TV Themes: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'd like to throw in another three. If I was tech savvy, I'd post a video, but I'm not, so I can't.

 

Ahem.

 

The opening themes to Batman:The Animated Series (Seasons 1-3), The Justice League, and the 90s X-Men.

[Rinaldo]

@GHScorpiosRule, even the non-tech-savvy can post a video here, our overlords have made it so easy. Just save the URL for your chosen video, and paste it into your post on a line of its own. No code, no clicks, no nothin'.

[Wilowy]

I love the Orphan Black theme. Dreamy and beautiful.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Okay, I got some pointers [thanks Luckylyn!] so let's see if I can get this to woirk this time!

 

 

 

SUCCESS!!!!!!

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2014 by GHScorpiosRule

[Luckylyn]

Dear John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSNT4Y6-5fI

 

Roswell Seasons 1, 2, & 3

 

Farscape all 3 intros -  It's interesting how the exposition changes based on John's experiences.

[GHScorpiosRule]

And here's Justice League

 

And the The X-Men!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZAhqEiq4cA

I've never quite figured out who the short bald headed dude was, or the guy, who looks like Warpath, but shouldn't be because he shouldn't be on Magneto's side.

[Kromm]

Eek, sorry Luckylyn I can't go there with the Dear John theme song.  I always thought it was cringeworthy.  The actual credits AROUND them (at least in that early version) aren't bad, because I like the storytelling elements of that (although I recall them changing in later seasons and getting kind of irrelevant), but the song?  It's not even the words (again, I sense an effort to storytell), it's that sicky-sweet toned delivery and that almost bored sounding instrumentation being played behind it.  

 

So I guess it still fits in this topic for me, just under either the "Bad" or "Ugly" subsections. I guess mileage can vary alot with music.

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, getting back to the stuff I like, in the end links of one of the videos I played above I found a theme song I'd FORGOTTEN I liked.  But playing it now, I'm reminded I did.

 

The instrumentation is a bit timid at points, a fault, but I like the overall tune a lot--they do tweak the song a bit between the versions in this video. Even still, the song could go a bit bigger.  With that combination of bouncy tones and jazzy sax, does solve the problem shows always have with pure instrumental themes--having an instrumental theme sound unique.

 

 

I also love the comedy in the Pilot version of the credits. The later credits better met the mission of showing us the faces of the actual cast, but the Pilot credits were more WATCHABLE.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Oh, and here's an example of a stupendously GREAT theme song (and to be honest, actually pretty great credits too--that convey a real sense of the story, characters, etc.), attached to a total shit show.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJdwsyPe_s0

 

and some later credits (notice they changed the very beginning intro to Mr. B.)

 

Edited June 16, 2014 by Kromm

[AntiBeeSpray]

NOW FOR SOME OF THE BAD.

 

 

I read some article which riffed on how awful the Dollhouse theme song was.  I hadn't really remembered it as that bad, but lo and behold, the article is right.  This is goddawful.

 

 

They also mentioned NCIS as being one of the biggest steaming pile of shit themes, and I didn't even need reminding of that.  It's the very essence of what's gone wrong with TV theme songs.  Just pointless synthesized noise with cast pictures propped up in front of it.

 

I actually don't mind NCIS's theme.

 

On the other hand... ER's redo towards the end of the series = all kinds of WTF?!  Why mess with such an iconic theme song? 

 

Another case of messing with a good theme song... Bones. Can't even listen to it anymore.

 

Both of those songs became theme blurbs and NOT theme songs.

 

I'm a fan of the M*A*S*H theme. It's decent enough, and by comparison to some themes today, at least it's music.

 

Some of my faves:

 

 

Inspector Morse

 

 

 

Quantum Leap

 

 

From the Perry mason tv movies

 

 

I really liked the remake of the theme.

[ParadoxLost]

Great clip of the Northern Exposure opening and a bit of the show:

 

 

This brings back memories.  Used to visit family in Roslyn and the town looked like this before Northern Exposure and still does today.  Surreal.  I always liked the story that to thank the town for being a filming location, the show bought them a fire truck.  Only it didn't fit in the fire station.

