There was a time when a theme song didn’t just start a show. It defined it. These intros told you everything about the tone, the characters, the energy, all in under a minute. Some made you laugh. Some made you cry. Some made it to the Billboard charts. They were ritual. They were memory. They were art.

The Theme Song Challenge

Growing up, bedtime wasn’t easy. My brother and I shared a room, twin beds, one tiny TV, and too much energy. So we made up a game. One of us would whisper the name of a show. The other had to sing the theme song.

There was no Google. No lyrics printed out. Just what we could remember, hum, or fake with confidence. Sometimes we nailed it. Sometimes we hummed through half the song and made up the rest. But even now? I can still sing most of them. Slightly wrong – but all heart.

The 1970s: Soul, Saxophones, and Sitcom Symphonies

“Welcome Back” – Welcome Back, Kotter (1975)

Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out…

Welcome back, to that same old place that you laughed about…

A soft, nostalgic homecoming anthem. Gentle, simple, and sincere. Written and performed by John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful, the song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was so good, ABC renamed the show around it.

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“Movin’ On Up” – The Jeffersons (1975)

Well we’re movin’ on up… to the East Side…

To a deluxe apartment in the sky…

This wasn’t just a theme, it was a victory march. Gospel-powered joy, bursting with pride. Written by Ja’net Dubois (yep, Willona from Good Times) and Jeff Barry, this became the anthem of upward mobility for a generation that rarely saw itself moving anywhere on TV.

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“Those Were the Days” – All in the Family (1971)

Boy the way Glenn Miller played…

Songs that made the hit parade…

Just Archie and Edith at the piano, off-key and perfect. It was a wistful glance backward, poking fun at the very idea of nostalgia while still soaking in it. You could hear all the denial and pride wrapped up in that rusty old upright.

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“Making Our Dreams Come True” – Laverne & Shirley (1976)

Give us any chance, we’ll take it.

Read us any rule, we’ll break it.

It kicked in like a can of Tab and a punch to the clock. This was the working-girl anthem before there were many. Cyndi Grecco’s performance was poppy and proud, and the whole thing felt like a factory floor fantasy with heart. It even cracked the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #25.

Big props to the theme from Happy Days and Mork & Mindy as well!

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“Good Times” – Good Times (1974)

Good times… anytime you need a payment.

Good times… anytime you need a friend.

Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em — Good times!

It was upbeat, but it was real. This theme wore poverty and perseverance like a badge of honor. Funky, fast, and filled with grit. The lyrics were famously mumbled and misheard – is it “hanging in a chow line”? “Jiving in the skyline”? No one agrees. Doesn’t matter. You clapped along anyway.

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“Angela” – Taxi (1978)

Quiet. Soulful. Sad. Bob James didn’t write a sitcom theme – he wrote a jazz elegy. It sounded like disappointment in a raincoat, stepping off a curb in New York City at 3 a.m. It was too good for TV, and yet… it made the show.

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“WKRP in Cincinnati” – WKRP in Cincinnati (1978)

Baby… if you’ve ever wondered…

Wondered whatever became of me…

I’m living on the air in Cincinnati,

Cincinnati WKRP

One of the most quietly emotional themes on television. A soft-rock letter to nowhere from a tired radio DJ. Sung by Steve Carlisle, the full version played like a breakup song – and weirdly, that worked. It charted in 1979, which is wild considering how weirdly tender it is for a workplace comedy.

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“Suicide Is Painless” – MASH* (1972)

The game of life is hard to play,

I’m gonna lose it anyway

The losing card I’ll someday lay

So this is all I have to say.

Suicide is painless

It brings on many changesA

No I can take or leave it if I please…

Melancholy and beautiful. It opened every episode with eerie calm, giving you a moment of stillness before the dark comedy kicked in. The lyrics, written by Robert Altman’s 14-year-old son, were so grim they never aired on TV, but the tune stuck with everyone just the same.

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“S.W.A.T.” – S.W.A.T. (1975)

This theme didn’t just announce a show, it kicked your door in. Full of brass, snare rolls, and no-nonsense energy, it actually hit #1 on Billboard. Not many theme songs can say that. Probably the only time a cop show groove could double as a dance floor track.

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“Hawaii Five-O” – Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980)

Surf rock percussion. Bold horn stabs. That opening alone told you: crime would be solved, and it would look cool as hell. Covered endlessly, this theme somehow turned state tourism into a soundtrack for takedowns.

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The 1980s: Synth, Sentiment, and Suburban Dreams

“Where Everybody Knows Your Name” – Cheers (1982)

Sometimes you wanna go…

Where everybody knows your name.

