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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
(13,628 posts)Where everybody knows your name.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
eppur_se_muova
(39,547 posts)
Walleye
(41,556 posts)OLDMDDEM
(2,629 posts)arkielib
(407 posts)Srkdqltr
(8,711 posts)murielm99
(32,176 posts)I still know the words.
Toody and Muldoon!
debm55
(48,805 posts)
stillcool
(34,386 posts)I can see the waves breaking
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,741 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
(11,968 posts)They used a Lenny Cohen song
Who By Fire.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Jilly_in_VA
(12,547 posts)Ritabert
(1,425 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
MuseRider
(34,859 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 02:20 PM - Edit history (1)

PJMcK
(23,981 posts)I don't know how I never knew that! Thank you.
marble falls
(67,172 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
MurrayDelph
(5,595 posts)I liked the little flourish they added in the theme for Tara King.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Omnipresent
(7,051 posts)The opening soft melody and the hard rock n roll close on the closing credits.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
rsdsharp
(11,104 posts)KarenS
(5,050 posts)Johnny Cash sang it,,,,
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Walleye
(41,556 posts)Walleye
(41,556 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Earl_from_PA
(282 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
MuseRider
(34,859 posts)I was waiting for that one to come up. Such a jazzy, sexy theme song.
chicoescuela
(2,153 posts)So 1960 and so cool just like Pete
Cloudhopper
(90 posts)to be the theme from L.A. Law. An instrumental.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
eppur_se_muova
(39,547 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
(23,981 posts)Dont forget Paul Desmonds classic, Take Five, played with Dave Brubeck.
Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,741 posts)And the fuse burning down through the credits as we see the different stars on the show as cool!
debm55
(48,805 posts)
ProfessorGAC
(73,767 posts)...."Burning Fuse" which makes perfect sense.
patphil
(8,112 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
patphil
(8,112 posts)They broke up in 1968, the song was recorded in 1975.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
PJMcK
(23,981 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
(48,805 posts)
Perry Mason
debm55
(48,805 posts)
BOSSHOG
(43,454 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
AltairIV
(911 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
(48,805 posts)
Laffy Kat
(16,731 posts)MuseRider
(34,859 posts)It did not seem very descriptive but it was very nice.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Laffy Kat
(16,731 posts)That was a great series that deserved a better finale.
Buckeye_Democrat
(15,347 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
(48,805 posts)
Sun-Moon
(207 posts)And we did it our way yes our way making our dreams come true for me and you
😁
debm55
(48,805 posts)
LastDemocratInSC
(4,093 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
33taw
(3,211 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Brother Buzz
(39,041 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Moostache
(10,705 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
TommieMommy
(2,211 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
generalbetrayus
(1,105 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
(48,805 posts)
Mister Ed
(6,651 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
(48,805 posts)
marble falls
(67,172 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
(1,155 posts)The theme was from "Piano Sonata in A Major" by Franz Schubert.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
DUgosh
(3,118 posts)And perfectly choreographed too
debm55
(48,805 posts)
LogDog75
(682 posts)The opening is a musical/dance scene to Five O'Clock World by the The Vogues.
debm55
(48,805 posts)was played locally except for two songs--Turn Around Look at Me, and Five O'Clock World, both went national.
area51
(12,387 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
rsdsharp
(11,104 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
KitFox
(341 posts)George Maharis 😁. As an adult, West Wing . I loved the show so much and the theme fit it so perfectly.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
In the Avenues and Alleyways from the 1970s British show The Protectors.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
The Madcap
(1,343 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Ilsa
(63,064 posts)Thanks alot.
Ziggysmom
(3,840 posts)Melodrama meets Punk
debm55
(48,805 posts)
LoisB
(11,193 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Diamond_Dog
(37,796 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
ILikePie92
(223 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 22, 2025, 07:28 PM - Edit history (1)
The way the bass starts it out!
debm55
(48,805 posts)
AllaN01Bear
(26,709 posts)Un sanitized movie version
AllaN01Bear
(26,709 posts)
IA8IT
(6,212 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
(48,805 posts)
debm55
(48,805 posts)
debm55
(48,805 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
(1,435 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Chipper Chat
(10,515 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
DFW
(58,603 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
(48,805 posts)
Wiz Imp
(6,293 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Wiz Imp
(6,293 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Harold Shea
(58 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Ocelot II
(126,319 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
emulatorloo
(46,074 posts)Late to the party but love this theme song:
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?si=UuXhTT6FDMj5TR7o
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Kablooie
(18,957 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Enter stage left
(4,083 posts)
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Mr Ed! Willllllber
debm55
(48,805 posts)
LetMyPeopleVote
(166,992 posts)Kid Berwyn
(21,536 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
(48,805 posts)
Maninacan
(162 posts)It's about time only one season 1966-1967
pfitz59
(11,706 posts)Silly show, but memorable.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Permanut
(7,394 posts)...a tale of a fateful trip.."
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Brother Buzz
(39,041 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
CTyankee
(66,664 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Response to debm55 (Original post)
Wiz Imp This message was self-deleted by its author.
pandr32
(13,255 posts)I also enjoyed the versions of 'Little Boxes' on Weeds. Also, the old TV series Mission Impossible had great opening theme music.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Niagara
(10,804 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
(48,805 posts)
PufPuf23
(9,504 posts)by The Dandy Warhols.
Usually I am a 60s, 70s or early 80s type of guy for TV and music.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Zorro
(17,722 posts)May be the most sophisticated TV theme tune ever.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
SWBTATTReg
(25,527 posts)Two of my favs!
debm55
(48,805 posts)
JMCKUSICK
(3,298 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2025, 07:25 PM - Edit history (1)

wcmagumba
(4,476 posts)and the Robot too, "Danger, Will Robinson"....
debm55
(48,805 posts)
wcmagumba
(4,476 posts)
Sequoia
(12,666 posts)That voice, and herds of cattle.....when I was 5 years old.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Squeaky41
(380 posts)Hitchcock's "March of the Marionettes"
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Morbius
(590 posts)Danger Man (song Secret Agent Man, Johnny Rivers)
&
Twin Peaks (theme by Angelo Badalamenti).
debm55
(48,805 posts)
TomSlick
(12,624 posts)Catch the trombone counter-melody in the second strain.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
demosincebirth
(12,787 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
Ilsa
(63,064 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:
?si=O_8KwnSTa_4GPAhN
And Star Trek Deep Space Nine, which is like a fanfare:
?si=R-i557S2V7yaCdrN
debm55
(48,805 posts)
Figarosmom
(7,268 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
iemanja
(56,368 posts)Starburster by Fontaines DC.
https://m.
debm55
(48,805 posts)
OldBaldy1701E
(8,480 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
(48,805 posts)
terip64
(1,594 posts)I have always loved Harry Nilsson! Who remembers The Point? I loved that movie and the music!
debm55
(48,805 posts)It was a car commercial
terip64
(1,594 posts)He was great and I loved Bill Bixby! My Favorite Martian was another fun show!
The Wizard
(13,292 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
VMA131Marine
(5,060 posts)debm55
(48,805 posts)
ILikePie92
(223 posts)ROCKFORD FILES!!!
debm55
(48,805 posts)
roscoeroscoe
(1,751 posts)Master of the Air on Apple
The Crown on Netflix
Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime
debm55
(48,805 posts)