Undeniably best theme song ever in the history of television
shareIt is a good theme song-the best? hard to say-but most of the old shows sure had better songs than any of today's shows. Now days they don't want to waste air time on the opening.
shareThe end credits theme is the best gibberish theme song!
shareAfter hearing the great song in the beginning of the show - what a let down to hear that "gibberish" tune at the end.
I have tried and tried and could not understand one word of it at all - the music is not so hot either.
You're not supposed to be able to understand the words. It's literally a gibberish song.
The vocalist was asked to just make up some words so that the recording engineers could get the studio configured. Everyone liked the gibberish version so they kept it.
Ah, the gibberish song is the best! Pretty much the only word you can make out is "bartender" and the rest is intetionally incomprehensible. It's better than Bachmann-Turner Overdrive's "Roll On Down The Highway" as what-the-hell's-he-saying? songs go.
shareI also loved the closing theme better but I did also love the opening song too. I also loved some of the other songs people have mentioned like the Mary Tyler Moore theme, Simon and Simon and others. Has anyone mentioned the theme from Emergency? I caught an episode of that on MeTV recently and it made an impression on me what a peppy little number that theme was. Another one I really liked was the theme from Bob Newhart's 80s show (the one that was just called "Newhart.") Anybody else like Henry Mancini?
Somebody else mentioned what a shame it is that shows, today, don't bother with themes since that cuts into commercial time. I agree it is sad there are so few shows that have catchy music anymore.
I can only conclude I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate.
I LOVE THAT SONG with the closing credits. I still jump up from the sofa & Dance with Johnny Fever!
shareIt is good but i think the best goes to welcome back kotter.
shareRainbowfever, I love welcome back kotter theme song also but, I have to place it as my 2nd best ever
shareOne of the best "modern day" themes is from "Dexter." I can watch that over and over. WKRP rules! I also kind of like the long version of "The Mindy Project" but they always play the short one now so they can cram in more bad jokes.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
The Mindy project" great show but, underrated for some apparent reason
shareIt really is hard for me to say since there are so many great ones. I have a partiality though towards the theme to The Mary Tyler Moore Show if i had to name one. Love the feel of that song and especially the one from the first season. The singer's voice is also nice. I always liked the theme to Love, American Style too because it has an exciting vibrant sound. Maude is also an incredibly good and catchy theme song, always makes me want to sing along when I hear that one. Another I like is "The Love Boat". I think it is impossible to name just one song as being the best. I love a lot of the instrumental themes too. One of my very favs is the Hawaii Five-O theme.
shareThinking about it id say top 3 with lyrics
1.welcome back kotter
2.wkrp
3.the Jefferson
Just instrumental
1. Rockford files
2. Streets of San Francisco
3. Barney miller
My top 3
1 wkrp
2 welcome back kotter
3 mash (theme song)
When I was a teen in the 70s, I used a portable tape recorder to capture every theme I could get. I started with "The Odd Couple" and went from there. So I still have two hours of catchy themes still playable on cassette, even some from Saturday morning cartoons and live action programs like "Lidsville" and "HR Pufnstuf." Remember in that era they played the "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley" themes on the radio as singles? And they did well on the charts! What a simpler time that was.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
If you like TV theme songs you should check out the Television's Greatest Hits series. There are eight volumes with about 60 themes on each. Amazon has some available.
shareTelevision's Greatest Hits are okay if you like your TV themes reproduced and that don't sound like the originals.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
I used to do that with my Beta VCR. If I remember right, I had about 4 hours of themes. I had to stop doing it when I switched to VHS. With Beta (or at least the machine I had), when I pressed Stop, the tape stopped in its tracks (no respooling back into the case) - if I then pressed Record, it would start recording right there. With VHS, the tape movement in and out of the case made this kind of recording next to impossible.
shareI liked Beta so much better than VHS.
shareI'm so surprised you did not include the theme song for "Taxi". I actually started watching the show because I loved the theme song.
share"Taxi" was mentioned up there somewhere. I also loved the Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour theme.
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
i would substitute the "Simon & Simon" theme song for the "... San Fran..." instrumental theme song as Number Two in this list ... "Rockford" is definitely the best instrumental theme song ever by a long way ... great song ... maybe the best TV theme song ever ... and i'd make it a tie for "Barney Miller" with "Taxi" for Number Three instrumental theme song ...
and while i know many people love "The Jeffersons" theme song it never did anything for me ... first, WKRP is Number One imho for theme song with lyrics ... i think "Mary Tyler Moore" theme is Number Two ...
take care,
cormac
"One star in the sky
so I named it Otis Redding"
-- John Hiatt
When I was little, for some reason I thought the line "town to town, up and down the dial" was "up and down the aisle".
I thought it referred to Andy going from job to job after marrying and divorcing.
Hey, it worked in my nine year old mind.
A innocent child's mind running wild. ...I use to sit in front of the television and imagined living in hazard county race and beat the Duke boys and have Daisy run into my arms....
shareI've also loved the ending instrumental song from the incredible hulk, when David Benner, ventures on to his next journey hitchhiking for a ride. ..that piano music would come on and I would start crying
shareI'll throw in the theme songs form Taxi and Ironside, but Rockfiles, WKRP and Welcome Back Kotter are all great.
-stay thirsty my friends