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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat was your all time favorite opening theme song from a television show--any genre. Mine was the theme song from "The
Jeffersons" What about you???
FalloutShelter
(14,256 posts)Where everybody knows your name.
debm55
(57,424 posts)eppur_se_muova
(41,199 posts)Walleye
(44,006 posts)OLDMDDEM
(3,065 posts)arkielib
(434 posts)Srkdqltr
(9,481 posts)murielm99
(32,786 posts)I still know the words.
Toody and Muldoon!
debm55
(57,424 posts)stillcool
(34,407 posts)I can see the waves breaking
debm55
(57,424 posts)Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,907 posts)Like you posted, it is easy to remember the visual shots which were perfectly timed to the music. The dancer in the club interspersed with the ocean waves sunset shot is outstanding. And the camera rapidly zeroing in to the hotel balcony as Jack Lord turns his head for a close-up is swag at its best!
It is hard for me to give a second place nod as there have been a lot of good tv show themes through the years. And a lot of those were cop shows like Hawaii Five-0.
MiHale
(12,735 posts)They used a Lenny Cohen song
Who By Fire.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Jilly_in_VA
(13,995 posts)Ritabert
(2,107 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)MuseRider
(35,160 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 01:20 PM - Edit history (1)
PJMcK
(24,871 posts)I don't know how I never knew that! Thank you.
marble falls
(71,366 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)MurrayDelph
(5,730 posts)I liked the little flourish they added in the theme for Tara King.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Omnipresent
(7,335 posts)The opening soft melody and the hard rock n roll close on the closing credits.
debm55
(57,424 posts)rsdsharp
(11,849 posts)KarenS
(5,050 posts)Johnny Cash sang it,,,,
debm55
(57,424 posts)Walleye
(44,006 posts)Walleye
(44,006 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Earl_from_PA
(297 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)MuseRider
(35,160 posts)I was waiting for that one to come up. Such a jazzy, sexy theme song.
chicoescuela
(2,773 posts)So 1960 and so cool just like Pete
Cloudhopper
(168 posts)to be the theme from L.A. Law. An instrumental.
debm55
(57,424 posts)eppur_se_muova
(41,199 posts)I'm pretty sure everyone else associated with the show has passed on.
I had probably heard "Mars" from Holst's "The Planets" by that time, so it wasn't quite my first experience with five beats to the measure -- but at the time, I didn't recognize it as such!
PJMcK
(24,871 posts)Dont forget Paul Desmonds classic, Take Five, played with Dave Brubeck.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,907 posts)And the fuse burning down through the credits as we see the different stars on the show as cool!
debm55
(57,424 posts)ProfessorGAC
(76,060 posts)...."Burning Fuse" which makes perfect sense.
patphil
(8,800 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)patphil
(8,800 posts)They broke up in 1968, the song was recorded in 1975.
debm55
(57,424 posts)PJMcK
(24,871 posts)The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Love Is All Around.
ABC-TV Movie of the Week, Nikki by Burt Bacharach, (he wrote the song for his daughter with Angie Dickinson. Sadly, she committed suicide years later.)
My Mother, The Car which was the worst sit-com in history!
debm55
(57,424 posts)Perry Mason
debm55
(57,424 posts)BOSSHOG
(44,738 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)AltairIV
(1,008 posts)The Avengers with Diana Rigg
The Persuaders with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore
Men from Shiloh the final season of what was The Virginian
debm55
(57,424 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,886 posts)MuseRider
(35,160 posts)It did not seem very descriptive but it was very nice.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,886 posts)That was a great series that deserved a better finale.
Buckeye_Democrat
(15,510 posts)I loved hearing the flute from the Taxi theme song when I was a kid, especially since it was one of my favorite TV shows at that time.
