Best TV theme song? Please post a link

Yeah, it’s been done, but not recently.

I’ll start it off with The Jeffersons:

Not overly popular as those things go but a nice piece of “traveling music” –

I also liked the “Adventures in Paradise” theme…

The Beverly Hillbillies theme, its the gold standard classic.

Mike Post wrote a number of excellent TV themes in the '70s and '80s, but I think this is his best:

That said, my all-time favorite is the theme from WKRP in Cincinnati.

All In The Family

Barney Miller

The original Theme From S.W.A.T.

Followed closely by:

CRANK IT!

Shucks, that’s the one I first thought of. So I’ll add Hawaii 5-0

Newer, The Wire deserves some attention. They had a new version of the same great song (Down in the Hole) each season. Here’s a compilation of them all.

The theme for That 70s Show will always have a special place in my heart.

There are so many others, though. Night Rider, Air Wolf, The A Team, Gummy Bears, Ducktails, Simpsons, The Tonight Show, Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek, South Park, The Office, countless more.

I was digging that one up while you posted!

Instrumental: original Battlestar Galactica

Sung: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Tales of the Unexpected

Sung by Larry Marks, this is definitely the best Scooby-Doo intro song. It’s far superior to the more “upbeat” theme song written by Hoyt Curtin that came out a few years later. IMO, of course. :slight_smile:

The Monkees. I always liked the closing credit song from season two (“For Pete’s Sake” better than “Hey Hey…”)

I wonder if there’s a term for a theme song that introduces subtle changes to indicate different seasons - to indicate to the viewer that they weren’t watching a rerun. For example “Ironsides” flatted the horns in later seasons.

Back on topic, there are a LOT of western themes that qualify - here’s one:

Since my favourite, Rockford Files is taken, Miami Vice was a gooder. Never watched the show but the percussion is a head snapper and the visuals in the credit sequence are great. And no, I don’t mean just the bikini babes.

Quite surprised we’re this many posts in and nobody has posted what I would say rivals the Beverly Hillbillies theme for best theme / story song of all time. Somebody has to, may as well be me. I present The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island:

I also loved and was a little freaked out by the wordless accompaniment to the end credits of Star Trek (TOS) sung by Loulie Jean Norman.

I liked when they added the professor and Mary Ann at the end, I always thought they should have paired up. Smart guy gets the cute girl kind of thing like.

And of course my runner up for the GOAT theme.

Frasier - Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs

One of my favorites.

Sim, sim, salabim!