20 Most Infuriating TV Show Theme Songs Ever

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most terrible, fingernails-on-chalkboard TV theme songs. Some spoilers to come!

#20: “The Big Bang Theory” (2007-19)

Of course, a show about science-loving nerds would begin with some kind of scientific explanation for the titular theory. But this ain’t it, chief. The song was composed by rock band the Barenaked Ladies at the behest of the showrunners, who liked co-lead Ed Robertson’s freestyle rap on the same subject. Perhaps the freestyle rap may have been more clever. As it is, “The Big Bang Theory” theme is a mostly unrhymed, barely coherent explanation for the universe’s beginnings and humanity’s development and accomplishment. Though it is mercifully short, it definitely gets grating with repetition.

#19: “Butt-Ugly Martians” (2001-03)

Now, this theme song is as butt-ugly as its show. That may be intentional, but it doesn’t make it any more bearable. The theme song for this Nicktoons show is not just repetitious, but poorly sung with abysmal lyric writing. Melody-wise, the song obviously takes inspiration from military training “call-and-response” drills. Most tellingly, the theme bears a slight resemblance to the kid-friendly “The Ants Go Marching,” based on a Civil War-era song. Except, of course, it’s way less of a fun march and more of a dirge. Don’t let these Martians go anywhere near a Sousa march.

#18: “Pickle and Peanut” (2015-18)

Speaking of listicle-style songs, the theme song to this 2015 animated show is a definite bore. From its passive-aggressive lack of rhyme to its indifferent rap, the “Pickle and Peanut” theme barely has a musical identity, much less coherent lyrics. You would think the misadventures of these two anthropomorphic foods deserved something quirkier. As it is, it’s freestyle rap so free it’s basically like reading out a shopping list. No doubt the theme song matches the show’s absurdism, but this is just too lethargic for any comic charm. Even so, it’s hard to believe this show starred on Disney XD with such a bad theme.

#17: “The Ropers” (1979-80)

A spin-off of the classic sitcom “Three’s Company?” Now this we have to see. Unfortunately, “The Ropers,” focusing on the landlords to the famous trio, disappoints in at least one respect. Unlike the jaunty “Three’s Company” theme, “The Ropers” opts for an instrumental, complete with farting trombones and a high-pitched clarinet. The melody is a brave attempt at a jazz humoresque, but it lacks both the improvisation of jazz and the humor and wit of, well, humoresque. The result is less quirky than dull and rote. “Charlie Brown’s” wah-ing adults made more sense than this theme.

#16: “Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!” (2006-08)

Do you know what would be an appropriate theme song for this Warner Bros. animated “Scooby-Doo” series? Anything other than this. The “Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!” theme is obviously not going to measure up to the pleasantly groovy theme of the original show. But this fast-paced rock theme, half-sung and half-shouted, goes beyond disappointing. It doesn’t even have the saving grace to be short, meaning that for a full minute we get treated to repetitious lyrics in an already repetitious melody. Yeah, we got the clue, all right: This theme is beyond irritating.

#15: “The Mindy Project” (2012-17)

It’s an eternal dilemma for a TV show: Should it have an instrumental theme or a vocal one? Both can be good choices depending on the show. But what happens when a show decides to choose both? The good thing about this scatting theme is its jaunty, catchy melody, even if it’s without much emotion. But singing in vocalise with “nah” was not a wise choice; it almost seems as if the singer itself is mocking the song. Safe to say, singing the theme song may get you accused of mockery pretty quickly. Or just being a nuisance.

#14: “Charles in Charge” (1984-90)

The cloying theme to this 80s series has the grace to be mellow. But not the grace, alas, to be good. The “Charles in Charge” theme, barely performed by Shandi Sinnamon, was composed by David Kurtz, Michael Jacobs, and Al Burton. Apart from being very typically 80s, the theme has a meandering, middling melody that goes nowhere interesting. And what is with these lyrics? “Charles in charge of our days and our nights”? “In charge of our wrongs and our rights”? This is a 19-year-old college kid we’re talking about. How much charisma does this guy have? If his theme song is of any indication, it’s not much.

