I don’t remember the particulars, but “Monk” did a chunk of an episode fooling around with the two theme songs–the snappy, jazzy-guitar instrumental and the Randy “Mumbly Joe” Newman, plodding version.
This happened in the episode in which Sarah Silverman’s character was complaining about another TV crime series changing its theme… (“Mr. Monk and the TV star”)
^ Thanks, Andy, the check is in the mail.
The BBC show Midsomer Murders has a theme song featuring a theremin. The same tune (minus the theremin) has been played in the show by various community orchestras or bands.
In the movie of Veronica Mars, there was someone singing the theme song in one scene.
I swear I’ve seen more, but nothing is coming to me right now. At least once, someone had a MIDI-like version as a cell phone ring tone.
The Kimmunicator ringtone is a distinctive four-note sequence from the Kim Possible theme.
Missing from this list is Community. There was an episode where the cast participated in an elaborate multiplayer video game, Journey to the Center of Hawthorne, and the opening section of the game featured an 8-bit tinny version of the show’s theme song.
Another movie: In the movie version of S.W.A.T., the characters can be heard humming the theme from the TV show.
Update: he appeared as a Mexican folk singer named Pepe Fernando, and during a fight between Chico and Ed Brown, he sang the theme song to calm both down.
The theme for Good Eats.
It was, lyrics and all, about 97 verses.
Fun fact: Mike Altman, the then-14-year-old son of director Robert Altman, wrote the lyrics. (I’d have been worried about a kid that age writing something so dark and hopeless.)
Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton sang “Those Were The Days” as Archie and Edith Bunker on the opening of All In The Family.
I don’t know if it ever turned up in an episode, but since they performed it in character, I’m going to count that one as in-universe.
Further fun fact: the kid made more than ten times as much money for writing the song as his dad did for directing the movie.
Not so fun fact: Mike made more money from the movie than his father.
The early 1970s LWT series “Doctor In The House” occasionally reworked its regular intro music to different arrangements for use as incidental music (e.g. a sappy love theme for the First Series’s episode "All for Love… "). In the Second Series’ episode “Take Off Your Clothes… and Hide” the theme song was reworked in a Jazzy burlesque style which Rita the stripper “performed” to in-episode (in a St. Swithin’s nurse costume, of course).
Also happens in Octopussy. When Bond arrives in India, his local contact (played by Vijay Armitraj) is posing as a snake charmer and gets Bond’s attention by playing a few notes of the James Bond theme on his pungi.
Did you know the theme to “The Andy Griffith Show” has lyrics, too?
the original Scooby doo where are you theme song is sang a few times through out the years …
The opening theme waltz from Upstairs, Downstairs was never played in-show, but in the early episodes, Sarah sang a naughty musical-hall song “What Are We Going to do with Uncle Arthur?” which had the same tune as the closing credits music.
In one cartoon from the 70s, the theme to “Jabberjaw” is sung, torch-song style.