# The all-time best TV show theme song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408 "2003-03-14T18:56:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/61 "2003-03-15T16:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jayjay \* > \*\*Another vote for _Six Feet Under_. Creepy but upbeat. And there’s a dance mix! \*\* Ah, yes. A hauntingly wonderful, Grammy®-winning song by Thomas Newman, of the famous Newman family (his father wrote what may be the greatest-or at least most well-known-piece of movie music ever). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/62 "2003-03-15T16:49:18Z")
All of the TMBG fans on this message board, and no one’s mentioned the _Malcolm in the Middle_ theme? For shame! It’s great, and it fits the show perfectly. Also, both of the themes for MST3k (the ending theme is called the Love Theme to MST3k, or something like that, and it’s wonderful). _The Sopranos_ theme is excellent. My dad bought the soundtrack so he can listen to it in the car and pretend he’s Tony. He also refuses to skip the opening credits when he watches an episode. I second the mention of the _Angel_ theme. P.S. A dance mix of the _Six Feet Under_ theme? Huh? It’s an excellent theme, but…a dance mix? My head is hurting just imagining it. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/63 "2003-03-15T17:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Good Times THANK YOU! I’m glad somebody around here has taste! 😃 _Good times! Anytime you make a payment! Good times! Anytime you make a friend! Good times! Anytime you’re out from under, Not getting hassled, not getting hussled!_ The story of my life, I tell ye. I also like the theme song from _Fat Albert_. Honorable mentions: the theme songs from _Fame_, _St.Elsewhere_, and _The Sopranos_. ---
**Author:** ![sonicsink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sonicsink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sonicsink)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/64 "2003-03-15T17:22:06Z")
I loved the themes to “Family ties” and “Growing pains”…I also still get “Different strokes” stuck in my head quite often! ---
**Author:** ![AV8R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AV8R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AV8R)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/65 "2003-03-15T17:45:35Z")
I was always hooked into the theme from _ **The Smothers Brothers** _. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/66 "2003-03-15T18:46:52Z")
IMO, there’s only one choice: the theme to Mission Impossible. Though, I have to admit the theme to Peter Gunn is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/67 "2003-03-15T19:28:49Z")
**Magnum P.I.** ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/68 "2003-03-15T23:10:45Z")
No, no, no, no, no! Quincy Jones’s bouncy theme to “Sanford and Son!” Hello, people! Oh, well, okay, I might have to give you “Mission Impossible.” Oh, yeah, okay, and “Hawaii Five-O.” But then comes “Sanford and Son.” No question. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/69 "2003-03-15T23:20:51Z")
Oops, I forgot about the first (American) **Pokemon** theme song. Damn that thing is catchy. “You teach me and I’ll teach you - POOOKEEEEEMOOOOOON” And then there are the **Hamtaro** opening and closing songs, which are as addicting as crack - and available in 3 languages! “Snoozer, Penelope, Panda, Howdy, Oxnard, Bijou, and Boss, let’s go!” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/70 "2003-03-15T23:26:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KoalaBear \* > \*\ ***The Patty Duke Show** - Front Titles (1963, Sonny Burke). _“Meet Kathy who’s lived most everywhere / from Zanzibar to Barclay Square / But Patty’s only seen the sights a girl can see from Brooklyn Heights / What a crazy pair …”_ \*\* Yeah, but I’m still waiting for someone to explain how “a hot dog makes her lose control”. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/71 "2003-03-16T00:47:48Z")
M_A_S\*H all the Star Treks were good, though usually instrumentals. Even Voyager. (the show went downhill from the credits) I like Drew Carey’s 5 O’Clock World intro better. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/72 "2003-03-16T00:52:22Z")
Other good theme songs that have yet to be mentioned: Pink Panther Get Smart Rockford Files Price is Right National Geographic ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/73 "2003-03-16T01:02:09Z")
There are some good ones on here. But I don’t think anyone has mentioned Fat Albert yet. I can’t remember how many times my friends and I went around singing “hey, hey, hey it’s FAAAAAAAAAT Albert” as kids. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/74 "2003-03-16T01:41:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Yeah, but I’m still waiting for someone to explain how “a hot dog makes her lose control”. \*\* SSHHH!!! It’s a euphemism - she was a sex fiend, but you couldn’t say that in 1963…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/75 "2003-03-16T02:31:49Z")
Sanford and Son, without a doubt. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/76 "2003-03-16T02:51:30Z")
_Speed Racer_ and _Gilligan’s Island_. ---
**Author:** ![KoalaBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47c2d/32.png) [@KoalaBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KoalaBear)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/77 "2003-03-16T03:09:20Z")
Really _great_ TV theme music transcends the production it was written for and becomes a metaphor in itself. **Peter Gunn** (1958, Henry Mancini) qualifies, as does **Mission: Impossible** (1967, Lalo Schifrin) and **The Twilight Zone** (1959, Bernard Herrmann): you need only play the first few bars of any of these themes to communicate the concepts of _investigation_, _espionage_ and _eerieness_ respectively. But Fat Albert? Sanford and Son? The Price is Right? The programs these themes were written for may be popular, but there’s no way they can be confused for great. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/78 "2003-03-16T03:34:34Z")
Wow, not one mention for **Party of Five**? The Bodeans singing _Closer to Free_? Actually, it’s not my favorite, but my wife loved that show, and every time she hears that song she starts dancing. I’d have to go with **Hill Street Blues** as well. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/79 "2003-03-16T04:19:28Z")
how about “route 66” it was a big hit song when the series was on and what about 60 minutes theme? ticktickticktick… simple yet effective… ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408/80 "2003-03-16T05:08:13Z")
Without question: **Wonder Woman**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-all-time-best-tv-show-theme-song/161408.md?page=5)