Retro Television (opening/closing) Theme Music

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
We've covered retro television shows we loved, but how about the classic music openings and closings that went hand-in-hand with such old classics.

Have any favourites or particular ones you remember?

Here are but a few of mine

Get Smart
Gilligan's Island
The Flintstones
Taxi
Hogan's Heroes
The Bob Newhart Show
Newhart (Henry Mancini was the best)!
Hill Street Blues
Sanford & Son
Moonlighting
Hawaii 5-0 (Original 60's/70's versions)
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple
Rosemary & Thyme
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes intro (ITV Granada)
Murder She Wrote
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Midsomer Murders
The Odd Couple (Original)
All in the Family
Dark Shadows Original B/W Opening (one of my all-time favourites)
Are You Being Served (Love, love, love that one)!

And so many more...

Can't wait to hear from everyone else as to their favourites.
 
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KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Hawaii Five-O is the first one that popped into my mind!

The Beverly Hillbillies, with a different song at closing...""Now it's time to say goodbye to Jed and all his kin, we would like to thank you folks for kindly dropping in, you're all invited back next week to this locality, to have a heapin' helping of hospitality." Why do I remember that fifty years later?

I've never heard of Rosemary & Thyme. The Odd Couple - yes, that was a good intro. And The Flintstones.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
OK, this isn’t technically the correct answer for this thread, but I will go for it anyway!

I loved ‘Lost in Space’ when I was a kid. I wasn’t much of a TV watcher, but I did like that show. I loved all things space.

I had to look up the theme song on YouTube, but it came back to me when I did. I won’t be playing it back to reminisce or anything, but it was fun to remember, anyway.

Good thread!
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Hey, Ladies. Nice to hear from you.

Hawaii Five-O, was one of the best, and the Odd Couple never fails to take me back.

As for space type shows, the Original Star Trek theme (1960's/70's) still stands as being right at the top for favourites of mine. It always makes me think about other possible life forms that may exist in outer space, and how large and unexplored space is. Almost creepy thinking about it. What lurks out there that we don't know about or don't see. The unknown has always intrigued me.
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Mary Tylor Moore.

I got hooked on The Edge of Night for a few years. A murder took place and I watched it until it was solved. I had a creepy feeling it would be “unsolved” the next show with many plot twists. So, that day it seemed solved I turned it OFF and vowed never to watch a Soap Opera or that type of show again and I never did.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Nomad. I generally never cared for Soap Operas, due to the overall lack of class and in my opinion, poor example for younger folk, even older folk alike, but there were a few that I watched back in the day. As The World Turns, The Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital, were three others I often cycled through. Haven't watched a Soap in over 20 years.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I loved soap operas. Where I worked at night at a hospital everyone watched All My Children, One Life to Live and especially General Hospital. Each work night on break even the interns all talked about Luke and Laura on GH. I don't remember much about Edge of Night. My son would be up from his nap by then.

But I found soaps very interesting and I never cared if other people liked them or not or thought they were not an intellectual pursuit lol. And I named Goneboy after a fav soap opera charactor and had innocent crushes on a lot of the men and we talked about the cute guys at work. It was fun to go to work and know we were going to all mainly talk about GH.

I watched Days of our Lives with my Grandma until she died. I cooked and did housework while the shows were in the background, but they were on.


Hey, today I watch Judge Judy!! I am not looking for quality in TV!

I think most TV shows were and are mostly just mindless distraction from the day ;). Plus I can be trashy....not trashy as in doing soap character stuff, but in my entertainment tastes. I grew up in a "classy" neighborhood and it sucked. I am who I am, as Popeye said (another blast from the past...Popeye!). I never wanted to be considered "classy." Reminded me of the snobs I tolerated as a child. And I did NOT want to be them.
 
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Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
SOT. One problem I have with Soaps, is it seems they portray deceit, cheating, double-crossing, and lies, and because our world already has enough of that sort of thing, I don't endorse such programming.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Sure they did. I thought the soaps were gone now???

But, Pink, they were stories, not real. I don't watch television to learn right from wrong. I watched soaps with my mother, of all people, and I give her this....she did not cheat or steal and neither have I. I knew it was fantasy. In fact, all those soaps growing up and I still was determined to be a virgin when I got married. At the time I thought that was a good thing...lol. Not so much now.

I turned off the news. That to me is is real time ugliness. I can handle the stories people write bit the real pain on the world upsets me very much. So I don't watch.

Now having said that, soaps were trashy and had themes of stuff like cheating. If it bothered you Pink, GOOD FOR YOU for turning them off. A lot of people did. I totally get your objection to them. Not to mention they were pretty mindless...lol

I guess soaps should have been on my guilty pleasure thread! There was nothing redeeming about them other than making you think "I guess my life could be worse" lol.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
I think the “soaps” are still on. Not sure, but I am going to look later today. I know someone that watches one, but it’s been a few years since I heard her say anything about it. I assume they are still on, but I can’t say for sure.

I don’t and haven’t ever watched them. When I was little I was babysat by my great-grandmother and my great-great grandmother (her mother). They lived together and would watch the soaps and I thought it was the most boring thing I had ever seen (no four year olds like soap operas, I would imagine). Since most of the other women I knew worked, no one else watched that I recall. It gave me a distaste for them, though, and I swore I would never watch one.

Funny, I would never have one on if I had a young child in the room. I guess our elders didn’t see it that way, though. From what I have heard people say, watching soaps with kids in the room was normal back in those days.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Sure they did. I thought the soaps were gone now???