[Kromm]

Eek, AntiBeeSpray.  I think I've said it before.  I'm conflicted on Quantum Leap.  PARTS of the theme are great (particularly the part where you see the horses riding and it opens up into this great "old western" riff).  But others you can just seamlessly fill in by saying "LA LA LA" loudly and you can't tell the difference.  

[AntiBeeSpray]

Eek, AntiBeeSpray.  I think I've said it before.  I'm conflicted on Quantum Leap.  PARTS of the theme are great (particularly the part where you see the horses riding and it opens up into this great "old western" riff).  But others you can just seamlessly fill in by saying "LA LA LA" loudly and you can't tell the difference.  

Kromm, I am as well. I HATE the later version they put in instead... O_O That one can go away.

[Wilowy]

Ohhh I saw the Quantum Leap and had to click! What a great show. I know this isn't always a popular thing, but I would LOVE a reboot of that show. We could do so much more than they could then. Oh boy.

[Portia]

My husband and I watched exactly one (1) episode of Going Places in 1990.  (Hard to believe, but even Alan Ruck, Heather Locklear, and Holland Taylor couldn't save this show from being really, really, reeeeealllly stupid). Nearly 25 years later, one of us occasionally catches the other absent-mindedly singing, "Going places . . . brand new faces . . . ."  So I guess being bland and derivative is not quite the same as being forgettable.  BTW I almost posted this in the Opening Credit Sequence thread because of its unabashed celebration of that timeless "look up and smile" technique.

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by Portia

[Rinaldo]

Oh, @Portia, thank you for that. Of all the dumb forgettable TGIF sitcoms that rotated in and out of Friday primetime on ABC, this was one I had an inexplicable soft spot for. (Well, maybe not all that inexplicable: I had previous good feelings for most of the principals, and it was nice to see them all together.) And I fear that I probably watched all the episodes till it was cancelled.

 

And I enjoyed seeing the Dear John credits again. The theme had one effect on me that I've never experienced before or since: it gave me perfect pitch for the start of the song. Somehow, when the show was about to come on, I would start singing to myself "De-ear John..." and it would always turn out to have been the right note. Ordinarily I need a reference pitch to place me in a tonality, and then I'm good, but for Dear John I could pluck it out of the air. I also adored Jane Carr, and still do. When I saw her on Broadway a few months ago in the current hit A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, she was just right as a dotty old Edwardian lady. But I still wanted her to ask, just once, "Were there any... sex-u-al problems?"

[Wax Lion]

I kinda love the opening for Brit soap for a variety reasons, including that it's a little bit of a mess now.

 

Back in 2006, they revamped the titles into a fast-paced, let's-show-every-character-for-a-second into with some fun design.

 

 

They style of it has changed over time, this 2011 version still shows just about ever character, but the look of how they're featured is pretty different.

 

 

One problem with the current version is that the stylized portaits don't quite mesh up anymore. I have a hard time describing how, but it looks like different artists trying to match the same aesthetic and almost getting it. Here's a more-or-less current one.

 

 

However, it also changes constantly. If a character leaves town or is murdered, they're taken out of the credits by the next episode. Another character showed up in the credits the episode after she moved into a boarding house where a bunch of characters live together.

 

For soap viewers that's a little shocking, since soaps often keep the same opening even when its featuring characters that have been gone for months, even when they try to minimize that risk by only featuring the iconic characters who have been around for ages. (And the story of the fall of Another World involves the creation of a very stylish opening that cost so much to make it was a struggle to update.) Every other British soap I've seen has had a generic opening that focused on the setting more than the characters.

[GreekGeek]

So many great ones mentioned already!

The 70's Match Game theme was OK, but I'll always love the original, a.k.a. "Swingin' Safari.": 

The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme is legendary, but how many remember the spinoff Phyllis? It had a theme song that seems like a companion to MTM's, plus a little bit of "Mame" thrown in, with a snarky twist in the final line: 

I wondered why poor Rhoda got nothing but "la la la's" in comparison.

