15 Iconic TV Theme Songs That Everyone Instantly Recognizes
Since the early days of TV, many shows kick off each episode with a signature theme song. Whether an instrumental ditty or a tune with lyrics references the TV series, many people will instantly recognize the music even if they have never watched the show.
The Lone Ranger, which premiered in 1949, represents one of the first TV shows to use a theme song. It’s difficult to hear the excerpt of Italian composer Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” used in the TV theme song and not picture the Lone Ranger and Tonto riding their horses across a dusty Western landscape, regardless of whether or not a listener ever saw a single episode.
Many of the following TV series ended their runs years ago, but their theme songs live on as part of our collective consciousness. For anyone who watched the corresponding shows, hearing the theme songs again opens a floodgate of memories and instantly takes one back in time.
The X-Files
The eerie X-Files theme music set the tone for the popular sci-fi drama that ran for 11 seasons and stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as FBI agents investigating paranormal activity, UFOs, and government conspiracies.
Mark Snow composed the “The X-Files,” which is sometimes referred to as “Materia Primoris.” The Smiths song “How Soon Is Soon?” reportedly inspired the haunting whistle sound that propels the musical piece. Included on Snow’s album The Truth and the Light: Music From the X-Files, Snow released “The X-Files” as single, where it reached number one in France.
The Golden Girls
Cynthia Fee’s “Thank You for Being a Friend” embodied the spirit of this popular sitcom about four seniors played by Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. The Golden Girls aired from 1985 to 1992.
American singer Andrew Gold originally recorded “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart way back in 1978. In 2015, Gold told The Atlantic that the song was “just this little throwaway thing” that took him “about an hour to write.” After Betty White’s death in 2021, fans streamed The Golden Girls and its theme song by Fee more than 384 million times in a single week.
Dawson’s Creek
Creator Kevin Williamson’s teen drama Dawson’s Creek stars James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson. The show aired on the WB from 1998 to 2003.
Paula Cole recorded the song “I Don’t Want To Wait” in 1996 for her second album, This Fire. The quintessential ’90s pop song became a top-40 hit a few years before it got a second life as the theme song for Dawson’s Creek. It’s impossible to hear “I Don’t Want To Wait” and not picture Joey sneaking over to Dawson’s house and climbing through his bedroom window to watch movies.
Friends
The sitcom Friends stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer and gave Gen Xers and millennials unrealistic expectations about what living in Manhattan might look like as a young adult. The show ran from 1994 to 2004 and remains a popular series to binge-watch on Max.
Warner Bros. Television initially wanted R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People” as the Friends theme song. When R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe shot that idea down and passed on an offer to record a new song for the show, the studio hired the Rembrandts to record “I’ll Be There for You.” The theme song became so popular that the Rembrandts had to record a longer version for release as a radio single. “I’ll Be There for You” topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for eight weeks.
Cheers
For anyone who wants to see a grown man of a certain age cry, play the theme song for Cheers. The sitcom about the patrons and employees of the titular Boston bar aired from 1982 to 1993. An estimated 93 million people — nearly 40% of the U.S. population in 1993 — watched the series finale.
Gary Portnoy recorded the sad-sounding, soft rock song “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” in 1982 as the theme for Cheers. After the show and its theme song took off, Portnoy recorded a longer version that charted in the U.S. and U.K. The opening verse — “Makin’ your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got/Takin’ a break from all your worries sure would help a lot/Wouldn’t you like to get away?” — became a barfly battle cry and remains nostalgia fuel.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons debuted on December 17, 1989, making it the longest-running American animated series, sitcom, and scripted primetime series in history.
Danny Elfman composed the whimsical “The Simpsons Theme,” which plays during the opening sequence. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Elfman imagined his own obituary.
“It’ll say, ‘Danny Elfman, who wrote the theme to The Simpsons, etcetera,” said Elfman.
“The Simpsons Theme” won the 2002 National Music Award for “Favorite TV Theme.” The punk band Green Day recorded a cover version of Elfman’s theme music for The Simpsons Movie and released it as a single.
The Brady Bunch
“Here’s the story of a lovely lady” is the first line in The Brady Bunch theme song, which kicked off every episode of the sitcom that aired from 1969 to 1974. The song helpfully explained the backstory of the titular blended family of a father and his three boys, and his new wife and her three girls.
The ’60s sunshine pop band the Peppermint Trolley Company arranged and sang “The Brady Bunch” for the show’s pilot. Beginning with season two, the Brady kids — played by Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, Susan Olsen, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland — took over singing duties on the theme song for the rest of the show’s run.
