Years ago I wrote an article highlighting my favorite television theme songs, but I didn’t rank them because I assumed that doing so would be far too difficult. Well I finally had the courage to take on that challenge and in the process I listened to tons of TV theme songs from The Lone Ranger‘s “William Tell Overture” all the way to Peacemaker‘s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” to reach the conclusion on what my top 15 favorite TV theme songs are (I was originally planning to make it a Top Ten list, but I loved so many of them that I felt the need to extend it by a bit more). I’m not a Rolling Stone music critic so don’t expect too much deep analysis on why I chose these songs. Music taste is a subjective and mysterious thing. These are just the ones I think are the best combination of catchy, memorable and perfect in every way.

15. The Green Hornet (1966)

Billy May’s stylish arrangement of “Flight of the Bumblebee” (performed by trumpeter supreme Al Hirt of “Java” fame) and the way that it conveys a certain type of action-packed storytelling in the sixties while leaning into the character’s “Hornet” theme is the kind of concept for a theme song that you don’t need to be a genius to come up with, and yet I rarely hear this beat get surpassed on the groove-o-meter! Who knew the key to creating a perfect superhero theme song was early 1900s classical Russian opera?

14. The Cuphead Show! (2022)

Impossible for me not to love this thanks to Gizzelle Andrea’s fantastic vocals, which get a lot to do thanks to the wide melodic range. The retro style of this song is kind of perfect for a modern cartoon with the visual influence of a 1930s cartoon. Plus it takes my top spot for best theme song for a TV show based on a video game. Apologies to the “Mario Brothers Rap.”

13. The Addams Family (1964)

Do I even need to say anything? It’s the perfect song for this show because like the Addams family themselves, it is a little unconventional and slightly eerie but a lot of fun. And that rhythmic finger snapping absolutely makes it. Try singing along to this without snapping your fingers. I tried it. It’s impossible.

12. The Bugs Bunny Show (1960)

Leave it to Mack David and Jerry Livingston to write a showstopping tune. The duo previously co-wrote Disney songs like “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” (Cinderella) and “The Unbirthday Song” (Alice in Wonderland) but they may have saved their best work for no less than a Saturday morning cartoon. They really did “hit the heights” with this.

11. Speed Racer (1967)

These days I hate when American studios impose their creative changes onto anime productions during the localization process. But that doesn’t mean Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass don’t deserve credit for creating an absolute banger of a theme song with “Go Speed Racer Go.” The TV show itself is a mixed bag and nothing about it really warrants the highest level of enthusiasm from me (other than its nostalgic appeal), but listening to that song every time it came on made every single viewing experience worth it.

10. The Big Bang Theory (2007)

Leave it to the Barenaked Ladies to create a good theme song. They are a successful band for a reason. This kind of feels like what would happen if you grabbed an indie band out of their garage and asked them to create an educational song with zero notes and total creative freedom.

9. Green Eggs and Ham (2019)

I could listen to Rivers Cuomo sing “Watch Me Backflip” on repeat. This song just has a pure quality to its joyfulness that also makes it the perfect theme song for a show aimed at young viewers based on a Dr. Seuss book. I don’t usually go for this kind of enthusiasm-based pop music style that was kicked into overdrive in the 2010s by things like “Happy” and “Everything Is Awesome,” but some songs are so infectious you can’t resist them.

8. SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)

The melody for this song is simple and the lyrics are base-level nonsense. So why have I been unable to get it out of my head for 25 years?? How do I even analyze this? This song was just an instant classic. Period. It feels like a sea shanty that a sailor would sing to his children in between rounds of “Blow the Man Down” and “Drunken Sailor.” And maybe that’s why it feels so ageless.

7. The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988)

I’m convinced that if you don’t like this song, you are either lying to yourself or you could be an emotionally hollow psychopath? Like the Green Eggs and Ham theme song, it simply puts me in a good mood. Is the song kind of cornball? Arguably. But who among us wouldn’t agree that “it’s nice to be able to count on a friend?”

6. Reading Rainbow (1983)

If Levar Burton can’t convince you to explore the magic of reading, this theme song might. There are a lot of PBS shows with good opening themes but for me this one takes the top spot. Another very simple but very appealing concoction of melodic and lyrical genius.

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)

“Turtle power!” No notes whatsoever. This is Chuck Lorre and Dennis C. Brown’s best work (and I include all their sitcom work). Seriously how would you even improve this song? It can’t be done. Even the lyrics have a jokey cleverness to them that matches the attitudes of the characters (“When the evil Shredder attacks, these Turtle boys don’t cut him no slack”) and as a cartoon-loving kid you couldn’t ask for a better siren song to lure me into the sewers with that radical rat and his fearsome fighting team.

4. Happy Days (1974)

I’m obviously not referring to that first season opening theme “Rock Around the Clock” (no offense to Bill Haley or his Comets). “Happy Days,” the song that began playing in the intro after the third season, is my top choice for best sitcom theme song of all time. I’m too young to have any nostalgia for the 1950s, nor would the idea of living during that time period hold the slightest bit of appeal for someone like me, but you know what I do love? Classic rock. Like the show itself, the song was done in a faux fifties style, but also like the show, that didn’t make its sound any less appealing. Did the optimistic and rose-colored view of teenage life this song conveys ever truly exist? It doesn’t matter. Sometimes you just want to say “goodbye grey sky, hello blue.”

3. George of the Jungle (1967)

You had me at the bongo drums. This one has a bit of a wild and wacky vibe as it incorporates the character’s Tarzan-like yell and the actual sound of crashing into a tree, which you would think might make me less inclined to rank this so high. You would be wrong. None of the silly audio motifs that punctuate this song interfere with neither its infinitely dance-able beat nor some of the most fun rhymes you’ll ever sing to yourself after you inevitably get this song stuck in your head.

2. Rawhide (1959)

Can we all agree that Frankie Laine has one of the best singing voices of all time? And that he sang the hell out of this? I heard a lot of good Western theme songs while doing research for this article but none of them even reach the stratosphere that this song is occupying. It’s basically a song about men riding horses, driving cattle and fantasizing about women so it might be the most masculine song this side of Mulan‘s “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” but the thing I love is how perfectly it captures the emotional and almost delirious state of the cattle driver mindset, as well as the mindset of the manual labor workforce in general. Also it’s really catchy, which is honestly enough.

1. DuckTales (1987)

Not pony tales or cotton tales. My choice for best TV theme song of all time goes to DuckTales. I’m still waiting to see if anything will ever surpass the perfection of this song, but that day will most likely never come. There’s nothing coherent I can really say to explain why I love it so much, other than every single thing about it is flawless.

As I said, I listened to a lot of songs (and remembered a lot of songs) while compiling this list, but many of the songs that didn’t make the cut are also great, and I didn’t want to ignore them, so here’s my long list of honorable mentions:

Maverick (1957)

Peter Gunn (1958)

The Rifleman (1958)

Bonanza (1959)

The Jetsons (1962)

Daniel Boone (1964)

Gilligan’s Island (1964)

Underdog (1964)

Batman (1966)

Spider-Man (1967)

The Banana Splits (1968)

Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

The Brady Bunch (1969)

Josie and the Pussycats (1970)

The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)

Hong Kong Phooey (1974)

The Scooby-Doo Show (1976)

Cheers (1982)

Fraggle Rock (1983)

The A-Team (1983)

Inspector Gadget (1983)

Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983)

Airwolf (1984)

Heathcliff (1984)

Muppet Babies (1984)

Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985)

Full House (1987)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988)

Garfield and Friends (1988)

Shining Time Station (1989)

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989)

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989)

Beetlejuice (1989)

America’s Funniest Home Videos (1989)

The Simpsons (1989)

Twin Peaks (1990)

TaleSpin (1990)

Tom & Jerry Kids (1990)

Darkwing Duck (1991)

Taz-Mania (1991)

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991)

Lamb-Chop’s Play-Along (1992)

Goof Troop (1992)

Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993)

Animaniacs (1993)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994)

The Magic School Bus (1994)

Freakazoid! (1995)

Wishbone (1995)

The Angry Beavers (1997)

The Weird Al Show (1997)

Donkey Kong Country (1997)

Pepper Ann (1997)

Sonic Underground (1999)

The Fairly Oddparents (2001)

Monk (2002)

What’s New, Scooby-Doo? (2002)

Phineas and Ferb (2007)