Favourite TV themes

[Psy-Fi]

The Saint

[Psy-Fi]

The Munsters

[Psy-Fi]

Get Smart Opening and Closing Credits and Theme Song

[Lisnaholic]

This is a wonderful piece of music that always takes me back to that show I'm always wittering on about, but even though it's a classical ballet ("Adagio from Spartacus" by Aram Khachaturian) people of my generation will always know it as the theme to The Onedin Line

^ This was a reminder to me of how things used to be, pre-internet: my mum enjoyed this prog and liked the music so much, but she couldn't find out what it was. After about a month of watching the series, she wrote to the BBC, and surprisingly quickly she received a polite letter with the info she wanted. But now it's bye-bye to that helpful BBC clerk: your job was doomed from the first click of the first google search.

Here are a couple of my preferred theme tunes from the same era:

Turns out that this music is credited to the same Ron Grainer that Meatwad reminded us of recently in the Electronica thread - the composer of the Dr.Who theme:

If you wanted to distill the essence of the bright, innocent optimism of the early 60s, well, it was done at the time with this prog:

A prog about music is honour-bound to have a decent theme tune, and the guy who chose this music to kick off the show made a great choice:

[Auroras In Ice]

Airwolf!

Kids In The Hall

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

True Blood

[Trollheart]

Great choices, both of you!
Lisna, your first video is blocked on copyright grounds, so I dinnae ken what it is, laddie!

[Psy-Fi]

Turns out that this music is credited to the same Ron Grainer that Meatwad reminded us of recently in the Electronica thread - the composer of the Dr.Who theme:

^ I was just about to post that one but you beat me to it.

But you reminded me of this one and nobody has posted it yet, so here it is...

Doctor Who (1963)

[Lisnaholic]

^ Yep, The Prisoner was a really stylish, groundbreaking series that was a cult classic before the term had been invented. That's why I wanted a clip that featured the opening sequence as well as the music itself.

I hope you have better luck with this version, TH !

[Trollheart]

Thanks Lisna! Yeah, I can see it now.
Incidentally, did you see the "re-imagining" of it recently? Pretty awful really.

[Psy-Fi]

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time...

Baretta

[Saulaac]

Tasty. I guess Lee Ritenour is on the guitar altho I can't hear much wah-wah. I need to look up the other players too.

[Saulaac]

Knightrider, Airwolf and Streethawk were the car, helicopter and bike trinity for a few years.

StreetHawk Intro

[Psy-Fi]

Here's another detective show opening theme from the 70's...

Starsky and Hutch

[Lisnaholic]

Knightrider, Airwolf and Streethawk were the car, helicopter and bike trinity for a few years.

Now you mention it, a fast vehicle is a pretty common element in the title sequences of these action shows. In Starsky & Hutch and The Prisoner, the car is a kind of secondary star* - but how embarrassing for the Streethawk guy that his vehicle is more of a selling point than he is !!

Of course, in The Prisoner, the actual back-up star is the Welsh village of Portmeirion. The place will always remind me of Plankton now: he was a fellow fan of that unique exercise in architectural eccentricity.


Here's the music from one more 70s spy/cop drama, complete with explosions, some nice trumpet (?) and a pre-scandal Bill Cosby:-

___________________________________________

If anyone wants a respite from the urgency of the copshow music, here's something with a different vibe from a different era:-

Nice and relaxed, perhaps partly because it's the closing music, which doesn't need to be as attention-grabbing as an opening theme. My personal take on this piece: the charm of that Hawaiian lilt can begin to wear thin when you've heard it multiple times a day for 5 years or so.

 

[Psy-Fi]

Here's a two-fer featuring Raymond Burr...

Perry Mason

Ironside