The Jeffersons
The most effective TV theme songs explain the premise of the show before the episode begins. In the case of The Jeffersons — a spin-off of All in the Family about a Black family who moves to Manhattan due to the success of their dry-cleaning business — the lyrics set the scene: “Well we’re movin’ on up, to the East Side/To a deluxe apartment in the sky/Movin’ on up/To the East Side/We finally got a piece of the pie.”
Ja’Net DuBois, best known for playing Willona Woods on Good Times, co-wrote and sang the song “Movin’ on Up” along with a gospel choir for The Jeffersons. DuBois had asked Good Times and The Jeffersons creator Norman Lear if she could do something musical beyond her role on Good Times, and Lear suggested that she come up with a jingle for his new show, The Jeffersons. DuBois nailed the premise in her lyrics without Lear even explaining the sitcom to her in detail.
Happy Days
Garry Marshall’s Happy Days, which ran from 1974 to 1984, presented an idealized version of late 1950s/early 1960s America. The show, starring Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham and Henry Winkler as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, became one of the most iconic sitcoms in American history.
For seasons one and two, a rerecorded version of “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets was used for the show’s opening song. Beginning with season three, “Rock Around the Clock” got replaced with the song “Happy Days” by Pratt & McClain as the show’s theme. For the the 11th and final season, the show used a new version of “Happy Days” with Bobby Arvon on lead vocals.
Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley, a Happy Days spin-off, stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as the titular bottle-cappers who work at a Milwaukee brewery before moving to Burbank, California in later seasons. The beloved sitcom ran from 1976 to 1983.
Cyndi Grecco performed the uplifting theme song “Making Our Dreams Come True” for Laverne & Shirley. The song with the lyrics “We’ll do it our way” became a top-25 hit on U.S. radio in 1976. In the first-season credits, the theme song was originally titled “We’re Gonna Make It.”
Gilligan’s Island
Gilligan’s Island is another TV show with a theme song that explains the basic premise and backstory before each episode even begins. The sitcom about seven castaways shipwrecked on a tropical island ran from 1964 to 1967.
The Wellingtons performed “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” with music and lyrics by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle for the first season of Gilligan’s Island. According to the book Here on Gilligan’s Isle by Russell Johnson, who played Professor Roy Hinkley on the show, an uncredited group named Eligibles rerecorded the theme song for season two in order to add the names “the Professor and Mary Ann” to the lyrics.
Full House
The San Francisco-set sitcom Full House stars John Stamos, Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Lori Loughlin. The blended-family show dubbed “The Brady Bunch of the ’90s” by one of its producers ran from 1987 to 1995.
Jesse Frederick performed the theme song “Everywhere You Look,” which he co-wrote with writing partner Bennett Salvay and Full House creator Jeff Franklin. Seasons one through five featured a longer version of the theme song. In 2015, singer Carly Rae Jepsen recorded a new version of “Everywhere You Look” for the sequel series Fuller House, which ran from 2016 to 2020.
Game of Thrones
Even though the opening credits for Game of Thrones were lengthy, fans watched to get clues about the current episode and to hear the dramatic theme music. Based on a series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones aired for eight seasons on HBO between 2011 and 2019. A prequel series, House of the Dragon, premiered on HBO in 2022.
Iranian-German composer Ramin Djawadi created the intense “Main Title” theme for Game of Thrones, which is also used on House of the Dragon. Djawadi won two Emmys for composing the Game of Thrones score. According to HuffPost, Djawadi only had about 10 weeks to compose the music for Game of Thrones after the show parted ways with Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck in 2011.
The Twilight Zone
Even for those who have never seen a single episode of the groundbreaking sci-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone, which aired from 1959 to 1964, the eerie theme music is instantly recognizable.
In addition to the orchestral theme music for season one, Academy Award winner Bernard Herrmann also composed music for seven Twilight Zone episodes. From season two forward, French composer Marius Constant reworked the “Main Title Theme” with guitar work by Howard Roberts.
The Addams Family
The Addams Family featured TV’s original goth family decades before the term “goth” was even used to describe a subculture of black-clad individuals who take a walk on the dark side of life. The black-and-white series aired from 1964 to 1968 and spawned an animated series, movies, and the Netflix series Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega.
Vic Mizzy composed The Addams Family theme, which features a harpsichord, bass clarinet, finger snaps, and word-dropping by Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch on the show. The theme song lived on via the animated series, several Addams Family commercials for M&M’s, and two big-screen Addams Family movies.
