ILMs 101 FAVOURITE TV THEMES OF ALL TIME COUNTDOWN FEVER

Welcome!

Today I'll be counting down 101-74.
Tomorrow I'll sort the sidebar statgeekery of who voted but I've got to be at work all day so no countdown.
Wednesday will see 73-50.
Thursday 49-20.
And on Friday you'll be humming to the tune of finding out who wins this bad boy.

Yeah!

woohoo! how many ballots in total?

37 ballots.

(tie)

101. Rainbow (3 votes, 48 points)
UK
1972-1992
Hugh Portnow, Hugh Fraser and Tim Thomas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJsaujSs7Fw

101. Dynasty (2 votes, 48 points)
USA
1981-1991
Unknown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjpCU4Zy9Cs

I'm going to try and find who wrote each theme but I'm not looking at more than 1 wiki/1 other website.

Rainbow one is surprisingly groovy, though I really could not bare to listen to the full version once they got to that slow bit. Pretty similar to the Bod music in hindsight, both go in for that funky acoustic jazz thing.

Dynasty was a bit dreary, sorry :(

(tie)
109. Merrie Melodies (2 votes, 49 points, 1 #1 vote)
USA
1939-69
Stalling, Franklin, Lava and more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5uOxqUSnU

109. Knightmare (2 votes, 49 points)
UK
1987-94
Unknown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxzKTbu-aR0

109. John Craven's Newsround (3 votes, 49 votes)
UK
1972-86
John Baker, recorded by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCW6IQ78zJY

oh yeah dynasty one is awful

JC'sNR was for the closing sting in the noms.

Also LOL I can no longer read and accidentally started at 111 and not 101.

Can a mod change that in the title?

Rainbow sounds pretty great. I wasn't familiar with it.

Dynasty is dreary, but also majestic. That's a difficult mood to pull off.

Rainbow was always a good one to make up rude words to. I like the full version actually, including the slow bit - total hippy vibes.

Not feeling Dynasty, though.

Dynasty so incredibly tony.

Can't believe only one other person voted for Knightmare. Though I did cut off Newsround as I was stacking myself slightly too Radiophonicky.

If you want to link youtubes w/o embedding them, just click on the share button beneath the player and copy the abbreviated link. Seems easier than manually adding the "s".

106. Good Times (3 votes, 50 points)
USA
1974-79
Dave Grusin, Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Jim Gilstrap and Blinky Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeDdt6X8vFU

Never heard of Good Times. Relatively pleasant cheese, I suppose.

^ Great theme, didn't have the room for it.

Knightmare is the shit

Hangin in a chow line ?
Good times!

If it weren't for a hoy hoy's inability to read lists, Good Times wouldn't even have made it. SHOCKING.

(tie)

105. Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? (2 votes, 52 points)
UK
1973-74
Mike Hugg (of Manfred Mann) and La Frenais
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJ4C0pTGDw

105. Reading Rainbow (5 votes, 52 points)
USA
1986-2006
Steve Horelick, Dennis Neil Kleinman and Janet Weir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=844DzynPG-w

105. Dukes of Hazzard (3 votes, 52 points)
USA
1979-85
Waylon Jennings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRX4mlFi06A

Woah, Dukes only got 3 votes?

Merrie Melodies is basically Harold Arlen's Get Happy right? It's good obv!

Knightmare sounds like a load of other 80s themes, bet it sounded AWESOME if you were racing around the sitting room on a broom or something though.

Newsround is amazing, so concise in telling you THIS IS THE NEWS SO LISTEN UP, but so inventive and fun too.

Annotating this list by voters' nation of origin is soooo not going to be necessary.

posted elsewhere on these poll threads, but worth revisiting imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ8ZGoEqjTo

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

102. The Partridge Family (3 votes, 53 points)
USA
1970-74
Diane Hilderbrand, Danny Janssen and Wes Farrell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOiKa51ll-k

THE ACTUAL 101 TIES

(tie)

101. Wonder Woman (2 votes, 54 points, 1 #1 vote)
USA
1975-79
Charles Fox (music) and Norman Gimbel (lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_blOQEu9ws

101. Ski Sunday (3 votes, 54 points)
UK
1978-
Sam Fonteyn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOEO_fgG3-I

101. HR Pufnstuf (3 votes, 54 points)
USA
1969-72
Les Szarvas but is also credited to Paul Simon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlRCH0EKYmM

98. Tomorrow's World (5 votes, 55 points)
UK
1980-2003?
Denton & Cook?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbdjx1MYPtc

(If you combine this with the earlier theme, it would have come tied #66.)

Surprised by the low showing of both Likely Lads and Dukes of Hazzard - I didn't vote for either but they're usually spoken about as classics...

omg slow down aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh

Ski Sunday and Tomorrow's World are both rad.

Aww hell no - Wonder Woman was totally robbed. My #1.

ha dr i was just trying to get to where I was supposed to start from.

One of the fun things about this exercise is how every single one of the youtubes has people complaining about how things ain't what they used to be in the comments.

I now fear for my #1 already.

have a genuine jam on the way, after i make myself a cup of tea.

Finally hearing a lot of these themes from Britishes' favorite shows makes it clear, to me, that the US definitely doesn't have a monopoly on the best tv themes (not that I ever really thought it did).

I had Merry Melodies/Looney Toons in my ballot for a while and then decided, since I was having such trouble cutting things down, I would have to let them go as not really being TV themes, though they are incredibly iconic.

Reading Rainbow placed with me. It's just shuffling along pleasantly and then the "I can go anywhere!" part comes in, and things seem to take off, and it really sells the premise of the show. Books are not just fun and entertaining but liberating, and the rising vocal gets that I think.

In general I sort of resolved ties and priority in my ballot by this "evocation of the show's themes" when pure nostalgic love and musical appreciation weren't giving me an answer.

xps a hoy hoy - haha, it's your poll! Roll it out as you like it! I'm pretty much always the grumbling gnome in the corner begging for slower results just because I think they make for better discussion. But again, the possible result of that is my REM poll which took the better part of a year I think....

Tomorrow's World one is bangin', total space music in 1980. I like the synth that sounds like a choir of robot monks, but it's all great.

Also, in a poll like this where I really don't know half the stuff I'd like to be able to take the time to click on the links and hear the unfamiliar Britishers themes, etc. But, by all means, carry on with the show!

Can't believe only one other person voted for Knightmare.

Just reading through the thread now, was about to post exactly this! Everyone except for emil.y and me is WRONG.

The theme to Dynasty was wrtten by Bill Conti of Rocky fame.

I would have voted for Knightmare but i missed the deadline due to laziness. I don't think any other show exerted such a hold over my childhood imagination

Dukes of Hazard was my #4

Knightmare was neeto, but sonically it has a twin (a superior one) in the Airwolf theme (which I most certainly voted for).

(tie)
97. The State (3 votes, 56 points)
USA
1993-95
Craig Wedren and Theodore Shapiro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O9Eo-rlZZc

97. It's a Knockout (3 votes, 56 points)
UK
1966-88
Bean Bag by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5hExLsJlaI

Secretly hope that every single slot is a tie between one US show and one UK show from here on out.

reminds me of a time; right before one of the worse decisions of my life; the one that changed everything.... forever. If I would of only answered the phone; I would not be typing this right now

I wonder what Dino Mireles is talking about? Was he the guy in charge of commissioning the internet?

1. SuperTed (27 votes, 600 points, 14 #1 votes)
USSR
1982-96
Luis Suarez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fkQFaUs-ic

LEON7664 2 years ago

FUCKING QUALITY
·
seankidby

seankidby 2 years ago

BRING BACK SUPERTED!!!
·
sparkyinbath

sparkyinbath 2 years ago

A spotty man??? How weird is that.
·
ffsnoob

ffsnoob 2 years ago

Cosmic dust? then you goto a magic cloud and get super powers.... :D
·

NEVER IN DOUBT

Not really a song there.

Noway!

Emily Dresslar 1 hour ago

the time vortex changes

·
djdestro22

djdestro22 8 hours ago

David Tennat is best doctor
·
XxCdude1777Xx

XxCdude1777Xx 11 hours ago

Damn this is one long time vortex.
·
Karl Atkins

Karl Atkins 13 hours ago

I grew up with Tom Baker, Dr Who was scary then, now it's just for kids...total crap! Such a shame BBC, how about looking to a new concept eh??? Sad old BBC...
·

You crazy Brits and your Superted.

luis suarez was super red surely

I honestly haven't gone one youtube clip without "shit was better in my days" comments.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120902230537/tardis/images/8/87/Doctor_Who_logo_7.jpg

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120902221731/tardis/images/d/dd/Doctor_Who_logo_Pertwee_logo.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w2QwwwbLAuI/TyoI8kH6MAI/AAAAAAAABOg/z1XhdFgf7zg/s1600/delia_derbyshire.jpg

http://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/ron-grainer-at-a-piano.jpg

1. Doctor Who (19 votes, 495 points, 5 #1 votes)
UK
Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire

1963-1969:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NPJ6GMXM3E

The original 1963 recording of the Doctor Who theme music is widely regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music, recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers. Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop used musique concrète techniques to realise a score written by composer Ron Grainer. Each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string, white noise, and the simple harmonic waveforms of test-tone oscillators which were used for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music. The swooping melody and pulsating bass rhythm were created by manually adjusting the pitch of oscillator banks to a carefully timed pattern. The rhythmic hissing sounds, "bubbles" and "clouds", were created by cutting tape recordings of filtered white noise.[1]

Once each sound had been created, it was modified. Some sounds were created at all the required pitches direct from the oscillators, others had to be repitched later by adjusting the tape playback speed and re-recording the sound onto another tape player. This process continued until every sound was available at all the required pitches. To create dynamics, the notes were re-recorded at slightly different levels.

Each individual note was then trimmed to length by cutting the tape, and stuck together in the right order. This was done for each "line" in the music – the main plucked bass, the bass slides (an organ-like tone emphasising the grace notes), the hisses, the swoops, the melody, a second melody line (a high organ-like tone used for emphasis), and the bubbles and clouds. Most of these individual bits of tape making up lines of music, complete with edits every inch, still survive.

This done, the music had to be "mixed". There were no multitrack tape machines, so rudimentary multitrack techniques were invented: each length of tape was placed on a separate tape machine and all the machines were started simultaneously and the outputs mixed together. If the machines didn't stay in sync, they started again, maybe cutting tapes slightly here and there to help. In fact, a number of "submixes" were made to ease the process – a combined bass track, combined melody track, bubble track, and hisses.

Grainer was amazed at the resulting piece of music and when he heard it, famously asked, "Did I write that?". Derbyshire modestly replied "Most of it". Unfortunately, the BBC—who wanted to keep members of the Workshop anonymous—prevented Grainer from getting Derbyshire a co-composer credit and a share of the royalties.

