Law & Order
Star Trek
Sanford & Son

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1. Sanford & Son
2. Rockford Files
3. The White Shadow
4. Dragnet
5. Miami Vice

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

Yes, what about it? Had a nice melancholy about it. Expertly pastiched with the Simpsons theme in the episode where Marge becomes a cop.

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Mike Ditka Show with Johnny Morris circa 1984

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Missed your post when I made mine...it's one of my favorites.

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Another good one no one has mentioned.

You Can't Do that on Television

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO5agWqCvs8

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

He said best, not worst.

Dexter's is so bad I fast forward through it every time cause its like fingernails on a chalkboard.

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Before I compile my own list of the Top Instrumental TV Themes, I bet you didn't know that Jan Hammer, the man who recorded the theme to "Miami Vice", actually took that TV theme to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1985. That theme definitely makes my list from #5 to #1:

5. "Miami Vice"-Jan Hammer
4. "The A Team"-Mike Post & Pete Carpenter
3. "M*A*S*H"-Johnny Mandel
2. "Perry Mason"-Fred Steiner
1. "The Rockford Files"-Mike Post & Pete Carpenter

The only smart person here .... except you forgot Police Squad.

Dolts.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Man I loved hearing this jingle.

Childhood memories from the '80s, RFDC.

I have a clear favorite for what I would consider the best and it (best to my knowledge) hasn't even been mentioned yet...but more on that later...

Yes Peeps, The West Wing is a great theme...I get chills when I hear it...love seeing the black and white photos of the different characters over it...just great stuff...

Also, I know the show just started last week, but that theme for The Newsroom is a thing...Thomas Newman done good on that one...

Miami Vice is another good one...I think that might capture the "feel" of a show better than anything...

...but alas, the first theme that came to mind this morning when I first read this topic and it still holds up after thinking about it all day...I give you, Picket Fences!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=667SczzGDQE

Ok, best first 10 second instrumental with more bird call...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRa9uhiAPBs

Oh pffffffft. It's just pompous, mawkish, swollen bilge, like that crap that always plays at the All-Star Game and World Series. DA DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

If you had no idea what the theme song was but had a pretty solid handle on what the show was, you could invent the theme song for it and be within striking distance of the real one. This is true.

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Cool story, bro.

curious rage.

Roseanne, before John Popper gave the song lyrics.

SWAT (1975-76) Was a number one single

The Young and the Restless (also known as Nadia's theme) also stayed high on the charts


House

Stingray and The Master were two of my favorites as a kid. Found the complete Stingray set on DVD from a Canadian outfit. Never knew it was Lee Van Cleef in The Master until the Interwebz came along - always thought it was Pat Morita.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZp_wbv0h4 - The Master

Should probably throw Airwolf, Murder She Wrote, and Wiseguy in the mix, too.

If you're going to mention Murder She Wrote, why not Matlock? #OldTimerTV

Just heard WMVP play Andy Griffith singing the words to the there from his show, pretty much mirrored the video played during the open. He sure sounded young and country !