The Best 1970s Action TV Themes

Hi, folks! To me, these are the eight best TV theme songs of the 70s for action-oriented shows. To be considered as the best, the music must set the viewer's anticipation of both the pace and overall feel of the show, and I think these songs accomplished both better than all the others. Some of these songs spanned decades, going from the 60s to the 70s or from the 70s to the 80s. However, what matters is that each song was in use between 1970 and 1979.

And yes, math lovers, I am aware that decades begin with the number 1 of a series. That means 1971, for example, was actually the first year of the 1970s, but I'm going with the understanding most have regarding the counting of decades, centuries, and millennia starting with the year ending in 0.

The Six Million Dollar Man (Second Theme) and Narration
The music, accompanied by a narrated opening montage, is part of American culture. The theme reflects the protagonist's journey from military man and astronaut, to tragic invalid, to being a fusion of man and machine. Just watch the video below and tell me that you've never seen or heard it. The theme is a perfect match to both the imagery and the famous words, "We can make him better than he was. Better. Stronger. Faster." Even if you never knew where it came from, you've likely heard it. As for the original theme and opening...well...let's just say it wasn't the best and leave it at that.

Interesting fact #1: The footage of the lifting body crash is real. The name of the pilot was Bruce Peterson (1933 - 2006). The aircraft was a Northrup M2-F2 Lifting Body. Peterson was badly injured in the crash that occurred on May 10^th, 1967, and he lost an eye. Despite that, he otherwise recovered and gained the nickname "The Real Six Million Dollar Man" after the show premiered and was seen by those who knew of his accident.

Interesting fact #2: Even though Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, is shown running at 60 MPH, his top speed was actually in excess of 70 MPH. The 60 MPH figure was essentially his cruising speed, which he often hit. Many fans took the 60 MPH figure to be his top speed, but the show stated otherwise at least twice. Regardless, "60 MPH," or a mile a minute, became so popular that it even popped up in an episode of a Tom and Jerry animated series. 

By the time the show was revived in the 1980s as a series of low-quality TV movies co-starring the Bionic Woman, it was assumed Steve Austin could run as fast as his female counterpart, whose components and his appeared to be kept at similar levels. Therefore, the Six Million Dollar Man was likely able to hit (and possibly exceed) 100 MPH, just like his female partner. In slow-motion, of course.

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Theme
This song evokes a feeling of adventure and mystery, but without any tinny, electronic trappings or generic disco music that infested many era-specific offerings. Its every beat is one of sureness tempered by uncertainty. It served as a great reintroduction of characters dating back to the late 1920s and early 1930s to a then-modern audience. To me, it's a widely unappreciated masterpiece.

Fun fact #1: Shaun Cassidy is the half-brother of David Cassidy, the late pop star and co-lead of The Partridge Family TV show. In the 1990s, Shaun Cassidy created, produced, and wrote one of the creepiest and unfortunately short-lived supernatural dramas of all time: American Gothic.

Fun fact #2: Pamela Sue Martin left after the second season due to the reduction of stories that featured Nancy Drew in a prominent role. She would later resurface on Dynasty, one of the great prime-time soap operas of the 1980s.

Tragic fact: Parker Stevenson was one of the two original leads of a show that would last for almost 11 years, become a cultural phenomenon, and spawn a money-making empire. The show was Baywatch, and he left it after just two years in pursuit of what he believed to be better opportunities. Needless to say, he was absolutely wrong.

Battlestar Galactica Theme
The show was called Battlestar Galactica without the word classic tacked onto it. It was the first, the original, the most anticipated American sci-fi TV series since the original Star Trek went off the air. In an outcome that surprised TV viewers everywhere, it lasted just one year, one laden with missteps, missed opportunities, and overwhelming amounts of campiness. The theme, conversely, has not a single misplaced note. One might believe the sweeping, epic song was written by the legendary John Williams, but it was actually written by Glen A. Larson, the show's creator and one of the most prolific TV show creators ever.