#13: “South Park” (1997-)

Yes, we know it’s blasphemous for such a long-running iconic comedy to appear on this list. But no show is perfect, and if “South Park” has any weaknesses, it is its theme song. Sung by Les Claypool, the lead singer of the band Primus, the song is a folk rock or bluegrass ditty without much to recommend it. Interspersed with Claypool’s vocals are the main characters’ voices, including Kenny’s muffled lines, typically of a sexually explicit nature. The lack of wit and humor is disappointing, to say the least, and with repetition it hardly gets better.

#12: “Caillou” (1997-2011)

Ah, Caillou. Perhaps the most infamous four-year-old boy in the history of children’s programming, Caillou’s show has been considered at best cloyingly inoffensive and at worst controversial. His theme also leaves much to be desired. Sung by its titular character, voiced by Bryn McAuley, this melody is both mawkish and jaunty, both mellow and excitable. The lyrics are appropriately kid-friendly, though replete with uncreative rhymes about Caillou’s daily life and interests. The effect may not be completely objectionable, but it’s certainly not inspiring. And quite annoying when one hears it over and over.

#11: “The Nutshack” (2007-11)

There are redeemable qualities in even the worst TV themes…in theory. The theme song for this vulgar Filipino-American show would have us analyzing that theory fairly quickly. Half of this song’s length is spent repeating the title of the show over and over again. This is bad enough, but then it segues into a terrible, poorly-written rap about the characters. The unvarying, almost intentionally poor taste of the theme song became a meme all on its own. That one of the worst and most poorly-rated animated shows has such a theme is apropos.

#10: “Hammerman” (1991)

The more confident among us can openly admit to loving MC Hammer’s massive hit song, “U Can’t Touch This.” It was a great time, fun was had, but for most fans, that was the end of the love affair with Hammer and his parachute pants. Somehow, though, he landed this children’s show, which saw a cartoon, superhero version of him solving crimes with a pair of magical dancing shoes. The theme song, performed by Hammer himself, is as ridiculous as the show’s concept. In a far-too-long rap, Hammer tells the origin of Hammerman and the magical shoes. The rap is jumbled, completely lacks rhythm, and, unsurprisingly, isn’t exactly lyrically compelling. Don’t worry Hammer, no one will touch this.

#9: “Scaredy Squirrel” (2011-13)

There has to be some parent out there who’s had a breakdown from hearing this theme song one too many times; which is to say, they’ve heard it exactly once. The theme song to this cartoon about a hyperactive squirrel and his skunk buddy getting into crazy situations down at the supermarket where they work is overly offensive to, oddly enough, jazz. Tonally, the song doesn’t speak jazz; rather, it sticks to the classic upbeat, overload-of-sound structure that many children’s shows select. When the squirrel attempts to sing jazz, he coughs out nonsensical words in what we assume is an attempt to scat. It’s a failure, and we’re left listening to high-pitched dribble.

#8: “Star Trek: Enterprise” (2001-05)

The producers behind “Enterprise” wanted a Star Trek like none that came before... and unfortunately, they got it. Veering far from other Star Trek iterations, Enterprise chose to ditch the orchestral format for its theme song and instead, it went with “Faith of the Heart” by Russell Watson. The song is fine enough for an Adult Contemporary grocery store soundtrack, but not for Star Trek. It’s slow, deep, and most of all not very Trek, a franchise about wonder and exploration and the beauty of the expansive universe. They tried to improve it for later seasons by upping the tempo, but it still fell flat. Every time fans heard “Enterprise’s” inappropriate theme, they boldly went to another channel.

