Favourite old TV show theme tunes

Those opening few bars… #timegoneby

The theme from ‘Cheers’, also gets me every time. Similar feel to it.

Norm: Good morning everybody
All: Norm!!
Woody: Can I pour you a draft Mr. Peterson?
Norm: A little early isn’t it?
Woody: For beer?
Norm: No, for stupid questions.

I know this is mostly played for laughs, but it hits the nail on the head.

Can’t get the theme tune out of my head today, a colleague earlier said Hill St Blues’… must have heard me humming!

As an aside as a lusty teenager I use to fancy Captain Furillo’s squeeze Joyce Davenport, think it was the way she said- I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT CAPTAIN… probably an indication of what a strange kid I was!!!

This all forced me down a rather large ‘US theme tunes from my school days’ rabbit hole earlier: Taxi, The Rockford Files, The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak, MASH, etc. Salad days…

Airwolf. And of course the A Team. Oh and Twin Peaks

Think you’ve nailed the US theme tunes but of a similar vintage UK wise the Sweeney is hard to beat. Had it as my ringtone on my old Nokia years ago, never failed to raise a smile when I got a call during a meeting…well the chair was obviously peed off but that’s besides the point…

Couldn’t agree more; possibly the best from that era. And the slower version over the credits was absolute genius.

This

Followed swiftly by this:

I loved Dempsey & Makepeace. And Moonlighting.

And smiled at @Clausy’s mention of Twin Peaks.

Also loved Whose Line is it Anyway and Absolutely

I’ve gone through various oldie favourite ringtones:

The Lone Ranger
Original Star Trek closing theme
Dr Who 1966 version

I had the David Tennant “The Angels are coming for you” text notification for a while. But when my mum was in hospital for an operation some years back, she made me take it off because it frightened the still groggy from the anesthetic ladies on her ward.

I was on a jury once and we were always terrified should one of our phones ring. We were careful to the point of OCD. Then, at a crucial moment, one of the defence barristers’ phones rang: Match of the Day.

Yes, it so was. Black and white images in the credits lent it a suitably melancholy feel. Such a contrast to the opening theme. Light and shade. Regan and Carter. “Shut it !” - that was their catch phrase.

John Thaw showed his range when he moved from the simple Regan to the complex Morse. The Inspector Morse theme tune has everything, complexity, melancholy but yet uplifting with a great opening.

Big shout out for Debbie Wiseman’s music for Wolf Hall too.