I love the theme songs from:
Laverne and Shirley
Absolutely Fabulous----wheeeeeels on fiiiiiire…rolllllllllling down the rooooad…
The Muppet Show
Mary Tyler Moore
The Sopranos
Family Ties (yes, I’m an idiot)
Roseanne (the original one)
Seinfeld
I can’t think of any I actively hate.
A lot of music by Stephin Merritt, my favorite songwriter (of The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths and The Future Bible Heroes) ended up on the show as well. And now I’m getting all nostalgic for the show …
Murder Most Horrid had a terrific theme song. If I remember correctly, it was sung by Shirley Bassey. At any rate, it sounded like a James Bond theme song. There were several different ending lines, and it was always fun to see which one ended the episode:
"You awake in the night, your face flushed and florid … "
"You awake in the night, enormously torrid … "
"You awake in the night, wearing something you borr’ed … "
I’ll second (or third or fourth) Pete and Pete; all the music from that show was classic.
The only theme music that ever got me to watch a show I had decided looked dumb was SeaQuest.
And I think the award for “theme music so creepy I still can’t listen to it alone in a dark room” is Unsolved Mysteries. :eek:
I always loved the themes from the westerns during the late 60’s and into the 70’s.
Men From Shiloh
Cimaron Strip
The Outcasts
Iron Horse
Always thought the theme from “The Prisoner” was great and fit the opening montage perfectly.
For singing themes, the one from “Cheers” seemed to be the classiest and fit the show well.
Also loved the theme for “Grand”.
As for today, I like the theme for “The Amazing Race” and the music I have been hearing in the promos for “The Contender”.
And this is stretching back a ways, but how about the theme from the 50’s show, “Topper” 
I love the Adult Swim themes: Harvey Birdman, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021.
Good one. That music is very exciting.
On the other side of the reality show spectrum, the theme for American Idol is horrible.
There are various reasons to call a theme song good: Do you like to hear it? Do you like to watch the video that goes with it? Does it set up the show’s premise? Does it hold up through repeated viewings? Etc.
Many good choices so far. I would like to second the Beverly Hillbillies theme. All the reasons above, and it’s performed by two of America’s greatest musicians ever (Flatt and Scruggs).
The Green Acres theme is especially great at setting the mood for the show – my friends and I refer to the bass harmonica (that thing that sounds like a pig grunting) as the “Swine-a-phone”.
I always liked the Drew Carey show’s themes – the non-original songs (“Five O’Clock World”, “Cleveland Rocks”) were always good choices, but my favorite was always the original one, “Moon Over Parma”, which IIRC, was actually played and sung by Carey himself.
And the one that I’m shocked no one has mentioned yet: F Troop (the vocal version).
I like the Teen Titans theme a lot, too. Also Sealab2021 and Futurama.
Also partial to the original Power Rangers theme with the vocal bits added.
“Ahhh! After ten thousand years I’m free! It’s time to conquer Earth!”
“Alpha, Rita’s escaped! Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!”
The best:
X-Files - The theme is creepy and foreboding. They couldn’t have come up with a better one.
Smallville - I downloaded Remy Zero’s song, “Save Me” and I still listen to it. Very fitting.
The Drew Carey Show - I can’t help but sing along to this when I watch the opening credits to the show. Just a very, very fun song.
And just a few classics:
Cheers
The Wonder Years
Family Ties
And laugh all you want, but I always thought the theme to Doogie Howser, M.D. was quite fitting and good. It just sounded medical. 
I totally agree about the suckability of the tune from That 70’s Show. I love the show, but that song makes my teeth grate.
Adam
I guess it pays to read the prior posts before posting, not after. Sorry.
:smack:
We used the Price is Right theme as the opening theme to a movie I just finished making. BMG owns it, and we’ve been “negotiating” with them for the rights. And by “Negotiating” I mean “trading faxes and then waiting a month or two until someone pays attention to us again.” I’m pretty sure we’re going to end up replacing it with an original song rather than shelling out the money for it. The festival rights aren’t so bad, but they want an outrageous amount of money for the DVD sales, and I’m not sure it’s worth it to keep the joke in place.
Anyways, my favorite TV theme song is “Tank!” by Yako Kanno and the Seatbelts, the theme to Cowboy Bebop, which is going to go down as one of the greats right next to “Peter Gunn”.
Ah, many other good ones mentioned… I love this thread. I get to hear some of my favorite music as I scan down through the posts…
No mention of the charming Darkwing Duck theme?
Or, I’ve just been watching the DVD set of Sledge Hammer! and it has a great Danny Elfman piece.
Loved the X-Files theme–just the right way to get you psyched up for some creepy, eerie, horrifying fun with aliens, ghosts, and FBI agents. Mark Snow has done some really magical work, even if he tends to recycle some of his themes.
Buffy theme? In the words of Crush the turtle, “Righteous! Righteous! Excellent!”
Pete Townshend’s “Who Are You”? Great as a song on its own. Not great for CSI’s opening theme, at all. Wonderful song, wonderful show, they just… don’t… go together.
I actually liked the Friends theme. It was catchy and bright and funky, and the goofy stuff was mildly amusing. But I can see how it would get on your nerves after a while.
Not technically a song, but the ‘beep-beep-beep’ intro to 24 never fails to get my heart racing. Absolutely perfect way to open an episode.
The Law and Order theme (in all its incarnations) is just classic.
Cheers’ is the best for me. I don’t hate Friends’ as much as some others do, in fact, I liked it at first. I started to dislike it by the end of the show.
No.
And thanks for the reminder about “Sealab 2021” shy guy. I love that voice.
For all of you cartoon afficionados, here is a fun site.
The theme song to ABC’s Sonic the Hedgehog is in the top five, at least, in the “saturday morning” category. (Along with the themes to Cybersix and Escaflowne, in my book.)
Gotta second Inner Universe, too.
No reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation? For shame!
I always liked the theme song for The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.
Best:
Sanford & Son
Rockford Files
Bob Newhart
Venture Bros.
Worst:
Three’s Company
Rhoda
Ebert & Roper
Saved by the Bell
Worst:
The Brady Bunch- WAY too cute and sweet
Three’s Company- contains one of the worst lines in any theme “Down at our rendevous”. Huh? BTW, the singers for the theme are Ray Charles and Julie Rinker . Someone please tell me it’s not THE Ray Charles.
Best:
Twin Peaks. Do yourself a favor and get the CD of Angelo Badalamenti’s music for the show.
Eight is Enough. Of course any song that gives me clips of Laurie Walters (Joannie) would get my vote.
Sponge Bob Squarepants. Watch it with a room full of kids and go ahead and shout along.
One Day at a Time. Kinda catchy, plus it had clips of Valerie Bertinelli.
Hockey Night in Canada. So sad I never got to hear it this year.