The Top 10 TV Theme Songs Of All-Time

Remember the days of TV theme songs? Yeah, you know, that 1 minute intro to your favorite television show which introduced the actors and usually showed some sort of explosion or car crash. Nowadays (is that a word?) TV time is too valuable to waste an entire minute on theme songs. That’s precious time you could squeeze in two extra 30 second commercials of the Geico gecko and painfully low budget commercials of local car lots and lawyers begging you to get into a wreck with an 18-wheeler.

So here’s to a simpler time, when people sported epic moustaches, went overboard with the aerosol hairspray, and thought white pants were cool. Here are the top 10 TV show theme songs of all time, as decided by me (I’m deciding this solely on the music, not taking into account how good the TV show was, or the nostalgia factor. Ok maybe a little bit of nostalgia factor. Let’s say 10% nostalgia, 90% music).

Writers note: I had these in order in my mind but after I listened to them, the list wasn’t even close to what I had originally thought. I went back and forth on number one, but changed it at the last minute because I think the nostalgia factor played the biggest role in that decision. Also, take the time to listen to each theme song and let me know what you think. What order would you put them in? What are your top 10 TV theme songs?

Got it? Cool. Let’s begin.





10. The A-Team



Creepy voiceover introduction. Check.
Man smoking in a dinosaur suit. Check.
Mr. T pittying the fools. Check.


What you have here is the perfect recipe for an awesome TV intro. Do you have a problem with me choosing this as the number 10 TV Theme song of all time? If so, maybe you can hire, the A-Team.





9. Saved by the Bell






If given the choice back in the 90's, I'm sure any of us would have jumped at the chance to hang out with Zack Morris and company. Whether we were crying at Zack and Kelly's breakup ("tell me how am I supposed to live without you"), wishing we could be a member at Malibu Sands so Slater and Kelly could rescue us from drowning, or trying to figure out how Zack had control over the space-time continuum whenever he said "time-out," one thing is for sure, all of the adventures of the kids from Bayside High began with this killer, electric guitar based theme song.





8. Full House



If you can't sing along with every word of the chorus of the Full House theme song, I feel so sorry for you. Who among us didn't picture ourselves back in the late 80's, riding in the backseat with our Elvis-wannabe Uncle Jesse over the Golden Gate Bridge with the Tanner family?





7. Magnum P.I.



This one might sound familiar to you, whether or not you ever watched one episode of Tom Selleck and his uber-manly moustache. The music has recently been featured in a Mabelline makeup commercial, but in my opinion the music is way too awesome to be used in a commercial for makeup, unless you're using the makeup brush to smooth out your mammoth man-stache.

Quick fact about Magnum P.I.: Tom Selleck was offered the role of Indiana Jones but had to turn it down because he was under contract with the show.





6. MacGyver



He’s the only character in TV history to save the world on a weekly basis with nothing but a roll of duct tape, a Swiss Army knife, and a piece of chewing gum. The ladies loved him, he rocked the mullet, and he has the number 6 best TV theme song of all time.





5. The Wonder Years



This one might be completely unfair to the other theme songs that didn’t make the list. The theme song for the Wonder Years is an original song by the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and first appeared on the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The Wonder Years version is sung by Joe Cocker and after thinking about it, I couldn’t not put this on the list. Though I never really watched the show, I love Cocker's raspy voice and the fact that they slowed down their version of the song.

You may ask, "If cover songs are allowed on the list, why not put the Who on here three times because three of their songs (including my personal favorite “Baba O’Riley”) are the theme songs for the CSI shows." My answer to you would be one, “Wait and see” and two, “It’s my list and I make the rules!”





4. Growing Pains



I always pictured the Dad, Jason Seaver singing the theme song to “Growing Pains.” I’m not sure if that was the intention when the song was selected as the theme, but the male soloist does sound a bit like Alan Thicke. This is not only a great theme song, I think this could stand alone as a great love song. "As long as we've got each other, we can face anything that comes our way."





3. WKRP in Cincinnati

Intro:


Outro:



The best part about WKRP in Cincinnati is not only does it have a killer intro theme song, it has an even better outro song! The outro song is a tongue-in-cheek commentary about hard rock music at the time WKRP in Cincinnati was on TV. The show was about a rock radio station which was run by someone who knew nothing about the genre and this song fit perfectly because of its humorous, indistinguishable lyrics. If you want a good laugh sometime, go on youtube and look up people’s translations of the outro lyrics.

The intro song isn’t bad either. I love the bass line. It’s too bad this show isn’t on in syndication or available on DVD anywhere. The reason it isn’t is that they used so many classic rock songs, the station that airs the show or the company that sells the DVDs would have to pay so much in royalties, it wouldn’t be worth pursuing.





2. Simon and Simon



I had this one at number one the whole time in my mind until I actually listened to all of them again. That’s not a comment on that I disliked it more than I thought I would. I just REALLY liked the number one song. So slipping down a spot is this killer, guitar/saxophone theme song from the 80’s. I’m a sucker for any type of lead guitar with a blues feel. I’m also a sucker for any show where a guy drives a backhoe through the front of a burning building.

