As with most discussions, talk of the “best” or “greatest” or “favorite” or “top 3” always evolves into what’s left off the list or what falls short of perfection. When talking about favorite cartoons today (shout-out to Angry Black Man DC on twitter), we started thinking of shows that were sorta so-so (not quite awesome, but not terrible either), but had the most AWESOME opening theme songs. Here’s a short list, subject to additions from your comments:

Mighty Orbots

Possibly one of the greatest intro themes ever, but the actual show was what it looked like– a knock-off of Voltron with a bit of Transformers mixed in. The line-up of robots who combined to form the Mighty Orbot were: Tor, Bort, the twins Bo and Boo and the rotund robot glutton named Crunch. Sadly, the actual show didn’t even last a full season, but it lives on in DVD.

Bionic Six

Personally, we think this show is awesome, but it’s nowhere near as catchy as the opening theme and animation. The intro is so very 80’s with the opening song ripped from your favorite sitcom theme with Japanese animation exhibiting the power of the six bionically enhanced heroes. Sadly, the show didn’t last beyond 2 seasons.

Defenders of the Earth

Repeats of this actually aired on the Sci Fi network in the late 90s alongside Bionic Six. Taking heroes from various movies and comics fiction (Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar) and partnering them up with each other, each one having a junior sidekick, the opening really told the tale quickly for each hero and set up the team nicely. Alas, the show itself only captured viewers for so long…

Kidd Video

Some of you readers may have watched this on a weekly basis, but we’re betting the majority of you just caught the opening, rocked out to the catchy theme music and flipped to a different channel while munching on whatever cereal you had Saturday morning. Kidd Video was a cool show, peppered with lots of video performances by the band throughout and a pretty funky soundtrack as the animated kids traversed video world, but once again, nothing nearly as great as the opening theme.

Inhumanoids

One of Sunbow/Marvel’s cartoons made to sell the Hasbro toy line of the same name, Inhumanoids had a super-cool theme song which also played in the toy ads. Fun show, but, well… you get the idea.

Galaxy Rangers

What’s cooler than an animated space western? The theme song “No Guts, No Glory” was the most memorable part of the show, which lasted 1 season of 65 episodes from 1986-89. A bit of trivia here… Captain Zachary Foxx was voiced by the late Jerry Orbach, better known from his roles as Baby’s father from Dirty Dancing and Detective Briscoe from Law and Order. Shout-out to MeisterShake on twitter for this selection!

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors

Any cartoon that had a narration giving the background on the series before it starts has gotta be something serious. By the time the song kicks in, you’re already bought in to Jayce and his Lightning League’s ongoing battle against Saw Boss. Wheeeeeled Warriooooorrrrsss!!. Once more, shout-out to MeisterShake!

Beverly Hills Teens

We had no, next to no, ZERO reason to watch this DiC cartoon from 1987! But somehow we did, and it’s all because of the really catch theme song, we’re sure of it!

There certainly are more, but we’ll leave it to you to help us out. Which toons do you recall had a great opening, but not much after that? We’ll post ’em and keep the discussion going! Hit up the comments below or tweet us @coldslitherpod