Earth, Wind & Fire "Shining Star"

July 5, 1989 is the date that changed television history: Seinfeld premiered -- although it was actually called The Seinfeld Chronicles. NBC believed so little in the pilot that they aired it the day after Independence Day without any desire to pick up the pilot. Despite this, the show actually finished a respectable second-place in its time slot behind CBS-TV's Jake & The Fat Man. Aftering unsuccessfully shopping the show to FOX, it appeared The Seinfeld Chronicles was dead. However, an NBC executive believed so much in the show, he cut money from other projects and used those savings to order four more episodes to complete the show's first "season" -- he actually took money out of a budget for a Bob Hope special to make Seinfeld. About a year later, in May 1990, episode two of Seinfeld aired complete with a rebroadcast of the pilot. Five simple episodes comprised Season 1 of Seinfeld, and critics were intrigued enough to help buoy the show. NBC ordered a second season of the show -- albeit a short order of only 12 episodes. Creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David never believed NBC would pick up the show, but -- once again -- NBC bought in. By Season 3, NBC knew it had a hit on its hands and the show's audience continued to grow where it became part of their vaunted Thursday night "Must-See-TV" lineup. 

Kelly Clarkson "Miss Independent"

Fox stunned all the television networks when its reality singing contest American Idol: The Search for a Superstar caught fire during the summer of 2002. Rarely did summer television shows ever become a sensation, but Idol connected. The show made Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Ryan Seacrest household names. Season 1 of Idol culminated with Kelly Clarkson defeating Justin Guarini on September 2, 2002. While Idol went on to change the way television networks programmed their schedules, it also changed the music business. Artists regularly appeared on the show hoping to promote their new single and theme nights helped introduce older music to a new audience. No format seemed to benefit from Idol more than Adult Contemporary who embraced the show's winners (and losers). Names like Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, and Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson peppered the AC Chart. Clarkson alone charted more than a dozen AC singles including 2002's "Miss Independent" -- a song initially written for Christina Aguilera.

BoDeans "Good Things"

One of the mastermind's behind Prince's music helped launch the BoDeans into a new direction. A trip to meet producer David Z. at Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis turned out the BoDean's hit "Good Things" in 1991. Later in the '90s, the Fox television show Party of Five helped turn the band a household name when it chose to use "Closer to Free" as its theme song.

Vonda Shepard - "Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow"

Peter Cetera chose Amy Grant over Vonda Shepard for the duet "Next Time I Fall" and then Joan Jett was picked over Vonda for a role in the movie Light of Day, but it was David E. Kelley who helped launch Shepard's career with the Fox-TV show Ally McBeal.  1999's "Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow" was one such song that became an Adult Contemporary hit thanks to Ally McBeal.

The Heights - "How Do You Talk To An Angel?"

What happens when a TV theme song is more popular than the show?  In this case, Fox was looking for a teen soap opera to complement Beverly Hills, 90210 and launched The Heights in 1992.  The show never really caught on and wound up being cancelled a week after it's theme song, "How Do You Talk To An Angel?", fell out of the #1 spot on the Hot 100.  Lead singer of The Heights Jamie Walters would later go on to star as the temperamental Ray Pruit on Beverly Hills, 90210.