TV & Movie Theme Songs
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144 free TV & Movie Theme Songs trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
49 free TV & Movie Theme Songs trivia questions with answers. Did you know that many iconic theme songs were written by the same legendary composers who scored entire films? Test your expertise across decades of television and cinema with our comprehensive 144-question theme song trivia challenge. From classic sitcoms to blockbuster franchises, can you name that tune?
30 of 144 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01'Suicide Is Painless', sung in Robert Altman's 1970 war comedy, became the theme of which TV series?
M*A*S*H
Robert Altman wanted 'the stupidest song ever written' for his M*A*S*H film, and when he couldn't write it, he handed the lyrics to his teenage son Mike.
Q 02Which sitcom's theme song tells of a 'three-hour tour'?
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island's first-season theme lumped two castaways in as 'the rest'; 'the Professor and Mary Ann' were written into the lyric from season two.
Q 03Who wrote and rapped his own 1990 NBC sitcom's theme song?
Will Smith
Will Smith wrote it for his first acting job, which he took on after the IRS had seized his belongings over unpaid taxes.
Q 04Which new wave frontman composed The Simpsons' main theme?
Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman, then fronting Oingo Boingo, suggested 'something retro' after Matt Groening showed him a rough cut of the opening.
Q 05R.E.M. refused to let which sitcom use 'Shiny Happy People' as its theme song?
Friends
Friends commissioned 'I'll Be There for You' instead, and when radio stations played the minute-long TV version, The Rembrandts expanded it into a full single.
Q 06The two-note "dun-dun" sound is the signature of which TV franchise?
Law & Order
Law & Order's scene-change sound was created by composer Mike Post, who calls it 'the clang' and imagined it as a jail cell locking.
Q 07Which film's theme made Steven Spielberg laugh because he thought John Williams was joking?
Jaws
Jaws' shark theme was no joke: Spielberg later said Williams's score was responsible for half the film's success.
Q 08Cindy Fee's cover of 'Thank You for Being a Friend' was the theme of which sitcom?
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls' theme came from a 1978 song that Andrew Gold dismissed as 'just this little throwaway thing'.
Q 09Which instrument carries the Seinfeld theme that Jonathan Wolff reworked to fit each episode?
Slap bass
Slap bass, topped with finger snaps and lip noises, because Wolff wanted something as organic as the human rhythm of Jerry's standup voice.
Q 10Which Disney animated film's opening song begins with a chant sung in Zulu?
The Lion King
The Lion King's 'Circle of Life' was nominated for the Oscar but lost to 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight', a song from the same film.
Q 11Simon & Garfunkel's 'Mrs. Robinson' was written for which 1967 film?
The Graduate
The Graduate got 'Mrs. Robinson' from a song Paul Simon had been writing as 'Mrs. Roosevelt', which director Mike Nichols had him rework.
Q 12Which slasher film's piano theme did its own director compose and perform?
Halloween
Halloween's score came after an early screening without music left a young executive unscared, so John Carpenter set out to save the film with music.
Q 13Who composed the main title theme for HBO's Westeros saga, and scored all eight seasons?
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi made the cello the lead because the showrunners had a 'no-flute rule', wanting to avoid the usual fantasy sound.
Q 21Which 1980s TV show opened with 'Believe it or not, I'm walking on air'?
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero's teacher-hero was named Ralph Hinkley, so the show hastily dubbed out his surname after John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan.
Q 22The "Imperial March" (Darth Vader's theme) first appeared in which Star Wars film?
The Empire Strikes Back
Nothing like it appears in the 1977 original; the 1980 sequel introduced both the march and Yoda's theme.
Q 23Randy Newman's 'You've Got a Friend in Me' is the theme of which Pixar franchise, starting with its 1995 original?
Toy Story
Q 14"Gonna Fly Now" is the inspirational theme from which sports film?
Rocky
Rocky's music was first offered to David Shire, star Talia Shire's husband, who turned it down because he was already busy on other films.
Q 15Vince Guaraldi's jazz trio scored which comic strip's Christmas TV special?
Peanuts
Peanuts' signature tune, 'Linus and Lucy', was first written for a Charlie Brown documentary that never made it to TV.
Q 16The instrumental theme for the US version of The Office was performed by which group?
The Scrantones
Producer Greg Daniels had considered using The Kinks' 'Better Things' and Modest Mouse's 'Float On' before commissioning Jay Ferguson's tune.
Q 17Adele won an Oscar for which film's song?
Skyfall
Skyfall's theme made Adele 'a little hesitant' at first, because of the instant spotlight and pressure that come with a Bond song.
Q 18Which film series' signature theme, first heard in 2001, opens on a solo celesta?
Harry Potter
Harry Potter's 'Hedwig's Theme' is named after Harry's owl; John Williams scored only the first three films, but later composers kept developing it.
Q 19Which sitcom's theme recaps a Philadelphia teen's move to rich relatives?
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was later rebooted as the drama Bel-Air, which grew out of Morgan Cooper's short fan film reimagining the sitcom.
Q 20Which composer is known for the scores of The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar?
Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer began Interstellar's score from a one-page letter Christopher Nolan wrote about a father leaving his child, before hearing any plot.
Toy Story's song is a duet with Lyle Lovett in the first film, and the Gipsy Kings did a Spanish-language version for the third.
Q 24Which TV drama's theme song is "Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3?
The Sopranos
The Sopranos' theme was written after Alabama 3's frontman read about Sara Thornton, who had killed her husband.
Q 25'(I've Had) The Time of My Life' plays over which 1987 film's finale?
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing's finale was filmed to the songwriter's demo, after choreographer Kenny Ortega chose this song over a planned Lionel Richie track.
Q 26Which band recorded 'Eye of the Tiger' after Queen denied Sylvester Stallone 'Another One Bites the Dust'?
Survivor
Survivor wrote it after Stallone asked for 'something street' with a pulse, then timed the song's chord changes to the film's punches.
Q 27Which cartoon's opening theme is built on a sped-up sample of Clyde Stubblefield's 'Funky Drummer' break?
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls' opening borrows a much-sampled break that earned Clyde Stubblefield little in royalties, since he wasn't credited as a songwriter.
Q 28The Stranger Things theme is built mainly on which kind of instrument?
Synthesizer
Synthesizers: Austin analog-synth collectors Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein got the job after their band's music caught the Duffer brothers' attention.
Q 29Which film introduced the twanging guitar 'James Bond Theme'?
Dr. No
Dr. No introduced it in 1962; composer Monty Norman later won libel damages from The Sunday Times over a claim that John Barry wrote it.
Q 30Which TV series opens with "Tank!", the Seatbelts' theme?
Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop's composer Yoko Kanno formed the Seatbelts specifically to record the show's jazz-and-blues score.