But, Pink, they were stories, not real. I don't watch television to learn right from wrong. I watched soaps with my mother, of all people, and I give her this....she did not cheat or steal and neither have I. I knew it was fantasy. In fact, all those soaps growing up and I still was determined to be a virgin when I got married. At the time I thought that was a good thing...lol. Not so much now.

I turned off the news. That to me is is real time ugliness. I can handle the stories people write bit the real pain on the world upsets me very much. So I don't watch.

Now having said that, soaps were trashy and had themes of stuff like cheating. If it bothered you Pink, GOOD FOR YOU for turning them off. A lot of people did. I totally get your objection to them. Not to mention they were pretty mindless...lol

I guess soaps should have been on my guilty pleasure thread! There was nothing redeeming about them other than making you think "I guess my life could be worse" lol.
Honestly, I don't know if Soaps are still on. Pretty sure they still are, at least I see them listed when I surf through the channel lineup.

I do realize not everyone will be so impressionable to the point of being drawn into all of the deceit and lies and things, resulting in them becoming the same, but in my opinion Soaps set a bad example. They are a poor example of mature conduct. I would not want my teens watching, because they relay a sense of entitlement... with everyone rich on the shows, and there's no structure pulling families in close. To be perfectly pointed regarding Soaps, I just feel they're low-class and lack in substance, quality substance. The actors and actresses remind me of a bunch of spoiled rotten brats that never grew up.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I think the “soaps” are still on. Not sure, but I am going to look later today. I know someone that watches one, but it’s been a few years since I heard her say anything about it. I assume they are still on, but I can’t say for sure.

I don’t and haven’t ever watched them. When I was little I was babysat by my great-grandmother and my great-great grandmother (her mother). They lived together and would watch the soaps and I thought it was the most boring thing I had ever seen (no four year olds like soap operas, I would imagine). Since most of the other women I knew worked, no one else watched that I recall. It gave me a distaste for them, though, and I swore I would never watch one.

Funny, I would never have one on if I had a young child in the room. I guess our elders didn’t see it that way, though. From what I have heard people say, watching soaps with kids in the room was normal back in those days.
It just seems to me Soaps and their content was all glorified. There was not a stitch of realism to them. Everyone in suits and fancy expensive attire, money, mansions, story lines in outer space, housemaids, caretakers, gardeners, they really were based on a lifestyle that 99% of us will never know, which is why I have always been so confused as to their popularity. Such drama, and over nothing. He said, she said. Soaps, were just too much for me. Too over the top ridiculous.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Honestly, I don't know if Soaps are still on. Pretty sure they still are, at least I see them listed when I surf through the channel lineup.

I do realize not everyone will be so impressionable to the point of being drawn into all of the deceit and lies and things, resulting in them becoming the same, but in my opinion Soaps set a bad example. They are a poor example of mature conduct. I would not want my teens watching, because they relay a sense of entitlement... with everyone rich on the shows, and there's no structure pulling families in close. To be perfectly pointed regarding Soaps, I just feel they're low-class and lack in substance, quality substance. The actors and actresses remind me of a bunch of spoiled rotten brats that never grew up.

Oh, you are looking for quality shows on TV? Reality?

Not much of that on TV, including national news.

I would get rid of TV all together in my house, if not for sports.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Actually, Apple, I'm not much for television at all. Aside from hockey and a few other things that dear husband watches, I seldom flip the TV on anymore.

We recently cutback our cable service because of it, which will save us $$$. There really isn't much on television these days that entertains me, and watching the news is downright depressing most days. It's the same old, same old. Nothing seems to change.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Actually, Apple, I'm not much for television at all. Aside from hockey and a few other things that dear husband watches, I seldom flip the TV on anymore.

We recently cutback our cable service because of it, which will save us $$$. There really isn't much on television these days that entertains me, and watching the news is downright depressing most days. It's the same old, same old. Nothing seems to change.

I agree. I would like to just go with free antenna tv, but hubby needs his baseball....
 

Triedntrue

Well-Known Member
I never liked soaps although my mom. watched The edge of night . i like the story that finishes by the end of the hour. Short attention span i guess. As far as retro andy griffith with the whistle song and Dick van dyke. I remeber the songs for beverly hillbillies and petticoat junction.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
I never liked soaps although my mom. watched The edge of night . i like the story that finishes by the end of the hour. Short attention span i guess. As far as retro andy griffith with the whistle song and Dick van dyke. I remeber the songs for beverly hillbillies and petticoat junction.

I don’t consider it the fault of a short attention span (though I probably do have one). I don’t like to get caught up in an ongoing show because it’s like an addiction—something I have to do every week. I don’t like the feeling of being trapped into waiting for the next show. I used to watch The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, but then I realized that I had gotten way too caught up in it. I haven’t watched for at least a couple of years now, and I don’t miss it. That’s one reason I never watch sitcoms, either.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I agree. I would like to just go with free antenna tv, but hubby needs his baseball....
Dear husband said there's some sort of box we can get that costs around $30 - $40 that enables free television watching legally. Guess it works off of the signal that's there regardless of whether or not you subscribe to cable or not.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I never liked soaps although my mom. watched The edge of night . i like the story that finishes by the end of the hour. Short attention span i guess. As far as retro andy griffith with the whistle song and Dick van dyke. I remeber the songs for beverly hillbillies and petticoat junction.
I remember the happy whistling opening to Andy Griffith. Loved that one, too.

Seemed everything back in the day had an element of class attached to it. Wasn't so much about corporate greed like it is today, with networks flooding their channels with commercials, and theme openings to movies and television sitcoms and things fallen by wayside. Television (today), compared to television in the past, seems boring to me. I get no where near as excited watching something today as I used to back in the day, shows like Gilligan's Island, or The Munsters, or Dragnet, or Get Smart.
 
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