Greatest TV Theme Songs

[ChoralScholar]

I was organizing my web bookmarks, and ran across this site I bookmarked some time ago.

What are YOUR favorite TV Theme Songs?

My Top Five (Will indicate the era in which I grew up)

1.) WKRP in Cincinnati
2.) Good Times
3.) One Day at a Time
4.) Alice
5.) Quincy, M.E. (aaha... the ORIGINAL CSI) :)

---------------------
If anything this website will remind you of some great theme songs you've forgotten...

http://mythemes.tv/

[I Know How To Do it]

1. Hogan's Heroes

[Redneck Socialist]

2. Barney Miller n/t

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Ok, mine

1) Quincy
2) Fat Albert
3) The Jeffersons
4) The Greatest American Hero
5) Twin Peaks

[Redneck Socialist]

14. Oh! I can't believe I forgot The Greatest American Hero

I used to love that show! :bounce:

[jobycom]

4. Hill Street Blues.

[lpbk2713]

5. Hill Street Blues

[jobycom]

9. Nah. Beat you!

:silly:

[lpbk2713]

11. Dayum. Is there an echo in here?

[Robeson]

6. I Dream of Jeannie and the Rockford Files.

[jobycom]

7. Does the Sopranos count?

[Tallison]

40. Oh, but that's not a theme

It was written by the Scottish country/acid house/rock band A3, short for Alabama 3, and recorded on their album Exile on Coldharbour Lane in '97. One of my favorite albums; props to David Chase for having brought it wider attention.

Another great tune is their cover of John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Lonliness." Check out the album; if you like "Woke up this Morning" you're guaranteed to love the rest.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000005ZL1/104-0006067-6511963?v=glance

[jobycom]

41. yes, I know, but

does it count?

[Tallison]

66. Sure

So long as you buy the album and like it (no pressure - grrrr). ;-)

[tuvor]

8. Square Pegs. And Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

[mykpart]

10. Well, if you want to go WAY back,

Peter Gunn's theme was on the top 40 in the 1950s. But my favorite was the theme from Bosom Buddies. (I don't care what you say, this is my life).

[ChoralScholar]

15. That was a good one...

Billy Joel didn't sing it for the theme song did he?

[MrScorpio]

12. This have already been decided

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2785954
Coolest 60's Theme Song

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2813191
The 70's winner

[PittPoliSci]

13. Oh I gotta agree with the Hawaii Five-O one.

I love the Ventures.

But as far as modern shows go, I'd probably have to say Curb Your Enthusiasm perhaps because it's the most fitting for the show it self.

[MrScorpio]

16. There was a lot of voting done to get these two choices

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2813191

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2813301

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2812468

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2812379

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2812222

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2812307

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2812157

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2785588

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2785332

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2785468

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2785273

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2785199

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2813361

Plenty of work behind these choices

[KT2000]

17. Love Cold Case intro

Can't really call it a song though but really like it.
Randy Newman's theme song for Monk is prettty good.

[Ron Green]

18. Bonanza n/t

[I Know How To Do it]

19. Manix was cool too.

[terrya]

28. I should have added "Mannix" - you're right.

I love the theme from "Mannix" - great jazz theme from Lalo Schifrin.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

20. Cheers

Whever Everybody Knows Your Name
Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo


Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

Full Lyrics never actually aired

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?

All those night when you've got no lights,
The check is in the mail;
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail;
And your third fiance didn't show;

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;

Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.

Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came...

[VOX]

21. Peter Gunn, Twilight Zone, Rockford Files, Combat, Hill Street Blues...

for starters.

[ForrestGump]

22. Barney Miller, Hawaii Five-O, Las Vegas (yeah, baby!), One

Day At A Time, Six Million Dollar Man, Dukes of Hazzard, Get Smart, Good Times, BJ and The Bear (I can't help it -- it's infernally catchy), and a few others I can't think of.

[Kahuna]

23. Peter Gun, Moonlighting and Baretta.

You young'uns. :eyes:

[Tallison]

39. Had a 45 record of Moonlighting

or the "Theme from" I think it was called. Flip side was "Since I fell for you"; a great cover for Jareau.

[ariesgem]

24. I like mostly 70's theme songs

Good Times
The Jeffersons
Baretta
Sanford & Son
Welcome back Kotter

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

68. Finally, someone mentions Sanford & Son!

That's top of my list and I don't even like the show!

