I get that a lot. 
You … aren’t going to kill me and steal my woman, are you?
The Prisoner and Miami Vice have already been mentioned but not The Beverly Hillbillies.
Saturday Night Live?
Obviously, everyone’s been waiting for someone else to list Mission: Impossible, so I’ll do it.
Although, given how little trouble the IMF group always seemed to have carrying out the Plan of the Week, maybe they should have called it Mission: Moderately Difficult.
And the old Dick Van Dyke Show. Which makes me think of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Which makes me think of All in the Family.
Oh crap, I see Capitaine Zombie got there first.
It’s clearly Doctor Who, from 1963:
The whole theme:
Ron Grainger gets the credit, for various reasons, but it was Delia Derbyshire and the rest of the Radiophonic Workshop, making sounds cutting up tape by hand and fannying around with home-made oscillators and filters that made it sound like it does. Might try and sneak in another Delia thing, hey, beat matching 40-odd years ago…
and hope the audio snippet works in this one outside the UK, in case anyone doubts the above:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7512490.stm
And of course the Police Squad intro is the best parody one ever.
Another one that came to mind is Mannix. It tells you all you need to know: there’s gonna be a lot of chasing around and fighting in the next hour. (Not to mention a pretty girl or two.)
I nominate Dilbert. Great Danny Elfman music, interesting images, lots of action, and Dogbert. Who could ask for more?
Small Wonder
Magnum PI
Ah, and must add some love for MST3K.
Are there currently any shows that have a theme song with the premise of the show ala The Brady Bunch, Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island, The Nanny or MST3K? If not, what was the most recent?
Is she cute?
Does she like short guys?
The Andy Griffith Show.
Puts you right in the mood to visit Mayberry for 22 minutes or so.
mmm
Thank you! Judging by the comments, I wasn’t the only one who liked the theme.
Lost didn’t have any real title sequence to speak of, did it? But it should have . . .
The Simpsons? Futurama?
Six Feet Under.
I like the song for The Sopranos but I never felt that watching Tony drive from the City to the Jersey suburbs was all that compelling.
Twin Peaks
Saving Grace
The Big C
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Bionic Woman
Freaks and Geeks
Intervention
For visual effect with a specific purpose, I don’t see how it can get better than Dexter.
If you are talking about the music, my current favorite is the theme for Actors’ Studio. (It was written by the same composer as Twin Peaks.
All time theme favorites: Mr. Lucky and Peter Gunn both by Mancini.
*Mr. Belvedere *was a mediocre show on its best day but the opening song by Leon Redbonewas one of the catchiest ever.
Obscure entry: there was a very shortlived sitcom called Open All Night in the early 1980s- lasted less than a season- but I used to tune in just because I liked the opening. It’s a montage of the life of an average shmo.
As far as just theme music, Sanford & Son is- imo- the best instrumental opening ever.