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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
 Posted - 07/23/2008 : 10:58:41 PM
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For the past couple days, I've been bugs about learning about the history of TV theme songs, dunno why. **shrug** Might as well make a thread of it and dump my brain out.
What are some of your favorite TV theme songs, and why?
I'll give me five favorite:
CHiPs: It's so busy that I could almost believe the guy who wrote it didn't know that it was just a stupid TV theme song and not a full-length radio effort. What kind of atrocity did man commit against God that this would be the theme song to a show about the guys who pull you over for speeding?
The Incredible Hulk cartoon from 1982: The most doom-laden TV theme song I've ever heard. Was he trying to scare the kids? Put this song in heavy metal format, and it'll crush you into powder.
Good Times: Whenever I start getting on an "It's not fair" kick, I listen to this and feel so much better. On paper, the lyrics would be seen as ironic, but with a gospel choir, it sounds so heartfelt.
Knight Rider: Computerized intelligence has never been better expressed in song. If the sense of mystery in this song was present in the show itself, the show would've been twice as good.
And my very favorite:
Airwolf: The techno chug of Knight Rider, with a soaring/gliding/Flight of the Blue Angels feel, and the triplets kinda sound like chopper blades. It's excellent! |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 07:23:53 AM
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Neat.
STAR TREK : Love the Enterprise flybys.
FIREFLY : Love that song.
BABLYON 5: All of them...particulary Ivonova's version.
SUPERCHICKEN : "Buck buck buck buck buck!..."
JONNY QUEST : There is a disk with the extended version, as well as the underthemes and background mucis. Killer!
DR. WHO : Guitar...whats not to love?
BATTLESTAR GALATICA : Original version. Don't watch the new stuff...
TREMORS THE SERIES : It wasen't grabboids killed Perfection, Nevada...it was the suits at Sci-Fi network...they will pay, oh how they will pay...
UNDERDOG: "Theres no need to fear..."
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 2:38:53 PM
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Definitely not saying these are the "best" but they are my favs:
Night Stalker. The 70's series. Great, dark, atonal.
Mission: Impossible. A cliche for a list like this, I guess, but what a great arrangement. And there aren't too many TV memorable themes in 5/4 time.
Star Trek: DS9 My fav of the Trek themes, it had a fantastic sense of majestic growth. Until the season they ruined it with the pulsing under-rhythm, anyway.
H.R. Puffinstuff It tells the whole backstory!! And there's a gay dragon in white go-go boots that talks like John Wayne!
Battlestar Galactica Original. Totally onboard with that one. Best John Williams rip-off ever. Actually, better than most of Williams's stuff imho.
Red Dwarf (Original closing with the singing) Hideous. Awful. Irritating. Badly recorded. Vapid. Perfect.
Rockford Files Much like ABBA, every living human likes this, whether they want to or not. Great cheesy 70's synth.
The Bob Newhart Show The 70's one. It's great because it's a mini-suite in two minutes, moving from the bustle of the city out to the calm of suburbia in music. Then you get that awesome sting at the end.
South Park The original all Primus version. Primus sucks. (Fans know what I mean.) Possibly the weirdest TV theme ever?? Well, apart from Puffinstuff.
Thunderbirds 5-4-3-2-1- Thunderbirds are GO! 'Nuff said.
Those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head...
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 07/24/2008 2:42:51 PM |
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nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 4:04:50 PM
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The Greatest American Hero! Has there ever been a more exuberant TV title song?
(My kids love to groove out to the Space: 1999 theme, with it's wakka-chikka guitars in with the symphonic orchestral stuff. The most lively part of the show, really.)
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
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Greenhornet
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1791 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 4:15:01 PM
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A lot of my favorites were already mentioned, so I'll add:
Bearcats!
That Girl
The Bullwinkle Show
Is it my imagination, or are the themes from before the mid-eighties better?