1970-80:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHwJDYCW2Rw

During the Third Doctor's era, beginning in 1970, the theme tune was altered for the first time. The theme was edited to match the new credit sequence, with a shortened introduction and part of the main motif repeated to fade at the end of the titles. The "middle eight" was no longer used in the opening sequence. Over the closing credits, parts of the tune were duplicated as required for the theme to end with the credits, rather than fading out as it had previously. The "sting", an electronic shriek, was added to punctuate the episode cliffhangers and serve as a lead-in to the closing theme from The Ambassadors of Death (1970) onwards, with the "middle eight" also falling out of use in the closing credits from this serial. The first three serials of Season 8 reverted to the 1967 arrangement before reinstating the Third Doctor's arrangement for the last two serials of that year. During the Fourth Doctor era, the "middle eight" was heard on only four episodes during his first six seasons – The Invasion of Time parts 3,4 & 6 and The Armageddon Factor part 6. The adoption of Peter Howell's arrangement in 1980 re-instated the section.

In 1972, there was an attempt by Brian Hodgson and Paddy Kingsland, with Delia Derbyshire acting as producer, to modernise the theme tune using the Radiophonic Workshop's modular "Delaware" synthesiser (named after the Workshop's location at Delaware Road). The "Delaware" arrangement, which had a distinct Jew's harp sound, was not well received by BBC executives and was abandoned. The master tapes were given to a fan at the 1983 Longleat celebrations by Hodgson and were never returned.

1980-85:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2oCK89xxNQ

For Season 18, Radiophonic Workshop staffer Peter Howell provided a new arrangement performed on analogue synthesisers, giving a more dynamic and glossy, but less haunting feel. Its bassline was created on a Yamaha CS-80 synthesiser, with reversed echo added, creating its characteristic "zshumm" sound. The main melody was played on an ARP Odyssey Mk III.[2] The 1980 arrangement added the sting to the opening theme as well, while the "middle eight" was included in the closing theme arrangement of all episodes. Howell's theme is in the key of F♯ minor.

1986:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1oQ-u18C_o

The Howell theme was eventually replaced by a new arrangement by Dominic Glynn for Season 23's The Trial of a Time Lord (1986). This synthesiser-driven version was arranged to sound more mysterious than previous renditions but was only used for this single season of the series. Glynn's theme reverts back to the traditional key of E minor, even though it is slightly detuned. The bassline was performed on a Roland Juno-6 synthesiser, while the melody and filtered noise effects were performed on a Yamaha DX21 and Korg 770 respectively.

1987-89:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AdLkc-s_4

The Glynn arrangement was itself replaced by a new arrangement by Keff McCulloch for the Seventh Doctor's era beginning with Season 24 (1987). McCulloch's arrangement was made using a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesiser, with the initial 'sting' replaced by a crashing explosive sound. Producer John Nathan-Turner stated that the new music, logo and title sequence were to signal a fresh start to the programme. This was the first version of the theme since the little-used 1973 Delaware version to incorporate the "middle eight" into the opening credits. McCulloch's theme is in the key of A minor. Delia Derbyshire was reportedly very unhappy with McCulloch's version.

1996:

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

The 1996 Doctor Who television Movie used a fully orchestrated version, arranged by John Debney. This contained a new introduction, being a quieter piece of music over which part of the Eighth Doctor's (Paul McGann) opening narration was read, leading into a crescendo into the "middle eight", a departure from previous versions of the theme. Debney's version of the theme begins in A minor, but after the middle eight the main melody is transposed back to E minor, as in the original score. Less evident in this version of the score is the rhythmic bassline that opens and underscores all previous (and later) televised versions of the theme; a bassline is present, but it does not rise and fall in the same way. Debney is the only composer that receives screen credit during the movie, with the then-deceased Grainer not being credited on screen for composing the theme. Debney at one point was nearly asked to compose a new theme due to music licensing issues regarding the Grainer composition.

2005-09

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUh180pA5ag

In 2005, the television series was revived. Murray Gold's theme arrangement featured samples from the 1963 original with further elements added: an orchestral sound of low horns, strings and percussion and part of the Dalek ray-gun and TARDIS materialisation sound effects. Rapidly rising and falling strings, known by fans as "The Chase",[citation needed] is an element that was not present in any previous version of the theme.

The sting once again served as the lead-in to the theme, but Gold omitted the "middle eight" from both the opening and closing credits. Gold has said that his interpretation was driven by the title visual sequence he was given to work around. Gold created a variation on his arrangement for the closing credits of "The Christmas Invasion", which was performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Unlike his arrangement for the 2005 series, this version restored the "middle eight"; it was also used for the closing credits of the 2006 and 2007 series.

2010-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV6bbP1rZ84

For series 5, the theme received a complete reworking to tie in with the brand new cast, production design, and title sequence design. Arranged by Murray Gold, the new theme retains both the original Derbyshire composition, and Gold's own "The Chase" counter-melody. The reworking is something of a departure from all previous arrangements, with a prominent new melodic fanfare theme playing in the opening bars, and a percussion sound accenting each quaver of the rhythm. The middle eight is to date only heard at the end of "The Beast Below", where the theme begins under the trailer for "Victory of the Daleks". In all other Eleventh Doctor episodes, the theme tune is not used during next time trailers, and the credits feature only the introductory fanfare and the final notes of the main theme.

