These are the best TV theme tunes of all time

Prepare for ear worms.

These are the best TV theme tunes of all time
Marc Chacksfield's avatar
By
published
in Features

One of the greatest composers for movies and TV died this week. Angelo Badalamenti is best known for his work with David Lynch. Although he scored myriad Lynch movies, it was his beautiful and haunting score for Twin Peaks that does it for us.

With this in mind, we wanted to look at the best TV show theme tunes of all time. We have, obviously, just given one of them away but it’s part of 10 amazing tunes that will become your ear worms for weeks to come.

Oh, and the way we went to try and narrow the greats down is the ones that just have a theme tune - singing can’t be the main crux of the tune, unless they are the lyrics you are making up in your head.

Unfortunately, this means the likes of Cheers, South Park and Friends didn’t make the cut. But the following amazing theme tunes do...

Bet TV theme tunes

Image
The Pink Panther theme tune was originally used in the Inspector Clouseau movies (which were always a let down when you were a child as the Pink Panther you knew and loved was used in the title scene and little else, other than being the name of a diamond). It was reused as the theme tune for the much more kid-friendly Pink Panther show and it’s a de-dum delight.Image Credit: NBC
Image
Never has a score encapsulated the feeling that a bomb is about to go off, as much as Misson: Impossible’s does. The brilliant Lalo Schifrin is behind this one and it’s packed with Easter eggs. From the beginning he uses a morse code beat that spells M.I., while the 5/4 arrangement means you are constantly on edge throughout the whole thing. It’s exciting, visceral and up there with that other spy theme tune. Not even the likes of Limp Bizkit could ruin the beauty of the thing, although they gave it a bloody good go.Image Credit: ABC
Image
The voiceover, said in military precision by radio newscaster John Ashley, is a fantastic way of introducing the people and the plot of The A-Team, but it’s the rousing ‘punch the air’ score that cements this score to the A-List. Mike Post knew he had to deliver something special. He’d already made The Rockford Files and Hill Street Blues, so knew his way around a great ditty. With the help of arranger Pete Carpenter, some military drumming and a little bit of homaging Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love, they nailed it.Image Credit: NBC
Image
Yes, there are lyrics and singing in Suicide Is Painless (poignant ones at that which were heard in the movie) but the song used in the M*A*S*H TV show omitted those. It’s a beautiful, sad song, with our without lyrics, and one that’s at odds with the comedy that M*A*S*H is doused with. Saying that, when M*A*S*H wanted to be serious - as any comedy set during wartime should - it did so wonderfully and this tune encapsulates that sombre feeling of wartime.Image Credit: CBS
Image
Still today, the Doctor Who theme tune is unlike anything else you have heard. That’s because a musical genius was behind it. Delia Derbyshire is a musical pioneer who paved the way for electronic music, with the Chemical Brothers and others citing her as an influence. Ron Grainer wrote the theme tune but it was Derbyshire and her genius with electronic instruments that gave it its otherworldly feeling that still resonates today.Image Credit: BBC
Image
Image Credit: NBC
Image
Image Credit: Fox Television
Image
There aren’t many on this list that can boast being one of the finest scores of all time as well as a rave anthem but that is what we have with Angelo Badalamenti’s sumptuous Twin Peaks. Popularised by Moby’s sample but the original theme is a masterclass in ethereal beauty. Apparently this haunting masterclass was written in just 20 minutes, around the same time it takes Dale Cooper to savour a cup of Joe.Image Credit: ABC
Image
Another HBO banger, it was so good that the makers of House Of The Dragon thought they couldn’t top it, so just re-used it for their own theme tune. Ramin Djawadi is the composer and he moved from film to TV to make this rousing Westeros overture, which encapsulates the myriad houses and their fight for the iron throne in a sequence which is a rather lengthy 2:30 mins long. Bet you didn’t skip it once, though.Image Credit: HBO
Image
HBO has always been fantastic at choosing theme tunes (we reckon The White Lotus theme will be seen as a future classic) and Succession is up there with the best. Its crashing piano chords, savage strings and its uneasy mix of classic music and hip-hop beats (much like Kendall Roy’s rich boy rapping) add to the tense, nasty atmosphere that surrounds the whole Roy legacy. The amazing Nicholas Britell is behind this one and he recently added a beautifully bass-filled majesty to Andor, too.Image Credit: HBO

SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.

Marc Chacksfield
Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.

Latest