For most of the past decade, the TV theme song seemed to be on its way out. Shows opened with a five-second title card, a quick logo and straight into the story. Streaming services added a “skip intro” button, and millions of viewers pressed it without a second thought. But after years of short title cards, some new shows are bringing back full theme songs, and audiences are responding. Viewers are humming them, sharing them online and, most surprising of all, choosing not to skip them. We talked with composers, critics and longtime viewers about why the theme song is staging a comeback and what makes a great one.
A short history of the theme song
For decades, theme songs were a central part of television. In the early days, they did practical work. A catchy tune told families in other rooms that their show was starting, and a lyrical theme could explain a show’s entire premise in under a minute. Many viewers can still sing the openings of shows they watched as kids, years after the last episode aired.
Over time, openings got shorter. Networks wanted to fit more story and more commercials into each half hour. By the 2000s, many dramas and comedies had trimmed their themes to a few seconds of music over the title. Then streaming arrived, and the skip button made it easy to jump past even those short openings. For a while, it looked like the full theme song might disappear entirely.
The appeal
A theme song sets the mood and becomes part of the ritual. That is the simple reason composers and showrunners give for bringing them back.
When you watch an episode every week, or several in a row on a weekend, the theme becomes a signal. It tells your brain to settle in, put the phone down and get ready for the story. “A good theme is like a front door,” said Nina Castillo, a composer who wrote the opening music for the comedy “Night Shift Diner.” “You walk through it every time you visit, and after a while, it feels like coming home.”
Theme songs also help a show build an identity. In a crowded streaming landscape, where dozens of new series launch every month, a memorable piece of music can make a show stand out. Fans share clips of openings online, cover them on guitar and piano and even play them at weddings. That kind of attention is hard to buy with marketing.
If viewers don’t skip it, you’ve written a great theme.
Our TV critic
What makes a theme work
We asked composers what separates a theme people love from one they skip. Their answers were remarkably consistent:
- A clear melody. If you cannot hum it after one listen, it probably will not stick.
- The right length. Today’s favorites tend to run between thirty and sixty seconds, long enough to set a mood but short enough not to test patience.
- A match with the show’s tone. A cozy comedy needs warmth; a mystery needs tension.
- Visuals worth watching. The best openings pair the music with images that reward repeat viewing.
- Small changes over time. Some shows add new details to their opening each season, or even each episode, to reward attentive fans.
The skip button
Streaming made skipping easy, and great themes make people stay. That tension has turned the skip button into an unexpected test of quality.
Several of the composers we spoke with said they now write with the skip button in mind. They know the audience has a one-click escape, so the opening has to earn every second. “It is honestly a healthy kind of pressure,” said Marcus Webb, a composer who scores dramas. “In the old days, you had a captive audience. Now you have to win them over every single episode.”
Some showrunners have gone further, designing openings that change from week to week. The island mystery “The Ferryman’s Daughter” uses the same haunting melody every episode, but the images in its opening change slightly to hint at that week’s clues. Fans have started pausing the opening frame by frame, searching for secrets. Skipping it would mean missing something.
The sing-along effect
One of the clearest signs of the comeback is how often viewers say they sing along. In an informal poll of our readers, many people said they had at least one current show whose theme they never skip, and several said they knew all the words to a theme from a show that premiered just last year.
That sing-along quality is especially strong in comedies and family shows. Kids, in particular, love a theme they can shout along with, and parents say a familiar opening helps signal that it is time to settle down for an episode before bed. For shared viewing, a theme song becomes a small ritual that everyone in the room joins together.
From the screen to the playlist
Many new themes have found a second life outside the show. Full-length versions are released on music streaming services, and some have climbed the charts on their own. Live concerts of TV music, where an orchestra plays openings and scores from beloved shows, are selling out in cities like Chicago, Austin and Seattle. For composers, this is a big change from the days when a theme was something you heard once a week and forgot.
Some fans have even started their own traditions around openings. A group of friends in Minneapolis told us they stand up and sing the theme to “Night Shift Diner” every time they start an episode together, complete with hand motions they invented themselves. A family in Atlanta has a rule that whoever skips the opening of their favorite mystery show has to make the popcorn for the rest of the season. Small rituals like these are exactly what composers hope for. A theme that becomes part of how people gather is a theme that has done its job, and it keeps viewers coming back long after the plot details fade from memory.
Key takeaway: The skip button did not kill the theme song. It raised the bar, and the themes clearing that bar are some of the best television music in years.
Is this comeback here to stay?
Not every show needs a long opening, and not every viewer wants one. Fast-paced thrillers and short comedies may still be better served by a quick title card. Some critics also worry that a trend toward lengthy openings could become its own kind of filler if every show feels obliged to include one.
But the shows getting it right suggest that the theme song is not just a nostalgic throwback. It is a tool, one that helps a series build loyalty, mood and memory in a very crowded field. As our TV critic put it, the real test is simple. When the music starts, does your thumb move toward the skip button, or do you put the remote down and start humming? For a growing number of shows, the answer is the second one.
Tell us your favorite current theme song through our “what should you watch tonight?” quiz, and we may feature it in our next roundup. We are building a playlist, and we promise not to skip a single one.
