Top 50 TV Theme Songs

TV Theme Songs: Top 50

More than 30 lists were aggregated to create this master list of the best TV theme songs of all time. Entrants are listed by the name of the TV show in parentheses followed by the artist who recorded the theme song, the name of the song, and the year the song was released. The release of the song does not necessarily correspond with the beginning of the show. For example, in the case of The Wonder Years, which debuted in 1988, the theme song was Joe Cocker’s recording of “With a Little Help from My Friends” from 1968. In other cases, such as Happy Days, the show premiered in 1974 but the theme song which became so popular debuted in 1976. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists and here for media lists, which includes print media, movies, television, and music videos. 1. Cheers: Gary Portnoy “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” (1983) 2. Friends: The Rembrandts “I’ll Be There for You” (1995) 3. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990) 4. M*A*S*H: Johnny Mandel “Suicide Is Painless” (1970) 5. Gilligan’s Island: The Wellingtons “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” (1965) 6. Happy Days: Pratt & McLain “Happy Days” (1976) 7. Addams’ Family: Vic Mizzy “The Addams’ Family Theme” (1964) 8. The Jeffersons: Janet DuBoise “Movin’ on Up” (1975) 9. The Brady Bunch: Peppermint Trolley Company “The Brady Bunch Theme” (1969) 10. The Golden Girls: Andrew Gold “Thank You for Being a Friend” (1978) 11. The Andy Griffith Show: Earle Hagen “The Fishin’ Hole” (1961) 12. The Flintstones: Randy Van Horne Singers “Meet the Flintstones” (1960) 13. Mission: Impossible: Lalo Schifrin “Mission: Impossible Theme” (1968) 14. The Monkees: The Monkees “Monkees’ Theme” (1966) 15. All in the Family: Carroll O’Connor & Jean Stapleton “Those Were the Days” (1971) 16. The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Sonny Curtis “Love Is All Round” (1970) 17. The Beverly Hillbillies: Flatt & Scruggs “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” (1962) 18. The Greatest American Hero: Joey Scarbury “Believe It Or Not” (1981) 19. Sesame Street: Jean “Toots” Thielmans “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?” (1969) 20. Sanford and Son: Quincy Jones “The Streetbeater” (1972) 21. Batman: The Marketts “Batman Theme” (1966) 22. The Simpsons: Danny Elfman “The Simpsons Theme” (1989) 23. Welcome Back, Kotter: John Sebastian “Welcome Back” (1976) 24. Miami Vice: Jan Hammer “Miami Vice Theme” (1985) 25. WKRP in Cincinnati: Steve Carlisle “WKRP in Cincinnati” (1981) 26. Laverne and Shirley: Cyndi Grecco “Making Our Dreams Come True” (1976) 27. The Love Boat: Jack Jones “Love Boat Theme” (1980) 28. The Twilight Zone: Marius Constant “The Twilight Zone Theme (Dramatic Twilight)” (1959) 29. The Mickey Mouse Club: The Mouseketeers “Mickey Mouse Club March” (1955) 30. Full House: Jesse Frederick “Everywhere You Go” (1987) 31. The Muppet Show: Jim Henson & Sam Pottle “The Muppet Show Theme” (1976) 32. The Dukes of Hazzard: Waylon Jennings “Just the Good Ol’ Boys” (1980) 33. Malcolm in the Middle: They Might Be Giants “Boss of Me” (2001) 34. Moonlighting: Al Jarreau “Moonlighting Theme” (1987) 35. The Pink Panther Theme: Henry Mancini “The Pink Panther Theme” (1964) 36. The Big Bang Theory: Barenaked Ladies “The Big Bang Theory Theme” (2007) 37. Good Times: Jim Gilstrap & Blinky Williams “Good Times Theme” (1974) 38. Scooby-Doo: Larry Marks “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” (1969) 39. Rockford Files: Mike Post “The Rockford Files Theme” (1975) 40. The X Files: Mark Snow “The X Files Theme” (1993) 41. Game of Thrones: Film Symphony Orchestra “The Game of Thrones Main Theme” (2011) 42. Green Acres: Eva Gabor & Eddie Albert “Green Acres Opening Theme” (1965) 43. Diff’rent Strokes: Alan Thicke with Gloria Loring & Al Burton “It Takes Diff’rent Strokes” (1978) 44. The Facts of Life: Gloria Loring “The Facts of Life (Theme)” (1979) 45. The Wonder Years: Joe Cocker “With a Little Help from My Friends” (1968) 46. Davy Crockett: Bill Hayes “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (1955) 47. Star Trek: Alexander Courage “Theme from Star Trek” (1966) 48. Peter Gunn: Ray Anthony “Peter Gunn Theme” (1958) 49. Three’s Company: Ray Charles & Julia Rinker “Come and Knock on Our Door” (1977) 50. I Love Lucy: Eliot Danie “I Love Lucy Theme” (1951) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists” Dave’s Music Database: “Media Lists” (print media, movies, television, videos) First posted 8/29/2022; last updated 9/1/2022.

 

The Rembrandts “I’ll Be There for You” topped the Billboard airplay chart

I’ll Be There for You The Rembrandts

Writer(s): Allee Willis, Danny Wilde, David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Phil Sōlem (see lyrics here) Released: May 1, 1995 First Charted: May 19, 1995 Peak: 17 US, 18 CB, 18 RR, 17 AC, 23 MR, 3 UK, 15 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.93 UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 26.2 video, 183.89 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This was the theme song for the TV sitcom Friends, which ran on NBC from 1994 to 2004. Originally Warner Bros. Television asked R.E.M. to use their song “Shiny Happy People.” After they said no, the show’s creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman co-wrote “I’ll Be There for You” with help from songwriters Allee Willis and Michael Skloff. It was recorded by the Rembrandts, the only available band on Warner Bros. Records. She had written hits for Earth, Wind & Fire while he was married to Marta. The song played over the opening credits for the show with the six stars splashing around in a mock-up of a fountain in Central Park’s New York City. Jennifer Aniston said, “No one was really a big fan of that theme song…A fountain felt sort of odd, but we did it.” SF The six later ended up starring alongside the Rembrandts in the full-length video of the song. SF It was, however, originally less than a minute long. Charlie Quinn, a Nashville program director, and Tom Peace, a radio announcer and music director, looped it to to create a full-length track. They broadcast it on Nashville’s WYHY radio station and it became so popular that there was demand for an extended version. The Rembrandts’ Phil Sōlem and Danny Wilde added verses to make it into a three-minute song. That version was released in May 1995 to U.S. radio but not available originally as a single. It topped the Billboard airplay chart for eight weeks, but became the first song to not appear on the Billboard Hot 100. It wasn’t eligible for that chart since it hadn’t been released as a single. It was later released as a double-A side with “This House Is Not a Home” and reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Amusingly, Blender magazine called it one of the “50 Worst Songs Ever” even as other magazines, including Paste, Complex, and Observer, celebrated it as one of the best TV theme songs of all time. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Rembrandts SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 9/3/2022.