Best TV Theme song

[dalovindj]

I gotta say my all time favorite is the theme to "Greatest American Hero". Close seconds:

Gary Shandling Show
Cheers
Patty Duke Show

What's yours?

DaLovin'Dj

[KneadToKnow]

Murphy Brown

[Kilt-wearin' man]

Max Headroom
Samurai Jack (the original feature-length episode)
Batman - The Animated Series
Roar (anyone else remember the pseudo-Irish Herc/Xena ripoff? Show sucked but the music was incredible.)

[Kilt-wearin' man]

The Lone Ranger
The Rifleman
Mission: Impossible
Perry Mason

[Why A Duck]

Originally posted by dalovindj
I gotta say my all time favorite is the theme to "Greatest American Hero

"Believe it or not, George isn't at home.
Please leave a message at the beep.
I must be out, or I'd pick up the phone.
Where could I be?
Believe it or not, I'm not home."

[Freudian Slit]

Hmm. Probably "The Jeffersons." A theme song that is actually fun to listen to!

But some second place ones:

Tales from the Crypt
Powerpuff Girls

[Dinsdale]

Barney Miller
Good Times

[Kilt-wearin' man]

I also always liked Night Court's catchy little bass riff.

[pldennison]

Same answer I always give when this question comes up: The Rockford Files.

Runner Up: Love is All Around, from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. If it's good enough for Hüsker Dü, it's good enough for me.

[Annie-Xmas]

I'll admit it. I love the theme song from That 70's Show.

[andros]

So many themes, so little space . . .


Have Gun--Will Travel

Twilight Zone

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Dr. Who

[Dinsdale]

Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones...

Now get THAT outta yer hedz!

[Stella*Fantasia]

The Sopranos!

[dalovindj]

Ishould have listed the A-tem too. That one is so much fun.

DaLovin'Dj

[PookahMacPhellimey]

I'm with Andros.

Dr Who.

As a cranky afterthought. It would sound great on bagpipes too.

[delphica]

Davy, Da-a-a-a-a-a-vy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier!

Runner up: The Addams Family

[Ethilrist]

Lost in Space.

[oldscratch]

Greastest American Hero... of course.


I mean who could it be? It's just fucking me!


With the A team as a close second and the Simpsons a close third. With Twin Peaks as numbah 4

[Jack Batty]

Jesse -- that mediocre sit-com that was on NBC for a few years starring {swoon} Christina Applegate.

Tell the truth, I can't really remember exactly how it goes, but I remember thinking how catchy and mainstream it sounded for a TV theme song.

[According to Pliny]

18 posts! And no mention of Hawaii Five-0???

[EVO95]

"Welcome Back Kotter" had a great little ditty that just about anybody could sing along with, even with a rubber hose up your nose...

[furryman]

My favorites in no particular order:
Underdog
Secret Agent Man
Ultra Man
Friends
Batman
Twilight Zone
Green Hornet
Lone Ranger
"Five O'Clock World" from Drew Carey
Peter Gunn
The Original Spider-Man Theme

[Crafter_Man]

Most of these are before my time, but I like ‘em anyway…

Secret Agent Man
The Monkeys
The Munsters
Andy Griffith
Batman
Daniel Boone
Rawhide
Happy Trails
Hawaii Five-O
Mission Impossible

[kunilou]

Hawii 5-0 kicked major but, but let's not forget

Route 66
Peter Gunn
The NBC Nightly News theme composed by John Williams used back in the mid-80s. I used to play it to calm my duaghter.

I'd throw in the theme from the old CBS Reports, but since it was "Appalachian Spring" we'll just have to say "adapted from another medium"

[Sealemon88]

I agree with a lot of these (Especially Dr Who. Anyone ever hear the remix by The Timelords?).


Also, Batman Beyond has a cool theme. The opening graphics fit the music very well.

[Creaky]

Another vote for "The Jeffersons" theme song. I love that song!

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Battlestar: Galactica
Loved that show. The theme is still is a thrill to listen to.

SWAT
Wonderful instrumental number. Tres cool.

Peter Gunn
Route 66
What can I say about these that others haven't said better?

Space
This was a PBS documentary series on Space Exploration. It had a grand sound to it. Very nifty.

Hey. All of these are instrumentals.

Hmmm.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Sorry. Route 66 wasn't instrumentals only.

[Tedster]

Rawhide

Hogan's Heroes (12 and under)

Batman (if you're under 9)

Hawaii Five-O

Jonny Quest

[rjung]

Originally posted by dalovindj
I gotta say my all time favorite is the theme to "Greatest American Hero".

HELL YEAH!

The moment I read the subject line, that was the answer which popped into my mind.

Nothing else comes close. Okay, maybe the theme from The Muppet Show, but...

[Agrippina]

Inspector Gadget

[TheeGrumpy]

posted by Kilt-wearin' man:
Batman - The Animated Series
posted by Zoggie:
Tales from the Crypt
posted by Oldscratch:
...and the Simpsons a close third.

Completists could insist that this ranking should include The Flash, Family Dog, Dilbert, the animated Beetlejuice, and Sledge Hammer. And I wouldn't argue with them. Indeed, I would remind them to put Fast Times (the TV version of the Ridgemont High movie) on the list. But now we're not even talking overall quality, just obsession.

