# Best TV theme song? Please post a link
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, music
**Created:** [December 18, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287 "2021-12-18T16:18:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/1 "2021-12-18T16:18:12Z")
Yeah, it’s been done, but not recently.
I’ll start it off with The Jeffersons:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-OnRQ4P0VY)
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/2 "2021-12-18T16:23:25Z")
Not overly popular as those things go but a nice piece of “traveling music” –
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMwz6BIbOGc)
I also liked the “Adventures in Paradise” theme…
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/3 "2021-12-18T16:25:34Z")
The Beverly Hillbillies theme, its the gold standard classic.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzaxUF0k18)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/4 "2021-12-18T16:27:35Z")
Mike Post wrote a number of excellent TV themes in the '70s and '80s, but I think this is his best:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg1Cx26-928)
That said, my all-time favorite is the theme from _WKRP in Cincinnati_.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQvCNLIVydM)
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/5 "2021-12-18T16:28:00Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> Yeah, it’s been done, but not recently.
>
> I’ll start it off with The Jeffersons: -
>
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_-OnRQ4P0VY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-OnRQ4P0VY)
All In The Family
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fye4uY3pCvo)
Barney Miller
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roHYXrLhmHc)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/6 "2021-12-18T16:32:56Z")
The original _Theme From S.W.A.T._
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6-EjIA-vPk)
Followed closely by:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1bEpmmGMs)
CRANK IT!
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/7 "2021-12-18T16:52:21Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> The original _Theme From S.W.A.T._
Shucks, that’s the one I first thought of. So I’ll add _Hawaii 5-0_
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcvo4U33_L4)
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.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcB3yQTvJkk)
The theme for That 70s Show will always have a special place in my heart.
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZFdKW43yGM)
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.
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/8 "2021-12-18T16:56:23Z")
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygLg-7G0Xp0)
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/9 "2021-12-18T16:57:13Z")
I was digging that one up while you posted!
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/10 "2021-12-18T17:04:57Z")
Instrumental: original Battlestar Galactica
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHp9oZPqs8E)
Sung: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_C2HJvtRDY)
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### Author:  [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/11 "2021-12-18T17:06:55Z")
Tales of the Unexpected
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0itlB23fFY)
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/12 "2021-12-18T17:13:43Z")
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. 🙂
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/13 "2021-12-18T17:16:23Z")
The Monkees. I always liked the closing credit song from season two (_“For Pete’s Sake”_ better than _“Hey Hey…”_)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUYjkAHwsHY)
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### Author:  [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/14 "2021-12-18T17:20:01Z")
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:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S423KrdanTM)
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### Author:  [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/15 "2021-12-18T17:20:54Z")
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.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEjXPY9jOx8)
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/16 "2021-12-18T17:23:01Z")
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:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8jhb5NnADM)
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### Author:  [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/17 "2021-12-18T17:31:24Z")
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.
> **[Loulie Jean Norman](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Loulie_Jean_Norman)**
>
> Loulie Jean Norman (12 March 1913 – 2 August 2005; age 92) was the soprano who sang the wordless accompaniment to the theme music of Star Trek: The Original Series. Her voice can also be heard in eerie music that accompanies the Talosians' illusions...
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXPW5QV4Ymw)
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/18 "2021-12-18T17:34:49Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/19 "2021-12-18T17:38:12Z")
Frasier - Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
One of my favorites.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DeQDv7P3QY)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-theme-song-please-post-a-link/956287/20 "2021-12-18T17:41:30Z")
Sim, sim, salabim!
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TNWSGCiBzg)
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