(I'm x-posting to news:rast, :raa and :raam because this topic applies
regardless of whether the show is live-action or animated, US or
Japanese; but in any case, my viewing habits mean I can speak only to
SF/F-style programs.)

Okay, so most every TV show has an opening theme song ("OP"), an
ending ("ED") that's sometimes an arrangement of the OP, and
"incidental" music during the action. But what interesting things can
a composer do with those pieces to keep them from being randomly
disconnected?

In general:

* Making the ED a version of the OP by adding (or dropping) the
vocals.

* Alternate arrangements of OP or ED as reprise, especially during the
show's climax.

* Leitmotifs: a particular recurring theme for characters, groups and
ideas. (Wikipedia cites Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) as the first
composer to make extensive use of them.)

Some examples:

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:56:35 -0400, Galen Musbach xtn.net>
wrote:

Needs more Chinese Waitress Rei. :-)

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:47:04 -0400, Galen Musbach xtn.net>
wrote:

Fish Eye no Miko wrote:

*SNIP SNIP*

FLCL doesn't need an OP, with the constant use of Music it *is* an OP.
An OP is a non-linear musical sequence designed to draw you in, and
the mixture of high-power Music/Antics always worked near-immediately
for me...

Street Fighter TV? Ha doh ken!

Phillip Thorne wrote:

Two from SFTV remakes:

ST:TMP - After spending the first two hours getting Kirk on the
Enterprise, including that hour-long tour with the great Jerry
Goldsmith music (and an aside, that great Klingon music of his is
played diminuendo while the Fed space station is spying on the
Klingons) Kirk does his first Captain's Log entry, backed by the
Alexander Courage TV theme. And the crowd goes wild!

"Fish Eye no Miko" wrote in message
news:itvAg.352$0F5.171@fed1read04...

It's word jazz, baby.

http://www.wordjazz.com/

In article 4ax.com>,
jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.RemoveThisBitToReply said:

Similarly, William Schallert (yes folks, Federation Undersecretary
Nilz Baris himself) had a small, possibly no-dialogue, appearance on
"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as a musician playing the show's own
theme music on some sort of woodwind-like instrument.

In article , Fish Eye no Miko
wrote:

I think the fall fo OAV's started when they started having OP's.
Bubblegum Crisis had a new opening for each episode, Bubblegum Crash
had a standard OP. I rest my case ^_^

On Fri, 04 Aug 2006, Jack Bohn bright.net> wrote:

And later, Jerry Goldsmith's "Main Title" was recycled for ST:TNG's
OP. (Which, because I saw TNG before TMP, I didn't know till later.)
(Certain motifs from "Main Title" recur in "Leaving Drydock" and
"Enterprise.")

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000FC5P/sr=1-2/qid=1154835328/ref=pd_bbs_2/104...

Specifically, I think the piece (the 1978 BSG theme, by Stu Phillips)
was meant to be the Colonial national anthem. (And it was used in
1982's "Airplane II: The Sequel," the one with the passenger-carry
Space Shuttle; but I don't count that as a clever musical use.)

1978 soundtrack:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000TAZVA/sr=1-4/qid=1154834645/ref=sr_1_4/104...