Succession is back for its fourth and final season. That means only 10 more chances to hear the memorable theme song, which got Showbiz Cheat Sheet thinking. HBO has quite a track record of memorable theme songs. They date back to linear TV, before skipping the credits was even an option, but even so, these are so good you wouldn’t want to skip them anyway.
Here are the 7 best theme songs to HBO original shows we thought of. Succession is on the list and its final season airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
‘The Larry Sanders Show’ theme song was better than real late night talk shows
Garry Shandling’s showbiz spoof The Larry Sanders Show got everything right about the industry. Shandling played a late night talk show host and the satire showed how fake everything was both on the stage and behind the scenes. Larry Sanders even mocked the real late night talk show wars between Jay Leno and David Letterman.
Another thing Larry Sanders got right was the theme song. A jazzy riff that doubled as the talk show within the show’s theme song, Though inspired by The Tonight Show or Late Night themes, the Larry Sanders theme was so peppy it would likely keep viewers up even later.
‘Dream On’ was a mellow yet addictive theme song
Remember Dream On, one of HBO’s first original comedies? It was the show David Crane and Marta Kauffman created before Friends. Brian Benben played Martin Tupper, a man whose inner thoughts were reflected by clips of old black and white TV shows he grew up on. The theme song was a mellow, sleepy riff that reflected Tupper’s dreaming, yet fans of the show could still hum it today if asked.
The theme song was only one great part of ‘Six Feet Under’
Six Feet Under was one of HBO’s premier dramas. It may even have one of the best series finales of all time. Every episode opened with a unique death which the Fischer family would have to undertake at their mortuary. The theme song was a whimsical way into death and drama without getting too sad.
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The ‘Game of Thrones’ theme song was intense
HBO’s landmark fantasy show Game of Thrones began intensely from the opening credits. Ramin Djawadi created a riff that could repeat with increased intensity to simulate the impending war. It remains the theme song for the prequel, House of the Dragon, because there’d just be no way to top it. Although, thanks to South Park, we can’t help adding the lyrics “weiner, weiner weiner, weiner weiner” to the tune.
‘The Sopranos’ had the most memorable theme song with lyrics
The Sopranos is the show that made HBO a player in the original television space. The mob drama opened with the song “Woke Up This Morning” by Alabama 3. As Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) drove into the city, you wouldn’t want to skip the song.
The ‘Succession’ theme song is an intense piano banger
So, that Succession theme song is a piano melody so intense you can almost see the pianist banging on the keys. It accompanies home videos of the Roy family and clips of their ATN news network. You also won’t want to skip these credits because there may be Easter eggs in those visuals, but the gripping theme song makes it easy to listen to.
The ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ theme song is the ultimate punchline
This is kind of a cheat because it’s a piece of classical music composed by Luciano Michelini for an Italian movie. But, thanks to Larry David it is forever the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song. Like Stanley Kubrick and 2001, although Michelini doesn’t date back quite as far as Richard Strauss. Literally anything is funny if you follow it with the Curb theme.
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