Elfman, Mancini, and Mike Post. TV themes in a nutshell. No, people don't rock-out enough to The Rockford Files. But they should.

[Torgo]

"The Bill Cosby Show", 1971 or so. Not to be confused with "The Cosby Show" of the 1980s. Great little Quincy Jones gem, and Bill himself warbles the nonsensical lyrics.

"HOO LORD! GONNA GET SOME RAGGETS...AN' SOME ROLLS...AN' SOME REEZINRIZINS, HA HA HA HA! EVERYDAY! LONG AS I'M AWAY..."

[xanadu]

Here we go:

"Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Acres is the place to beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm living is the life for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!"

Cheers is pretty cool, too. I'm shocked that nobody's mentioned the best T.V theme song ever - the theme to "All In the Family." Jean Stapleton's voice cracks me up every time I hear it.

[mblackwell]

Gotta add Magnum PI and the World News Polka.

Politics and foreign wars. All the weather, all the scores.
That's the World News Polka!

Business news from Tokyo. Stuff you saw on Koppel's show
That's the World News Polka!

It's late at night, you're wide awake and you're not wearing pants.
So grab your World News Now mug and everybody dance!...

[Scarlett67]

" . . . I'm livin' on the air in Cincinnati . . . "

[Freudian Slit]

Oh! The Monkees, how could I have forgotten? Yeah, and I like the "All in the Family" theme song too. Think I have it memorized by now.

[Fern Forest]

Come on , belt it out with me!

GREEEEN Acres is the place to be.
Farm living is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide.
Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside

do do do do do

..

[Biggirl]

For pure singalong value I don't think you can do much better than either Gilligan's Island or The Brady Bunch.

The theme from Mannix is nothing but listening pleasure. Lalo Schifrin can incite me to aural orgasms.




Have I shared too much?

[Purd Werfect]

Malcolm In The Middle
King Of The Hill
MASH
Cheers
Absolutely Fabulous

[SpoilerVirgin]

It used to be One Day At A Time

Well this is it
(this is it)
This is life
The one you get
So go and have a ball...

But lately I'm much more into

Movin' on up
(movin' on up)
To-oo the tah-ah-ah-ah-op
To a deluxe apartment
In the sky-i-i...

[Ferggie]

Red Dwarf:

It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere
I'm all alone, more or less
Goldfish shoals nibblin' at your toes
Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun

I want to lie shipwrecked and comatose
Drinking fresh mango juice
Let me fly far away from here
Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun

[Michael Ellis]

Red Dwarf
Quatermass and the Pit (1950s BBC Serial later made into a Hammer film)
Kolchak: The Nightstalker (Heck, the rest of the incidental music on that show was good too.)
M*A*S*H
Cheers
The Twilight Zone
Monty Python's Flying Circus (Souza's only decent work not played at patriotic gatherings I can think of)
The Prisoner
Blackadder (All the various incarnations)

[Lemur866]

The best theme songs are those that set up the plot and characters in 30 seconds or so...like the Beverly Hillbillys and such.

And the absolute classic of this genre is MST3K.

[Kamino Neko]

I agree with most of the ones above that I'm familiar with...

To add (all cartoons....):

Robotech (Don't know why, but I love it)
Astroboy ('Soaring high in the sky, he may be small, but only in size, Astroboy, Astroboy, he is brave and gentle and wise!')
Speed Racer ('Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he's a demon on wheels, he's a demon and he's gonna be chacing after someone!')
Samurai Pizza Cats ('Samurai Pizza Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats')
3 Friends and Jerry (Just...fits.)

[Fern Forest]

Originally posted by xanadu
Here we go:
"Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Acres is the place to beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm living is the life for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!"

Wow, I totally didn't see that, and a search of Green turned up nothing! But I am so there with you.

[warmgun]

The Loony Tunes theme -duh!
For just plain fun - Peewee's Playhouse
Superchicken - "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Bkawk!"
Underdog
Peter Gunn
Branded
Have Gun will travel

And you Green Acres fans, While noodling around on the guitar one day (and watching TV) I ended up singing GA to the tune of Henrix's 'Purple Haze". Try it, you'll like it.

[Sealemon88]

OK, I guess I'll be the first to admit it...Ireally like

Just to good ol' boys
Never meanin' no harm
Beats all you ever saw
Been in trouble with the law
Since the day they were born.

I'll go ahead and list Knight Rider and Speed Racer to complete my car trifecta.






Also, loved Babylon5, and the way that it subtly changed each season.

[Sylkyn]

These were some I really loved, also in no particular order:

The original Batman
That Girl
Friends
The A-Team
Knight Rider
Hawaii Five-O
Cheers
M*A*S*H
Miami Vice
Baretta
Starsky & Hutch
The Munsters

Ok, I'm quitting now...I could go on for days with this list.

[The Bitterdrunk Kid]

The Tonight Show, with Johny Carson

Dallas

Magnum, P.I.

The Simpsons (have you ever thought about how complicated that song really is?)

The Odd Couple

Mission: Impossible