This may stir up some debate, as it is highly subjective, but the following shows get my nod for the greatest theme songs in the history of television, broken down by specific category. Some of the videos have hits or glitches or are slightly cut off, but nonetheless, enjoy the musical interlude- Happy Friday!
The Eighties
A decade of amazing pop culture milestones, sitcoms in the 1980’s knew how to do a theme song. The crème de la crème:
Perfect Strangers – the greatest TV show ever about a guy named Balki and his cousin.
Family Ties – the “sha-la-la” at the end is legendary,
Who’s the Boss – “the choice is up to you, my friend” – how inspirational!
The Dukes of Hazzard – technically the show began in the 70’s, but come on, this is a classic.
The Greatest American Hero – I never watched a single episode of this show, but what a song!
The CW
Sure, most of the shows on the WB/UPN/CW are aimed at teeny boppers, but there have been some gems – gems with killer theme songs no less.
Veronica Mars – The Dandy Warhols brought it with their theme song, although they really did make it lamer in Season 3.
Smallville – this song is best sung by James and myself in the highest pitch possible.
Smallville Theme
Uploaded by smallville92. – Explore more music videos.
It’s Not TV, It’s HBO
Remember when HBO used to just air movies, and not amazing series with fantastic theme songs?
The Sopranos – how else can you make a drive through New Jersey seem cool?
True Blood – everything about this show is cool, especially the way it starts.
Kid Friendly Fare:
Shows for kids need to have an amazing theme song to hook the kids in – it’s just good marketing.
The Muppets – no one from our generation does not have this song memorized.
Spongebob Square Pants – a true modern sing-a-long classic.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – They’re heroes in a half shell… and they’re green!
Lyric-less
Sometimes, a great theme doesn’t need any (or just a few) words in order to be super catchy.
The Simpsons – universally know because of the show’s popularity, but a great theme in its own right.
30 Rock – a great tune that lets you know you’re in store for hilarity.
The Office – this was Courtney’s ring tone for a while, and it never got old.
6 users commented in " The 15 Best TV Theme Songs… Ever "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackSome good choices…but you forgot DuckTales, which clearly belongs on this list!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frGLMtGsotc
Totally agree about Duck Tales. Also forgot Cheers, The Addams Family, The A-Team, and The Andy Griffith Show….the theme to Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (nah nah nah, we’re gonna have a good time! Hey hey hey!), Welcome Back Kotter, and probably a lot more.
But thank heavens you didn’t forget Veronica Mars. (Less sarcastically thank goodness you didn’t forget The Muppet Show!) They sold albums of the greatest TV theme songs of all time, categorized by decade. I owned a few of those. Fun to play in the car with friends playing name that tune. Each are like a minute, so the game works great.
Yeah and: Happy Days, That 70’s Show (the Happy Days of the 90’s/00’s), Fraggle Rock, Three’s Company…
…and one I’d like to nominate for best theme song to a show within a show. The Muppet Show theme was great, but the theme song to the Swedish Chef’s in-show cooking show was pretty catchy, plus it ends with him singing ‘bort bort bort’ and being startled by the crashing of the utensils (which he tosses). The only other song in this category that I can think of would be for ‘Tool Time,’ Tim Allen’s character’s show on Home Improvement. Here’s the Swedish Chef:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY_Yf4zz-yo
No Facts of Life? No Small Wonder? No Mr. Belvedere? No Diff’rent Strokes? Not even an honorable mention for Saved by The Bell?
Shaking head….You would think we weren’t raised in the same household.
Lest I forget the “Shoobedy bop doo-wah” at the end of the Full House song.
Alan.. I think you need to re-prioritize based on the comments above. While catchy, I don’t think Smallville will go down in history as a truly great tv theme song.
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