Best/Worst t.v. theme songs?

[BlueIris]

(By theme song, I meant the music that played in the background of the opening credits.)

My 'best' vote goes to the theme for the original Law & Order. Simple, classy, totally satisfying.

'Worst' goes to the godawful mess that was the theme for Boston Legal. I never once managed to get through those credits (always hit mute, or ff'ed through them.) Awful.

I also hated the theme for Enterprise. Because, you know, lyrics.

[marmar]

1. Best.....Theme from Good Times.

nt

[dawg]

72. It forever for me to figure out the line ...

"hanging in a chow-line - good times"

[hifiguy]

2. Best ever - Theme to "Peter Gunn" by Henry Mancini.

Hands down. So cool it hurts and as iconic as the James Bond Theme.

STNG was pretty good, too, but nowhere near as cool as Peter Gunn.

edited to add: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcflCzZlLcQ

[KamaAina]

11. Nicely covered by SF's ZaSu Pitts Memorial Orchestra

with someone singing "Summertime" over it, no less!

[Demoiselle]

21. San Francisco has a ZaZu Pitts Memorial Orchestra!??!!

That's wonderful. I'm about to commence googling now.

[KamaAina]

26. They haven't really been active since the '80s

but yes, they did! Just one more reason why SF rules. :yourock:

[NewJeffCT]

14. My dad still has the 45 of that somewhere in his house

I used to love it.

BTW, I clicked on your link and played it and my daughter (8 1/2 years old) said it sounded like something from James Bond.

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. So many to choose from.

Maybe the Jeffersons.
Different strokes was a good one.
All in the family was good too.

[NightWatcher]

4. Best: The Gary Shandling Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac8cQuEzDCQ

Or Mash, I guess

[tblue]

5. Mr. Ed. Not sure if it's best or worst.

???

[csziggy]

29. Worst

I was a horse crazy kid and I HATED that song. I did watch the show because I loved the absurdist humor.

[tblue]

39. Danny Thomas (aka 'O Danny Boy')

Jazzy!

[Whisp]

6. ha! I liked the Boston Legal one.

Its was strange and different, like the show itself.

:D

[Whisp]

7. Mary Tyler Moore

as best.

worst would probably be almost any of the current comedies. Most of them are worthless rubbish meant to eat our brain cells.

[GoCubsGo]

23. I love the theme for "The Big Bang Theory"

Any theme song that mentions "autotrophs" is alright with me.

[Angry Dragon]

8. Perry Mason

[targetpractice]

9. Facts of Life!

Um, not really.

[KamaAina]

10. Best: (Original) Hawaii Five-O

not even sure if they're using it for the new one.

There was a near-riot when then-UH coach June Jones told the band to stop playing it at games!

[NewJeffCT]

15. I'd agree on that

They're still using the original theme song on the new Hawaii 5-0... they even got the original musicians together to perform it again.

[Hawaii Hiker]

82. But its kind of tweaked, as the opening credits on the new H-5-O are very short

whereas on the original show, opening credits and the theme played for about a minute...

[trackfan]

28. +1

That's the queen of TV theme songs.

[charlie and algernon]

34. agree

the updated version is very good too.

[NewJeffCT]

75. new version

Agreed on Jack Lord's head turn over Alex O'Loughlin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Ba_jz22sI&feature=colike

[WolverineDG]

45. they are!

but no one can do the turn & glare at the camera while the sea breeze wisps your hair as good as Jack Lord could:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AepyGm9Me6w

dg

[KamaAina]

79. Not to mention that the skyline is now so built up

that he could practically hop from one end of Waikiki to the other across the lanais and rooftops.

[greendog]

66. +1

[OriginalGeek]

12. LOL i entered this thread just to post the theme from Enterprise

What a piece of shit that whole thing was. The theme song I mean. I loved the series. My daughter and I would race to Fast Forward through the theme though so we never had to hear a note of it. lol


As for favorites, I liked the themes and from Buffy and Angel but my favorite is TANK! by Mai Yamane and Seatbelts for the anime series Cowboy Bebop. The closing theme song, The Real Folk Blues, is also a fave.