The Game of Thrones theme was well done:
The theme song for Brooklyn Nine-Nine made me chuckle, given how it so funnily captured the essence of 1970's cop-show theme songs that I heard as a youngster.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Sun-Moon
(239 posts)And we did it our way yes our way making our dreams come true for me and you
😁
debm55
(57,424 posts)LastDemocratInSC
(4,222 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)33taw
(3,303 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Brother Buzz
(39,684 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Moostache
(11,085 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)TommieMommy
(2,712 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)generalbetrayus
(1,577 posts)Every time I heard that sad, depressing version of "Edelweiss" sung by a wispy female voice, I felt like slitting my wrists. Maybe "favorite" isn't the best word, but definitely the most memorable.
My girlfriend, looking over my shoulder, said, "The Dick van Dyke Show". She, obviously, is less warped than I am (but not by much).
debm55
(57,424 posts)Mister Ed
(6,865 posts)My all-time favorite Beatles song. It was recorded during the Revolver sessions in 1966, but I've read that John Lennon absolutely hated the finished recording. That might be part of the reason it was released in odd places in the U.S., filling space on the Yesterday...And Today album of odds and ends (and infamous for its original "Baby Butcher" cover photo), and used as the opening theme for The Beatles cartoon show that next season.
A beautiful song. Fills me with a feeling of euphoria whenever I hear it. Funny that I first heard it as a kid, while watching Saturday cartoons.
debm55
(57,424 posts)marble falls
(71,366 posts)... my parents both worked and I'd sneak in and watch on their color TV in their room. I thought I was the only one to remember that show.
boonecreek
(1,421 posts)The theme was from "Piano Sonata in A Major" by Franz Schubert.
debm55
(57,424 posts)DUgosh
(3,128 posts)And perfectly choreographed too
debm55
(57,424 posts)LogDog75
(1,152 posts)The opening is a musical/dance scene to Five O'Clock World by the The Vogues.
debm55
(57,424 posts)was played locally except for two songs--Turn Around Look at Me, and Five O'Clock World,
both went national.
area51
(12,584 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)rsdsharp
(11,849 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)KitFox
(514 posts)George Maharis 😁. As an adult, West Wing . I loved the show so much and the theme fit it so perfectly.
debm55
(57,424 posts)rso
(2,646 posts)In the Avenues and Alleyways from the 1970s British show The Protectors.
debm55
(57,424 posts)The Madcap
(1,815 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Ilsa
(63,998 posts)Thanks alot.
Ziggysmom
(4,083 posts)Melodrama meets Punk
debm55
(57,424 posts)LoisB
(12,502 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Diamond_Dog
(40,002 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)ILikePie92
(223 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 22, 2025, 06:28 PM - Edit history (1)
The way the bass starts it out!
johnp3907
(4,244 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)AllaN01Bear
(28,803 posts)IA8IT
(6,378 posts)Un sanitized movie version
AllaN01Bear
(28,803 posts)IA8IT
(6,378 posts)Our son (just walking) at 6pm after NBC News would hear the MASH theme song and would run to the tv and put his hands on the screen until it finished.
Today he is a hospital Chaplain
debm55
(57,424 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)horrors she saw, but would get get teary eyed and leave the room. I would suppose the TV codes had to clean up what the war deaths and injuries were like.
cpamomfromtexas
(1,475 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Chipper Chat
(10,803 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)DFW
(59,819 posts)THE ROCKFORD FILES
And from Germany, no one in the States knows this, but it was probably THE coolest German TV series EVER. It was about a small-time lawyer in West-Berlin in the 1980s. The guy had his ethics intact, but knew he was dealing with a system and colleagues that often didn't, and the more you were a stickler for rules and regulations, the less respect he had for you. He had all sorts of idiosyncrasies that made the series a fabulous hit. He smoked cigars while chilling out on his sofa with a bowl of green jello. It was written specifically for the actor who played the lawyer by one of his best friends, who was a professional script writer. It was never allowed to be released on its own by the composer, so I had to get a complete episode, and you listen to the first 40 seconds for the theme music. If you know German, you'll even get a kick out of the episode, but I don't think it was ever released with English subtitles.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Wiz Imp
(9,214 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Wiz Imp
(9,214 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Harold Shea
(61 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Ocelot II
(129,660 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)emulatorloo
(46,151 posts)Late to the party but love this theme song:
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debm55
(57,424 posts)Kablooie
(19,073 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Enter stage left
(4,357 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Mr Ed! Willllllber
debm55
(57,424 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(176,289 posts)Kid Berwyn
(23,547 posts)If the show were done today, they'd have discovered that the only thing lower than a whale turd is Donald J Trump.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Maninacan
(235 posts)It's about time only one season 1966-1967
pfitz59
(12,465 posts)Silly show, but memorable.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Permanut
(8,096 posts)...a tale of a fateful trip.."
