Favourite Theme Song (1 Viewer)

[John H Ross]

I wish people would stop arbitrarily referring to these as theme SONGS. A "song" is something with lyrics.

If the theme has lyrics then sure, it's a theme song.
If it doesn't (which most of these don't) it's theme music or a "Main Title Theme" thank you very much!

Sorry to be pedantic. It just annoys me.

Best original Main Title themes:

The Man From UNCLE - Goldsmith
Mission: Impossible - Schifrin
The Twilight Zone - Constant
Doctor Who - Grainer
The Prisoner - Grainer
Star Trek - Courage
Star Trek: Voyager - Goldsmith
Stargate: Atlantis - Goldsmith, Jr.
The A-Team - Post/Carpenter
Knight Rider - Phillips
The Equalizer - Copeland
Miami Vice - Hammer
Airwolf - Levay
Dynasty/The Colbys - Conti

JR

 

[Scott_F_S]

You're absolutely right. Actually, I don't know if lyrics are required. Scat singing could fall into this category.



song (sông, sŏng)
n.
Music.
A brief composition written or adapted for singing.
The act or art of singing: broke into song.


I humbly withdraw my nominations for original favorites.

 

[Nicodemus]

These are the ones which in my opinion tell the best what kind of show you're watching. Which is what theme songs are supposed to do, imo.

Farscape
The Shield
Quantum Leap
Poirot
The Muppet Show
Carnivale
Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Miami Vice

 

[John H Ross]

Again with the SONG thing! D'oh!

Jerry Goldsmith used to enjoy telling audiences what made a great TV theme during his concerts. He would joke that a successful theme is one that causes somebody who's at their fridge getting food to suddenly shout "Hey, it's the Waltons" and rush back to their TV sets. He added that an even greater challenge would be to write a theme that caused people sitting in front of their TV sets to rush out to their fridge!

JERRY GOLDSMITH:
The Man From UNCLE
Dr. Kildare
The Waltons
Room 222
Barnaby Jones
Star Trek: Voyager

JR

 

[RoyM]

I agree - really dig the theme, even though I'm only so-so on the show itself.

Trivia question for you - what two extremely unusual instruments are used to create the otherworldly sound of the Doctor Who theme?

 

[Dean C]

Mine are GOING GREAT
KIDS ARE PEOPLE TOO
SILVER SPOONS
GOOD TIMES
SWITCHBACK
JP PATCHES
ELECTRIC COMPANY
ZOOM
7TH HEAVEN
FRASIER
HOME IMPROVEMENT
THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB
CHARLES IN CHARGE
SAVED BY THE BELL
STEP BY STEP
MAGNUM PI
SIMON & SIMON
SCOOBY DOO
THE SMURFS
THE CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS
THE ARCHIES

 

[JoshuaB.]

My favourite TV themes:

Undeclared (Michael Andrews)
Space: 1999 (S1) (Barry Gray)
Get Smart (Irving Szathmary)
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Jerry Goldmsith)
The Outer Limits (Dominic Frontiere)
Miami Vice (Jan Hammer)
The Fugitive (Peter Rugalo)
Night Gallery (Gil Melle)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (Gil Melle again)
Millennium (Mark Snow)

Theme Songs:

The best use of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" in Freaks and Geeks
Del Shannon's updated "Runaway" on Crime Story

 

[bobraleigh]

my favorite is the theme music to "wings"
i hated when in later seasons it was done away with completely.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Favorite themes include:

Hawaii Five-0
Hill Street Blues
St. Elsewhere
Doctor Who
The Prisoner
Wild Wild West
Mission:Impossible
Perry Mason
Dragnet
The Time Tunnel
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Outer Limits - Original
The Twilight Zone
Star Trek (Kirk and Picard narration)
Deep Space Nine
L. A. Law
The Muppet Show
Jonny Quest
Homicide:Life on the Street

 

[Todd_W_Zimmrman]

Here are my Top Themes (in no particular order):