Among dramas, I'm fond of the St. Elsewhere theme: 

The Sopranos theme seemed a bit "modern" for the tradition-minded Tony, but I never tired of it. In contrast, I am getting tired of the Orange is the New Black theme, but can't be bothered figuring out how to fast forward on Netflix streaming.

[DkNNy79]

Buffy

Angel (love the haunting Irish tones)

Golden Girls (cheesy, but I still love it)

General Hospital (the saxophone version from the 90s - Dave Koz I believe)

Different Strokes

X-files

Growing Pains

 

From my childhood:

Fraggle Rock (I think its adorable)

Jem

[Athena]

I am biased since I liked the books and love Scottish music, but I adore the Outlander credit theme. Ronald D. Moore is reunited with Bear McCreary.

 

The song is an adaptation of the "Skye Boat Song"

 

[dalek]

Two instrumental themes I've always liked are The Prisoner and Sandbaggers

 

 

[WendyCR72]

I was a preteen/teen when this show was originally on, and I never got into it at all, but it did have a great theme done by Stewart Copeland, no less. I give you the theme to The Equalizer...

 

[praeceptrix]

Two instrumental themes I've always liked are The Prisoner and Sandbaggers

 

 

@dalek, you are my new hero! I love Sandbaggers. It is so nice to find someone who's actually heard of it!

[OSM Mom]

I don't think we've mentioned this one, which was legendary, and one of the first all-electronic pieces ever recorded for television (all the more impressive considering all the arranger had to work with was a theremin and analog equipment....)

Delia Derbyshire, I hope you know that by the time the 50th anniversary arrived, you finally got an on-screen credit.

So far as the Bonanza song goes, I consider it tainted by its awful lyrics:

The less said about this bit, the better:

I never even knew the Bonanza theme had words!! And I wish I still didn't.

[Sandman87]

You know the theme from the original Star Trek? What is the term for the musical style that they used for the closing credits version of it? You know, that vaguely Latin jazzy style. It's a question that's bothered me on and off for years.

 

Speaking of ST, I loved the Great Big Classical theme that they used for the credits of Deep Space 9. More stately and less action-ey than the TNG theme, which fits the concept of a stationary setting as opposed to a ship that's always going places.

[Rinaldo]

You know the theme from the original Star Trek? What is the term for the musical style that they used for the closing credits version of it? You know, that vaguely Latin jazzy style. 

I would say it's a beguine. The song "Tonight" from West Side Story is accompanied in that same rhythm, as are a number of Cole Porter tunes like, well, "Begin the Beguine."

[roamyn]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Hawaii 5-0 .

That's the most iconic theme song, ever.

I also like Friends, Cheers, X-Files, The Brady Bunch, Twilight Zone, LOST, ER, Game of Thrones, M*A*S*H, Bonanza (the non-verse one) , The Big Valley, Magnum, McGyver and of course the 1st & 4th seasons of Starsky & Hutch

[Sandman87]

I would say it's a beguine.

I thought that was a loaf of French bread. :P

Thank you. I was able to hear the similarities in my head as soon as I saw the examples you gave.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Worst two I ever heard: Bones remix and the remade ER one.

 

Can't find those two, but they're really bad.

 

A good one:

 

 

The old school ER theme.

[Actionmage]

A mix of fun and 'why?!': The 60s versions of the Marvel Superheroes!

 

First up? The Hulk (oh, lawdy, why!?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_umx8-rIGf0

 

Next, Iron Man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Lx9eEox2A

 

Thor gets some love (sort of):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mlFjjzimcs

 

Now for Captain America (kind of catchy):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVU4HURKEXs

 

and finally, The Sub-Mariner ( the Aquaman of Marvel):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRWeaHkxXwE

[selkie]

@dalek, you are my new hero! I love Sandbaggers. It is so nice to find someone who's actually heard of it!