1 Doctor Who theme (70s version) 19 495 5
2 Twin Peaks 18 350
3 Mission Impossible 14 253 1
4 Knight Rider 12 244
5 Batman (Neal Hefti, 1966) 16 240
6 The Rockford Files 11 224 1
7 Sesame Street 13 206
8 DuckTales 13 203
9 The Monkees 12 201
10 The Pink Panther Show (the theme song by Doug Goodwin) 11 185
11 fresh prince of bel air 13 176
12 Mary Tyler Moore 11 169 1
13 The A-Team 8 166
14 Linus and Lucy 7 163
15 Peter Gunn 6 162 1
16 Sanford & Son 8 162 2
17 321 Contact 7 157
18 Hawaii 5-0 8 151 1
19 Roobarb & Custard 6 136
20 The Twilight Zone 8 136
21 Airwolf 5 133 1
22 HILL STREET BLUES 9 131 1
23 the muppet show 8 131
24 The Addams Family 11 129
25 TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) - Soul Train theme '73-'75 4 129
26 M*A*S*H 7 125
27 The Mysterious Cities of Gold 5 124 1
28 The Littlest Hobo 6 123 1
29 Star Trek 10 120
30 The Tomorrow People 6 118
31 Cheers 11 117 1
32 Fat Albert. HEY HEY HEY 7 116
33 The Raccoons - Run With Us 5 115
34 Welcome Back Kotter 8 114 1
35 The Avengers 4 113 1
36 Magnum, P.I. 7 101
37 The Simpsons 8 100
38 CHiPs you guys 4 99 2
39 X-Files 4 96 1
40 Duckula 7 95
41 Star Trek: The Next Generation 5 93
42 Taxi 4 93
43 Children of the Stones 4 92
44 Perfect Strangers 6 91
45 Spider-Man (1967) 8 90
46 The Prisoner (1967-8) 5 90
47 Monkey 4 89
48 Pee-Wee's Playhouse 6 89
49 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 89 1
50 BBC Cricket/Test Match Special (Soul limbo) 4 88
51 Kids in the Hall 4 86
52 Lavern and Shirley 5 83
53 The Love Boat 4 82
54 Dave Allen at large 4 81 1
55 White Horses 5 81 1
56 Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy 5 79
57 top of the pops - brassy zep 4 79
58 Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? 6 77
59 Barney Miller 3 75
60 MIAMI VICE 4 75
61 The Banana Splits 7 75
62 Danger Mouse 5 74
63 The Beverly Hillbillies 4 74
64 Dragnet 4 73
65 Inspector Gadget 7 73
66 MST3K Love theme (end credits song) 3 73 1
67 For Pete's Sake" - the Monkees 2nd season closing credits song. 4 70
68 Fraggle Rock 5 70
69 Yakety Sax aka the Benny Hill theme 4 70
70 Maude! 4 69
71 Scooby-Doo (original non-Scrappy version) 4 69
72 Grandstand 3 68
73 Grange Hill (BBC, 1970s-early 80s) 5 68
74 Miami Vice - Crockett's Theme 3 66
75 Northern Exposure 3 66 1
76 Get Smart 5 65
77 Jem 3 65 1
78 SWAT 4 65
79 The Persuaders 4 65
80 Jeffersons 5 64
81 Sopranos 3 64
82 The Flintstones 6 64
83 The Magic Roundabout 5 64
84 Channel 4 Tour de France theme (by Pete Shelley!) 2 63 1
85 MINDER 2 62 1
86 Dallas 5 60
87 frasier 7 60
88 The Adventures of Pete & Pete 3 60
89 Sealab 2021 3 59 1
90 The Andy Griffith Show 3 59
91 Bagpuss (main theme) 4 58
92 CHARLES IN CHARGE 4 58
93 Greatest American Hero 4 57
94 'Left Bank Two' (the gallery theme from Vision On) 3 57 1
95 U.F.O. 2 57 1
96 It's A Knockout 3 56
97 The State 3 56
98 Tomorrow's World (1980 onwards, Denton & Cook) 5 55
99 H.R. Pufnstuf 3 54
100 Ski Sunday 3 54
111 Wonder Woman 2 54 1
Partridge Family 3 53
Dukes of Hazzard 3 52
Reading Rainbow 5 52
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads 2 52
Good Times 3 50
John Craven's Newsround (closing sting: "New Worlds by John Baker) 3 49
Knightmare 2 49
Merrie Melodies 2 49 1
Dynasty 2 48
Rainbow 3 48
Charlie's Angels 2 47
Have Gun Will Travel (The Ballad of Paladin) 2 47
The Goodies 3 47
World In Action 2 47
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers 3 46
Futurama 3 46
Muppet Babies 5 46
Salute Your Shorts 2 46
TERRIERS 3 46
Golden Girls 5 45
Murder She Wrote 4 45
Sorry! 2 45
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour 2 45
Green Acres 4 44
Looney Tunes 3 44
Metalocalypse 2 44
The Jetsons 2 44
Thunderbirds 2 44
Bewitched 3 43
Bod 3 43
Rocko's Modern Life 2 43
Andy Griffith 2 42
Batman: The Animated Series 2 42
Father Ted 2 42
Jeopardy! 4 42
QUANTUM LEAP 3 42
The Equalizer 3 41
law and order 4 40
Mr. Belvedere 2 40
Ron & Val Taylor's Inner Space [Sven Libaek] 2 40
Saved By the Bell 3 40
The People's Court 4 40
Aqua Teen Hunger Force 3 39
Are you Being Served! 5 39
MacGuyver 2 39
The Munsters 3 39
WKRP in Cincinnati end theme 3 39
The Flashing Blade 2 38
Thundercats 2 38
Happy Days 2 37
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood 3 37
Here Come the Double Deckers 2 36
The Incredible Hulk - Lonely Man Theme 4 36
Batman Animated Series: Mr. Freeze theme (Heart of Ice episode) 1 35 1
The Streets of San Francisco 1 35 1
WWE Stone Cold Steve Austin Theme 1 35 1
All In The Family 4 34
Simon & Simon 2 34
Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast 2 34
Red Dwarf I & II 2 33
The Clothes Show (In the Night by The Pet Shop Boys) 2 33
Doogie Howser, M.D. 2 32
Stingray (60s series) 2 32
The Bill! 3 32
Bergerac 2 31
Round the Twist 2 31
The Wire Season 4 (kids version) 2 31
Raggy Dolls 2 30
Batman Animated Series: Clayface (Feat of Clay episode) 1 29
Callan 1 29
Camberwick Green 2 29
Doctor Banner ... pelted by gamma rays" theme - Incredible Hulk 2 29
Harry's Game 1 29
Hart Beat (Tony Hart 1 29
Mastermind 3 29
Moonlighting 1 29
Old Grey Whistle Test 3 29
Room 222 1 29
Speed Racer 3 29
WWE Ultimate Warrior Theme 1 29
Adventure Time 1 28
Get Stuffed 1 28
Malcolm in the Middle 3 28
Red Dwarf Closing Theme 2 28
The Fall Guy 1 28
The Great Egg Race 3 28
Transformers 3 28
animaniacs 1 27
BBC Snooker theme 2 27
I Spy 1 27
Lars Von Triers' Riget (The Kingdom) 2 27
Pokemon 1 27
Randall and Hopkirk Deceased (1969 version) 1 27
Screen Test 3 27
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 1 27
Yes Minister 1 27
Black Beauty 2 26
Blake's 7 1 26
Captain Pugwash 2 26
Gilligan's Island 2 26
It's a Living 1 26
The Office ("Handbags and Gladrags") 1 26
Walker, Texas Ranger 1 26
Justice League (00s cartoon) 1 25
One Day at a Time 2 25
Tail Spin 2 25
The High Chaparral 1 25
Barbapapa! 2 24
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons 3 24
Kids Incorporated 3 24
Mr Rossi 2 24
Poirot 1 24
Red Dwarf!! 1 24
Sifl and Olly 1 24
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em 2 24
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ("On the Other Side") 1 24
Three's Company 3 24
Ulysses 31 2 24
amen 2 23
Baretta 1 23
Beverly Hills 90210 2 23
Law And Order "DUN DUN" 1 23
The Bill Cosby Show (Not the Cosby Show- I mean the one with “Hikky Burr” as the theme tune) 1 23
Alvin & The Chipmunks 2 22
I Love Lucy 2 22
Spongebob Squarepants 1 22
The Dick Van Dyke Show 1 22
The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin 1 22
The Sweeney 2 22
Around the World with Willy Fog (80s cartoon) 1 21
Curb Your Enthusiasm 1 21
Formula One (i.e. Fleetwood Mac - The Chain) 1 21
George of the Jungle 2 21
Home Improvement 1 21
Night Court 3 21
paddington bear 1 21
The Odd Couple 1 21
Baywatch 1 20
Bonanza theme song sung by Lorne Greene 1 20
Dinnerladies 1 20
Gummi Bears 2 20
MPD-Psycho - Strange New World (Lucy Monostone) 1 20
The Colbert Report 1 20
The Facts of Life 2 20
The Little Vampire 1 20
The Price is Right? 1 20
Crossroads 1 19
Diff'rent Strokes 2 19
Family Ties 1 19
I Dream of Jeannie 3 19
Rockliffe's babies 1 19
Third Rock from the Sun 1 19
WKRP in Cincinnati opening theme 3 19
Angie 2 18
Catweazle 2 18
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds 1 18
Monty Python's Flying Circus 2 18
The Brady Bunch 4 18
The Mod Squad 1 18
The Strange World of Gurney Slade 1 18
The Wire Season 2(Tom Waits) 1 18
Tomorrow's World (1966-1979, John Dankworth) 1 18
Denver the Last Dinosaur 2 17
Fireball XL-5 1 17
HIMYM 1 17
In Living Color 2 17
Kingswood Country 2 17
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 1 17
Weekend World ("Nantucket Sleighride") 1 17
Deadman Wonderland 1 16
Degrassi Jr. High 1 16
Doug 1 16
The Film Programme aka Film 72,73 etc 1 16
The Wire Season 3 (neville bros) 1 16
The Wire Season 5 (Steve Earle) 1 16
Why Don't You...? 1 16
Full House 1 15
Germany's Tatort 1 15
Louie 1 15
Owen, M.D. ("Sleepy Shores") 1 15
Pinky and the Brain 1 15
The Changes 1 15
young ones 1 15
All That 1 14
Scrubs 1 14
Animal Magic 2 13
Box of Delights 1 13
Dexter's Lab 1 13
King of Kensington 1 13
Ren & Stimpy 1 13
Tales of the Unexpected 1 13
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! end theme ("Do the Mario") 1 13
Trapdoor 1 13
Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home 1 13
Galaxy High 1 12
Hey Dude 2 12
Jamie and the Magic Torch 2 12
Josie and the Pussycats 1 12
Firefly 1 11
Prisoner / Cell Block H / Caged Women ("On The Inside") 1 11
Silas 1 11
The ‘60s Iron Man cartoon 1 11
Z-Cars 2 11
Ask The Family ("Acka Raga" by Joe Harriott & John Mayer) 1 10
Cosmos 1 10
Twin Peaks - Laura Palmer's Theme 2 10
Bucky O Hare 1 9
Captain Planet 1 9
Columbo 1 9
CSI ("Who Are You") 1 9
Dad's Army 1 9
Danger Man 1 9
Darkwing Duck 1 9
Mama's Family 1 9
Seeing Things 1 9
THE NANNY 1 9
The Onedin Line 1 9
The Young and the Restless 1 9
Benson 1 8
Cowboy Bebop "Tank!" 1 8
Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law 1 8
Oz 1 8
Polka-Dot Door 1 8
Rawhide 2 8
The Courtship of Eddie's Father 1 8
Tiny Toon Adventures 1 8
Barnaby Jones 1 7
Champion the Wonder Horse 1 7
Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre 1 7
Hawaiian Eye 1 7
Jeeves & Wooster 1 7
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp 1 7
Melrose Place 1 7
Police Squad! 1 7
Starsky & Hutch 1 7
The Champions 1 7
Timm Thaler aka Tim Tyler 1 7
Top Cat 3 7
30 Rock 1 6
Buffy The Vampire Slayer 1 6
Cheggers Plays Pop 2 6
Countdown 1 6
Daktari 1 6
Kojak 1 6
My Three Sons 1 6
Six Feet Under 2 6
Sledge Hammer! 1 6
Tales From the Crypt 1 6
The Wire Season 1 (blind boys of alabama) 1 6
This Is Your Life (UK) 1 6
Underdog 3 6
Angel 1 5
Friends 2 5
Hong Kong Phooey 1 5
Living Single 1 5
The Famous Five 2 5
Venture Bros 1 5
Kolchak the Night Stalker 2 4
Mickey Mouse Club 1 4
Sharky and George 1 4
The Tripods 1 4
Who's the Boss 1 4
Dr Katz 1 3
Jim'll Fix It 1 3
Willow the Wisp 1 3
Car 54, Where Are You 1 2
COPS (Inner Circle - Bad Boys) 1 2
Seinfeld 1 2
Unsolved Mysteries 1 2
Van Der Valk (Simon Park Orchestra - Eye Level) 1 2
What’s Happening 1 2
Bill Nye The Science Guy 1 1
Davy Crockett 1 1
Family Matters 1 1
Four Corners 1 1
Love Boat 1 1
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men 1 1
Mr. Dress-Up 1 1
Terrahawks 1 1
$25,000 Pyramid
60 Minutes
77 Sunset Strip
ABC's Wide World of Sports
ACTION NEWS THEME
Alf
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alice
All Creatures Great and Small
Alter Image (Channel 4, 1980s, by Mick Karn)
Amazing Stories
American Band Stand
Angling Today ("The Mugwump")
animal hospital
Animal Kwackers
Automan
Azumanga Daioh
Baa Baa Black Sheep
BATFINK
Battle of the Planets
Battlestar Galactica (1978 series)
Beauty and The Beast
Beverly Hills Teens
Big Bad Beetleborgs
big blue marble
Blackadder
Blankety Blank
Blossom
Bobby's World
Bots Master
Bourbon Street Beat
Branded
Brideshead Revisited
Bring 'em Back Alive
Bruce Forsyth and The Generation Game
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Butterflies
Button Moon
Cagney & Lacey
Camp Cariboo
Casualty
Chappelle's Show
chico and the man
Chocky
Chorlton and the Wheelies
Clarissa Explains It All
class in a glass
Clone High
Crown Court
CSI: Miami ("Won't Get Fooled Again")
CSI: New York ("Baba O' Riley")
Daniel Boone
Daria
Defenders of the Earth
Dexter
Die Sendung mit der Maus
Different Worlds" from Angie, the short-lived Robert Hays/Donna Pescow sitcom
Earthworm Jim
El Chavo del 8
Emergency!
Emmerdale Farm
F Troop
Fillmore
Fingerbobs
Fish
Flight of the Conchords
Freakazoid
Freaks and Geeks
Fruity flute" - Farmhouse Kitchen
Fun House
Game of Thrones
German Sesame Street.
Girl from Tomorrow
Growing Pains
Gumby
Hardcastle & McCormick
Have Gun – Will Travel
Heads And Tails
Hockey Night in Canada
home and away
Homeland
Homicide: Life on the Street
Hooperman
Hunter
I Married Joan
In The Heat of The Night
In The Night Garden
Inspector Morse
Ironside
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It's About Time
JOANIE LOVES CHACHI
Kim Possible theme by Christina Milian
King of the Hill
Kung Fu
Kure Kure Takora (aka Gimme Gimme Octopus)
La Carabina de Ambrosio
LA Law
Lambchop's Playalong - The Song That Doesn't End
Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Night with David Letterman
Liquid Television
Little House on the Prairie
Lois and Clark
Lost in Space (seasons 1 & 2 only!)
Lost in Space- but only the John Williams version
Mad Men
Magpie
Man About The House
Man Alive
Man in a Suitcase
Mannix
Masterpiece Theatre
Match Game
Match Of The Day
Matlock
Medical Center
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Misfits of Science
Mod Squad
Moesha
Mr Benn
Munsters
NBA on NBC theme (composed and performed by John Tesh)
neighbours
New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Newhart
NewsRadio
NYPD Blue
Oi Jacko
On the Air
On The Move
Open University theme
Otherworld
Outlaw Star
Paranoia Agent
Party of Five
Pepper Ann
Perry Mason
petticoat junction
Picture Box
Police Woman
Pot Black
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
Power Rangers Mystic Force
Punky Brewster
Rag, Tag & Bobtail
Raumpatrouille
Reboot
Renegade
Rhoda
Riptide
Robin Of Sherwood
Robin's Nest
Robot Chicken End Theme
Rugrats
Sailor Moon
Samurai Jack
Samurai Pizza Cats
Scarecrow and Mrs King
SECRET AGENT
ship to shore
Silk Stalkings
Silver Spoons
Sister Sister
Six Million Dollar Man
Sneak Previews (Siskel & Ebert on PBS)
Solid Gold
Sons of Anarchy
Space: 1999
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Sportsnight (aka Sportsnight with Coleman)
Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Star Trek: Voyager
Stingray (80s series)
Street Hawk
Super Chicken
SUPERTED
Supertrain (any version of the theme)
Swedish children’s TV show “Alfons Aberg”
Tales of the Gold Monkey
Tales of the Riverbank
Tazmania
Teen Titans
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe
The Adventures Of Lano & Woodley
The Adventures of Robin Hood
the BBC series Roughnecks
The Beachcombers
The Big Match
the Bikers take Belfast theme - the Sons of Anarchy theme from the latter part of Season 3
the bill cosby show - the orig show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show
The Bugs Bunny Show
The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour
The Commish
The Daily Show
The Drew Carey Show (starting w/ season 2) - "Cleveland Rocks,"
The Electric Company
The Fantastic Journey
The Friendly Giant
The Great Space Coaster
The Green Hornet
The Groovie Goolies
The Heights
The League of Gentlemen
The LWT music (aka "here they come now, Morecambe and Wise")
The Mighty Hercules
The Money Programme
The New Zoo Revue
The Powerpuff Girls
The Protectors
The Pruitts of Southampton
The Rebel
The Road Runner Show
The Rookies
The Saint
the sonic the hedgehog cartoon with the demented peer gynt music
The Sooty Show
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spiderman theme song, particularly the French version for the Quebecois market
The Time Tunnel
The Tracey Ullman Show
The Two Ronnies
The White Horses
The White Shadow
Toma
top of the pops - andi peters era synthy thing
top of the pops - bill fartcastle
top of the pops - bill linett
top of the pops - drum n bass zep
Uncle Feedle (from Bagpuss)
University Challenge
University Challenge (OG version)
Untalkative Bunny
WCW Monday Nitro Theme
WCW nWo Theme
weeds
When The Boat Comes In
Whiz Kids
Whodunnit
Wild World of Animals (closing)
Wild World of Animals (opening)
Wiseguy
WWE/WCW Dusty Rhodes Theme
X-Men (90's series)
Zorro

