History's 150 Best TV Theme Songs:

From:  Boy Culture

I 've always—always—been obessed with TV theme songs, whether they be instrumentals or clever jingles with more exposition and depth than the shows they'd been commissioned to precede. I remember being at a birthday party for my friend "Lisa J" (I was "Matt R") where she played a vinyl album of theme songs and we were happy as clams to listen to them while playing duck, duck, goose and eating the cheapest candy ever made.

To exercise—or exorcise—that obsession, what follows is my own personal list of History's 150 Best TV Theme Songs. I decided to exclude any shows that are still on the air, so please—no need to scold me over The Simpsons or Sesame Street.

Please tell me what I missed. (I originally had closer to 200 but had to firmly decide I needed a life, so jettisoned really great, but perhaps more esoteric, songs like the Diana Canova-sung "I'm a Big Girl Now" from her series of the same name, the rollickin' theme from Flo and also many very famous, very worthy numbers like those from Vega$, Magnum P.I., Desperate Housewives, Kojak, Knots Landing and more.)

In cases where I was not sure who performed the song, I left a "?" or I simply used the composers; any further info would be appreciated. And I would love to receive your own Top 5 or Top 10 in the comments.

Wish I could've done a video with five or 10 seconds of each song, but I'm not that advanced.

Finally, in case you were wondering, I think the all-time worst high-profile TV theme song has to be that abortion sung by Kelsey Grammer for Frasier and one of the worst low-profile TV theme songs would be that from Goodtime Girls.

Have fun...

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#150

"Theme from The Monkees" by The Monkees

The Monkees (1966—1968)

This one grabs you by the balls—or considering the target audience, by the ovaries—with that whispery, "Here we come," and then plunges into an aural crash course on the stars of the show. A blast.