Patrick Williams, who composed background music for many iconic TV shows, dies at 79

The New York Times

"Anyone who watched television from the 1970s through the early 2000s had a fair chance of encountering Mr. Williams’s work," writes Daniel E. Slotnik. "He wrote music for The Bob Newhart Show, The Streets of San Francisco, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, The Simpsons and Monk, among others, and for more than 100 television movies. He was nominated for 22 Emmys and won four. His background music for the Mary Tyler Moore Show spinoff Lou Grant won him the Emmy for outstanding music composition for a series; he also wrote the show’s title theme."