And they’re always glad you came…

This was more than a theme. It was therapy in piano chords. Warm, a little sad, a little comforting, like your favorite bartender listening instead of talking. Written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo, it became one of the most beloved openings in TV history. Even people who never watched Cheers know the damn song.

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“Believe It or Not” – The Greatest American Hero (1981)

Believe it or not, I’m walking on air.

I never thought I could feel so free…

It’s the soft-rock theme that launched a thousand parodies and at least one George Costanza voicemail. Written by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer, sung by Joey Scarbury, and somehow, miraculously, it hit #2 on Billboard. The show may be a cult footnote now, but this theme? Iconic.

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“As Long As We Got Each Other” – Growing Pains (1985)

Show me that smile again.

Don’t waste another minute on your cryin’…

This one wrapped around you like a dad hug in audio form. Soft rock meets suburban idealism, with harmonies that said, “we might not be okay now, but give it 23 minutes.” Co-written by Alan Thicke himself, and performed by B.J. Thomas and Jennifer Warnes in later seasons.

Props to the “Family Ties” theme as well!

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“Together” – Silver Spoons (1982)

Here we are, face to face,

A couple of silver spoons…

This one felt like it came on a vinyl record that smelled faintly of maple syrup. It was corny. It was sincere. And it worked. The show was about a father and son trying to connect, and this theme sounded like it was written for a Sears commercial, and I mean that lovingly.

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“Give Me a Break!” – Give Me a Break! (1981)

Give me a break, I sure deserve it.

It’s time I made it to the top…

Nell Carter didn’t sing this song, she commanded it. A full-throttle declaration of earned self-respect. The show may have been light sitcom fluff, but this theme came in with Broadway energy. They even remixed it later with a more up-tempo vibe, but nothing hit harder than that first version.

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“My Life” – Bosom Buddies (1980)

I don’t care what you say anymore, this is my life.

Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone…”

Billy Joel. That’s it. That’s the tweet. They didn’t even bother writing a theme, they just bought the rights to one of his biggest hits and let it roll over Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in drag. It worked because it was absurd and grounded at the same time. Just like the show.

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“Come and Knock on Our Door” – Three’s Company (1977–1984)

Come and knock on our door…

We’ve been waiting for you…”

Sexy and innocent at the same time, like someone turned a pair of short shorts into a melody. The harmonies were pure 70s lounge, and it somehow made adult roommate chaos sound like a cartoon. The later seasons kept the same tune, because honestly, why mess with it?

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“The Muppet Show Theme” – The Muppet Show (1976–1981)

It’s time to play the music,

It’s time to light the lights…

Unhinged puppet energy with full brass backing. Every week was a musical theatre meltdown with chaos in the margins. This was vaudeville for kids and adults alike, and somehow still feels sharper than half the comedy on TV now. Gonzo’s trumpet fail? Never not funny.

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So… What Happened to Theme Songs?

At some point in the late ’90s, theme songs started disappearing. Slowly at first. A shorter intro here. A moody, instrumental loop there. Then came the “Skip Intro” button. And just like that, they were gone.

Instead of being sung into a story, we got cold opens. Instead of grand piano or funky bass, we got grayscale drones with blurry overlays. Theme songs didn’t just shrink. They evaporated.

Part of it was business. More time for ads. Faster pacing. Streaming culture. And part of it was style. Everything started trying to be cinematic. Prestige. Brooding. Suddenly there wasn’t room for harmonized joy or optimism in a sitcom key.

But we lost something.

Theme songs are missed. They told you who you were about to spend time with. They gave you a moment to breathe. To transition. Even the ones we barely remember are still lodged in our skulls, somewhere between the sugar crash from Saturday morning cartoons and the stomach pit of Sunday night homework.

They were the doorway. And we used to sing our way through.

Final Chorus

These songs were more than intros. They were memory machines. You didn’t just watch Cheers. You felt it from the first note. You didn’t need to know the full plot of Good Times. The theme told you everything in three lines and a clap track.

Even now, decades later, I can still hum almost all of them. Some of the words are wrong. Some never made sense to begin with. Doesn’t matter.

What matters is this. Once upon a time, when the world felt too big or too confusing, a theme song could pull you into a living room that felt like your own. Whether it was a bar, a cab, a courtroom, or a puppet theatre, those thirty seconds gave you a place to be.

And I still want to go where everybody knows my name… even if most of the time I’ll click the skip button when they start.

What’s the theme song you still sing without thinking? Don’t Google it. Just hum what you remember. That’s the version that counts.