Best TV Themes (music)

[StetsonHomburg]

THE GODFATER WALTZ AND THE LOVE THEME!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPUrFHeFUaU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTu4eRXNJWY&feature=related

Oh and mus'nt forget the end theme of Part II

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

 

[Neophyte]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but for me the best T.V. theme is Tank! from the anime Cowboy Bebop

[YOUTUBE]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T6zDfxZ4NcE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T6zDfxZ4NcE&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

The composer is Yoko Kanno. She has done dozens of film, T.V, and video work, as well as pop and classical music. Well worth looking into.

:arated:

Don't forget "Guns and Roses" from BACCANO!, "Dive in the Sky" from Planetes, "A World Without Logos" from Hellsing, "Inner Universe" and "Rise" (Yoko Kanno compositions, Origa vocals, bot from GITS:SAC I & II).

...Actually, you know what, pretty much everything Yoko Kanno does is applicable!

 

[BogartsHat]

The Twilight Zone
Peter Gunn
77 Sunset Strip
Hawaiian Eye
I Love Lucy

 

[Navin323i]

I used to have a CD with all the most popular TV themes from the 70s/80s... sadly I misplaced the CD sometime back.

Below are my favorites ranked in order...

1) Six Million Dollar Man
2) Taxi
3) Battlestar Gallactica (the original one with Dirk Benedict)
4) Star Trek Voyager
5) V The Final Battle
6) Family Ties
7) Different Strokes
8) Good Times
9) Challenge of the Superfriends
10) Cosby Show (all the different opening theme songs they used each season)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

This was the sound of Adventure!
The theme from the National Geographic Specials

 

[tmal]

1) Hawaii 5-0 --------this takes the 1st five (The one with Peter Lord-you know-the good one)
6) Peter Gunn
7) Gunsmoke.....
8Dragnet.....who can forget it?
9) Bonanza
10) Star Trek............ok, it's not that good but imho if fit the show perfectly.

 

[nick123]

MASH!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

In Search Of...

 

[HanauMan]

My long term favorite themes are for Hill Street Blues and Frasier.

As a kid I also liked the themes for Branded, Julia, Starsky & Hutch, Petrocelli and The Outer Limits.

A recent favorite has been for The Big Bang Theory.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Thanks for reviving this most excellent thread.

I have four TV theme song favorites:

First, from the James Michener inspired 1950s TV show "Adventures in Paradise" (see my avatar):

Second, the great jazzy adventure theme to the old "Man from U.N.C.L.E." series. What a big, bold, classic:

And who can forget the International Playboy inspired theme from "It takes a Thief"?

And finally, Cheesy though it is, the 1940s-inspired opening to "Mike Hammer":

Even now, all these years later, I still sometimes find myself whistling these tunes.

 

[Warden]

Being British and of a certain age. I always got excited when I heard the theme tune to the 1970s police series 'The Sweeney'

 

[MisterCairo]

Game of Thrones
Hell on Wheels
Sons of Anarchy
Firefly

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

It's A Living

Family Affair

 

[Paisley]

Best opening theme ever: First season of Death Note.

 

[scottyrocks]

I like many of the themes already listed, so as to not be redundant, I will add:

Ren & Stimpy
Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
Enterprise (Where My Heart Will Take Me)
The Monkees
Gigantor
Underdog
Bullwinkle and Rocky
Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies (good) and Looney Tunes (better) openings

 

[Seb Lucas]

Reilly Ace of Spies

Shostakovich

 

[Fading Fast]

"Edelweiss" in "The Man in the High Castle"

The juxtaposition of this seemingly "simple" song about homeland against the violent occupation of America by both Germany and Japan is haunting and chilling and emphasizes the show's themes through its subtle irony.

Plus, it's just a darn good version of the song.

 

[Doctor Strange]

A bit off topic, but...

You do realize that "Edelweiss" was written by Rogers and Hammerstein for The Sound of Music, and is not a German or Austrian traditional song, right?

It's the last song they wrote together. Hammerstein was on his deathbed with cancer when, in its out-of-town tryout, it was realized that the Captain needed a song to soften his character and show his dedication to country and family. Rogers brought him the hastily written music, and Hammerstein responded with a remarkably life-affirming lyric from a dying man ("...bloom and grow forever"). The song is so perfect that it's frequently mistaken for a real folk song (like Hammerstein's much earlier "Old Man River").

 

[LizzieMaine]

I like many of the themes already listed, so as to not be redundant, I will add:

Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies (good) and Looney Tunes (better) openings

Both of these were pop tunes of the day -- the Merrie Melodies song is "Merrily We Roll Along" -- not the public domain kiddie favorite found in all elementary school music books, but a tune made popular by Eddie Cantor in 1935. The Looney Tunes song is "The Merry Go Round Broke Down," a novelty hit of 1937 recorded by Horace Heidt and other bands of that sort.

 

[LizzieMaine]

As for my favorite, I'd have to nominate Bud Flanagan's recording of "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?," the opening theme for "Dad's Army." It's authentic enough to pass for an actual "Blitz Era" British morale-booster, but it was actually written and recorded in 1968. It's also the last recording of Flanagan's long career -- he died just after completing the job.