[NewJeffCT]

16. My first thought when I saw the thread

was also the theme to Enterprise as worst

[sakabatou]

27. All of Bebop's music was awesome

[WolverineDG]

46. Even after they sped it up

sounded like a damn funeral dirge.

dg

[dawg]

73. I learned to tolerate "Faith of the Heart" ....

primarily because the video montage shown behind it was so cool. But the song was pretty suckish, and speeding it up did not help much.

But the theme to the alternate universe episodes was *awesome*.

[BlueIris]

77. You're a better fan than I.

That song killed the series dead for me before it even began, really. And I didn't care about the franchise again until ST: XI.

[Faygo Kid]

13. Mission: Impossible, Miami Vice, Cheers

Props for The Andy Griffith Show, Addams Family, Peter Gunn, Dick Van Dyke Show, Star Trek, Bonanza, Rawhide, Beverly Hillbillies (Texas Tea), All in the Family, Flintstones (Modern Stone Age family), and of course, The Lone Ranger.

On edit: Worst - pretty much any series you don't like, including many from the early '80s. Batman's screeching theme was OK at the time, but now I wonder what I was thinking.

Hi yo Silver, away! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIuIxqo2So

[Manifestor_of_Light]

69. Lone Ranger was stolen from Rossini.

The William Tell Overture.

Sgt. Preston of the Yukon (radio show) was the Donna Diana Overture, also by Rossini, I believe.

There's a real quiet woodwind section at the beginning of the William Tell Overture, before the fast stuff.

I liked the Perry Mason and Peter Gunn themes.

Mike Hammer with Stacy Keach used "Harlem Nocturne".

[BlueJazz]

17. Best: WKRP worst: 3's company

[Maccagirl]

18. Best:: Sanford and Son

Worst: My Mother the Car (or maybe that was just the worst SHOW).

[mikeytherat]

43. + 1,000,000 on "The Streetbeater" (Sanford and Son theme)

One of Quincy Jones' best!

mikey_the_rat

[MrCoffee]

50. Streetbeater in a walk-off...there's really no discussion at all

[bluesbassman]

19. Best: Barney Miller. Great groove.

http://youtu.be/roHYXrLhmHc

[kayakjohnny]

20. Best: Rawhide .... Worst: Love Boat

Second best: Bonanza

Second worst: Brady Bunch

[Recovered Repug]

22. I like the theme from

60 Minutes, but it's hard to dance to.

[nolabear]

24. Most irritating: Brady Bunch. Best:: Gilligan's Island because of the meter.

Gilligan's Island is written in "common meter" which is four feet followed by three feet. Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum ba-dum/ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum. Same meter that many great songs are written in, such as Amazing Grace and House of the Rising Sun. This means you can switch the melodies and lyrics around for hours of silly adolescent giggles. I never could resist that.

[geardaddy]

42. Have you ever sung Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan's Island?

It's hilarious.

[nolabear]

51. That's my whole point. Or House of the Rising Sun. Or The Yellow Rose of Texas.

[geardaddy]

55. Ah, I see.

:hi:

[kentauros]

53. How about "Green Haze"?

"Purple Haze" + "Green Acres" }(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FFgxJsjqkg

[applegrove]

25. I always loved the theme song from the original Hawaii 5-0, even though I was a kid at the time

and never saw the show.

[Fire Walk With Me]

30. Worst has to be Cleopatra 2525. I hurts so bootiful.

[Graybeard]

31. Have Gun, Will Travel

Have gun, Will Travel reads the card of a man.
A man without armor in a savage land.
His fast gun's for hire,
He's the calling wind.
A Soldier Of Fortune
is the man called Paladin.

Paladin, Paladin where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin far, far from home.

[T_i_B]

32. Best is the Dr Who theme tune

Worst is the awful saxophone noodlings that you get at the start of the Andrew Marr show (UK current affairs programme).

[Enrique]

33. worst is an impossible question

so many bad ones.

[gratuitous]

56. Incorrect

Worst: The theme from 60 Minutes. That thing is flat out unsingable. Thus endeth the "worst" portion of the thread. Carry on with suggestions for the "best" theme.

