List of my favorite TV theme songs

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Airwolf
Remington Steele
Baa Baa Black Sheep
The Equalizer
Hawaii Five 0 (the original of course)
THe Man from Atlantis
Person of Interest
LA Law
Alias
Mission Impossible
The man from uncle
Spenser for Hire
Star trek: Voyager
SWAT (70's series)
Stingray
Wiseguy

"Spenser For Hire". Good choice, Limbo. I can't understand why it hasn't been rerun on any network in years. Yet that Khardasian crud just keeps spewing along.
I happened to be in Boston when Spenser was filming. The bar in our hotel (the Copley) was used in several episodes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back"...Grandpa Munster

[308GUY]

I don't have a "list" per se, but as a footnote to one I might have: I was always favorably impressed with the theme from the original "ER" hospital/doctor show. My wife used to watch it regularly when it was being aired, and every time I would hear that theme music, it always caught my attention.

The timing is sorta "weird"...but very effective. I just always thought it was a great piece of music....for a tv show theme song.

Needless to say, I go around humming, whistling, or just running through my head the theme from Magnum PI LOL!

Also always liked Andy Griffiths theme...and Mash....and Simon & Simon...ok enough....like I said..I really don't have a "list".

[terryfromkerry]

I always loved the Renegade theme. That harmonica just blew me away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0kkPK_WSck

[Little Garwood]

There are really too many to mention, but the themes that immediately come to mind include:

The Rockford Files (Post and Carpenter)
The Persuaders (John Barry)
Hawaii Five-O (Morton Stevens)
Mannix (Lalo Schifrin)
Sanford & Son (Quincy Jones)

The Virginian (Percy Faith)
Men from Shiloh (Ennio Morricone)
The Twilight Zone (the S1 theme by Bernard Herrmann)
The Big Valley (George Duning)
The Six Million Dollar Man (Oliver Nelson)

Although I’ve never seen the show, Post and Carpenter’s theme for Toma is pretty damned great, too.


youtu.be/wUGt0h9E7qk

[charybdis1966]

Ten of my current favourites but in no particular order.

MPI- Ian Freebairn Smith version
Classic Battlestar Galactica
Serpico
The Streets of San Francisco
Starsky and Hutch season 1
Blake’s 7
Space 1999 season 1
The Dukes of Hazzard
Vega$
Knots Landing

[T.Q.]

Magnum PI
Hawaii Five-0
Dukes of Hazzard
WKRP
MASH
CHEERS
Greatest American Hero
Battlestar Galactica '77

[Pahonu]

These are all great lists. I would likely include the fairly obscure theme to James Garner’s early 70’s revisionist western Nichols. He always said it was his favorite series and I bought the DVDs of its only season several years ago. It’s definitely unique, as it’s not only set during the closing of the West, but also lacks the moral certainty present in such series in the 50’s and 60’s. I enjoyed it very much.

The theme is by the Brazilian composer Bernardo Segall who did a bit of TV work including several Columbo episodes, and a few films. It has several distinct melodic lines with the final bars evoking Aaron Copeland to my ear.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HNRCjklgbn8

[eagle]

Yes, some great ones here.

My current favorites:
Magnum, p.i. (both of the theme songs from the original, but I use the later theme song as my iPhone ringtone)
ER
Law & Order

Seems that list didn't change much since my last post.

Others I like:
The Jetsons
Rockford Files
The Dukes of Hazzard

[MikeS]

There's so many good ones already posted so I wont create a list Per se but list a few I also like...

These 2 groove for me, in case you havent heard em or have forgotten...
Barney Miller:
-> All Versions Clips -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II71tmVsKrE
-> Full Length Sample -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGa7u6v9X4k

Hey Arnold: From Hey Arnold The Music Vol. 1
-> 01. Theme '98 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2uxhFGe69A&t=0s
-> 18. Stompin' (End Credits) -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2uxhFGe69A&t=1220s

Some capture a moment in time or remind me of a time past...
Welcome Back Kotter
Barretta
Mary Tyler Moore

Some are short but sweet riffs and as a guitar player I appreciate it...
Becker
Monk

and then just a bit creepy...
Twin Peaks
X-Files

[Little Garwood]

Serpico

Having never seen the show—too bad for me because I’d probably have liked it—I looked up the theme and found it to be addictively catchy! David Birney as Frank Serpico, though? He had some huge shoes to fill in that role, even though Al Pacino is only 5’6”…thanks dor the inteoduction to the Serpico theme…should I ever get to see wither Serpico or Toma, I’d make it a double feature event at La Casa de Garwood!

[charybdis1966]

Serpico

Having never seen the show—too bad for me because I’d probably have liked it—I looked up the theme and found it to be addictively catchy! David Birney as Frank Serpico, though? He had some huge shoes to fill in that role, even though Al Pacino is only 5’6”…thanks dor the inteoduction to the Serpico theme…should I ever get to see wither Serpico or Toma, I’d make it a double feature event at La Casa de Garwood!

I was a pre teen when Serpico was on TV but I remember it being a very staccato tune but slightly jazzy with a gutsy swagger. I loved it !

[Little Garwood]

The ‘70s fascinate me up until around 1976, or whenever it was that Disco and Aaron Spelling forced themselves onto pop culture like a neanderthal jock does to its prom date. Among many institutions, TV took a serious hit from which it never recovered. Pop culture in general lost most of its appeal to me right around the time I started kindergarte. Coincidence? Who knows? I’ll have to ask Freud…