'The Andy Griffith Show' vs. 'Gilligan's Island': Vote for the Best TV Theme Songs

The town of Mayberry, or the S.S. Minnow? You decide in Round 3 of Yahoo! TV's Theme Song Thunderdome.

With March Madness in full swing, we decided to do a TV-themed bracket of our own: a no-holds-barred tournament to determine the best TV theme song of all time. After lots of heated debate, we've selected and ranked 32 of the most memorable TV theme songs ever, pitting them against each other in a winner-takes-all bracket. Over the next few weeks, we're asking you to vote for your favorite theme songs until we get a winner -- and a few songs stuck in your heads.


(8) "The Andy Griffith Show" ("The Fishin' Hole")

Upset alert! The dirt-road whistles and finger snaps of the iconic "Andy Griffith" theme song toppled one of our top seeds, "I'll Be There For You" from '90s staple "Friends," in Round 2. (To be fair, that Rembrandts song does grate on your nerves after a while.) We clearly underestimated the enduring appeal of "The Fishin' Hole," which introduced the comic misadventures of the good-hearted folks from Mayberry for eight great seasons. Betting against it now would be like trusting Barney Fife with the keys to the jailhouse.


(12) "Gilligan's Island" ("The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle")

But it's up against another oldie-but-goodie in Round 3: "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle," which spooked the "Addams Family" theme last round with sea-shanty lyrics that have mercilessly attached themselves to our brain stems for decades now. "Gilligan" and "Brady Bunch" creator Sherwood Schwartz had a knack for crafting ingenious theme songs that set up the entire series and all the main characters in just 60 seconds. All we need to hear is "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale"… and we can sing the rest, word for word. We're guessing that sing-along factor might push "Gilligan" into the Final Four.


Which theme song deserves to move onto the next round? Vote in the poll above, click here to see the full bracket and vote on other pairings (Round 3 voting ends Wednesday at 6 PM PT), tweet out your choices using the hashtag #TVThemeSong, and hit the comments to tell us about all the great theme songs we forgot to include.