[mac56]

25. "60 Minutes"

:evilgrin:

[liberalpress]

26. How's this one?

Bewitched, Bewitched,
You've got me in your spell.
Bewitched, Bewitched,
You know your craft so well.
Before I knew what I was doing
I looked in your eyes
That brand of woo you've been brewin'
Took me by surprise.

You witch, you witch,
One thing is for sure.
That stuff you pitch
Just hasn't got a cure.
My heart was under lock and key,
But somehow it got unhitched.
I never thought that I could be had
But now I'm caught and I'm kinda glad
To be Bewitched.

[Felix Mala]

70. I'm glad I never heard that one.

I can barely stand to listen to Desi sing "I Love Lucy." It's so sugary.

[terrya]

27. "LA Law" "Greatest American Hero" - Mike Post

"Green Acres" - the incomparable Vic Mizzy. :-)

[liberalpress]

29. Speaking of Mr.Mizzy...

They’re creepy and they're kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re all together ooky,
The Addams Family.

Their house is a museum.
When people come to see 'em
They really are a screa-um.
The Addams Family.


Neat

Sweet

Petite


So get a witch's shawl on.
A broomstick you can crawl on.
We're gonna pay a call on
The Addams Family.

[terrya]

31. Another great theme song from Mr. Mizzy

:thumbsup:

I also liked Vic Mizzy's themes to those movies starring Don Knotts -"The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" "The Reluctant Astronaut"

[Clintmax]

30. "Dallas"

I really like that one. Also liked the "Airwolf" and "Knight Rider" themes too.

[cyberpj]

32. Northern Exposure nt.

[ForrestGump]

33. ALSO "Hong Kong Phooey," "Bonanza," "The Banana Splits," and maybe

"Miami Vice." I never watched the latter, and hated the trendiness of it (never understood Don Johnson's appeal, either), but the theme instrumental suited the tone well. "Hill Street Blues" had a classic theme, too. Oh, and "Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids."

Hey, hey, hey!

[arwalden]

34. The Jeffersons, Bewitched, Patty Duke, Little House, Gilligan's Island.

[tjdee]

73. When cousinnnnnnsss--are two of a kind!!

That's one of my faves too, LOL.

[youthere]

35. M*A*S*H* and Charlies Angel's and Gimme a Break n/t

[peekaloo]

36. The Rockford Files

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

49. I'll second that

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

50. self delete

[Telly Savalas]

37. 36 posts and no mention of SWAT?

Come on, people.

[Tallison]

38. Welcome Back Kotter

Would make a great ear-worm...

[jobycom]

42. Good choice. It was a decent as a song, even.

[Tallison]

67. Why thank you

I now grant the Sopranos song official theme status (see above). :)

[XemaSab]

43. Law and Order

but 60 Minutes is a close second.

[tedoll78]

44. #1 - "Ready, Steady, GO!", FullMetal Alchemist

#2 - Good Times
(just lookin' outta the window/watchin' the asphalt gro-o-o-ow/thinkin' how it all looks hand-me-down..)

#3 - "Battlecry" by Nujabes, Samurai Champloo

#4 - "They Don't Know About Us", by Tracey Ullman, The Tracey Ullman Show (on HBO).
(I used to dance with the cat every time this came on television. This was "our song." God, that sounds sappy..)

#5 - ???

[Shredr]

45. GREATEST AMERICAN HERO

Still sticks in my head, years later...

Believe it or not, I'm walkin on air, I never thought I couuld feel so free-ee-ee...
Flyin away, a wing and a prayer, who could it be
Believe it or not, it's just me!

[WeRQ4U]

46. I prefer the 80's. SAVED BY THE BELL BABY!!!

Family Ties, Charles in Charge, Full House all are honorable mentions

[youspeakmylanguage]

47. Miami Vice

Jan Hammer 4EVER!

[Deja Q]

48. Doctor Who, The Prisoner, Maude, Good Times, Red Dwarf

[u4ic]

65. Red Dwarf's is awesome

I also like the theme from Last of the Summer Wine.

[Terran]

51. Stargate Atlantis

By far the best theme music on TV. Stirring, dramatic, goose-pimply every time.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

52. One Step Beyond - the scariest theme music ever written for TV

Just hearing that theme music sent chills down my spine when I was a kid.

[Strawman]

53. Sanford & Son, The Rockford Files

[Pool Hall Ace]

62. Oooh, good choices, especially Sanford & Son.

Was that a soprano sax that gave it its unique sound?