 

I've heard of it too. I remember really liking it when my local PBS station was showing it in the 80s.

[Kromm]

I'm sure Sanford & Son has been mentioned already in this thread (heck, maybe even by me), but I'm bringing it up again as such a great theme, because I just found a copy of the EXTENDED single length version of the theme (I love those as a rule, but this is a truly great one).

 

I mean how great is this?  Quincy Effing Jones.  This is another one (like the extended version of the Barney Miller theme) where cutting it down to TV theme length did lose some of the best bits (even though the bits left in the shorter versions are still so memorable to us).

 

Edited January 4, 2015 by Kromm

[Kromm]

A few pages back I posted a video of a full single version of the Chico and the Man theme, where it played off an actual 45 record inside an actual jukebox--and you saw that in the video.

I didn't realize at the time that EVERYTHING on that guy's channel is that--actual 45s on that actual jukebox. And he's got some other TV themes.

So here they are in that glorious unduplicatable way--with all the original hiss and hum representing how people heard this music played in their lives back then...
 

released 45 single of The Flintstones theme.  Yes.  Really.

 

 

release 45 single of Popeye The Sailor theme (yeah, I know this probably originally played as part of theatrical shorts, but it moved to TV so definitely later)

 

 

release 45 single of Harper Valley PTA (in this case the song was a hit before they made a movie, and later a TV show)

 

Edited January 4, 2015 by Kromm

[Bruinsfan]

Whenever I see a junky old red truck I find myself humming the Sanford & Son theme.

 

I don't know what to call the music for the opening credits of The Mindy Project, but I wish all copies of it could be lost forever.

[Sandman87]

I didn't realize at the time that EVERYTHING on that guy's channel is that--actual 45s on that actual jukebox. And he's got some other TV themes.

That just reminded me of something I should have mentioned here a long time ago: There's a DJ on KFJC down in the Bay Area who does a show that's mainly music which is either from or related to movies, TV shows, and plays: The Norman Bates Memorial Soundtrack Show. I used to listen to it every week when I lived in the area, which is how I got to hear things like the male cast members of Star Trek: TNG singing "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie".

The show's web page:

http://kfjc.org/programming/program_info.php?houroftheweek=129&info_id=27

The station's webcast page:

http://kfjc.org/netcast/index.php

[MyAimIsTrue]

I run the technology gamut on TV theme songs as I still have my 45 single of John Sebastian's "Welcome Back Kotter" and on my iPod is Alabama 3's "Woke Up This Morning" from The Sopranos.

[Kromm]

I run the technology gamut on TV theme songs as I still have my 45 single of John Sebastian's "Welcome Back Kotter" and on my iPod is Alabama 3's "Woke Up This Morning" from The Sopranos.

What that guy is doing on his YouTube channel is a good idea though, since those 45s degrade (or there are less and less record players around to play them). Using the digital to record what the analogue playing looked and sounded like. A way to preserve that experience, at least a little, in the digital age.

[Jipijapa]

I am grateful to live in a world where this cover version of The Rockford Files exists.

 

 

(especially the middle section)

[femmefan1946]

Here's the Peter Gunn theme: 

 

The Big Bang Theory theme was written by the BareNaked Ladies.

[proserpina65]

My top five tv opening themes - sans lyrics division:

 

1) Game of Thrones

2) Hawaii 5-0 (original flavor)

3) The Rockford Files

4) The Wild, Wild West

5) Barney Miller

(honorable mention goes to The Equalizer -  almost a tie for 5th)

[Kromm]

The Big Bang Theory theme was written by the BareNaked Ladies.

And as is true of MANY of the TV themes mentioned in this thread, once again we get a long version that takes what's in the tiny TV version and makes it far more awesome...

 

[Sandman87]

Heard a blast from the past today while driving. The radio was tuned to the NPR news show, and they used the theme tune from Dave Allen at Large as interstitial music. The tune is titled either "Studio 69" or "Blarney's Stoned" (it went by both titles) by Alan Hawkshaw. I hadn't heard it in a couple of decades, not since the last time I saw the show on a PBS station.

