Barnaby Jones. Sometimes I watched just the opening of the show, then changed the channel. Those titles and the accompanying music were just THAT good.
This one, because as a kid in the sixties I wanted to fly most of the craft and live on the island. (Still do). And it was the most exciting kids tv theme ever in my opinion.
Has to be the opening titles to Black Beauty for me. A horse galloping through the countryside! Dennis King's brilliant theme tune (Galloping Home). Cannot remember a single storyline of the programme, but I know I wanted a horse (which would have been impractical on our terraced street).
I was on YouTube watching some old 60's and 70's TV shows. I noticed how the opening and closing themes were considerably longer in duration and how music seemed (my opinion) to have a larger role in setting and maintaining individual scenes.
In terms of TV show openings, what is your favorite? It could be 50's-60's, it could be a current show. Non-vocal openings only. Jean Stapleton and Carroll O'Connor singing "Those Were the Days" doesn't count. An announcer mentioning the show's stars and show title is fine in my poll.
My favorite: The original Hawaii Five-O
For me: Lost in Space season 3, tied with Land of the Giant season 1.
Star Trek: Voyager with Jerry Goldsmith's Emmy winning theme
Definitely in my top 5. Along with my favorite Hawaii Five-O, and Mission: Impossible, The Outer Limits, and Hill Street Blues. Tomorrow, there may be one or two changes in my list. But as of Sunday night on the East Coast, I'm sticking with these five.
I don't know how ,with so many great TV themes, anybody can have a singular one!
If maybe we had been given an arbitrary number, like ten, I could have made a list that would have been difficult as hell to narrow down to, but still would have left off efforts just as good!
My favorite TV show openings involve ones that tell a good story, have impressive visuals, and are accompanied by a great score. Can’t believe that nobody mentioned the Wild Wild West TV series.
Buck Rogers in the 25th century Season One. Unforgettable opening narrative which went something like “In 1987 NASA launched the last of America’s deep space probes...Returning Captain William Buck Rogers to earth five hundred years later.
