Favorite television show theme song?

After hearing another lousy opening for some show which I don't watch, I wondered what happened to good theme songs. The ones with musical intros which encouraged a viewer to stick around.

You know the ones I mean. The one from Hawaii 5-O, The Rockford Files and yes, dare I say it, even Dynasty. Yes, they were all great and sent the shivers up and down the spine in anxious anticipation of what would be happening that week.

So what's your favorite television theme song?

Fresh Prince and Family Matters.

dare I say saved by the bell

Oh man !!!!! I completely forgot that shit. Lisa and Jesse was the sexiest.

The theme for Hawaii Five O by The Ventures really is next to impossible to beat.

Coming close though is Mission: Impossible by Lalo Schifrin. What a great show! You have to watch it from the very beginning or the rest is wasted, but some of the plotlines are just amazing brain teasers.

Duane Eddy's Peter Gunn is another outstanding theme that's become iconic all on its own.

Rounding out the groovy sounds of an era long gone but well haunted is, what else? Neil Hefti's Batman!

Rawhide is now a western standard and a real song you can sing to.

I collect variations on what is my personal favorite theme, Dr. Who, by Grainer and Derbyshire. It is supremely eerie in the earlier variations, gaining power and depth, then veering into the silly, then right back on course with the current doctor. Not bad for a show that's 45 years old. I just love how it has evolved and how wonderfully it fits the show.

Weeds, fo sho

I have a borderline unhealthy obsession with the show "House," and when the theme song comes on after the intro scene that comes before it, I can seldom contain my excitement.

that song is by massive attack, great jam

I like Will & Grace's theme, coz I always wanted to learn how to play that in the piano...

too bad I stopped taking lessons at age 10.

Gotta be CHiPS - oh the cheesiness... dem guys were goin to take care of business...

Good call, Bignfloppy, that's a great song too - just love it when it kicks in!!!

I've also been partial to the theme from Twin Peaks by Angelo Badalamenti, just fit the mood perfectly.

Barney Miller.

The big euphoric romantic theme of Pushing Daisies.

so beautiful.

Flying Nun, That Girl

Sanford and Son springs to mind. Have always liked the Without a Trace theme song as well.

TV themes I like mainly consist of TV shows from the 70s and 80s that I enjoyed as a child, such as:

The Jeffersons
Good Times
Three's Company
Laverne & Shirley
The Muppet Show
The Golden Girls
The Greatest American Hero

The Eight is Enough theme sounds dated now, but it's actually a lovely song.
Eight Is Enough Theme Song

I think I'm probably the only person who remembers it, but there was a short-lived show in the mid-80s called All is Forgiven that had a theme song that I enjoyed so much that I was (and still am) bummed out that the show didn't last.

And what gay man can forget the theme song for Wonder Woman?
http://www.wonderland-site.com/html/miscel/soundsd.htm
The Wonder Woman Pages: Audio Lounge

And now for some sci-fi favorites:

I recently said in another thread that I love the theme song to the original Battlestar Galactica.
YouTube - Battlestar Galactica TV Series Intro 3

I also really like the theme to the miniseries, V: The Final Battle.
http://thevisitors.info/downloads/mu...nal-battle.mp3

The opening to The 4400 not only includes a beautiful theme song, "A Place in Time," but is visually gorgeous--each shot could stand alone as a piece of art photography. If there were an Emmy for opening credits, this should get it.
YouTube - The 4400 - Opening (Amanda Abizaid - A Place in Time)

I can't say it any better than that. I've been on a Doctor Who kick lately, with the 4th series of the current show wrapping up recently, and also watching old episodes on YouTube. I love the theme from the classic show, particularly the older versions. (The synthesized 80s version seem dated now and, as you say, a bit silly...but I loved them at the time). But the theme for the current show, combining elements of the original with more traditional instrumentation (drums, brass, strings) kicks ass.

You can have loads of fun (and/or drive yourself crazy) "composing" your own Doctor Who theme with different pieces of the theme from the classic series.
BBC- Doctor Who - Radiophonatron