Hey, I was just wondering what people think are some of the best TV theme songs ever written. I'm guessing that there will be more cartoon themes listed here than...uh...not-cartoon themes. Here's my list:

Perry Mason
Invader Zim
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (acapella!)
Cowboy Bebop
Back to the Future cartoon (Huey Lewis & The News' "Back In Time")
Peter Gunn
The Tick (cartoon)

Note that this is only for theme songs you like. Don't take into account the quality of the show.

That said, I'm adding the Friends theme to my list.

Favorite TV Themes, listed in no particular order.

• Carmen Sandiego (Rockapella!)
• Freakazoid!
• A-Team
• Cheers
• The Muppet Show
• I Love Lucy

There are a host of others, but these are the ones through which I find true inner peace.

I gots to give out props to the new Dragnet theme. The old one was pretty darn cool, and the new one manages to freshen up the stylin and bust out the dusties.

Dang ol Mash theme song be pretty righteous too.

And for sheer mind numbing oppressive sticking in your brain power, I have to go with the Inspector Gadget theme song. Scuze me whilst go I claw (he he) my eyes out to dull the echos

In no particular order:
Futurama
The A-Team
Mr. Show
And the already mentioned Peter Gunn

Allegedly Jim Thirlwell (Foetus [foetus.com]) does the music for some new show on the Cartoon Network, but I've been too lazy to catch it. I bet I'd like it, though.

In Response to zamphir (#5096):

The mash theme song was song before it was the mash theme, anyone remember the name?

In Response to saskia (#5101):

Are you sure?

The song is called "Suicide is Painless". The title is a play on a sub-plot from the original movie [imdb.com] where the company dentist, nicknamed "Painless", is tricked into thinking that he is committing sucide by those wacky docs Hawkeye and Trapper John.

I'm not saying you're wrong; I just can't find any evidence of the song from other sources.

In Response to jon (#5102):

Well, based on the poking around that I did, the music for "Suicide is Painless" is credited to Johnny Mandel, with lyrics by Mike Altman (son of Robert Altman, who directed the film M*A*S*H).

These two are credited (in the above referenced imdb.com info) under "original music," which would seem to imply that they wrote the song for the film.

I'm going to have to go with the some classics:

All In The Family
Sanford & Son
Good Times

The Rockapella version of Carmen San Diego is awesome!
As is the new version of Dragnet
Duck Tails
Thundercats
Futurama
The intro sequence of Enterprise is really cool...but the music suxors IMHO
Star Trek and STNG
I Love Lucy
3,2,1, Contact (I am really dating myself here...)
Gilligan's Island
HeMan (the voiceover sucks, but the music is cool)
Fresh Prince of Bel Aire
Pinky and the Brain

In Response to jgarcia (#5103):

hmm. maybe sleep deprivation and coffee are turning my brain into mush. maybe I'm thinking of something else. *shrug*

In Response to Dynedain (#5108):

to add to Pinky and the Brain, I really enjoy the Animaniacs theme. It's kind of irritatingly catchy.

In Response to Dynedain (#5108):

Since you mentioned the Duck Tails theme song (didn't The Jets do that one?), I've gotta add Darkwing Duck on there. I think there was a second theme too, but was only used for some promotional stuff, that I liked even more.

Oh, and of course there's the Batman Animated Series (the Bruce Timm version) and Batman Beyond.

I can't believe this thread got so long without anyone mentioning Ren and Stimpy!

Not only was the theme excellent the entire musical layout of the show was great (well until they fired John K and turned it into a debacle anyways).

In Response to tor (#5121):

I also can't believe that nobody has mentioned the Beverly Hillbillies!

Go pick up the album "Live Art" by Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. On the second disc is an amazing banjo solo that goes from Bach to Beverly Hillbillies. It's the perfect combination of "wow, that's great" and "wow, isn't playing Bach on a banjo a war crime or something?".

In Response to FeldmanSkitzoid (#5120):

Since we've got a mid-90s-Disney-cartoon thing going, how about Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers?

How can nobody have mentioned The Jefferson's???

In Response to cgarcia (#5125):

Cause we've already moved on up?

I'm rather fond of Ellen's (shut up) theme song, Texas's So Called Friend [amazon.com], before they started dicking around with it.

Then again, i'd list Texas as one of my favorite bands had they continued making remarkable blues rock instead of whatever the hell one would call their most recent album, The Hush.

In Response to FeldmanSkitzoid (#5122):

coincidentally....Bela Fleck's first Banjo teacher was the same guy I take lessons from...who also did much of the background banjo music on Sesame Street, back in the day.

Bela, however, is more than a little more talented than me.

In Response to zamphir (#5127):

I don't know about you, but I still haven't gotten that deluxe apartment in the sky...

But, come on, with lyrics like "Fish don't fry in the kitchen, Beans don't burn on the grill" you just can't go wrong!

In Response to cgarcia (#5133):

Actually, I think he was referring to this [goats.com].

In Response to cgarcia (#5133):

Actually, I traded the deluxe apartment in the sky (on the east side, no less) for the fixer-upper ranch house in the suburbs.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Then I realized there weren't going to be any topless roof parties.

Sigh.

In Response to zamphir (#5136):

Maybe you just need to share some of that beer you get with your wife. ;) Jase and I will have to come visit sometime - I'd be a great influence, really...

Unless of course, your fixer-upper ranch house has a really steep roof - then there's not much I can do.

In Response to daubergoat (#5123):

Oh yea. The CnDRR theme was done by the Jets. Maybe the Duck Tails one too.

I don't know why I remember this. I was about 8 at the time.

In Response to cgarcia (#5138):

My wife is pure blood Irish, although both sides of her family has been living in America for two or three generations.

It's never a question of me sharing beer with her. And Amy thought she had problems, marrying a geek.

It's not a steep roof. The thing I don't understand is why people have parties when they've taken the top off the roof. It's not much good as a roof then, is it?