Cheers was my first choice for a song with lyrics. That is a damn well written theme song. Then a friend introduced me to a theme song from before my time, and I had to change my answer to The Greatest American Hero. I'm still having a hard time on the instrumental category, there's so many good themes.
Back in the mid 80's, Alan Thicke had a late night talk show called "Thicke of the Night." I dug his theme song, but I was also usually severely fucked up by the time his show came on after Johnny Carson, so it probably actually rates somewhere below a used sanitary napkin on the awesome scale.
Ugh! I am tired of this tiny apartment with one bathroom! The door is closed and the window in there is open and I am still being inundated with shit wafte.
The Shitwafte? Didn't they try to blow up London in '40? I bet their interrogation tactics are rough. "Vee hav vays of making you talk, Fraulein." Then they lead you into a dirty bathroom.
I'd have to go either Rockford Files (the first one, not the cheesier synthesizer driven theme) or Magnum P.I., (I believe like Greatest American Hero, they are Mike Post offerings). Lyrics? Cheers or Simon and Simon.
The Adventures of Pete and Pete had one of my favorite theme songs, "Hey Sandy". The group who wrote and performed it, Polaris, wrote another catchy song that was used on the show, "Waiting for October."
Instrumental: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Song: I'm pretty sure True Blood won't count, think that song was already out there. I'm going with Craig Fergusen's open.
Play the Cheers theme in any bar and watch what happens. Again, Airwolf's theme was awesome. As was Dukes of Hazzard. And the Night Court sax theme. Hill Street Blues' theme is nothing short of TV folklore. Let a not forget a little show called Gummy Bears ("Bouncin' here and there and ever-y-where!!!"). The WORST? That has to be Friends. I would love to Eternal Sunshine that shit from my brain.
I still can't listen to the Unsolved Mysteries theme song without wetting the bed. I'd go with Cheers for the lyrics, the extended version is a great song.
Seconded. Unsolved's theme was up there with The Twilight Zone as far as creepiness is concerned. Then, you would follow it with an equally eerie Robert Stack rasping strange tales at you and freaking you out with his creepy dead eyes.
Used to watch that shit at my Grandparents house after they went to bed. This and Rescue 911 gave me severe anxiety as a child.
I know this is random, but: The brother (whom I've never met) of one of my close co-workers is a member of some kinda cult -- forgot the name of it -- that won't allow its members to get blood transfusions. As a result, he died yesterday, after months of being on and off his death bead, from something that was otherwise easily fixable with a simple blood transfusion (he needed life-saving surgery, but that surgery required, obviously, a blood transfusion). I know hospitals are supposed to "respect the rights and wishes of the patient" and all that... but at what point does "crazy" allow them to override certain things?
Putting aside my disappointment with the storyline/writing of the show over the past year, I would say The Walking Dead has one of the best instrumental intro songs in the business. Plus, it changes every week.
I don't know if it does at all in your country. Look at how many parents have willingly let their children die because the Good Lord is their only doctor. I wish there was some sort of override where you could just say "This person is fucking nuts, I have a six-year university degree and they don't, sit down, shut the fuck up and let us save a life here."
For lyrics I'd have to go with The Dukes of Hazzard, although for some reason I love the intro to Weeds. I'd say Soprano's, but I think that song was not written for the show. Instrumental I think I'd go with either The Walking Dead or Always Sunny.
How does Hill Street Blues not get a nod for instrumental?! (The best of Mike Post.) You people are weird. But, isn't the hand's down winner Mission: Impossible? Seinfeld's bass slapping was good, kinda like Sanford and Son's recognizable blerts, and considering that they usually shortened it to about 5 seconds each week, I think The Office was really well done. Does The Simpsons count as instrumental or lyrics? Danny Elfman, Mike Post, Snuffy Walden are all brilliant. Cheers is the obvious lyric winner, but Fresh Prince or Gilligan's Island should probably be mentioned. Most of these are older, not just because I'm old, but because that 30 seconds that was reserved for awesome theme song is now used for ads.