Poor Harry's Game, u Clannad-hating bastards

So I wasn't the only person to vote for Kolchak the Night Stalker.

amen 2 23
uncool

backtracking to 3-2-1-Contact (a great tune), I was reminded that another 3-2-1-Contact-related tune that I probably should have voted for is the Bloodhound Gang theme.

yeah thats a good one! concise and catchy

Well, the Champion the Wonder Horse vote sure collapsed. :(

Good top 10 though, well done everybody. (And the right, rinky dink Pink Panther theme made it there too.)

Thanks a million a hoy hoy, it's been a blast.

Did WKRP In Cincinnati's opening theme song place? I only see it mentioned in a huge list of options.

The Charlie's Angels and Love Boat themes were ROBBED. Criminal.

Thanks, a hoy hoy! And thank you ilx for making the right decision.

Yeah, thanks for running this one, a.h.h. -- fun poll. Some headscratchers in the results and one or two major lapses in my own ballot (leaving off The Avengers, wtf), but not too much to argue with.

OK it seems I missed 53. The Love Boat (4 votes, 82 points).

But it's in the main tally list twice - once simply as Love Boat 1 1. So I guess this means it actually tied with Laverne & Shirley?

i guess so! sorry. i thought i'd caught all the duplicates but obv not and now this poll is a sham.

aren't we all though, when you get down to it

hey I didn't say thank you at the time of the GRAND DENOUEMENT because I was hell of busy but now I have a day off and am listening to allll the youtubes and just dropping in to say:

1. thank you a hoy hoy!
2. yay doctor who!

etc

CiTV channel showing an 'OldSkool Weekend' - I've just had the pleasure of watching Knightmare (on tomorrow too at 2pm), and Fraggle Rock is now on. Tomorrow People on at 5pm.

Excellent article about Knightmare (including in-depth interview with Treguard!):

http://gameological.com/2012/11/the-stuff-of-knightmare/

thanks for that

Just went through the poll. That beginning of the top 10 w/the wrong Pink Panther tune and Duck Tales is disappointing. Thank goodness the thing recovered.

Theme of Children of Stones is great, and its nice to discover John Barry (allergic to almost anything to do w/Bond). Some other good ones from shows I've never seen (Taxi).

Joe 90 and The Hulk were robbed.

Finally caught up on the results. Can't really dispute anything in the top tier - - - bravo to a hoy hoy for making it all happen.

Discovered "Harry O" over the break, which has a pretty catchy theme. If you love a good 70s overstuffed arrangement this is for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o5-7bAEtWQ

^^^ first version, more mellow and wistful, fitting the show's premise: a slightly curmudgeonly, injured ex-cop (David Janssen) lives by the beach and begrudgingly takes the bus around town to solve crimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zd9zIjtnTc

^^^ second version, with a considerably juiced-up arrangement; footage is edited differently to suggest a more action-packed show (which it did in fact become).