[cyberswede]

35. Ironside and Streets of San Francisco

Ironside
http://youtu.be/2zwldZtSx28

The Streets of San Francisco
http://youtu.be/-F0wlfmxKdU

[Taverner]

41. Was gonna say

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaHDut6z8yg&feature=related

[valerief]

36. Best - I Dream of Jeannie. Worst - Morning Joe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25IH_OGIBus

[kentauros]

49. I was kind of laughing at hearing it, but I caught the end of

that Jeannie theme on a CD-channel I like on DishNetwork: Martini Time (Bachelor Pad music) :D

So, it's at least good enough to make it to a Lounge-music channel. Although I doubt they will play the theme from the first season (which I prefer.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l32ZLcSHG5M

[valerief]

57. I agree! I prefer season 1, too! Didn't remember it. nt

[deutsey]

37. I agree with a lot of bests here but am surprised "The Rockford Files" theme

hasn't been mentioned yet.

Great tune!

[madmom]

38. The old Mayberry RFD show. When my daughter was little, if the tv was on and it came on she would

come running yelling "the whistle show...the whistle show". She never watched anything but the whistling part, that she LOVED!

[Brother Buzz]

40. Here's the fun lyrics to the the whistle show song, The Fishin' Hole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PVUit1-0Ck

[gratuitous]

59. Visited friends in Chicago many years ago

We went to some hole-in-the-wall place where a group called Art Thieves was performing. They had apparently started out at this dive years ago, and were doing a nostalgia gig because they were really too big for the venue. They did a creditable job of "The Fishin' Hole" along with covers of many selections from the K-Tel compilation albums (the obscure stuff). Before then, I hadn't known there were lyrics to the song.

Listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" a couple of weeks ago, they had Dick Van Dyke on the "Not my job" segment. At the conclusion of the interview part, Mo Rocca sang a few notes of the Dick Van Dyke Show theme song. Van Dyke laughed, and said, "That song has lyrics, you know. Would you like to hear it?" He then sang the lyrics, which I think were written by Morey Amsterdam. After that, Peter Sagle (sp?) the host said he could now die happy.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

44. Some of my faves:

Chuck - "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" by Cake
Scrubs - "Superman" by Lazlo Bane
Cupid (the 90s original) - "Human" by The Pretenders
The Big Bang Theory - I believe it's called "The History of Everything" by the Barenaked Ladies
Total Drama Island/Action/World Tour

As for the worst, I'm sure there are loads of themes that I loathe, I just can't think of any right now...

[Divameow77]

47. Cleveland Rocks

Drew Carey. At least I always liked it and I didn't really watch the show.

The theme from Friends was good in the way that it was catchy and really "90's". That being said I can't stand the song.

The opening song for True Blood is pretty good.

[amyrose2712]

48. My fav- Monk "It's A Jungle Out There"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j5Be5a86uA

couldn't find a good onw with the actually opening credits which I love.


Can't think of the worst.

[Pendrench]

52. A favorite from my childhood....George of the Jungle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUPsheELuDE

Tim

[gratuitous]

60. When you find yourself in danger

When you're threatened by a stranger
When it looks like you will take a lickin'
There is someone waiting who will hurry up and rescue you
Just call for Super Chicken

Fred if you're afraid you'll have to overlook it
Besides you knew the job was dangerous when you took it

He will drink his super sauce and throw the bad guys for a loss
And he will bring them in alive and kickin'
There is one thing you should learn when there is no one else to turn to
Call for Super Chicken
Call for Super Chicken!

[AtomicKitten]

54. The Jefferson's "Moving On Up" best by a mile. nt

[hamsterjill]

58. The best?

The theme from Hill Street Blues.

[stuntcat]

61. The Munsters!

:headbang:

just wanted to add that one. I can't think of a Worst one to add, sry!!

[Lucian]

62. Best: It's a toss-up between "The X-Files" and "Angel."

Worst: I always hated the theme from M.A.S.H.

