Osler's Razor

Cheers had a better themesong. Sometimes you DO want to go where everybody knows your name.
 

There are so many good ones . . . I still have them all in my head. I think the Beverly Hillbillies theme is up there with the best (cheesiest, anyway.)
 

Osler and a Minister hauling junk in Grosse Pointe at low speeds.

Is there video of that?
 

Cheers is a classic. Beverly Hillbillies is also excellent.

Two more that get me everytime are the theme to Green Acres and the theme to Mr. Ed. Oh, and Welcome Back Kotter.
 

I trust you were Lamont.

I'll give the song some love as an instrumental theme song. It was jazzy and not annoying. For theme songs with vocals - Cheers ranks up at the top.
 

Beverly Hillbillies is a top 5, Green Acres is a top 10.

1. Hogan's Heroes (The drum intro, the catchy tune...admit it, you're thinking of whistling it now)
2. Batman... This came on during prime time originally. Imagine families across the country with little boys jumping up and down beating on each other to the animated fighting featuring cartoon sound effects like "oof," "bam," etc.
3. Flintstones (if you're not thinking of it right now, you're lying)
4. Gilligan's Island
5. Beverly Hillbillies
6. F Troop. Admittedly obscure, as I'm only referring to the first season with the filmed action and lyrics, not the cartoon ("Where Paleface and Redskin both turn chicken")
7. Petticoat Junction (set in the same county as Green Acres but with younger, sexier yet less exotic women)
8. Green Acres
9. The Monkees (Again, I KNOW you're thinking of it right now)
10. Tie: I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart. Both for the visuals (for very different reasons), not so much the tunes.

Honorable Mention:
-Addams Family
-The Munsters
-Speed Racer(never in prime time, so I did not list above)
-It's About Time (Not well remembered - came on after Disney on Sunday nights. About Astronauts who got sent back in time to the Stone Age by mistake..."Its about Time, Its about Space, Its about two men from Outer Space...").
-The Patty Duke Show

Yes, I rememember All in the Family, Mr. Ed, and many others and could still probably get most of the words right, but they just didn't grab me
 

Wonder Years...
 

Agree with Anon 3:10. A Joe Cocker cover of a Beatle's song. Hard to beat.
 

Get back to work, RRL.
 

IPLaw - you're making me feel really, really OLD. Oh wait, I am getting really, really, OLD.

I would add the theme to Bewitched and M*A*S*H (such a great song title ~ "Suicide is Painless" by Loudon Wainwright III) to the list.
 

Anon 10:18

They don't let you drive fast in Grosse Pointe. Remember - no interstates running through the city limits.
 

I have come to a realization: I have never seen a full episode of any of the shows mentioned in this post. I think I may be TV-illiterate.
 

Yet he reads Proust!
 

I'm going to have to go with Saved By the Bell.
 

I once had a friend tell me I had a "Proustian wit." It was the smartest insult I have ever received.
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmP_t4_lpzo

This is the best theme song ever, even though it is not actually at the beginning of any show.
 

I like lists, and saw IPLawguy gave us one, so here is mine. Top 10 as well:

1. Cheers - it has all the elements: instantly recognizable, you remember the lyrics even if you haven't heard it in a decade, it is legitimately not a bad song, and it perfectly captures the show.

2. Green Acres - I think it goes this high because, while the show is good, I think the song may be better than the actual show.

3. Gilligan's Island - who doesn't know this one? Seriously, "sit right back and you'll hear a tale..." Instantly recognizable, and you know the lyrics.

4. Beverly Hillbillies - "swimming pools, movie stars" Pretty good stuff.

5. Saved by the Bell - if you were born between 1975 and 1985, odds are you know this song backwards and forwards because you heard it four times a day in syndication.

6. Fresh Prince of Bel Air - "In West Philadelphia, born and raised..." Again, for a particular generation this is a big one. Know all the words.

7. Batman - didn't think of this one till IPLawguy mentioned it, but how many times have you gone, "na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na, BATMAN!" Awesome.

8. Addams Family - "duh duh duh duh, snap snap" This song was great, and captured the show perfectly. Plus, it was great in its obviousness, "they're creepy and their cooky..."

9. Mr. Ed - "a horse is a horse, of course of course..." another example where the song is better than the show.

10. Sesame Street - "sunny day, sweeping the, clouds away, on my way, to where the air is clean, can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street..." Your kids know the words. You know the words. Everyone knows the tune.

The Simpsons
The Andy Griffith Show
Movin' On Up
The Golden Girls
Welcome Back Kotter
 

Golden Girls???? You scare me RRL

I left off one really obscure one:
"My Mother the Car," often considered the worst prime time television show of all time. But the theme song did feature a bouncing ball that helped viewers sing along.
 

Dude, IPLawguy, I'm telling you,
every girl I know basically knows
every word to that song. And I hate
that show, but I had sisters, and
for all the episodes I've watched,
the only thing I remember is the song.
So. I'm giving it honorable mention.

RRL
 

Micah -- you win.
 

I would like to add the theme song from Hawaii-Five-O or even the Wild, Wild West. The original Star Trek, and let's not forget Mission Impossible...no words to sing but the theme song music is totally unforgettable.
 

UGH. My PC partner was obsessed with the Sanford and Son theme song and using it to torture me. That song is like super glue to my brain--it just gets stuck there. And his favorite thing to do was to lean over about 2 minutes before a mini trial and sing "Ba-Ba-Bu-Dum." UGH.
 

The 1986 Chevy S-10 with the first generation VORTEC under the hood- thank you Mark for resurrecting this memory. I bought it from a grad student at Northeastern. He and his family were from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine and you are absolutely correct in your recall of its many fine options. There was one time, we had some trouble with the brakes driving over the Tappan Zee, but this was before I moved to Michigan.

I do not have pictures of the truck cruising the GP, but I do possess some pictures of it at the Yale-Harvard game (circa 1995). In the background, you can make out a plethora of Bentleys and Mercedes, ladies in fur coats and gentlemen smartly attired, all sipping cabarnet or port, and enjoying caviar.

Then, there is the mighty mighty S-10 with the friends and beers and chips.

My vote for TV songs, would have to be: Hawaii Five-O in honor of the FIve-O who used to pull me over when I drove the S-10 in GP; that was, of course, until they recognized the truck and me and laughed and waved cheerfully at the same time.
 

The closing credits theme to "WKRP in Cincinnati" was the best, because it rawked.