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20 to 1 TV Themes: the list

And here are the top TV Theme songs as selected by 20 to 1 with The Brady Bunch @ #1.

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And here are the top TV Theme songs as selected by 20 to 1 last night.

Two weeks ago I was hinting The Brady Bunch should have been #1 and it was. Go Sherwood Schwartz!

Bit annoyed CSI is on the list, it wasn’t written for the show.

But where the hell was The Ballad of Jed Clampett?

#20. Friends

#19. The Muppet Show

#18. The Nanny

#17. Mr Ed

#16. CSI

#15. Green Acres

#14. Degrassi

#13. The Monkees

#12. Laverne and Shirley

#11. The Greatest American Hero

#10. Gilligan’s Island

#9. Skippy

#8. Cheers

#7. The Flintstones

#6. Neighbours

#5. Play School

#4. The Addams Family

#3. Happy Days

#2. The Love Boat

#1. The Brady Bunch

66 Responses

  2. *Very* disappointed that there’s no X-files on that list. They stayed with the same themesong for the entire run (and same visual for the first 7 years – although the last 2 years was only very slight changes because of the cast change) and just the first line is already recognisable. But I’m a fan, so I suppose I’m biased.

    I’m also a CSI fan though, and I agree that it probably shouldn’t have been here.

    In fact, there’s just too many things missing from this list and some questionable inclusions so I will conclude that I don’t like the list very much.

    At least they got the #1 right.

  5. A top 20 probably wasn’t a good idea, a top 50 or 30 was probably a better idea., after all, there was about 40 years worth of quality opening themes to go through, (1950-1960 didn’t really have any openings, and there hasn’t been a decent opening theme since about 2000)

    Where was
    Beverley Hillbillies, Simpsons, Seinfeld, ER, All in the family, Law & Order, Mary Tyler Moore Fresh Prince….?

    Degrassi and CSI? Really?

    And friends at #20? The song was only a 45 second intro and it shot to #1 on the music billboard charts.

    I can live with Brady Bunch at #1, but definitely a better list could’ve been made…

  6. We were lied to. It was best TV theme songs. There are a lot of great TV shows without singing. IMy fav TV show should have been #1. Doctor Who with #2 Simpsons.

    I can list many great TV shows without singing. They would include M*A*S*H, Bewitched, I Dream of Jennie, Hawaii 5-0, Mission Impossible, Charlie’s Angels, I Love Lucy, The X files, Seinfield, Star Trek. I could go on forever.

    P.S – Where was the The Beverly Hillbillies and CSI shouldn’t been included.

    This list was a joke. I wouldn’t have included half of them in my top 20.

  7. I was going to watch but forgot LOL, caught the list on the radio where they were not to happy with Nine.

    What no Gilmore Girls “Where You Lead I Will Follow” from Carole King.

  8. Does anybody still care about this show and the shonky way they create the lists? I’m sure this list has been on before with a different set of celebrities commenting. Next!

  10. diff’rent strokes … murder she wrote … cummon?!?

    anyway – notice they’re all 90s (or mainly 80s) and earlier ~ whohoo ,.. those were the days 😛

    (im glad degrassi was there – heeheee … memories )

  11. @ rowan, sorry but the word “song” was not part of the episode title. The actual title was “20-1 all time favourite TV themes”, and that’s what they were advertising it as.

  13. I was kinda bummed they only included themes with words!! Just so their D grade celebs could sing along, probably.

    @JulieS, yes it most definitely should have been called TV songs. And I would like if they did another ep devoted to all the instrumental themes they missed out.

  14. In response to a couple of comments so far,

    The Brady Bunch is an iconic theme that everybody knows and almost an automatic #1.

    Degrassi High ..never watched and didn’t know the theme,wouldn’t be in my top 1000. How that got in ahead of MTM,Perfect Strangers (one of my faves too),Family Ties et al is mind boggling.

  15. I think Home & Away should have been on the list since both UK & Australia would know the song! Was horrified they had CSI on there and not even Home & Away. At least Neighbours made it lol.

  17. I think they should have called it “20:1 TV Theme Songs” since it didn’t include any of the instrumental themes like Mission: Impossible and Hawaii Five-O. Maybe they will have one later on featuring these themes.

    CSI and Degrassi Junior High should have been definitely left out.

  19. I always thought the early days of Home and Away theme was better than the early Neighbours one but Neighbours was included because it’s been on for longer.

  20. I still dont understand the fascination with this show and the fact that people watch this can someone please tell me what Im missing whats the big deal? Is it Bert or is it the B-grade celebs giving an unwanted opinion please someone tell me!

  21. I’m going to complain that some of my personal favourites aren’t on the list because you can’t please everyone (and it’s not worth bitching about) but I agree with @Bass, Perfect Strangers was great.

    I also like Baywatch (“I’ll be there!”) and Full House (“Everywhere you look..”)

  22. I had hoped that the Baywatch theme would have made the cut, sadly it wasn’t to be.

    There are many classic tv theme tunes that could have been included – instrumental or lyrical, it encourages debate and discussion… that’s a bonus.

  23. For those wondering why themes like “Yes Minister” or “Simpsons” were missing (or Hawaii 5-0 or Mission Impossible, for that matter) it might because the title of the episode was “theme songs”. I guess that means the themes had to have lyrics.

  25. What a disgusting list. The Brady Bunch… at #1?!

    CSI?! Cross promotion at its absolute worst. Couldn’t be gladder that I don’t watch this crap. I haven’t even heard of half of the theme tunes here.

    And where the fawk is The Simpsons? No matter how often The Simpsons is repeated, the opening titles/music *never* gets old. Never. Regardless of the quality of the episode, the classic theme is always a pleasure to sit through. And that’s saying a lot considering that I must have watched the opening titles several thousands of times in my lifetime. I doubt I could say the same for any of the other theme songs on that list.

    And the Neighbours theme is an odd choice, if any. If they’re referring to Barry Crocker’s performance from the good old days, then yes, it’s a wonderful theme tune, but the more recent covers of the song that are currently being used for the show are dreadful.

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