Themes may also be superfluous in the fast-forwarding TiVo age. Advertisement. The demise of the theme may have been signaled by Garry Shandling’s spoof of theme music in his 1986 Fox sitcom, ...

The opening theme music from a TV show can become an earworm — just think of Mission: Impossible or Peter Gunn. For composers, coming up with something catchy is like trying to write a Top 40 hit.