So are you ready?

The number one TV theme song of all-time is...























1. California Dreams




California Dreams, aka the less popular show that came on after Saved By The Bell (though I preferred California Dreams personally). Though Saved by the Bell was the more popular Saturday morning show, it is California Dreams with that has the superior theme song. I knew this would be on the list, but had no idea once I listened to all of the songs back again how far it would jump.

You couldn’t watch this show without wanting to go hang out at Sharkey’s and listen to the Dreams play while watching the tide roll in. The music on the show was actually performed by the actors and was so good I can still remember some of the other original songs the Dreams played (check out “Too Much to Dream” and “She’s Not You”). But for now, listen to the “surf dudes with attitudes” sing long version of the show’s theme. The number one TV theme song of all-time.

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Today is the first day of my life that Michael Jackson hasn't been alive. That may sound weird to you, but I think of stuff like that a lot.

Now to a lot of people, MJ was the weird guy who may or may not have molested small boys, had over 50 plastic surgeries, and was just an all around weird guy. A lot of the criticism he received may have been brought on himself. But to millions of people, including myself, he was probably the greatest entertainer of all time. His contributions to music can not be overstated. For crying out loud people, his album "Thriller" is the highest selling album of all time! That is no small feat.

I remember the first time being fascinated by Michael. I was in 5th grade, and a movie came on network TV called "The Jacksons, An American Dream" (oddly enough it was on VH1 last weekend, the weekend before his death and I rewatched it). I remember watching this mini-series with my Mom (I think she wanted to be sure it was suitable for me) and being completely enamored with his performance of "Billy Jean" on the Motown 25th anniversary show. His dance step the moonwalk, looked like it defied the laws of physics. Immediately after watching it I taught myself to moonwalk. Pretty impressive for a 5th grader I might say. I didn't realize it then, but that was the beginning of many events in my life in which I was extremely impacted by music.

This is not to say I idolized the guy. Honestly, I wasn't allowed to listen to Michael Jackson's music when I was little. I remember my brother Jeremy had a Chipmunks CD with "Beat It" on it, and we weren't even allowed to listen to that. We also had the VHS tape of the movie "Free Willy" and Michael's song "Will You Be There" was on the soundtrack, and the music video was at the beginning of the movie (I've listened to this song about 10 times today on YouTube). We weren't allowed to watch that either. But when Mom and Dad would go out and leave us home, we'd watch it, sing along and dance, while one brother was the lookout just in case Mom and Dad came home early. I said all that to say, while I probably wouldn't even put MJ in my top 10 favorite music artists, there was something irresistible about his music to me, even as a little 5th grade boy.

This might be the understatement of the year, but something struck me as being very odd about Michael. And honestly, I don't think it had to do with the way he looked physically. To me, even as a kid, I could see pain and sadness in his eyes. Like he was hiding a painful secret that he didn't want anyone to know. This may be because of the abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his father Joseph (I have a theory that all his plastic surgery was so he wouldn't be reminded of Joseph when he looked in the mirror), or maybe because he started doing music at age 5. Many people's thesis, and there is probably some validity to it, was that he never had a childhood, and as an adult he was trying to reclaim that. I can't imagine being in the public eye for nearly all my life, and as an 8 year old kid having people claw at me, trying to get at me (for lack of a better phrase). A line from the Jacksons movie that always stuck with me was in a scene when Michael was talking to his mother Katie. He said, "As far back as I can remember, it's all music."

I, like the rest of the world, was taken by surprise at his passing. There is so much to be sad about. First of all knowing I'll never get to see him in concert. I think it would have been great to see him moonwalk in person, with my own eyes. It's also sad to know he had 3 kids, all 12 or younger, who will grow up without a father. Sadder still, he died a man who was the butt of a lot of jokes, who looked nothing like the teenager the world knew from the Jackson 5, and was, in my opinion, at least once extorted out of millions of dollars. But to me the saddest thing is, he epitomizes the scripture in Mark 8:36 that says, "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul." If Michael Jackson isn't the perfect embodiment of that scripture, I don't know who is. During the 1980's, he was easily the most famous person in the world. He had fame, millions upon millions of dollars, 13 Grammy Awards, and countless other riches and accolades. But nothing about Michael Jackson indicated to me that he had Jesus. His family were devout Jehovah's Witnesses, and I had even heard he owned a fat suit so he could go out into public and witness without being recognized. That along with the fact that he was very much involved in charitable giving and philanthropy, would make one on the outside think Michael had done enough good in his life to get into Heaven. Maybe it's "Human Nature" to think that way. But as I hope you the reader know, our good deeds will never be enough to outweigh the enormity of our sins. In fact, God considers our BEST deeds to be as "filthy rags."

I have often dreamed of being a music star. I love everything about music. There may have even been times when I would have traded lives with Michael Jackson in a second to get to play in front of 100,000 fans screaming my name. But as the hymn says, "I'd rather have Jesus."