Artist	Song	Buy
Tom Waits	Way Down in the Hole
from Frank's Wild Years (1990)
Daniel Caine Orchestra, Mike Post & Pete Carpenter	Theme from the A-Team
from The A-Team (Music from the Original Television Score) (2007)
Mike Post	Theme from "Magnum, P.I."
from Television Theme Songs - EP (2005)
Tom Scott	Gotcha (Theme from "Starsky & Hutch")
from The Best of Tom Scott (1988)
Dave Grusin	Theme from "St. Elsewhere"
from Dave Grusin: The Millennium Collection (2006)
Velton Ray Bunch & Mike Post	Quantum Leap (Main Title)
from Quantum Leap (Soundtrack from the TV Show) (1993)
Stewart Copeland	Equalizer Main Title (Orchestralli)
from The Stewart Copeland Anthology (2007)
Henry Mancini & Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra	TV Theme from "Remington Steele"
from Premier Pops (1988)
The Dandy Warhols	We Used to Be Friends
from Welcome to the Monkey House (2003)
Joan Jett	Bad Reputation
from Bad Reputation (Remastered) (1981)
José Feliciano	Chico and the Man (Main Theme)
from Light My Fire - The Very Best of José Feliciano (1980)
The Waitresses	Square Pegs
from 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Waitresses (2003)
Foo Fighters	Next Year
from There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)
The Von Bondies	C'mon C'mon
from Pawn Shoppe Heart (2004)
Gary Portnoy	Punky Brewster Theme (TV Version)
from Punky Brewster Theme (2007)
David Kurtz, Larry Herbstritt & Steve Dorff	Alien Nation: Prologue and Main Title
from Alien Nation (Music from the Original Television Scores) (1990)
Stargate SG-1	Main Title
from Stargate SG-1 (Soundtrack from the TV Show) (2003)
Doc Severinsen	Georgia On My Mind
from The Very Best of Doc Severinsen (1986)
Lalo Schifrin	Mannix (Title Track) [Short Version]
from Mannix (1999)
Quincy Jones	Ironside
from Smackwater Jack (2005)
Henry Mancini	What's Happening!!
from Greatest Hits - The Best of Henry Mancini (Remastered) (2000)
The Cowsills	Love American Style
from 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Cowsills (2001)
John Williams	The Mission Theme (Theme for NBC News)
from John Williams: American Journey (2002)
Mike Post	Theme from "The White Shadow (aka White Shadow Main Theme)"
from Television Theme Songs - EP (2005)
Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby	Hikky Burr
from Smackwater Jack (2005)

Comment:

Some songs are written specially for a show, and then - like José Feliciano's chord-striking Main Theme for [i]Chico and the Man[/i] - become smash hits in their own right. But that works the other way around, too, as existing tunes find new life as TV themes. Witness "Bad Reputation," the raucous Joan Jett & the Blackhearts anthem that became a picture-perfect opener for the late, great series [i]Freaks and Geeks[/i]. Or "We Used to Be Friends," a rocker by the Dandy Warhols that found a new entrée on [i]Veronica Mars[/i]. Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes" gets a fresh start over and over, as a new version of the folk standard opens each episode of [i]Weeds[/i].

Feedback: