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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
(14,176 posts)Where everybody knows your name.
debm55
(55,641 posts)eppur_se_muova
(40,960 posts)Walleye
(43,807 posts)OLDMDDEM
(3,037 posts)arkielib
(432 posts)Srkdqltr
(9,358 posts)murielm99
(32,692 posts)I still know the words.
Toody and Muldoon!
debm55
(55,641 posts)stillcool
(34,407 posts)I can see the waves breaking
debm55
(55,641 posts)Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,903 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
(12,618 posts)They used a Lenny Cohen song
Who By Fire.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Jilly_in_VA
(13,798 posts)Ritabert
(1,972 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)MuseRider
(35,129 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 01:20 PM - Edit history (1)
PJMcK
(24,736 posts)I don't know how I never knew that! Thank you.
marble falls
(71,020 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)MurrayDelph
(5,716 posts)I liked the little flourish they added in the theme for Tara King.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Omnipresent
(7,306 posts)The opening soft melody and the hard rock n roll close on the closing credits.
debm55
(55,641 posts)rsdsharp
(11,789 posts)KarenS
(5,050 posts)Johnny Cash sang it,,,,
debm55
(55,641 posts)Walleye
(43,807 posts)Walleye
(43,807 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Earl_from_PA
(294 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)MuseRider
(35,129 posts)I was waiting for that one to come up. Such a jazzy, sexy theme song.
chicoescuela
(2,639 posts)So 1960 and so cool just like Pete
Cloudhopper
(165 posts)to be the theme from L.A. Law. An instrumental.
debm55
(55,641 posts)eppur_se_muova
(40,960 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
(24,736 posts)Dont forget Paul Desmonds classic, Take Five, played with Dave Brubeck.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,903 posts)And the fuse burning down through the credits as we see the different stars on the show as cool!
debm55
(55,641 posts)ProfessorGAC
(75,839 posts)...."Burning Fuse" which makes perfect sense.
patphil
(8,723 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)patphil
(8,723 posts)They broke up in 1968, the song was recorded in 1975.
debm55
(55,641 posts)PJMcK
(24,736 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
(55,641 posts)Perry Mason
debm55
(55,641 posts)BOSSHOG
(44,738 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)AltairIV
(1,004 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
(55,641 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,861 posts)MuseRider
(35,129 posts)It did not seem very descriptive but it was very nice.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,861 posts)That was a great series that deserved a better finale.
Buckeye_Democrat
(15,486 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
(55,641 posts)Sun-Moon
(234 posts)And we did it our way yes our way making our dreams come true for me and you
😁
debm55
(55,641 posts)LastDemocratInSC
(4,210 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)33taw
(3,286 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Brother Buzz
(39,564 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Moostache
(10,972 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)TommieMommy
(2,657 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)generalbetrayus
(1,497 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
(55,641 posts)Mister Ed
(6,805 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
(55,641 posts)marble falls
(71,020 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
(1,390 posts)The theme was from "Piano Sonata in A Major" by Franz Schubert.
debm55
(55,641 posts)DUgosh
(3,128 posts)And perfectly choreographed too
debm55
(55,641 posts)LogDog75
(1,100 posts)The opening is a musical/dance scene to Five O'Clock World by the The Vogues.
debm55
(55,641 posts)was played locally except for two songs--Turn Around Look at Me, and Five O'Clock World,
both went national.
area51
(12,568 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)rsdsharp
(11,789 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)KitFox
(508 posts)George Maharis 😁. As an adult, West Wing . I loved the show so much and the theme fit it so perfectly.
debm55
(55,641 posts)rso
(2,635 posts)In the Avenues and Alleyways from the 1970s British show The Protectors.
debm55
(55,641 posts)The Madcap
(1,747 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Ilsa
(63,816 posts)Thanks alot.
Ziggysmom
(4,043 posts)Melodrama meets Punk
debm55
(55,641 posts)LoisB
(12,355 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Diamond_Dog
(39,759 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)ILikePie92
(223 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 22, 2025, 06:28 PM - Edit history (1)
The way the bass starts it out!
johnp3907
(4,214 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)AllaN01Bear
(28,592 posts)IA8IT
(6,346 posts)Un sanitized movie version
AllaN01Bear
(28,592 posts)IA8IT
(6,346 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
(55,641 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)debm55
(55,641 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
(1,471 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Chipper Chat
(10,766 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)DFW
(59,729 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
(55,641 posts)Wiz Imp
(8,917 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Wiz Imp
(8,917 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Harold Shea
(60 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Ocelot II
(129,021 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)emulatorloo
(46,135 posts)Late to the party but love this theme song:
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debm55
(55,641 posts)Kablooie
(19,041 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Enter stage left
(4,247 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Mr Ed! Willllllber
debm55
(55,641 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(174,853 posts)Kid Berwyn
(22,890 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
(55,641 posts)Maninacan
(215 posts)It's about time only one season 1966-1967
pfitz59
(12,313 posts)Silly show, but memorable.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Permanut
(7,979 posts)...a tale of a fateful trip.."
debm55
(55,641 posts)Brother Buzz
(39,564 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)CTyankee
(67,791 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Response to debm55 (Original post)
Wiz Imp This message was self-deleted by its author.
pandr32
(13,767 posts)I also enjoyed the versions of 'Little Boxes' on Weeds. Also, the old TV series Mission Impossible had great opening theme music.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Niagara
(11,512 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
(55,641 posts)PufPuf23
(9,706 posts)by The Dandy Warhols.
Usually I am a 60s, 70s or early 80s type of guy for TV and music.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Zorro
(18,342 posts)May be the most sophisticated TV theme tune ever.
debm55
(55,641 posts)SWBTATTReg
(26,026 posts)Two of my favs!
debm55
(55,641 posts)JMCKUSICK
(5,107 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 06:25 PM - Edit history (1)
wcmagumba
(5,615 posts)and the Robot too, "Danger, Will Robinson"....
debm55
(55,641 posts)wcmagumba
(5,615 posts)Sequoia
(12,717 posts)That voice, and herds of cattle.....when I was 5 years old.
debm55
(55,641 posts)Squeaky41
(423 posts)Hitchcock's "March of the Marionettes"
debm55
(55,641 posts)Morbius
(893 posts)Danger Man (song Secret Agent Man, Johnny Rivers)
&
Twin Peaks (theme by Angelo Badalamenti).
debm55
(55,641 posts)TomSlick
(12,879 posts)Catch the trombone counter-melody in the second strain.
debm55
(55,641 posts)demosincebirth
(12,815 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)Ilsa
(63,816 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
(55,641 posts)Figarosmom
(9,730 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)iemanja
(57,378 posts)Starburster by Fontaines DC.
https://m.
debm55
(55,641 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(10,163 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
(55,641 posts)terip64
(1,600 posts)I have always loved Harry Nilsson! Who remembers The Point? I loved that movie and the music!
debm55
(55,641 posts)It was a car commercial
terip64
(1,600 posts)He was great and I loved Bill Bixby! My Favorite Martian was another fun show!
The Wizard
(13,584 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)VMA131Marine
(5,168 posts)debm55
(55,641 posts)ILikePie92
(223 posts)ROCKFORD FILES!!!
debm55
(55,641 posts)roscoeroscoe
(1,804 posts)Master of the Air on Apple
The Crown on Netflix
Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime