Top 5 TV theme songs, read the rules before posting.

[Goji]

Aside from Firefly, which has been mentioned a bunch already, and Mystery Science Theater 3000 (same), the only shows I've watched that had themes with really memorable lyrics were Animaniacs and its related shows. All pretty good, but the best might have been the one for the only show in the lot that wasn't any good, "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain", which used the lyrics to take a number of shots at the suits' interference in what had previously been an entertaining series ("It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?" "I deeply resent this!")

 

[cooleddie74]

Bit of a digression here, but it was always extremely weird to me that "Joanie Loves Chachi" was a spinoff of, and features characters from, "Happy Days," a show set in the 1950s...but the spinoff was (based on the clothes, hair, etc.) set in the 70s.

Was this the "Earth 2" Joanie and Chachi or what?

Yeah. I know. It bugged me a little too. But to be frank even Happy Days had started to saw "screw it" to maintaining accurate 60's fashions and hairstyles by the time it entered the eighties. After Richie(Ron Howard)left the show in 1980 it seems the producers took more of a "who cares, just give the show to the Fonz and let it ride" attitude.

 

[Vanyel]

Well at least Laverne and Shirley acknowledged that they were in the 1960's, once they and all their friends and family, moved to California.

 

[Vanyel]

I liked these ones too:

Angie
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNVcCX0mc8c[/yt]

It's A Living
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqjraGlU8ME[/yt]

Just The Ten Of Us
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udTBr7HFswY[/yt]
All my friends knew everything about the older girls on this show.

A guilty pleasure theme song is:
Blossom
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4l0BS3RPvc[/yt]

 

[cooleddie74]

I loved the first three. Angie is a memory from around first grade while the next two were a part of my adolescence.

Blossom not so much.

 

[BennyRussel]

Good Times
The Jeffersons (performed by Ja'net Dubois from Good Times)
Chico and the Man (performed by Jose Feliciano)
The Facts of Life (written by Alan Thicke)
Baretta (performed by Sammy Davis, Jr. while drinking Manischewitz from a brown bag)

Just missed: WKRP, The Wire

I know they don't qualify for your list, but:
The Six Million Dollar Man,
Barney Miller and
Hill Street Blues
themes were just great music.

 

[Vanyel]

I loved the first three. Angie is a memory from around first grade while the next two were a part of my adolescence.

Blossom not so much.

Blossom was a guilty pleasure. I take little pride in it, except that she actually does hold a doctorate and is great as Amy Farrah Fowler.

 

[Seven of Five]

At first I thought that this would be hard to name five, but after skimming through the thread I can barely keep it to five.

Cheers - Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Friends - I'll Be There For You
Scrubs - I'm No Superman
The Golden Girls - Thank You For Being A Friend
The Big Bang Theory - Big Bang Theory Theme (real imaginative name there)

Can we count closing songs? Throw in Red Dwarf and Frasier to replace the bottom two.

I don't know why all my songs are for sitcoms either, as I have plenty of songs I liked for dramas too.

 

[doubleohfive]

Cheers - Where Everbody Knows Your Name
Friends - I'll Be There For You
Scrubs - I'm No Superman
The Golden Girls - Thank You For Being A Friend
The Big Bang Theory - Big Bang Theory Theme (real imaginative name there)

All excellent choices.

Can we count closing songs?

Oh well let's not forget this gem: (this one's for you, cardinal biggles!)

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okDJ2iGSgLo[/yt]

 

[cooleddie74]

I'd also put The Golden Girls, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Fall Guy in my Top 20 somewhere after Kotter.

The theme song to Happy Days was amazing for the first 10 seasons then went straight into the crapper for the final year of the show (1983-84) when they dramatically altered the arrangement and changed the singer:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3YEt0fViC0&feature=related[/yt]

 

[Maurice]

This is going to be tough, as pretty much all my favorite themes don't have lyrics. I'll throw some good ones out there though.

1. Greatest American Hero
2. Secret Agent Man (Danger Man in the U.K.)
3. Cheers
4. Mystery Science Theater 3000.
5. Batman (60's)

Batman: "Word and music by Neal Hefti".

 

[doubleohfive]

Wow, I'd never seen that one before. Yikes. I'd also forgotten that Ron Howard was gone before it ended.

How weird is it that Happy Days and That '70s Show would have so much in common?

 

[J.T.B.]

The theme song to Happy Days was amazing for the first 10 seasons then went straight into the crapper for the final year of the show (1983-84) when they dramatically altered the arrangement and changed the singer:

Yeesh, I had forgotten that version. It sucks. The best, though, was "Rock Around the Clock" for the first two seasons.

Justin

 

[cooleddie74]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9jDcZk4o-k[/yt]

I can't get enough of this one and it's been in my Top Five for years now. The show itself never did much for me aside from Schneider and Barbara(Valerie Bertinelli) but the theme owns almost anything currently on the air right now.

I found out not too long ago that Bonnie Franklin is coping with pancreatic cancer. I hope she manages to somehow beat the odds and pull through.

 

[cooleddie74]

There's also this:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6o0Cah5kQU[/yt]

Epic.

 

[Seven of Five]

Right I'm cheating, here's five more themes from drama series:

The Wire - Way Down In The Hole (season one)
The Sopranos - Woke Up This Morning
Battlestar Galactica (2004) [technically]
Firefly - Ballad Of Serenity
Gilmore Girls - Where You Lead

And now five themes from kids' shows:

Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers
Captain Scarlet - closing theme
Animaniacs
Pinky and the Brain
Maid Marion and Her Merry Men - closing theme (?)



EDIT - I've still forgotten to mention The Muppet Show anywhere.

 

[DigificWriter]

Here's my top 5 favorite 'kids series' themes:
1. Digimon: Digital Monsters (Season 1, 2, & 3)
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
3. Phineas and Ferb
4. Silverhawks
5. Scooby-Doo, Where are You?

 

[Vanyel]

This is another one I love
Perfect Strangers' theme:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vbnLYROCj8[/yt]

 

[Spot's Meow]

And now five themes from kids' shows:

Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers
Captain Scarlet - closing theme
Animaniacs
Pinky and the Brain
Maid Marion and Her Merry Men - closing theme (?)

I didn't know we could include kid shows! I HAVE to list Tiny Toons, I love that freakin' song. Now it will be stuck in my head all day.

 

[Vanyel]

Don't forget the classic Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Hour
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKf7j43i_k[/yt]