DEPARTMENT S
THE PRISONER
HAWAII FIVE-O
KIDS IN THE HALL
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
THE MUNSTERS
THE ROCKFORD FILES
MAN IN A SUITCASE
THUNDERBIRDS
THE AVENGERS (both the Johnny Dankworth & Laurie Johnson themes)
BONANZA

 

[Ethan Riley]

How did I forget MANNIX? That was one swingin' theme, baby! And the Emma Peel AVENGERS theme was da bomb. One of my favorite sitcom themes was for THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, which begins with a terrific nautical fanfare which could have been used for a military show, seques into a romantic comedy theme, blends the two, builds, then recedes into a silly xylophone tinkle when the doggie appears in the credits. Absolutely brilliant.

And I see some love for HAWAII 5-0, which many consider to be the best theme music, ever!

I also love the Addams Family theme (who doesn't?) and I love all the newer interpretations they used for the movies.

The greatest themes seem to be from the 60s and 70s...wonder what happened since? Did "theme songs" suddenly seem too corny? As a kid, I recall people sitting around singing theme songs; great advertising for these shows. Who the hell can do that with today's shows?? Half of the shows don't even HAVE themes. I mean, what's up with the "LOST" theme? It's a few seconds of synthesized "BWAAAAAAAAAAaaaa..." Sounds awful, like the dreaded THX fanfare, which is as discordiant as hell and composed simply to show off the fact that the speakers in your local multiplex are going to be loud. We need themes! Themes make people more fond of shows, I think. Those songs tie in with the show in your mind. Think back to some of the old shows we've mentioned above, and probably the first thing that comes to mind IS the theme.

 

[DouglasBr]

Another vote for Room 222.

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

In the musical sense, none. In the electronic sense, various bits of electronic test tone generators, white noise generators and the like. Something called a "wobbulator" too, which if memory serves is some sort of oscillator.

 

[dany]

Cheers and the Musters

 

[Bob Hug]

Thank you, Todd, for jogging my memory about Johnny Dankworth's cool jazz theme which is often overshadowed by Laurie Johnson's better known theme (which I also like). While not as memorable, Johnson also used the beginning of his 60s theme music for "The New Avengers" in the mid-1970s.

 

[michael_ks]

That it is, Jeff. One of the few vintage series I have all episodes for. I wanted to see this series for 25 years and finally my wish came true.

 

[Gregory V]

The Avengers
The Jeffersons
Good Times
Petticoat Junction
Pistols n Petticoats
227
The Jimmy Stewart Show
Amen
Bewitched
Green Acres
The Carol Burnett Show

 

[honestjohn]

I think my list is going to look much like everyone elses and have all of them on CD. Nice to see someone else mentioned The Avengers Theme. I can play that one over and over again, but don't ask me why. Anyway, here we go .....

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[DaleC]

Wow, this thread generated a lot of response! Glad to see it!

Another theme which I thought I should add to my original list is the theme from "Cold Squad."

I don't know how many people are familiar with it, but it's a Canadian show about Vancouver detectives who work cold cases. Beats out CSI, as far as I'm concerned for character arcs, and interesting. I love CSI too, don't get me wrong, but maybe I'm just partial to it being Canadian.

Other honorable mentions are:
Magnum P.I.
Cheers
Greatest American Hero
Air Wolf
Knight Rider

I never really cared for The X-Files theme, even though I love the show. It just somehow never quite seemed to fit, but that's just me.

 

[Jeff#]

I have numerous favorite TV themes, a few dozen of which I downloaded from a few websites onto my I-Pod Nano.

One of those is a true TV classic that nobody has mentioned: It Takes a Thief, Robert Wagner's finest series! The first season's theme was weak, the 2nd season started to rock, and the 3rd season (when Fred Astaire was a semi-regular as Alistair Mundy --- Al's father) was the longest and also the most refined version. Dave Grusin composed all three, and he truly outdid himself in the last year.