"The Queen is testing poisons." CLEOPATRA, 1935 |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 5:44:22 PM
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I almost went for Space: 1999 and wussed out from embarrasment. Oops, I guess it's out there now though *g* I love how it kicks in when the Eagle blows up. If only the Anderson's had stuck with puppets for that show, it would have been so cool.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 6:12:15 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Greenhornet
Is it my imagination, or are the themes from before the mid-eighties better?
Yeah, but poll a more general site and there'll be plenty of folks naming Miami Vice as their fave. I wouldn't know, because I never watched the show. It was so hip and cool it was saccharine. |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 8:11:17 PM
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Doctor Who (original arrangement)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Mission Impossible
Battlestar Galactica ('70s version)
Lost in Space (1967 theme)
The Avengers
The Rockford Files (not cheesy in my opinion at all)
Baretta ("Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow")
Nanny and the Professor
Courtship of Eddie's Father
Project: UFO (I can't even remember how this one goes, only that I used to like it when I was a kid)
In Search Of...
Favorite Saturday morning themes:
Land of the Lost (original)
H.R. Pufnstuf
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (first season)
Lost Saucer
Krofft Supershow
The Superfriends (first season) |
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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 02:23:17 AM
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Hawaii Five-O
Mission: Impossible
The Man From Uncle
The Saint
Canon
Baranaby Jones
The Name of The Game
Dark Shadows
The Night Stalker
Night Gallery
SWAT
Mannix
The Twilight Zone
The Outer Limits
The Bill Cosby Show (the first series)
Sanford & Son
Jonny Quest
Route 66
Gilligan's Island
The Monkees
Perry Mason
I Spy
Lost In Space |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 03:10:25 AM
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My personal favourites are the themes from The Greatest American Hero and Miami Vice, but there are lots of contenders. Food nailed his descriptions of the Airwolf and Knight Rider themes, for instance.
And who could forget the Magnum P.I. theme? Not the original, but the one that was introduced by mid first season. It rocks, plain and simple. |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 03:37:39 AM
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"Now and Again" - both versions
"The Name of the Game" and, of course...
"Love American Style"
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://www.henrybrennan.com/
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Edited by - hbrennan on 07/25/2008 03:39:12 AM |
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BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 05:26:01 AM
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| I remember absolutely loving the theme from Gabriel's Fire. Too bad the theme — and the show — went up in smoke when those genius execs decided to turn a gritty character-based drama into a buddy comedy and rename it (ick) Pros and Cons. |
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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 07:20:55 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Neville
And who could forget the Magnum P.I. theme? Not the original, but the one that was introduced by mid first season. It rocks, plain and simple.
Without question!
Here's the best site I found to hear theme songs: http://www.televisiontunes.com/
I discovered that the theme to the Thundercats is absolutely hilarious just to wonder what all those sounds effects are, Spider-Man And Friends has got the most excellent swagger to it, and Benson sounds horrible kiddish (I swear, without the likability of Robert Guillaume, that show would've tanked instantly!). |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 07:34:46 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bobby-G
Hawaii Five-O
Mission: Impossible
The Man From Uncle
The Saint
Canon
Baranaby Jones
--------------------------
The Night Stalker
Night Gallery
SWAT
Mannix
The Twilight Zone
The Outer Limits
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Jonny Quest
Route 66
Gilligan's Island
The Monkees
Perry Mason
I Spy
Lost In Space
AND!.....PETER GUNN!
Cool past cool, daddy...
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 08:49:06 AM
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Oh wow, I just realized... have we all forgotten
Duh nuh nuh nuh duh nuh nuh nuh buh nuh nuh nuh duh nuh nuh nuh- BAT-MAN!!
BTW I think the theme from ST: TNG should be disallowed. It was originally written by Jerry Goldsmith as a movie theme, not a TV theme for ST: The Motion Picture. I know, picky picky... *g*
I sleep now!! |
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BT
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
168 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2008 : 11:18:08 AM
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| I'll second "Mannix". |
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