[pokerfan]

63. Best: original Jonny Quest, Worst Star Trek: Enterprise (Faith of the Heart)

The Jonny Quest theme from 1964: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88g1vCydZk

The percussion-heavy big band jazz theme music for the 1960s series and each episode's score were all composed by Hoyt Curtin. In a 1999 interview, he stated that the jazz band for the series consisted of 4 trumpets, 6 trombones, 5 woodwind doublers, and a 5 man rhythm section.<19> Alvin Stoller or Frankie Capp usually played drums. While a string section comes in at moments of tension or pizzicato for comic relief, the score is primarily driven by a big brass sound. Curtin stated that the band took about an hour to record the main theme. It contained a trombone solo performed by jazz veteran Frank Rosolino, and a complex riff in which the trombone players were physically unable to keep up with the rapidly changing slide positions needed.<19> Cues in the series were generally recorded in one take, done by a regular group of union session players who could "read like demons".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Quest_%28TV_series%29#Music

[kentauros]

64. And you can't mention the theme to Jonny Quest without the theme to

The Venture Brothers by JG Thirlwell! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B8Nrw19qEM

with opening credits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66v6q7V26oM

ending theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WblP-uRQ_U&feature=related

[petronius]

65. Sopranos deserves a mention. Of the various Star Trek franchises,

I prefer the DS9 theme, although Voyager is quite good as well...

[kentauros]

67. Babylon 5 had five different themes, one for each season,

and they got better each year. The composer was Christopher Franke, former member of Tangerine Dream, so you know right away it's going to be good to great :D

Season 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FD01pZtN9w

Season 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvmlrn1UnhU

Season 3 (my favorite for being hard-edged/industrial)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdmBiEp8Ujw&feature=related

Season 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xXvxXmhDmE&feature=related

Season 5 (my favorite of the five)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st1wtf7CtuY&feature=related

The last movement to end the series was especially moving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znNciln7qwY&feature=related


Also, The opening for the spinoff, Crusade. I liked Chen's music the moment I heard it, but then again, I've always liked music with an industrial edge and beat to it. Unfortunately, too many sci-fi fans don't seem to share that taste in music...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvk5GI_NA_E&feature=related


And I think ST: Enterprise is universally hated, especially for the lyrics...

[alcibiades_mystery]

68. Can this thread really have gone this long without anyone mentioning the song

both best and worst at once, for The Greatest American Hero?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeguK8_VHq8

Made even more famous, of course, by George Costanza:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg-TqEFYcfM

[Contrary1]

70. The worst has to be "The Brady Bunch"

The best... L.A. Law

[BrendaBrick]

71. Best - In The Heat of the Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEfQYVfshs8

[dawg]

74. I like the theme for the Simpsons.

But I pretty much love anything Danny Elfman does.

[MrsBrady]

76. the one for enterprise is pretty bad...

that's what I thought before I opened your thread.
you nailed that one.

[LeftishBrit]

78. Best - perhaps partly due to sentimental memories of childhood - the theme from the old police

series, 'Z-Cars' - based, I believe, on the folk song 'Johnny Todd'.

Worst - and I'm surprised that no one else has brought it up: the theme song of 'Neighbours': 'Neiiighbours! Everybody needs good neiiiighbours!", etc. It quite puts me off watching the programme at all.

[JBoy]

80. Rockford Files

Mike Post did so many great theme songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXtpoO_DlDM

[dmr]

81. A lot of good ones mentioned here, so I'll say "3rd Rock From the Sun"

This was on when my son was small. Every week he'd get all excited when it came on, & always did a funny dance to it. He was just too cute.

Ah, such a good memory. :)

:hi:

[pacalo]

83. I love the ones already mentioned, so I'm going to give one of the CAMPIEST tv themes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxcep0eJR-8

[pacalo]

84. Can I mention a local (New Orleans) tv intro that I thought was the ABSOLUTE BEST when I was a kid

This is the intro to a local tv character's show on Saturday nights named "Morgus the Magnificent" who had a laboratory at the "old icehouse". His sidekick was a tall, hooded henchman with HUGE hands named "Chopsley". In between sequences, there would be a horror movie; funny thing was, kids mainly tuned in to watch Morgus & Chopsley -- no kidding, they were that good (in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way, too).

Love the intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CXvj6ksh2Y

[dembotoz]

85. rather fond of hill street blues song

[Skittles]

86. Best: the original Hawaii 5-0 / Worst: Three's Company

[Supply Side Jesus]

87. Game of Thrones...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7L2PVdrb_8