Season One is now out on DVD and the episodes I've seen are a riot.

haha and as the youtube thumbs make clear, they killed off his contact at the police department to replace him with a more interesting character

reading rainbow was robbed

I must have missed this poll. The UK/US dichotomy is interesting as is the grouping of TV themes (I'm not for sure, but probably the people voting for the Avengers weren't voting for Johnny Dankworth's version?)

Reading Rainbow is great.

Anyway, here are some other TV themes I rate:

The Flashing Blade (UK)
Hockey Night in Canada
The Sons of Hercules
Speed Racer
BOTH High Wire (Danger Man) and Secret Agent Man (US)
CHiPS
Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow (Baretta)
Bourbon Street Beat
Captain America (1967)
The NBC Mystery Movie
Supertrain (both versions but especially the "Chain Reaction" version)
The Electric Company
Fireball XL-5
Gumby
Hunter
Lost in Space (the John Williams one)
Magnum P.I.
The Men (Isaac Hayes)
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (mostly for the disco version)
The Name of the Game
NYPD Blue
The People's Court (monster Alan Tew funk jam called "The Big One")
Pinwheel
The Price is Right
The Rebel
Space Ghost Coast to Coast (Sonny Sharrock)
The Streets of San Francisco
Medical Center
S.W.A.T.
The Tick
The Persuaders
Toma

Hill Street Blues is my alltime favorite these days

It’s such a beautiful melody. The genius is that ir seems so wildly incongruous with the tension inherent in the show BUT imo is perfect bc it connotes the *heart* of the characters <3

can you tell also I’ve been watching loads of Hill Street Blues

WKRP criminally overlooked, AND Mary Tyler Moore! like how did that happen.

imo need two separate redux polls, one of britisher shows & one of USian shows

I’m a huge fan of the Law and Order SVU theme. Mike Post rules!

WKRP is great, just fantastic soft rock

btw if the Jetsons theme doesn't place, you people are insane

― crüt, Thursday, December 6, 2012 1:22 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean really

Damn, The Jetsons theme has some intense jazz bass runs.

It's kind of disgraceful The Bob Newhart Show theme didn't place. That tune, regardless of which version, slaps mightily.

imo need two separate redux polls, one of britisher shows & one of USian shows

...and a rest of the world side poll, so that I can vote for the AU Late Show, 90s 7 sports theme and this other one.

CHARLES IN CHARGE!
OF OUR DAYS!
AND OUR NIGHTS!

one of my favourite gags on Brooklyn 99 is Charles parking his car to that

lol yes that was great

iiiiiiiiii can goooo anywheeeeeeeeeeeeere

otm

Hill Street Blues is my alltime favorite these days

Me too! I don't even watch that much Hill Street Blues, but sometimes I watch the opening credits just to hear that gorgeous melancholy theme.

kinda genuinely angry at those who took potshots at ducktales

you don't understand what that song can DO to a person

going through old '90s shows and came across this one i hadn't ever seen before, "cleghorne"

my god what a great tv theme tune, not even _remotely_ '90s either... who wrote this on?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUmyiG-1JS4

baffled at myself for not voting for "Ancient Voices," the theme song from the US version of Survivor.

Season 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjpBhWl55VA

Season 32:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJS8s9F3qaM

like much of the music from the first season (which is a bizarre time capsule of the year 2000) it has this weird lite-techno / Pure Moods thing going on, as well as a lot of vague and problematic musical signifiers of South Seas indigeneity (okay this is also consistent with Pure Moods) and yet they've just kept using the thing, revising, re-arranging, remixing, for twenty fucking years! (OK the Survivor fan wiki tells me it was dropped in Season 39, and then in Season 40 it appears only in the finale. so who knows.)

they also report that Ancient Voices" was musically scored by American composer Russ Landau. Contrary to popular belief that the song was mere gibberish, its lyrics are actually based on a Russian folk song, Poidu Vyidu na Ulitsu (Пойду выйду на улицу, meaning "I'll go and get outside").

our current insane marathon is only up to Season 33, "Gen. X vs. Millennials" (ugh), no spoilers please on anything from the last four years!!!, and i probably have a kind of TV Stockholm Syndrome as a result of quarantine life but man, i find truly impressive their commitment to this theme, as with their commitment to the typeface and a whole host of ritualized minor details and standard phrases used by eternal host Jeff Probst (possibly the greatest game show host of all time, though obviously he's asked to do a lot more in a range of roles than most such posts).

so, it turns out the "Live TV" section of Paramount Plus includes not only access to your local CBS affiliate's current broadcast, but a selection of 'channels' for various moods and purposes, e.g. the Paw Patrol Channel. last night i wound down towards bedtime by checking out the "Crime & Justice" channel, which was running a multi-hour block of MacGuyver. i had not watched this show since its early 90s syndicated ubqiuity on the USA Network and had forgotten what an earworm the theme is. i can't shake it now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAeRyn8Yd-s

in a way it's kind of completely generic 80s TV theme music, especially before it lands on the main theme and is sort of just vamping around... could be a talk show, a game show, anything. but combined with the montage of MacGuyver's soothingly creative problem-solving and low-intensity stunts, plus one decontextualized explosion, it's adventure-drama gold.

retroactively voting for Mary Tyler Moore, Rockford Files & WKRP as my 1, 2 & 3 now that I have watched & fallen in love with all three shows

Alfred Hitchcock always hits my happy spot, not only the familiar "March of the Marionettes," but also the droning strings and ominous tympani of the opening credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t78eqGsGKM