Recently started watching old 90s and 80s shows just for the fun of it, because I'm bored with all of the new stuff that's coming out, and I fell into Knight Rider.

My review of the show so far aside, it's got straight up the most banger theme music I have heard in a TV show in a very long time.

https://youtu.be/lxhWxv_5bQ0

It got me wondering what other TV shows have really great theme songs?

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[–] 131 points 6 months ago (10 children)
  • [–] [S] 30 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    I fuck with this hard.

    This is the kind of music I would play to psych myself up for some hardcore diamond star level shenanigans.

    I feel like now I need to watch Cowboy Bebop because I've never seen it.

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  • [–] 85 points 6 months ago (13 children)

    Umm the duck tales theme song reigns supreme

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  • [–] [S] 21 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    Have you seen the beat-matched version of the DuckTales theme song where Beyonce is dancing to it from the video Single Ladies?

    It's amazingly on point.

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  • [–] 28 points 6 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 57 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    I've always loved the X-Files intro, it fits so well and has stuck with me ever since I first watched it.

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  • [–] [S] 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4-GcS1UQyg

    Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield.

    Definitely the perfect song for the show, but any person that listens to this song on its own in public is someone that you should stay away from

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  • [–] 8 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    It was composed by Mark Snow. Tubular Bells is the theme from The Exorcist.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 6 months ago

    Fuck, you're right.

    I guess tubular bells is good on its own as the theme for the Exorcist, but I also stand behind anybody that listens to tubular bells in public without a good justification of someone you should avoid.

    But that also holds true for people that listen to the X-Files theme song.

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  • [–] 42 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (8 children)

    Surprised nobody's mentioned Firefly yet. It's really good.

    Also Pokemon , duh!

    Dexter's is also really good. The video too, not just the song. Fitting and eerie and also makes me hungry every time.

    True blood also fun and catchy

    Also really enjoy Halt and catch fire for that 80s synth vibe.

    Also, peaky blinders! Nick cave's voice is just...yeah xD

    Stranger things? Cheers? Friends? Community? Lots of pretty good ones out there. Hard to choose, really.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    pokemon

    I actually prefer the japanese theme more.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    Well... Usually with these things, at least in my experience is all about which version you've heard first. Also being able to understand the lyrics helps. So.. yeah, English for me. Not that I mind the Japanese version or anything, still cool.

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  • [–] 38 points 6 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] [S] 12 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Damn, okay, so when it comes to classic legendary anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion is definitely high up there, but I feel like there's a really strong contender in serial experiments Lains "Duvet" by Boa.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM8RufZr5lw

    If they were to duke it out to the death, I don't know which one would win.

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  • [–] 38 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    I never really watched it, but the theme from Airwolf is just amazing.

    https://youtu.be/ULfmowbNlK0

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  • [–] 37 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    Best of all time?
    The Peacemaker season 1 Theme slaps and really sets the tone for rest of the show.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_mrr3UNALww&pp=0gcJCU8Co7VqN5tD&ra=m

    Best of the 80’s? The Greatest American Hero.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=72MxOo5koto&ra=m

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Peacemaker opening is definitely a good theme.

    That's the kind of music you want to wake up for because you're so excited about your life you're gonna go and do something amazing.

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  • [–] 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Peacemaker Season One. Season Two just doesn’t have the same pep.

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  • [–] 36 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Not a single vote for Cheers?

    Madness.

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  • [–] 34 points 6 months ago (1 child)
    [–] 55 points 6 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 25 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    British edition:

    The Prisoner
    Doctor Who
    Monty Python's Flying Circus
    Benny Hill

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Dr. Who has to be best of the 60s at least, surely

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  • [–] 25 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (7 children)
  • [–] [S] 5 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    Okay, I feel like Mission Impossible is cheating because everyone's heard it and it's obviously a banger.

    And apparently Peter Gunn is one of those things that, at the very least, I've heard it, just never in its original context.

    Both very solid contenders.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] [S] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, Queen is definitely cheating.

    Whatever the film company paid Freddie Mercury and Co. to do the music to the original Highlander movie was not enough.

    But I don't think I can say the same about SWAT Kats.

    If you take out the zwoops and the fwooms and other sound effects that they used to match it to the animation, it's just a really middling 80s guitar track.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 24 points 6 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] [S] 3 points 6 months ago

    I feel like if you had said this before the Oscar Slap, I would have said hell yes. It's like quintessential 90s TV show theme song.

    And it definitely stands on its own, but I feel like it's lost some of its luster. I can't listen to this and differentiate the Fresh Prince from Will Smith the Person.

    Still a damn good song, though.

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  • [–] 66 points 6 months ago (14 children)

    Game of Thrones has got to be up there. Very catchy and fairly unique, but it really captures the essence of (the best parts of) the show.

    The themes to Foundation and Severance are also both really in tune with their respective shows.

    But for me, the theme to The Expanse is my favorite. Again, it captures the essence of the show, and also like the show it's pretty underrated.

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  • [–] 21 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    The Expanse is the only show I've never once skipped the opening credits on, even on rewatch. The song's a pitch-perfect mood throughout the whole series, and a great length, too. Doesn't overstay its welcome.

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  • [–] 12 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    Did you guys sing along?

    Thrones yeah, game of thrones yeah, game of fucking thrones!

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

    You should check out Scavenger's Reign! The intro music only becomes more haunting and fitting as you learn more about the story. I never skipped it and i typically don't like title sequences

    Edit: Intro link

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Okay, that music was cool as fuck. Like, there's so many places where that is appropriate music.

    If it were played at the denouement of any dramatic thriller where like the hero is outside of the room where the person they were trying to save is being actively killed by the bad guy before they rush in to kill the bad guy in revenge, it would fit flawlessly.

    There's something very much about death in that song. Death and helplessness.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    Oh yeah, 100%! It also lands a little differently through the show, sometimes despairing, sometimes regretful, and even with a flicker of hope. Absolutely recommend if you'd like a sci-fi survival story that feels like a dark graphic novel. The writing is top notch

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  • [–] [S] 8 points 6 months ago* (1 child)

    My college professor gave me the first book of the Game of Thrones series, and I hated it so much.

    And because of that, I just, I've never watched the series. Some friends of mine had it on midway through the first episode, and the only time that it caught my attention was when there were titties on the screen. Like, I do not give the first fuck about Game of Thrones.

    I have yet to see either the Expanse or Foundation.

    I have them both in my to watch list, but I can't really comment on their themes yet.

    But Severance? I've watched every episode of Severance, I could not tell you what the theme song is from that show. Even if it's really good, it's also very, very forgettable, which, admittedly, probably fits with the theme of the show very well.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

    Huh. I have also seen every episode and I can't recall the theme music at all. I know it had an intro because I remember thinking the visuals were cool but I can't bring back a single snippet of the music. Weird.

    edit: I had to look it up because it was bothering me. As soon as it started playing I remembered it, I actually think it's a fantastic theme song. It's spare and unsettling, which is perfect for the show but I can kinda feel why it's hard to recall. I'm glad you pointed it out.

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