorne Greene's New Wilderness.

But it turns out, when he checked out that theme on YouTube, it had a very different grand tune.

Alan thought maybe he had mixed it up with National Geographic.

Upon listening, that wasn't it (though it remains a fantastic theme song).

Doug suggested Wild Kingdom. Many listeners thought that might be it too.

But, no.

Listeners then started suggesting, with many thinking it was the MacGyver theme song.

But that is considerably more synth-driven than what Alan was remembering.

<a href="https://twitter.com/cbcallinaday">@cbcallinaday</a> re: EarWorm could it be the McGiver theme song? I'm seeing/hearing 80s tv show
—@TwissAndWeber

Somehow it brought to mind the Pinball Song from Sesame Street.

<a href="https://twitter.com/cbcallinaday">@cbcallinaday</a> sounds like your song is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 10,11.12...lol
—@GaryZDJ

Zena Besner thought of Untamed World.

It is now stuck in Alan's head (thanks Zena).

Angela Bettino suggested the triumphant swells of The Big Valley.

It has the right feel, but the wrong tune.

Ted Thompson heard Bonanza (perhaps thinking of Greene's older wilderness).

Oluf Andrews immediately thought of the ABC "Wide World of Sports" theme.

The CBC's Alistair Steele suggested the theme for "Wild Wild West."

The answer is ... the theme to American Playhouse

After hearing from many listeners that the theme was from either the PBS show Nova or Nature, Alan decided to write to the broadcaster for an answer.

Joan Koury of PBS marketing and communications, wrote him back. Using what she called "institutional memory," she told him it was the theme to American Playhouse, which ran on PBS from 1982 to 1993.