11 Best TV Show Intros in the 1990s, Ranked

Like many of the classic intros on this list, Doug’s has lingered in the psyche thanks largely to the earworm nature of its theme tune. This inventive, economical, and slightly fourth-wall breaking one-minute intro (which is surprisingly similar to the one in Clarissa) introduces us to Doug, his dog Porkchop, his long-time crush Patty Mayonnaise, his best pal Skeeter, and, with the help of some guitars, his bête noire Roger, but it’s really the music that makes it.

The tune, which is mostly made using vocal tricks, was written and composed by Fred Newman — a man who wrote a delightful sounding book called MouthSounds: How to Whistle, Pop, Click, and Honk Your Way to Social Success in 1980 before going on to work on everything from Doug to Gremlins to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. What a life. 

Speaking of catchy theme tunes and guitars, if your opening music shreds so much that it basically inspires a fateful reboot of the show 30 years later — as we have seen with X-Men ‘97 — you are definitely doing something right and you are definitely getting on this list. 

I mean sure, both the original and the new X-Men series have great characters and scintillating plots and all those kinds of things, but would either live in the imagination without that inescapable intro music? There’s a reason why it’s burned into all of our brains.

Ok, so the majority of Charmed’s eight seasons happened in the early ‘00s, but in terms of casting, clothing, vibe and general witchiness, the show could hardly be more ‘90s if it tried.

Just take a look at the opening: a 50-second blast of gen-x legends (like Rose McGowan and Shannon Doherty), witch-crafty imagery (which, like a lot of things in the show, came very much downstream of Buffy), and of course, the Love Split Love cover version of How Soon is Now? — which, for better and worse, introduced a whole new generation to Morrissey.

You might be surprised to see this one so soon on our list, but to be honest, the intro to The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air reached over-saturation years ago and Will Smith’s stock is kinda low right now, so a respectable eighth place will just have to do.

Regardless, the tune and style are iconic for a reason — both for being great on their own terms and for helping to launch Smith’s stratospheric movie and rap career. Can we maybe just give it a rest for a little while, though?

The late-night vibe, the classy jazz, all those Brooklyn brownstones — the Hey Arnold! intro really had it all. I mean sure, older viewers might have been getting their idea of that borough from the likes of Moonstruck and Do the Right Thing, but for viewers of a certain age Hey Arnold! basically was New York.

The show ran to 100 episodes and two movies, but along with Helga’s brow and Arnold’s skylight, the intro is probably what sticks with you.

The opening section of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is so quick, rocking (shoutout to Nerf Herder for the tune), and action-packed that I was surprised to learn that it was a full 45-seconds long. From the inexplicable opening howl (werewolves don’t arrive until late in Season 2) to the Alyson Hannigan scream and the tarantulas, all the way up to that badass, zooming shot of Sarah Michelle Gellar, you can basically just sit and headbang away to this one.

Heck, even that papyrus-like font (I’m told it’s called Herculanum) looks cool. 

The awesome tune, the ‘63 Impala, the Universal globe, Coolio’s hair, the camera zoom just as the rapper says “awww, here it goes.” I have no notes for this one.

Kenan & Kel ran for just 65 episodes but it was endlessly influential — with a theatrically released movie that made $24 million at the box-office and a sequel that went to Paramount+ in 2023. As the longest-serving cast member on SNL ever, Kenan basically hasn’t left our screens since, and we’re thankful for that.

From here on out, I imagine there won’t be much debate about the intros we’ve chosen, rather a discussion on what order you’d have them in. In fourth place for me — on what is basically the Mt. Rushmore of ‘90s intros — is Friends: a perfectly-soundtracked, costumed, edited and lit 45-second montage of six good-looking twenty-somethings frollicking in a fountain with a couch in front of it. Sounds simple, but it works SO well.

This one has, of course, transcended its own decade many times over on its way to becoming one of the great comfort watch shows in history, but the intro still feels perfectly of that era. And don’t try to tell me you never clapped along to the clappy bit.

Next in our top four pantheon is The X-Files, an intro so enticing and ubiquitous that the tune became as synonymous with strange and unusual happenings as The Twilight Zone’s had been since the 1950s. 

Seen today, it’s hard to look at all those floating words (“Paranormal Activity”, “Government Denies Knowledge”) and not find it a little goofy, but it really did send a chill down the spine, while the closing statement telling us that “The Truth is Out There” remains iconic. 

The most impressive thing about the intro to The Simpsons, with its quick character bits, old school vibe, and ever-alternating chalkboard and couch gags, is that it continues to be consistently classic even though it's endlessly malleable — to the point that everyone from Guillermo del Toro to Don Hertzfeld and Sylvain Chomet have gotten in on the joke over the years. 

Of course, with over 800 episodes and counting, The Simpsons isn’t bound by any one decade, but if I had to pick a golden age it would easily be Seasons 3 to 8, and especially the Conan O’Brien years, all of which happened in the 1990s.