The Case for Thematic Appropriateness on TV - Part 1

The other day, I had a TV theme song running around my head.  Inspiration for a posting, I thought - the top 10 of the theme songs that actually had me anticipating the show that follows, even if the show doesn't always deserve it.  And so, for a countdown - though in reality, the position of any of these will change depending on how I feel on the day.

10.  The most guilty pleasure first: Growing Pains.  The show might have been awful but I can barely remember it at all, so perhaps it wasn't even that.  It wasn't even prime time viewing, if I recall.  But the theme song sticks with me (and yes, it was the one that inspired this) and indeed one of the few things I do recall is that they messed around with the theme a couple of times to hideous effect.  The "original" though remains the most... hypnotising?

9.  I have to say that, like the theme song, Fringe the show has slowly grown on me, getting bigger and more impressive as it goes along.  I always look forward to it:

8. Okay, the show may have jumped the shark a few series back, but there is no denying that the opening theme song of Top Gear just reeks of boyish energy, even if "boyishness" is more a case of attitude than age.

7. I have never actually completed watching every series, but I think I will have to just to see the opening theme song of the Sopranos again and again.  So brooding, so dark, so ominous.  So great:

6. The theme song of True Blood matches the crazy, sexy insanity that is the show, and I love them both:

5.  The 1980s is responsible for many things, some good, some bad.  One of the good ones was the opening credit sequence to Knight Rider, the link here given in the "original" German - as it always should have been:

4. Okay, the show is space hippie nonsense, but at least the theme from Space: 1999 keeps with that preposterous premise:

3.  It was, like, so 90s, but the My So Called Life opening theme still speaks to the angsty teenager buried under all my age.  And it occasionally makes me want to go out and wear a baggy plaid shirt or listen to some 60 Seconds to Mars...:

2. The Doctor Who theme song is itself timeless, but I think the best version is the one that graced the Peter Davison years, ditching some of the more ethereal aspects of earlier years and before it became overly orchestrated since the revamp:

1. But my favourite, even though I wasn't (and am not) the biggest fan of the show, has to be (as I have said before) the big, bombastic and adventurous theme to Stargate SG1.  Sure, it is probably cheating a bit, as it did come from the movie, but still, I love it (the only one that I could embed is below, but a better version for seasons 1-3 can be found at this link):

Verdict: I do love my telly, and awesome opening credits can add a huge amount of enjoyment to that experience.  But have I forgotten something?  Make sure to let me know!  Lots of notes in a song.