SUNDAY MUSIC VIDS: TV Themes

As you all know (or SHOULD know by now, sheesh!), the Primetime Emmy Awards are tomorrow night, and so I thought would be fun this week to pay tribute to some of the most memorable music in TV history!

Oftentimes, a TV show’s theme song can outlast the TV show itself. Sometimes, it’s a pre-existing song that the producers are able to get the rights to ("Friends", "Bosom Buddies"), making it a classic as part of the show where it might have been ignored as a stand-alone track; and sometimes, the song is composed specifically for the show, and becomes indelible with the story that the series tells ("The Brady Bunch", "Gilligan's Island"). And, occasionally, a show’s theme is written with lyrics that never actually make it into the final production (“M.A.S.H.”).

What you may not know, since it is never a part of the Emmys telecast, is that the TV Academy does hand out awards every year in at least 5 music categories, including Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score), and Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. The nominees in those two categories this year are:

Music Composition for a Series

“Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” (PBS)

“Downton Abbey” (PBS)

“Game of Thrones” (HBO)

“House of Cards” (Netflix)

“True Detective” (HBO)

Main Title Theme Music:

“Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” (PBS)

“Back Sails” (Starz)

“Magic City” (Starz)

“Sleepy Hollow” (Fox)

“The Spoils of Babylon” (IFC)

(The winner of BOTH those awards this year went to "Cosmos"!)

Here are just a few of the most memorable TV theme songs in history! Enjoy!

What are some of YOUR favorite TV show theme songs?

(Screenshot via YouTube)

- Katie Marzullo, YH Staff Editor

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