[Strawman]

80. not sure

sounds like it might be a soprano sax. Quincy Jones wrote it. I know that much. excellent keyboards in both.

[ChoralScholar]

81. it's actually a tenor sax

that is playing in it's highest register (altissimo).

Not that it matters anyway.

[malmapus]

54. Aqua Teen Hunger Force

..

[wallwriter]

55. Taxi. Rockford Files. The Jeffersons. Mary Tyler Moore.

So Many.

[KamaAina]

56. Hawaii Five-O

of course it helps to be watching the actual opening sequence with the canoes paddling toward Diamond Head :-) but the music stands on its own; it was even performed by the Yale Precision Marching Band!

[Shell Beau]

57. The Jeffersons

The Wonder Years
The Fresh Prince
Good Times

[Kickin_Donkey]

58. Rockford Files

[Penndems]

59. "Baby, if you've ever wondered, Wondered whatever became of me,

I'm living on the air in Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, WKRP.

Got kind of tired packing and unpacking,
Town to town and up and down the dial
Maybe you and me were never meant to be,
But baby think of me once in awhile.

I'm at WKRP in Cincinnati..
*********************************************************************
Yeah, that was a great theme song, and I LOVED that show. Had a massive crush on Gary Sandy (evidently, so did Loni Anderson, LOL!).

Here's some more great themes:

Mission: Impossible
The Man from U.N.C.L.E
The Monkees
S.W.A.T
The Name of the Game
That Girl

[Eugene]

60. Mission Impossible

Mission Impossible
Mary Tyler Moore
Hawaii Five-O
Peter Gunn
Greatest American Hero

[Lilith Velkor]

61. Reno 911 n/t

[navvet]

63. Combat?????

actually I like Hill Street Blues, or Rockford Files, or Magnum P.I.

[navvet]

64. Magnum P. I.

[Felix Mala]

69. Mary Tyler Moore

1. Mary Tyler Moore
2. The Simpsons
3. Lost in Space
4. Newhart - composed by Henry Mancini, sure sounded like driving through Vermont
5. Spiderman - The Ramones version.

[NoPasaran]

71. I can't get over the lack of love shown for the Gilligan's Island theme

Which not only explained the show's premise but introduced the charecters.

[NoPasaran]

74. Some more of my faves

The Tonight Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Green Acres
Perry Mason
Get Smart
Dick VanDyke
Mission Impossible
All In The Family

[tjdee]

72. Wonder Woman is #1. Jeffersons, Good Times, MTM, Patty Duke, Blossom.

Ooh, and Welcome Back Kotter.
But Wonder Woman is tops!

I been wanting them to make the film just so I can hear it again.

[Felix Mala]

77. Ever see SCTV's spoof of Patty Duke? It's hilarious.

They tried several combinations of "identical cousins," but the one I remember went something like this:

Meet Abdul who's been most everywhere, from the Gaza Strip to Kabala Square,
But Mohamed's only seen the sites a guy can see from Golan Heights.
What a crazy pair.
But they're Opec Oil Ministers.
Identical Opec Oil Ministers.
The look alike. They dress alike.
You will lose your mind.
When Opec Oil Ministers, are two of a kind.

I love Patty Duke. She's a great actress, but her British accent is awful.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

75. The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Perry Mason

Twilight Zone off the top of my head...

[Parche]

76. greatest

OUTER LIMITS
TWILIGHT ZONE
DARK SHADOWS
COMBAT


I dream of jeannie
Munsters

[LibbyJane]

78. Laverne and Shirley!

Shameezle, shamazzle. Also Cheers, Saved by the Bell, Smurfs, Blossom, and for current shows, Malcolm in the Middle.

[shawmut]

79. Dr Who, All In The Family, Johnny Carson, ABC's Wide World of Sports

Sesame Street
Chips
Three's Company
Fat Albert
The Match Game
Mr. Belvedere
Twin Peaks

[deadparrot]

82. I love The West Wing's theme. nt

[NeoTraitors]

83. Sanford and Son

has always been my fav. Hawaii Five-o is up there too.

[datasuspect]

84. WHY IS THIS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[General Zod]

85. UFO, The Rockford Files, The A Team, Kids in The Hall.......

The X-Files, Speed Racer, Mary Tyler Moore....just to name a few.

[Wetzelbill]

86. I love The Simpsons

[JVS]

87. Where is Sanford and Son?

[applegrove]

88. Lavern & Shirley n/t