# Greatest TV Theme Song **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 22, 2000, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425 "2000-07-22T01:59:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/121 "2000-09-05T18:09:58Z")
I like the Due South theme tune too ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/122 "2000-09-05T18:39:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*I’ve heard lyrics to the Bonanza theme, and from what I remember, they sucked. We’ve already covered MA_S_H_, and _The Andy Griffith Show_ theme ditched the lyrics as well. \*\* That’s nothin’. The original _Star Trek_ series also had lyrics to its theme music! (From what I heard, Roddenberry tacked them onto the theme song to give himself more Copyright muscle or something – they were never really intended to be sung.) ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/123 "2000-09-06T19:55:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darqangelle \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > > **A few not mentioned: > > _The Dukes of Hazzard_ by Merle Haggard.** > > Was mentioned, and it was by Waylon Jennings, not Merle. \*\* Sorry about that, Chief. I don’t think anyone has mentioned these three greats from the world of children’s science shows: _Beakman’s World Bill Nye, The Science Guy The Magic School Bus_ (sung by Little Richard!) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/124 "2000-09-11T18:46:18Z")
Some time in the mid-80’s, I made of TV themes I liked. Dunno what happened to it, or exactly what was on there. I know I recorded Simon & Simon (later downloaded a wave of that) and St. Elsewhere (worst series finale I’ve ever seen). I also have a MIDI of Peter Gunn somewhere [slight hijack]The best movie themes I remember offhand are “Field of Dreams”, “The Great Escape”, the Indiana Jones trilogy, and the entire score from Close Encounters.[/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/125 "2000-09-11T18:50:17Z")
This might be considered a TV theme, the “Fanfare for the Common Man” played at the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/126 "2000-09-11T21:10:56Z")
TwistofFate wrote: > [@](#): > > Incredible Hulk (the saddest song ever written IMHO) Were there lyrics to the _Incredible Hulk_ theme? I ask because I usurped this melody as the “theme song” for a TRS-80 Adventure Game I wrote titled “The Vial of Doom.” I put lyrics to it, too: “The Vial of Doom, an epic story About destroying Chaos’s glory, Although it may seem mildly gory…” I never said they were _good_ lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Lor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea666f/32.png) [@Lor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/127 "2000-09-12T03:42:34Z")
Oh my God!!! Nobody’s mentioned “Baretta”!! That was one of the coolest theme songs I know of: Don’t go to bed with a price on your head, Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time, yeah, Keep your eye on the sparrow, yeah… Don’t remember all the lyrics, but it was a great show and a great Sammy Davis Jr. song. Another song overlooked: “Mannix”! I think it was instrumental, though. And who could forget “Ironside”? Kind of a neat “weeooo, weeeoo” sound in the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![uberDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f04885/32.png) [@uberDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uberDave)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/128 "2000-09-12T19:12:19Z")
Peter Gunn Hawaii 5-0 Masterpeice Theatre Get Smart Hmmmmmm, seem to be showing my age. (Just ignor that gray hair on my head) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/129 "2000-09-12T19:32:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mustapha \* > \*\*Another personal fave: Due South - somewhere between Crash Test Dummies and Cowboy Junkies. \*\* Mustapha, you and Nukeman ROCK. I love this theme. Hell, I love all the music from the show…I have both soundtrack CDs. My other two current favorites are from the Sentinel and Magnificent Seven. Oh, and Homicide. And Law & Order. _Due South, that’s the way I’m goin…_ ---
**Author:** ![ponch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@ponch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponch)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2000, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/130 "2000-09-12T20:52:46Z")
CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs 'nuff said ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/131 "2000-09-13T16:51:41Z")
Honorable mention to the shows which used previously-existing songs for their themes: _Married… with Children_ used a Sinatra song, “Love and Marriage,” while _The Wonder Years_ used Joe Cocker’s cover of the Beatles’ “A Little Help from My Friends.” (I think those are the correct titles.) [hijack] Joe Cocker’s singing of that song is funny since it begins, “What would you do if I sang out of tune…?” Joe couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2000, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425/132 "2000-09-14T02:41:50Z")
Concurring with Pipeliner and capacitor, Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme by Nerf Herder and Angel theme by Darling Violetta. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-tv-theme-song/26425.md?page=6)