The Man From U.N.C.L.E. -- in its '60s heyday, it was right up there with the James Bond theme as a secret agent anthem. And the show's Man From Thrush theme was a hot stew of jazz and menace.

GT, *Ellery Queen* predated *Murder, She Wrote* by nine years so MSW is reminiscent of EQ, not the other way around.

And "yea!" to Tom for remembering *Brisco County* -- although now I think it's strange that no one has mentioned *Bonanza.*

Or sassy *Maude* since the DVDs just came out.

Firefly...I hated the theme song at first but it grew on me and positively fit the show to a T. Farscape had a great opening also.

I also second Friends.

My current favorite is Bones. The opening song by Crystal Method is great and now that they've changed the opening credits so the names line up with pictures of the actors it's great.

Boy...that's a huge pet peeve of mine. Why display opening credits and pictures of the actors and not have them line up? It's maddening.

Supernatural doesn't have a title song either, which I think suits the show perfectly, but I've been noticing the disappearance of the theme song too. I wonder if it's to fit in more show-time or to fit in more ads?

My favourite recent show openings have been the Life On Mars sequence, and Dexter. There's something perfect about Dexter's opening that gives me shivers every time.

definitely weird how they have so many iconic classics (eg. mtm) and not mission:impossible. i would definitely put the prisoner, six million dollar man, and the avengers (in colour) on the list. i also think the house, m.d. opening is perfect. always loved futurama, too; i like that 2 elements of the opening were unique to each ep, so u had to watch for them.

until u mentioned it, i hadn't realized how many shows have effectively done away w/ theme songs. mike post, where are you when we need you?

thanks so much for posting ufo -- it's so awesome! my bf has the theme as his ringtone for when i call. prob b/c i can't hear it w/out dancing like i'm on hullaballoo!

Openings for The Prisoner and The Avengers both fit their classic British series perfectly. Great music, great images.

But how could they possibly have left out the opening for The Fall Guy. Lee Majors explains the whole set up in a song that is rivaled only by Chuck Norris as the prime example of why action stars should not be allowed to sing.

What about Hawaii Five-O? On of the best ever, for sure! Anyone second this?

Heroes does have theme music, the vocal by that guy with one name.

For me I would have added these to the list...

The Wire
Deadwood
Six Feet Under
Entourage (Maybe my top pick for most relevant)
The Larry Sanders Show

Okay, I know that the shows I named are exclusively HBO shows, but you have to admit, they made good intros.

Lots of good selections -- I'm glad The 4400 was includedm because that one is amazing. But what about the theme for "Alias" -- the first one, not the robotic one that came along about the same time the robotic Lauren character appeared?