The 20 best TV show theme songs of all time

Though "Woke Up This Morning" wasn't written for the show, it's a perfect fit. The Alabama 3 track is simultaneously soft and imposing, a great match for the HBO show.

Though They Might Be Giants has written songs for multiple TV shows in their storied history, "Boss of Me" is unquestionably their most famous – written specifically for the sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle." For their trouble writing it, the band was able to win a Grammy in 2002 (in the category of songs written for movies, TV, or other visual media) for the song.

"Movin' On Up" is just an absolute jam. It's the best kind of earworm – a song that gets stuck in your head, makes you happy, and compels you to dance like an idiot even though it's 2pm and you're still at work.

The only sound more '90s than the intro guitar riff to The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There For You" is the ear-piercing sound of a dial-up modem desperately attempting to connect to the internet. And though the song wasn't written specifically for the show, they go together better than Ross and Rachel.

File this one under "TV theme that became more iconic than the show itself." "The Greatest American Hero" only lasted three seasons, but "Believe it or Not", the '80s power ballad that acted as the show's opening theme song, has lived on in our hearts much longer.

Bear with me for a second. Yes, it's a silly kids' show, but go back and listen to the theme song. It's metal-lite, and it starts with an honest-to-god tapping solo. It's not a typical happy-go-lucky TV theme song – for a show aimed at the elementary school crowd, the theme song is oddly heavy.

Don't pretend like you don't know all the words. Since the show aired in the USA for the first time back in 1997, the theme song has been everywhere – to the point where it's hard to resist responding with "Like no one ever was?" whenever a friend says they want to be the very best at something.

"The Wonder Years'" theme song gets points docked because most people simply know it as Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends." You don't intrinsically think about the show when you think about that song like, say, the theme to "Friends". That said, the song is amazing, and it really does fit well with the show.

The theme from Cops runs into the same issue as the theme from The Wonder Years – sure, Inner Circle's "Bad Boys" is linked to the show, but it's also linked to the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence buddy cop movie series. It's not just the theme from "Cops". That said, like the theme from "The Wonder Years", it's just such a perfect fit for the show itself that it deserves a spot on the list.

Though "True Blood" might have gone downhill after the first few seasons, Jace Everett's "Bad Things," a twangy, sexy, brooding song perfect for the show, has aged very, very well. Though it was released in 2005, the song didn't become popular until its rerelease in 2009 after it was chosen as the "True Blood" theme song.

Okay, okay, don't worry. "DuckTales" is later down the list, I didn't forget it. But take a moment to appreciate the "DuckTales" theme's underappreciated cousin. The Ch-ch-ch-"Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" theme is bouncy, fun, and can, oddly, stand apart from the show itself (especially at a '90s karaoke night at your favorite bar.

Of course everybody's favorite cancelled-too-early space opera would make an appearance on this list. And though "The Ballad Of Serenity" sounds like a licensed song, the twangy-bluesy anthem was written specifically for the show by Joss Whedon, the creator of "Firefly."

The story of the "King of the Hill" theme song is an interesting one. The Refreshments, a band that appropriately hailed from the American southwest (Tempe, AZ, specifically), was pegged to write a song for the show, one that ended up being a rowdy, guitar-heavy instrumental affair appropriately titled "Yahoos and Triangles". And though it was one of the band's biggest hits at the time (their other one was titled "Banditos") they would traditionally only play the "King of the Hill" theme at live shows during the soundcheck. 

Though the scatted, Bobby McFerrin-esque theme song from Nickelodeon's hit cartoon "Doug" is inextricably linked to the show it accompanies, it also stands on its own as a relaxing and catchy tune in its own right, so feel free to hum along.

Woo-oo!

I said I'd get here, and I wasn't lying. The "DuckTales" theme song is so incredibly happy, so incredibly sing-along-able, that it is right up there with "Mr. Blue Sky" in the pantheon of songs that just put you in a good mood when you hear them.

Cheesiness can be great if you embrace it (have you ever had a grilled cheese doughnut? Q.E.D.), and few theme songs lean as hard on the cheese factor as the horn-heavy "Everywhere You Look" from "Full House." No matter how cloying the lyrics and instrumentation might be, you can't help but love the song.

Orchestral TV themes had been conspicuously absent from major TV shows before Ramin Djawadi brought the trend back with his sweeping, epic theme song for HBO's "Game of Thrones." Since the show's release, it's been ubiquitous -- played by college marching bands, remixed and played at clubs -- it's been everywhere. And for good reason.

Okay, say what you want about the show (and there's a lot to say about it), but the theme song is pretty great. The Barenaked Ladies-penned theme song is their take on an educational song like They Might Be Giants' "Why Does the Sun Shine," and it has the same catchy, pop-rock sensibilities. You might hate the show, but at least the theme song is pretty good.

This almost seems unfair, but it'd be criminal not to put the hyper-catchy theme from The Monkees' TV show on this list. Sure, it's probably pretty easy to write a good TV theme if you're a band, and you're writing the theme song for the show about your band, but that doesn't make the song any less deserving.

What is the essence of a good TV show theme song? It must stand on its own as a catchy tune, but it also must give the listener a sense of what is about to happen, a sense of what the show is about. The "Cheers" theme song does both incredibly admirably. Sometimes you do just want to go where everybody knows your name.