The series was steeped in Mormon beliefs about the origins of mankind, and it featured heavy references to cultures and beliefs that once flourished in reality. Killer robots led by faux-reptilian leader, traitorous humans, a destroyed civilization, an emotionally compromised leader, and just one ship standing between humanity and the overwhelming force of robot enemies made for the fabric of the show. It should've run forever. Certainly, the theme, one that alternated notes of pride and celebration with more cautious and seemingly hesitant ones, was written to lead a show meant to be a long-running epic, but that was not to be. The show was later revived, reworked, and retitled. I won't mention the name because to fans such as I, the name is a curse word. As for the 2003 version of the show, the original theme was played just one time during the first episode. I can't really complain because composer Bear McCreary's new theme better suits the more recent version.

The following themes also exist in my list titled,
The Best 1960s Action TV Themes.

---

The Mod Squad Theme
The story of three 1960s troublemakers with tragic backstories recruited to become unarmed plainclothes detectives, the powerful, thumping theme reflects the era (late 1960s - early 1970s) as it quickly goes from "that's cool" to "hold onto your hats." The show was the first police procedural to feature three relatively young characters as both the central figures and reflections of the prevalent youth culture of the time. Accordingly, it set the stage for its spiritual successor, 21 Jump Street.

Mission: Impossible Theme
This song just screamed, "SPY DRAMA!" for all. It is a theme that endures, bongo drums and all. Of course, this is about the classic series that initially starred Steven Hill and later featured the baritone-voiced Peter Graves as the star and leader of the secretive Impossible Missions team. Mission: Impossible was briefly revived in 1989, complete with a slightly rearranged version of the classic theme, but the slight alterations to it just didn't quite work for me, so it's to the original I go.

Fun fact #1: Steven Hill would later gain greater fame in his famous, long-running role of District Attorney Adam Schiff on Law and Order.

Fun fact #2: Real-life married couple Barbara Bain and Martin Landau were co-stars on the show. They would later appear together (and for the last time) on what was the most expensive British TV production to that point in time. The show was called Space: 1999, and it lives on in the hearts of its loyal fans.

Tragic fact: Peter Graves' character, Mister Phelps, would be used by the makers of the ongoing (as of this writing) Mission: Impossible film series as the initial antagonist. Therefore, in the mind of this fan of the TV series, the Tom Cruise version takes place in an alternate reality.

Bonanza Theme
The show was one of the all-time great TV Westerns, surpassed in longevity only by the legendary Gunsmoke. The theme was a fast-paced Western song filled with energy. It was fun. It was exciting. It was every bit the show it represented.

Fun fact: Baritone-voiced actor Lorne Greene starred in both the original Battlestar Galactica and Bonanza.

Ear-splitting fact: The theme, like the original Star Trek's famous theme by Alexander Courage, has seldom-heard lyrics. In both cases, you would be doing your ears a favor by not listening to them. You are warned.

What's that? You're a glutton for punishment? Okay, then. Here's the theme with lyrics, as sung by Mr. Greene:

The following themes also exist in my list titled,
The Best 1980s Action TV Themes.

---

The Dukes of Hazzard Theme
Moonshine? Check. Good ol' boys? Check. NASCAR as a motivation? Check. Rowdy local bar? Check. Confederate battle flag? Uh...check. A car named after a strategic genius with supremacist beliefs? [CENSORED] that guy! I mean, check. Although the show explained away the latter two issues as the Duke boys expressing their Southern pride during an episode in which they saved a Black man, later uses of the car removed the flag from the roof but kept the name of the car. At the time, General Robert E. Lee was still considered more a leader for the cause of Southern independence than anything else, but that belief was proven false years later. Despite it all, the show was basically a weekly demolition derby with a Dixie flair and an orange car that frequently went airborne thanks to some very obvious ramps. The song, performed by the late Waylon Jennings, was the perfect intro for it.

CHiPs (Second Theme)
This show began in the disco era with a much softer and slower theme despite being heavily wrapped in fast-paced, era-specific trappings. The song that replaced it was a hard thumping, fast-paced composition that also began in the disco era, but it continued well into the post-disco years. A simple tale of two California highway patrolmen and their grumpy Sergeant, CHiPs was largely mindless fun punctuated by Erik Estrada's constant grinning and overacting. Accordingly, the second theme was fun, breezy, and utterly California-esque for the time.

Do you agree with any? What themes would make your list?

-TR