#7: “Happy Tree Friends” (1999-2023)

Surprise, surprise: another kid’s show. “Happy Tree Friends” – a show that at first glance seems to be about cute little woodland creatures, but is actually deceptively violent and gory – opts for some high pitched squealing as the primary musical element in its theme. Because that’s what animals do… they squeal… Anyway, the theme song is about thirty seconds of extremely piercing high octave noises set to a background beat of a tuba. The tuba is actually the least offensive part of the song, so well done, tuba player!

#6: “Elmo’s World” (1998-2009; 2017-)

La la la la, la la la la, stop this song! This is the thought – set to an unfortunate melody – that rolls through a person’s mind when they are in range of Elmo and his tone-deaf world. The show within a show is admittedly great for children, and plenty of people out there would concede to having a soft spot for the little red guy, but that doesn't mean the song isn't hard to listen to. It is at best annoyingly catchy, and at worst it’s akin to a hole being drilled in the side of your head. Goldfish and crayons aren't enough to save us from this painfully irritating earworm.

#5: “Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks” (2015-23)

Brace yourselves; even if you haven’t seen the show, you probably know what’s coming. Alvin and his pesky chipmunks achieved mainstream, billion-dollar success with their film franchise. And anyone familiar with the movies knows how heavily they’re marketed through mainstream songs that have been put through a squeaky chipmunk filter. Well, the show’s theme song does the same thing, letting the chipmunk’s squeaky singing voices take center stage. It’s another example of a children’s show opting for shrill vocals and up-tempo beats. We’re not sure, but there has to be some science behind the formula, because it seems that every new cartoon out there is upping the ante on annoying themes.

#4: “The L Word” (2004-09)

Not introduced until season 2, the hugely annoying theme song to “The L Word” has had several complaints lodged against it, but we’ll start here: it tries too hard to be a James Bond song. The Bond themes work because, well, it’s James Bond and it’s a part of that franchise’s culture. To work elsewhere, everything needs to be just right. The L Word did not get it right, and that’s because of the other issues. The show follows a group of lesbians in Hollywood in fairly melodramatic situations, and that’s also what the vocals focus on. It inappropriately and stereotypically flaunts the character’s identities, resulting in a song that’s actually fairly offensive to members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

#3: “Animaniacs” (1993-98)

Returning to children’s shows, we land on the Animaniacs. While we’re sure this tune has its fans, some viewers find the theme so bothersome because it feels like a circus tune – and you know what? It’s designed to be annoying. The shows’ three main characters, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, spend the song taking the viewer around the WB lot, explaining the hijinks they get up to. It’s high-pitched, way too fast, and altogether too much – but hey, it won an Emmy Award. Oh, here’s something else you may not know; this show’s executive producer? Steven Spielberg. You learn something new every day.

#2: “Fanboy & Chum Chum” (2009-14)

What the heck is a Chum Chum? You know what, that’s not important. We’re here to talk about the show’s theme song, and yes, it really, truly earned the number two spot. An innocent whistle begins this song, but that’s just the calm before the storm, because then Fanboy & Chum Chum break into a rap and all hell breaks loose. These two nasally demon spawns vomit up lyrics about their underwear and getting a brain freeze. And then, you won’t believe this; the song literally encourages its fans to scream at the top of their lungs. DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO PARENTS? Peaceful household no more.

#1: “Barney & Friends” (1992-2010)

You know what’s funny? Most people think that the Barney theme song is this… But the whole “I love you, you love me,” thing isn’t the real theme, although it was used to torture POWs in Iraq. No, Barney's theme is actually completely different, but don’t worry, it’s still super annoying; it landed the number one spot for a good, or you know what, bad reason. The song, entitled “Barney is a Dinosaur” is set to the tune of “Yankee Doodle,” which is offensive enough as it is. It sings of Barney, how he’s a dinosaur, and all the fun he gets up to with the children. Let’s just say that when this version of the show ended in 2010, we're happy the irritating theme song was retired along with it.