What is your favorite TV theme song/opening credit sequence?

[MikeBSG]

These days, TV shows seem to begin imperceptibly. To honor a lost and/or dying art, tell us what is your favorite TV theme song or opening credit sequence?

I think the opening of "The Flintstones" has to be up there in the top three.

[klondike]

Toss-ups, 'pends on when:
Now - "CSI: Miami"
90's, tie -"Nash Bridges"
/"NYPD Blue" (1st-2nd seasons)
80's - "Miami Vice"
70's - "Wonder Woman"
60's, tie - "Wild Wild West"
/"Hawaii Five-O"
50's, tie - "Hawaiian Eye"
/"Bonanza"

Conclusions? Series starring David Caruso, Don Johnson or Robert Conrad, or are set in Hawaii or Miami, or feature horses or zaftig women fighting Nazis, just naturally have more thrilling intro's, QED!

[Bogie]

The greatest theme song in history (with the exception of the last season mix) is DALLAS!

No ifs ands or buts about it!

Runners up:

NIGHT COURT
BARNEY MILLER
KNIGHT RIDER
HILL STREET BLUES
WKRP IN CINCINNATI

[ChiO]

Dragnet -- Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent....'nuff said
Peter Gunn -- theme music = Henry Mancini
Sanford and Son -- the show may have been disappointing, but not The Q
Baretta -- hearing The Sammy tell me each week to keep my eye on the sparrow was inspiring; I'll never do the crime if I can't do the time, and dat's a fact
Miami Vice -- may seem hackneyed now, but it looked and sounded hot and cool then

In the "But the Song Wasn't Written for the Show" category:

Get a Life -- R.E.M. + Chris Elliot...what could be better?

[Jezebel38]

The one's that stick in my mind most are the fun ones that we got to sing along with.

"Come listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed...."
" A horse is a horse of course, or course...."

And one of my favorites:
"There's a hold up in the Bronx, Brooklyn's broken out in fights...." (chime in Brooklyn Girl)

So, I do have a triva question I can insert here - does anyone remember the children's series about a German Shephard who is like a hobo, and travels from town to town in each episode? The lyrics start out;

"Travelin' around from town to town, sometimes I think I'll settle down,
da da da da something, roamin's the only life for me.

Anybody????

[mrsl]

HAWAII 5-0 and DALLAS are tied for me.

Anne

[Bogie]

D'oh!

How did I forget FALCON CREST! I liked the 3rd season mix the best.

[movieman1957]

Theme songs are a thing of the past. They take up too much time. Time that can be used running commercials. Look how much the "Law and Order" theme has been edited down over the years.

In no particular order:

The Rockford Files
The Equalizer
Hill Street Blues
Perry Mason
Medical Center. (Chad Everett) The first year had a rather stately lovely theme. It was soon replaced by a "rock" type theme.
ER. (At least early on.)
Law and Order

[cinemalover]

There have been many memorable theme sequences but the one that really stands out for me is the burning fuse with Lalo Shafrin's pulsating theme for Mission Impossible.

[feaito]

In no particular order:

Bewitched- Opening credits & Theme song
I Dream of Jeannie- Opening credits & Theme song
Miami Vice- Theme song
Magnum PI- Theme song
Moonlighting- Theme Song
Hawaii Five-0- Opening credits & Theme song
The Big Valley- Opening credits & Theme song
The Twilight Zone- Opening credits & Theme song
Tales of the Unexpected- Opening credits & Theme song
Get Smart- Opening credits & Theme song
The Addams Family- Opening credits & Theme song
George & Mildred- Opening credits & Theme song

[ChiO]

I'm embarassed that I didn't have MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE on my list. Definitely one of the greats.

[klondike]

I'm embarassed that I didn't have MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE on my list. Definitely one of the greats.

Me too, Chi!

During those often dark & bitter times of the Johnson/Nixon administrations, that theme music, and the storyline that typically followed it, was coolness epitomized.

[jdb1]

The one's that stick in my mind most are the fun ones that we got to sing along with.

"Come listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed...."
" A horse is a horse of course, or course...."

And one of my favorites:
"There's a hold up in the Bronx, Brooklyn's broken out in fights...." (chime in Brooklyn Girl)

So, I do have a triva question I can insert here - does anyone remember the children's series about a German Shephard who is like a hobo, and travels from town to town in each episode? The lyrics start out;

"Travelin' around from town to town, sometimes I think I'll settle down,
da da da da something, roamin's the only life for me.

Anybody????

Hey, Jez, That Car 54 theme: there's a line "There's a scout troop short a child." When I was a kid, I never understood what the singers were saying - to me it sounded like "There's an hubcap due at Child's" (Child's being a chain of restaurants in NYC at the time).

The dog show you're describing sounds like Run Joe, Run, which was a great kids' show; a sort of updated, canine version of Chuck Connors' Branded. I don't remember a theme song for it, though (my little brother watched it every Saturday).

The song you list sounds more like the theme song from Then Came Bronson: "Goin' down that long, lonesome highway/Gonna live life my way." It has a part that says "One of these days I'm gonna settle down/But 'til then, I won't be hangin' round." A lot of guys in my circle took to wearing the black woollen watchcap, like Michael Parks' Bronson.

I have already stated my preference for best theme song on our former board: it's the clever song from the short-lived Smothers Brothers sitcom. ("Tonight we'll meet two brothers who just happen to be us . . . . .") The Mr. Peepers theme comes in a close second (in fact, it's about the only thing I remember of that show), followed by I Love Lucy ("and she loves me") and Hawaii Five-O.