Ten TV Show Themes That Rock

Theme songs from television shows used to be a signature aspect of the TV landscape. They were crafted to be catchy and easy to remember and easy to associate with the underlying program. Viewers were able to glean the gist of the show from the intro. If you listen closely, you'll see a trend amongst theme songs in the 1970s and 1980s -- there's a trend of upward mobility, personal progress, and keeping things simple (i.e. focusing on what's important in life, rather than extravagance). The list below brings you a few of our favorite TV themes:

1. Who's the Boss: This is a corny theme song, but it gets me right in the gut every time and chokes me up a little bit. It makes me long for the '80s! (Please note: I'm not talking about the first season's rendition of the theme song. There's something off about that one. I like the one in the later seasons).

 

2. Laverne & Shirley - This song is so grrrrrl power, and I love it! We're gonna make our dreams come true! Do it! Do it! Do it!

3. Alice - This song is really great. I thought it summed up the "Alice" experience to perfection. It's got the empowerment vibe going and it's kind of bluesy too.

 

4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Yep, this is sheer ear candy. It's uplifting as all get out, and it makes you want to go out, throw your hat in the air, and conquer the stinkin' world.  What I don't love is that it's being sung by a man, but that's okay. He's got a nice voice on him.

5. Barnaby Jones: "Barnaby Jones" was played by Buddy Epson, the dude on the Beverly Hillbillies who used to eat dinner on the pool table. He was a cop. This song doesn't have any words except for the narrator coming in to tell everybody stuff about the credits of the show. But this song bumps. I'm surprised some rap artist hasn't sampled it yet (yes, I'm looking at you, P. Diddy). If this song doesn't make you want to go out and fight crime or slap the mess outta somebody, then you don't have a pulse.

6. Kim Possible: Yeah, I said it. This song has no business being mentioned ahead of a bunch of other themes, but whatever. It's Christina Milian putting in work, so take that, Haters. And, yes, a crime-fighting teenage girl who is also smart is a rare combo on this here planet Earth, so take some more of that with a little bit of this, Naysayers! Bonus fact: I know all the words to this song, including the background vocals. What up.

7. The Golden Girls: This song is just iconic and sums up this show's stance on friendship that goes well beyond age and socially constructed demographics.

 

8.  Perry Mason: Epic stuff right here. This is the type of music you want to hear playing behind you when you need to do something heroic. Like stand in line at the DMV. Or report for Jury Duty. Or use the self checkout machine at the grocery store. Epic $h!t.

9. Mad Men: This theme was crafted by none other than hip-hop deejay RJD2. Very sleek and modern, sort of like the show itself even though it's a period piece.

 

10. Hart to Hart: This show was unintentionally hilarious! It was about a crime-fighting millionaire married couple. Only in the Reagan Era! The introduction to the show, however, is killer.

Peace & More Jingles!