[mjmatx]

I don't think this one has been mentioned yet--the awesome but short-lived show The Chicago Code had an amazing theme by Billy Corgan and beautifully shot opening credits.

 

[Archery]

I'm old enough to remember that some theme songs were played on the radio and released as singles.  Greatest American Hero, SWAT, Hill Street Blues, Fame (although that was a movie theme first), Miami Vice.  I had most of them on 45.

[Kromm]

We've spent a lot of time and effort in this thread on the "good" but not as much on the bad and ugly. 

 

Recently I thought of that because YouTube RabbitHoling a lot of UK shows that don't air in the US, it occurred to me it's such a tragedy that the greatest music nation in the world arguably has such consistently bad TV themes on their long running shows.  Oh... don't mistake that there are also a bunch of more expensive hipper shows that use pop songs as themes, and are thus great, but there's just a ton of stodge too.  Or sometimes stuff that's just amateurish or ridiculous.

 

For example, the Stephen Fry quiz show QI is a great institution. But the theme is just SO shit(e).  It's like someone heard some Reggae music but then decided to re-render it on a Casio Organ set to "Tinkly Piano".

 

 

They don't luck out in the Daytime TV area other. The music for that stuff is surely bad everywhere for every show of that type anywhere, but their banner daytime TV show, "Loose Women" (their version of The View basically) sure has a painfully bad theme.

 

 

The talk show themes tend to be painful too. Poor Jonathan Ross has to put up with this very over the top one.  I know it's a matter of opinion, but despite the big horns there's just something generic and bland here.

 

 

A few DO work out well. For example I can't say ANYTHING bad about The Great British Bakeoff theme, because somehow, even though admittedly a "stodgy" argument COULD be made for it, well... it just fits the environment and vibe of the show so well. It feels organic with the show, I mean. (note this video is for the Bake Off Spin-off, "An Extra Slice" but the titles are the same other than one extra shot at the end and so is the music).

 

That's the kind of theme that you can understand why it's become iconic. Sure for various reasons all of the above are memorable, with the Bake Off one is the one I bet people find themselves humming along with.

[decembar13]

For anyone who ever loved Ennio Morricone, intro to Italian tv series La Piovra (The Octopus), the best tv show about mafia (imo) and one of my personal favourites :

 

 

And this was featured almost throughout season 3 of La Piovra, sometimes even as an ending theme:

 

[meep.meep]

Kromm - we have a running joke at our house about how bad the music on British TV shows is.  If they achieve Average, it's worth celebrating.

 

A current great theme is the one from the French Returned (Les Revenant ?)  - it's spooky and unique.

 

Everytime I catch a plane, I have to stifle the urge to burst into "San Francisco International Aiiiiir  Poooorrrrrttttt!" - the theme from a show long forgotten by everyone but the theme is stuck into my brain with superglue.

[Snowprince]

The show didn't last much longer than the theme, but i'd love a full length version of this one.

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by Snowprince

[spaceytraci1208]

The opening credits to Tales From the Darkside were super effective...much scarier than the actual show, IMO

https://youtu.be/Mioevxb2CfA

Edited December 12, 2015 by spaceytraci1208

[stonehaven]

I've always been partial to "Unsolved Mysteries":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vufUyWlupFA

[decembar13]

TV Themes that are so good I couldn't imagine these shows with different ones

 

 

 

[SVNBob]

For example, the Stephen Fry quiz show QI is a great institution. But the theme is just SO shit(e).  It's like someone heard some Reggae music but then decided to re-render it on a Casio Organ set to "Tinkly Piano".

 

They talked about the theme on the most recent Christmas episode of QI (which actually has a seasonal variation of the tune.  I'll link it below.). It was written specifically for the show...because it contains a coded message.  Morse code to be precise.

 

The pattern of long and short notes in the theme translate to www.alan0andstephenhero.com. Which redirects to a QI page with some extra footage from the same Christmas episode.

 

And this is the QI Christmas special theme: