Ranking the best among classic and contemporary TV theme songs

Theme songs can make or break any TV show — greeting audiences at home with the right music is often half the job.

While in the contemporary era many of the serials have opted against employing an opening song altogether, preferring to introduce the entertainment through musical score alone, some of the television’s best are remembered for their preluding hits as much as the material which followed.

Here is a brief selection of such hits, in no particular order:

The Addams Family Theme from The Addams Family (1964)

Created and performed by the legendary film and TV composer Vic Mizzy, the original Addams Family theme — memorable for its finger snaps — made for such an iconic song that it has been associated with the “mysterious and spooky” titular household ever since.

Cold Little Heart from Big Little Lies (2017)

The comedy drama Big Little Lies made Michael Kiwanuka’s song mainstream. The soulful tune from the British singer’s 2016 album Love and Hate, Cold Little Heart fit right in with the serial’s atmospheric visuals from its opening.

Self titled theme song from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

Maybe you haven’t considered this before, but theme music from animated TV shows are just as hard to beat as any other. Perhaps even more so, since most audiences grow up with them and nostalgia is always a tough opponent. Which is likely why the original Scooby-Doo theme song is a testament to its legacy — so much so, that it has been performed by several artists over the years.

I Don’t Want to Be from One Tree Hill (2003)

Performed by Gavin DeGraw, I Don’t Want to Be was the perfect choice for One Tree Hill’s introduction as the quintessential high school drama of its time. The song’s understatedly rebellious lyrics provided the ideal backdrop for the kind of young adult plotlines included in the series.

Red Right Hand from Peaky Blinders (2013)

Performed by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, this indie rock track was a god send for the acclaimed British series Peaky Blinders. Red Right Hand’s repeatedly pulsating rhythm and lyrics which “conjure up our industrial landscape and the ‘tall handsome man’”, per series creator Steven Knight, proved to be a match made in heaven for the period drama, being forever linked to it despite having been put to popular use in other successful productions like The X-Files and Scream before Peaky Blinders.