#52

WKRP in Cincinnati

Title: “Baby, If You’ve Ever Wondered”

Music by: Tom Wells

Lyrics: Hugh Wilson (series creator)

Performed: Steve Carlisle

WKRP in Cincinnati was inspired as a TV show by Harry Chapin’s song “W.O.L.D.” The theme song works well with the blend of eccentric characters on the show.

#53

Tiny Toon Adventures

 “We’re tiny, we’re toony, we’re all a little looney“

Composed: Bruce Broughton

Lyrics: Tom Ruegger, Wayne Kaatz, and Bruce Broughton

Performed: cast members Jeff Bergman (as Bugs Bunny), Joe Alaskey (Plucky Duck), Charlie Adler (Buster Bunny), and Tress MacNeille (Babs Bunny). 

Tiny Toons were reinvented for a more contemporary audience from the classic Looney Tunes characters. Steven Spielberg was attached to the project and brought a buzz to the cartoon. The energetic and funny theme song gave us that looney feel.

#54

The Partridge Family

Title: “When We’re Singin'” (sometimes referred to as “Come On Get Happy”)

Composed: Wes Farrell

Lyrics: Diane Hilderbrand

Performed: David Cassidy with backing vocals from The Ron Hicklin Singers. 

Here is another show that I never watched. I am not even sure if I have ever seen more than a few clips. It always felt like The Brady Bunch with music. I do like a few Partridge Family songs and this theme is one of them. “I Think I Love You” is my favorite Partridge Family song.

#55

The X-Files

Title: “Materia Primoris”

Composed: Mark Snow

The famous, haunting whistling sound was a preset called “Whistling Joe” from a Proteus synthesizer, layered with a vocal-like effect from a sound library.

The signature delay effect was created somewhat by accident when Snow rested his forearm on his keyboard while using a, setting the tone for the show’s mysterious feel.

The theme did change a bit near the end of the show, but it was always recognizable.

I Want to Believe !

#56

LOST

Composed: Michael Giacchino

This is the shortest of the themes in the top 100, and yet the music is so impactful. The theme song was intended to sound “ghostly” and to mysterious.

The short, iconic opening is often paired with a 4-note descending, somber, and reflective melody, which was first heard during the pilot’s crash aftermath.

LOST was the #1 TV Show on our previous list and its 16-second theme places at #56 on the list of TV Themes songs.

#57

Only Murders in the Building

Composer: Siddhartha Khosla

Khosla created the tune during the pandemic, using his own vocals/humming and a Mellotron. It features a “janky” piano pulse reminiscent of 1960s Brit-pop.

Instruments used: The track includes piano, cello, snare drums, screeches, and, notably, recordings of Home Depot buckets played by drummer James McAlister.

This theme fits perfectly with the feel of this show. It is mysterious, energetic and a little funny. The theme sticks with you and it creates a great tone for the Steve Martin-Martin Short-Selina Gomez vehicle.

#58

Frasier

Title: “Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs”

Music: Bruce Miller

Lyrics: Darryl Phinnessee

Performed: Kelsey Grammar

End theme

Frasier is one of the most successful spin offs of the TV era. The theme song included metaphors for the people who would call into Frasier’s radio show, without any direct references to psychology. It is a fun, jazzy type of song that worked well for the character and the show.

#59

Teen Titans

Written: Andy Sturmer

Performed: Puffy AmiYumi (Ami Onuki & Yumi Yoshimura).

There is both a Japanese and English version of the song.

Another show that I did not watch much as it always felt like the show was targeting a younger audience than I was. However, there is no denying that the theme song goes hard.

GO!

#60

Spider-Man: The Animated Series

Written: Haim Saban

Performed: Joe Perry (from Aeroesmith)

This theme is full of energy and excitement and fits the 1994 animated Spider-Man beautifully. Not only the great guitar work by Aerosmith’s lead guitarist, Joe Perry, but the robotic, electronic “Spider-Man” and “Radioactive” repeated throughout the theme.

#61

Mister Ed

Title: “A Horse is a Horse”

Written: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

Performed: Jay Livingston

Voice of Mister Ed: Allan Lane

Here is another show that I watched occasionally in reruns, but whose theme song I can catch myself singing randomly. It’s a silly concept for a show, and the theme song fits that silliness beautifully. I love the internal rhyme scheme with “horse” and “of course.”

#62

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

“DO IT ROCKAPELLA!”

Written by: Sean Altman & David Yazbek

Performed by: Rockapella

This was an educational game show on PBS that ran for a few years in the 1990s. The a cappella song to kick off the show was always a highlight and helped make this show something different and original.

The song was catchy and engaging and brought a cappella much to the forefront of American pop culture at the time.

#63

The Love Boat

Composed: Charles Fox

Lyrics: Paul Williams

Performed by Jack Jones (Dionne Warwick sang them in the final season)

The Love Boat was a show that I watched semi-regularly. It was one of those shows that I didn’t hate, but I didn’t love it. It was one of those shows that I would watch because there was nothing else on. However, the theme song continued to be entertaining.

#64

Star Trek

Composed: Alexander Courage

Vocals: Loulie Jean Norman

Monologue: William Shatner

“Space, the final frontier… these are the voyages of the Star Trek Enterprise.”

The Star Trek theme is another iconic theme song on a show that I did not watch as much as others. The spoken part from William Shatner is as well known as any, spawning years of Star Trek progamming.

The 1930 song, Beyond the Blue Horizon, served as an inspiration for Courage.

#65

Sesame Street

Title: “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?” (aka “Sunny Days”)

Composed: Joe Raposo

Written by: Joe Raposo, Jon Stone, and Bruce Hart

Performed: a mix of children’s choir and jazz musicians, including harmonicist Jean “Toots” Thielemans.

Some instruments used include such unlikely instruments like electric keyboards such as the Fender Rhodes and hard-headed mallets on the vibraphone.

One of the most iconic children’s shows of all time, Sesame Street required a theme song that would be fun and whimsical to engage the learning and the opening of minds. The Sesame Street theme song is known worldwide and blends perfectly the goal of the program.

Joe Raposo also wrote songs for Sesame Street such as “Bein’ Green,” “C is for Cookie,” and “Sing (a Song).”

The song is so big that even The Tonight Show used it in their “Class Instruments” bit.

#66

Batman: The Animated Series

Composed: Danny Elfman. Elfman was inspired by the music from the Tim Burton Batman film from 1989.

The opening theme song for Batman: The Animated Series is an iconic piece of music that absolutley catches the spirit and the feel of this era of Batman. Gone from this version is Adm West and Burt Ward’s campy, humorous versions. The dark and brooding theme built a real energy with the show.