debm55
(57,424 posts)Brother Buzz
(39,684 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)CTyankee
(67,886 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Response to debm55 (Original post)
Wiz Imp This message was self-deleted by its author.
pandr32
(13,880 posts)I also enjoyed the versions of 'Little Boxes' on Weeds. Also, the old TV series Mission Impossible had great opening theme music.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Niagara
(11,639 posts)Jan Hammer's Miami Vice theme song:
It become a top 100 and winning Grammy Awards!
Bill Conti's Falcon Crest theme song:
Jerrold Immel's Dallas theme song:
Bear McCreary's The Walking Dead theme song:
Joe Cocker's With a Little Help from My Friends, The Wonder Years theme song:
debm55
(57,424 posts)PufPuf23
(9,721 posts)by The Dandy Warhols.
Usually I am a 60s, 70s or early 80s type of guy for TV and music.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Zorro
(18,406 posts)May be the most sophisticated TV theme tune ever.
debm55
(57,424 posts)SWBTATTReg
(26,134 posts)Two of my favs!
debm55
(57,424 posts)JMCKUSICK
(5,343 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 06:25 PM - Edit history (1)
wcmagumba
(5,785 posts)and the Robot too, "Danger, Will Robinson"....
debm55
(57,424 posts)wcmagumba
(5,785 posts)Sequoia
(12,730 posts)That voice, and herds of cattle.....when I was 5 years old.
debm55
(57,424 posts)Squeaky41
(428 posts)Hitchcock's "March of the Marionettes"
debm55
(57,424 posts)Morbius
(938 posts)Danger Man (song Secret Agent Man, Johnny Rivers)
&
Twin Peaks (theme by Angelo Badalamenti).
debm55
(57,424 posts)TomSlick
(12,929 posts)Catch the trombone counter-melody in the second strain.
debm55
(57,424 posts)demosincebirth
(12,818 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)Ilsa
(63,998 posts)Ann Hampton Calloway - a voice like buttah. I believe she composed this snappy tune and lyrics to open The Nanny:
Also, Star Trek Voyager's very majestic opening:
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And Star Trek Deep Space Nine, which is like a fanfare:
?si=R-i557S2V7yaCdrN
debm55
(57,424 posts)Figarosmom
(10,234 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)iemanja
(57,553 posts)Starburster by Fontaines DC.
https://m.
debm55
(57,424 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(10,563 posts)He did so many that were great!
The A-Team
The Rockford Files - (got to number 10 on the Billboard charts)
The Greatest American Hero - (got to number 2 on the Billboard charts)
Magnum P.I.
Quantum Leap
Hill Street Blues - (got to number 10 on the Billboard charts)
The list goes on. He is perhaps the greatest television composer that has ever lived.
But, I have to say, in my personal opinion, it is the Star Trek theme. A close second is the theme to The Six Million Dollar Man.
debm55
(57,424 posts)terip64
(1,603 posts)I have always loved Harry Nilsson! Who remembers The Point? I loved that movie and the music!
debm55
(57,424 posts)It was a car commercial
terip64
(1,603 posts)He was great and I loved Bill Bixby! My Favorite Martian was another fun show!
The Wizard
(13,627 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)VMA131Marine
(5,188 posts)debm55
(57,424 posts)ILikePie92
(223 posts)ROCKFORD FILES!!!
debm55
(57,424 posts)roscoeroscoe
(1,816 posts)Master of the Air on Apple
The Crown on Netflix
Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime