My vote would be for Peter Gunn, Hawaii Five-O, or James Bond themes. but they have been mentioned.
Mancini Rocks.
Next would be Baarney Miller and Sanford and Son. Quincy Jones also rocks. YouTube - Barney Miller Opening
Baywatch and Magnum P.I. are classics. Those are the kinds of themes that make a show better.
Alex2363, those Starsky and Hutch themes? Horrible! I mean, a lot of people are nostalgic for that show and all, but those themes were boring and totally unmemorable. No offense or anything. They were also edited poorly. The cuts should have been quicker - otherwise it suggests a slow-paced show will follow.
Here's a good one. The Littlest Hobo. I stars a DOG. But that dog could act better than just about EVERY human that appeared on that show. Despite these shortcomings, the song is a classic. This is what makes it a good theme.
As an adult, I watch this and I laugh at how absurd He-Man's dialogue is. "Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me..." Ha ha! Who wrote the script for that one? Do you know how much better it would have been if he had said, "Wicked-awesome secret powers were revealed to me the day I held held aloft my (they say "magic sword" -- let's change that) blood-stained sword and said, 'By the power of Grayskull....'I have the POWERRRRR!!'"
As a kid, that was an exciting intro. Maybe one of the best.
Wow. Looks like Ray got desperate when there was a bit of a gap between the Ghostbusters royalty checks.
I wonder if he can sell that song again and again by just changing the lyrics and going to a different country?
I thought it was funny how the only reason goats were in that video was so they could change the "ghosts" lyric to something similar and have it make sense... sort of.
Trying to determine the best TV theme song is like trying to snap your finger at the best hot dog. (For me, it's the Chicago-style hot dog.)
Although I have liked many TV theme songs throughout the years, the one that has always impressed more than any other is the theme from the old TV show Peter Gun. If I remember, it was Henry Mancini's music.
Two more that have impressed me have been themes from Mr. Lucky and Route 66 TV shows.
There is no way in the world I could produce the music TV clip with the theme in my post. I will leave it to the gentlemen with extensive knowledge of these computing machine thingies.