Editing Mike Post (section)

==Television theme music==
One of his first jobs in television started when he was 24, as the musical director on ''[[The Andy Williams Show]]''.<ref name=freshair /><ref name=tvacademy /> Another early job was writing the theme music for the short-lived detective series ''[[Toma (TV series)|Toma]]'' in 1973, but his big breakthrough (together with co-composer [[Pete Carpenter]]) came in the following year with his theme song for ''[[The Rockford Files]]'', another series by producer [[Stephen J. Cannell]]. The theme also got cross-over [[Top 40]] radio airplay and earned a second Grammy for Post.<ref name=Grammys /><ref name="Enotes Bio">{{cite web |url=http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/Post-Mike-biography |title=Who is Mike Post, and what were his contributions to music? |website=Enotes |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref>

''The Rockford Files'' theme became a Top 10 hit in both the U.S. (number 10) and Canada (number 8).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4004&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4004.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4004 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1975-08-02}}</ref> It ranks as the 85th biggest U.S. hit of 1975,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1975.htm|title=Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975|website=Musicoutfitters.com}}</ref> and the 84th biggest Canadian hit of 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4057a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=9rcle2uno9iqd7fp29i24m0c30 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1975-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320034511/https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4057a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=9rcle2uno9iqd7fp29i24m0c30 |archive-date=2016-03-20 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Post subsequently won Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition for the themes of the television shows ''[[Hill Street Blues]]'' in 1981 and ''[[L.A. Law]]'' in 1988 as well as another Grammy in 1981 for Best Instrumental Performance for the ''Hill Street Blues'' theme, which also reached number 10 in the U.S.<ref name=Grammys /><ref name="Enotes Bio"/>

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Post won an Emmy for his ''[[Murder One (TV series)|Murder One]]'' theme music, and had previously been nominated for ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', among others. He has won [[Broadcast Music, Inc.]] Awards for the music for ''L.A. Law'', ''[[Hunter (1984 American TV series)|Hunter]]'', and the various ''[[Law & Order]]'' series. The theme for ''[[The Greatest American Hero]]'' (co-written with Stephen Geyer) is one of the few television themes to reach as high as number 2 as a single record on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref name="Enotes Bio"/> The "dun, dun" sound effect he created for the [[Law & Order (franchise)|''Law & Order'' franchise]] has entered popular culture<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/examining-legendary-dun-dun-sound-law-order-article-1.2790190 |title=Examining the legendary 'dun, dun' sound from 'Law & Order' on the anniversary of the pilot episode |author=Dan Gunderman |date=13 September 2016 |newspaper=New York Daily News}}</ref> and he has written variations on it for each new series.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/law-order-theme-song |title=Everything to Know About the Law & Order Theme Song |last=White |first=Jessica |date=20 August 2023 |website=[[NBC]] Insider}}</ref>

At the peak of his career, Post was the go-to composer for all of the series created by Donald P. Bellisario, [[Steven Bochco]], Stephen J. Cannell and Dick Wolf. Due to the considerable amount of music to be created, Post operated an office with multiple staff composers, among them [[Walter Murphy]], [[Velton Ray Bunch]], Frank Denson, [[Jerry Grant (composer)|Jerry Grant]] and [[Greg Edmonson]], all composing side by side in cubicles. Each would write music cues to complement specific scenes from each show in Post's signature style.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

Other TV music works include ''[[The A-Team]]''; ''[[Baa Baa Black Sheep (TV series)|Baa Baa Black Sheep]]''; ''[[Blossom (American TV series)|Blossom]]''; ''[[The Commish]]''; ''[[Doogie Howser, M.D.]]''; ''[[The Greatest American Hero]]''; ''[[Hardcastle and McCormick]]''; ''[[Hooperman]]''; ''[[Hunter (1984 American TV series)|Hunter]]''; ''[[Magnum, P.I.]]''; ''[[NewsRadio]]''; ''[[Profit (TV series)|Profit]]''; ''[[Quantum Leap (1989 TV series)|Quantum Leap]]''; ''[[Renegade (TV Series)|Renegade]]''; ''[[Riptide (American TV series)|Riptide]]''; ''[[Silk Stalkings]]''; ''[[Stingray (1985 TV series)|Stingray]]''; ''[[Tales of the Gold Monkey]]''; ''[[Tenspeed and Brown Shoe]]''; ''[[The White Shadow (TV series)|The White Shadow]]''; ''[[Wiseguy (TV series)|Wiseguy]]''; the BBC series ''[[Roughnecks (TV series)|Roughnecks]]''; and ''[[Philly (TV series)|Philly]]''.

In 1994, Post scored the ''[[Diagnosis: Murder]]'' episode "How To Murder Your Lawyer", designed as a backdoor pilot for a lawyer series.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

In 2014, Post composed the score for the fake TV pilot ''Caged Heat'' in the ''[[All Hail the King]]'' short film for [[Marvel Studios]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=Josie |title=Ben Kingsley talks 'All Hail The King' before fans gets sneak peek at 'The Winter Soldier' |url=https://uproxx.com/hitfix/ben-kingsley-talks-all-hail-the-king-before-fans-gets-sneak-peek-at-captain-america-the-winter-soldier/ |website=Uproxx.com |date=25 February 2014 |access-date=15 December 2018}}</ref>

In 2024, Post composed the theme music for [[BBC2]] sitcom ''[[Mammoth (TV series)|Mammoth]]'', having initially met show creator [[Mike Bubbins]] when being interviewed on a BBC Radio Wales show.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bennett |first=Steve |title=Mammoth's 1970s wardrobe is my wardrobe... |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/features/2024/04/09/55372/mammoths_1970s_wardrobe_is_my_wardrobe |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Chortle |language=en}}</ref>