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The 16 Best TV Theme Songs of All Time

By YPB Team

Brass fanfares, synth instrumentals, rapped origin stories and a few notes everyone can hum without knowing why. Where do you stand?

  1. Cheers — ranked #11
    Cheers
    "Where Everybody Knows Your Name", regularly voted the greatest theme in television history.
    1000pts
  2. The Simpsons — ranked #22
    The Simpsons
    Danny Elfman's carnival fanfare, played over a different couch gag every week.
    663pts
  3. The X-Files — ranked #33
    The X-Files
    Mark Snow's whistled melody, built around a delay pedal left on by accident.
    631pts
  4. Friends — ranked #44
    Friends
    The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There for You", complete with four handclaps.
    546pts
  5. The Sopranos — ranked #55
    The Sopranos
    Alabama 3's "Woke Up This Morning", played over a drive from the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey.
    546pts
  6. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air — ranked #66
    The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
    Will Smith's rapped origin story, the rare theme viewers can recite from memory.
    546pts
  7. Mission: Impossible — ranked #77
    Mission: Impossible
    Lalo Schifrin's 5/4 spy theme, still the franchise's signature six decades on.
    473pts
  8. Game of Thrones — ranked #88
    Game of Thrones
    Ramin Djawadi's cello theme over a clockwork map of Westeros.
    473pts
  9. Star Trek: The Original Series — ranked #99
    Star Trek: The Original Series
    Alexander Courage's 1966 fanfare, soaring strings over a wordless soprano.
    387pts
  10. The Muppet Show — ranked #1010
    The Muppet Show
    The vaudeville overture that ends with Gonzo's trumpet ruining the final note.
    387pts
  11. Doctor Who — ranked #1111
    Doctor Who
    Delia Derbyshire's 1963 electronic realisation, made on tape loops before synthesizers existed.
    284pts
  12. Miami Vice — ranked #1212
    Miami Vice
    Jan Hammer's synth instrumental, a Billboard number one in its own right.
    284pts
  13. The Addams Family — ranked #1313
    The Addams Family
    Vic Mizzy's harpsichord vamp and two finger snaps.
    0pts
  14. The Twilight Zone — ranked #1414
    The Twilight Zone
    Marius Constant's twelve unnerving notes, shorthand for the uncanny ever since.
    0pts
  15. Stranger Things — ranked #1515
    Stranger Things
    Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein's analogue-synth pulse and red neon lettering.
    0pts
  16. Hawaii Five-O — ranked #1616
    Hawaii Five-O
    Morton Stevens' brass-and-surf-drum blast over a crash zoom.
    0pts

#music827#tv shows306#classics479

Comments

Four handclaps and a charting single made the cut among sixteen themes; a slap bass re-recorded for almost every episode did not: https://youpick.best/articles/friends-vs-seinfeld-ranked https://youpick.best/articles/game-of-thrones-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·Aug 21·

Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein wrote a theme nameable in four notes; Will Smith wrote one people recite word for word. Both turn up again here: https://youpick.best/articles/stranger-things-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·6 days ago·
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