Given that Silva Screen is a UK based operation, British television doesn't do too badly. Casualty is a pretty limp show compared to ER (although James Newton Howard's great theme is not included, unfortunately), but the tune based on the British ambulance siren is memorable. As Casualty is to ER, so The Bill is to NYPD Blue, but in this case, both themes are included. Although a bit cheesy, The Bill is much more memorable than Mike Post's effort for NYPD Blue, although Post's finest hours such as Quantum Leap, The A-Team, the enjoyably cheesy Rockford Files and, erm, Doogie Howser, M.D. are all there. The dreadful ending that Silva foisted upon Howard Goodall's great theme to Red Dwarf is sadly reprised here. A shame given what a catchy and enjoyable song it is and how good the performance is otherwise. Monty Python may be the epitome of British comedy, but their theme tune is 100% American and Sousa's rousing Liberty Bell March receives a rousing - if slightly rough around the edges, - performance. Cult British television is well represented by Ron Grainer with his inventive themes for The Prisoner and most famously, Dr Who - a theme that took months to record originally, because of limitations of 60's technology.
A lot of quite famous American shows have been saddled with some surprisingly dreadful and unmemorable themes. For every Murder, She Wrote or Barnaby Jones, there's a handful of Magnum P.I.'s and Miami Vice's. It's amazing how staggeringly unmemorable a lot of them are, even Beverly Hills 90210 barely registers and Baywatch isn't exactly a classic. However, plenty are great fun. I've always been a bit of a sucker for Bill Conti's rather silly theme to Cagney and Lacey and Angelo Badalamenti's theme for Twin Peaks is a deserved classic. The same could be said for Ira Newborn's Police Squad and Henry Mancini's ultra funky Peter Gunn. In amongst the standard serial television, a few more elaborate productions are included, most notably Maurice Jarre's reverential music for Jesus of Nazareth, Basil Poledouris' much praised western, Lonesome Dove and Geoffery Burgon's stately Brideshead Revisited. Sadly none of the excellent scores to HBO miniseries are represented, neither is Ennio Morricone's unforgettable Nostromo.
Being from the UK (or at least living nearby), I'd have replaced at least a dozen of the less memorable American tunes with some of the curiously great theme tunes to unlikely shows that we get here. Grandstand (sports), Panorama, Newsnight, Question Time (all current affairs), Channel 4 News, Wimbledon, Live & Kicking, Blue Peter (both kids' magazine shows), Richard & Judy (so bad it's good magazine show), Eastenders, Coronation Street (top rated soaps), Lovejoy, Ballykissangel (Sunday teatime drama), Bergerac (detective series set on the island just across the water from Guernsey and theme by George Fenton, no less) and probably lots more that I haven't remembered. Oh yes, and a few great American TV tunes, I mean, what about the animated triumvirate of The Simpsons (gotta be a classic), Futurama (they cancelled it why, exactly?) and Family Guy (I loved it and even if you didn't, what a great theme song!), plus Friends and even John Williams' NBC News theme.
The synth recreations are generally very faithful, even if the orchestra aren't always perfect - even early John Williams gives them gip, in this case an uncertain performance of Lost in Space. Quite a few of the themes are extended, often unwisely. Sometimes 30 seconds stretched out to three minutes is just too long. Again, Murder, She Wrote is one of the exceptions a perfect, extended arrangement as are the arrangements of Debney's rousing SeaQuest DSV and Dennis McCarthy's Deep Space Nine, but many of the synth themes turn into some kind of keyboard jamming session and aren't much fun. TV theme compilations are an odd breed, the mixture is somehwat random and each track is fairly short, so fatigue does set in, certainly after four and a half hours over four CDs. Still, it's quite fun to spin your favourite TV tunes and the liner notes provide basic information about each show - the number of episodes made of certain American serials is just staggering. Although not original recordings, still a bargain collection.
Rating ~ 
The track listing can be found here at Silva Screen's official site. Sorry for being lazy, but it's 4 CDs and there are only so many hours in the day...