# Best music in a TV show. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180 "2002-07-22T06:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/41 "2002-07-28T00:54:35Z")
**I never knew who the hell “Frency” was** Damn it, that should be “Frenchy”. Apparently he was a French guy. Or he might have been Canadian. Beats me. ---
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2002, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/42 "2002-07-28T02:28:34Z")
I think my all time favorite is Doctor Who. In the short but sweet category it’s definately the theme to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. For cheesy good fun: The Greatest American Hero Flashbacks to a happy childhood: Star Blazers Creepy beauty: Twin Peaks and if 'm in a bad porn movie or 70s flashback mood, it’s gotta be the theme to What’s Happ’n? ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2002, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/43 "2002-07-28T10:15:25Z")
Ducktales theme!! The cartoon also had great backround music in the show. Gummi Bears had a good theme too! Simpsons’ theme. Ren and Stimpy had some WEIRD backround music and sound. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/44 "2002-07-28T16:15:43Z")
**Cool McCool** , Saturday morning kid’s cartoon created by Bob “Batman” Kane in 1967. Yet another late-1960s spy genre spoof…the opening theme featured a particularly tasty LSD-flavored electronic organ as a background to McCool being menaced by his rogues’ gallery of bizare arch-villains. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/45 "2002-07-28T16:44:47Z")
As much as I liked Christopher Franke’s work on B5, the one that really impressed me was Evan Chen’s music for the follow-up **Crusade**. Although there are some out there that credit his music with killing the show, I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/46 "2002-07-28T22:15:48Z")
wait, i’ve got another one. **Homicide** had some great songs that played during the show, that really fit (created?) the mood. Where else would you hear Soul Coughing’s _Super Bon Bon_ during a investigation scene? ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/47 "2002-07-29T05:40:17Z")
I have **The Shield** to thank for introducing me to the Magnetic Fields. I love the **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** theme song. I always want to sing along with the **That 70s Show** theme song. ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Parine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Allen\_Parine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allen_Parine)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/48 "2002-07-29T19:55:37Z")
**Zoggie** , the opening theme is called “Moonlight Densetsu,” and it is catchy; I’m listening to it as I type. Oddly enough, I’ve never even seen the program, only read the manga. Another catchy magical girl theme is “Wedding Wars,” the second opener to _Wedding Peach_, and the only song not done by the voice actors, who can’t sing. 😉 > [@](#): > > I’m the only one impressed with what Christopher Franke did on Babylon 5? No **The Tooth** , you’re not, but I thought about them and decided (just MHO) that they wouldn’t be as cool without the voiceovers. I.e., the music itself isn’t the only thing going for them. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/49 "2002-07-30T04:59:26Z")
I absolutely loved **Buffy: The Musical** \ I even have the Mp3’s burned to CD so I can listen in my car\ ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/50 "2002-07-30T12:53:13Z")
Okay, I’ll say it. I think the theme to **Alias** is pretty sweet. ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/51 "2002-07-30T14:12:44Z")
“The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” from B5 is one of my favorite TV moments ever. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/52 "2003-08-22T21:43:56Z")
People, PEOPLE, **PEOPLE!!!** The theme from **ALF**! Hands down the greatest TV theme song ever. ---
**Author:** ![Delly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Delly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delly)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/53 "2003-08-22T22:14:29Z")
Higher Ground has a good theme tune, and the music played in the program is always good too. Same with Smallville & Dawsons Creek. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Xadium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@Dr\_Xadium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Xadium)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/54 "2003-08-23T02:15:00Z")
**Ren and Stimpy** was the first show that conciously alerted me to how important _music_ and soundmix was to a TV show… the way it used classical music and comic stings, (not to mention _excellent_ use of the surround sound field) has always impressed me greatly. That being said, I also think **Cowboy Bebop** has an excellent soundtrack, but (no offense to the great Yoko Kanno)-- **Hellsing** ’s music blows me away completely. It’s eclectic and insane, with mixtures of techno, classical and even old-school horror movies thrown in for good measure. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/55 "2003-08-23T15:28:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr\_Xadium \* > **Ren and Stimpy was the first show that conciously alerted me to how important _music_ and soundmix was to a TV show… the way it used classical music and comic stings, (not to mention _excellent_ use of the surround sound field) has always impressed me greatly.** Much of the greatness of _Ren and Stimpy_ came from the use of using light, jolly production music where it shouldn’t be. In an essay in _The Cartoon Music Book_, Joseph Lanza calls this “gale-storming” (as opposed to “mickey-mousing”-apparently, Gale Storm was a sickeningly sweet actress). Jolly music _shouldn’t_ accompany a vomiting cat or similar gross-out image, but it does. And for some reason, it fits. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/56 "2003-08-23T17:23:43Z")
Specifically in the Sopranos’ Dave Davies’ ‘Living on a Thin Line.’ ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180/57 "2003-08-23T18:25:11Z")
I don’t know if you’re talking specifically about themes, or just music used _in_ the show, but **Scrubs** always picks great music to use in theirs, especially the selections that are played over the ending scenes of an episode – often montage scenes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-music-in-a-tv-show/120180.md?page=2)