Last Updated on 26 October 2023

I searched the Internet for lists of best TV theme songs of all time. Criteria included the themes being ranked, not just listed, and covering all time, not just a decade. The lists were generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 16 lists. I took the 16 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every theme song. The total number was almost 900 including all the repeats. I averaged the rankings each TV theme got and divided that average by the number of lists that song was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists.

The theme songs that were on the most lists (out of 16) were:

  • Cheers – 16
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – 15
  • Mission: Impossible – 13
  • Friends – 13
  • The Jeffersons – 13
  • MASH – 12
  • Hawaii Five-O – 12
  • Happy Days – 12
  • The Mary Tyler Moore Show – 12
  • The Muppet Show – 11
  • Sesame Street – 11
  • The Andy Griffith Show – 11
  • The Golden Girls – 11
  • The Brady Bunch – 11
  • Peter Gunn – 11
  • All in the Family – 11
  • Sanford and Son – 11
  • The Dukes of Hazzard – 11

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

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