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.