Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music

This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the award was presented with the "possibility of one, more than one, or no award given," resulting in several years where there were nominees without a winner.^[1]

Primetime Emmy Award for Original Main Title Theme Music
Awarded for	Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Currently held by	Palm Royale (2024)
Website	emmys.com

In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which are listed in alphabetical order. The years given are those in which the ceremonies took place:

Winners and nominations

1980s

Year	Program	Nominee(s)	Network
1988 (40th) [2] [note 1]	Beauty and the Beast	Lee Holdridge	CBS
	Great Performances	John Corigliano	PBS
	The Law and Harry McGraw	Richard Markowitz	CBS
	thirtysomething	Stewart Levin and W. G. Snuffy Walden	ABC
1989 (41st) [3] [note 1]	Knightwatch	Stanley Clarke
	Men	James Newton Howard
	Paradise	Jerrold Immel	CBS
	Tattingers	Jonathan Tunick	NBC
	Unsub	Mike Post

1990s

Year	Program	Nominee(s)	Network
1990 (42nd) [4] [note 1]	Carol & Company	Dan Foliart and Howard Pearl	NBC
	FM	Patrick Williams
	The Simpsons	Danny Elfman	Fox
	Twin Peaks	Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch	ABC
	The Young Riders	John Debney
1991 (43rd) [5] [note 1]	ABC World of Discovery	Lee Holdridge
	Against the Law	Thomas Newman	Fox
	Dream On	Michael Skloff	HBO
	Hull High	Stanley Clarke, Maureen Crowe, Lawrence Edwards, Peggy Holmes, Kenny Ortega, Charles Spellman, and David Weiss	NBC
	Singer and Sons	Ray Colcord
1992 (44th) [6] [note 1]
	Brooklyn Bridge	Marvin Hamlisch, Alan and Marilyn Bergman	USA
	I'll Fly Away	W. G. Snuffy Walden	NBC
	Major Dad	Steve Dorff	CBS
	Silk Stalkings	Mike Post
	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	Laurence Rosenthal	ABC
1993 (45th) [7]	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Dennis McCarthy	Syndicated
	Bob	Lee Holdridge	CBS
	Bodies of Evidence	Christopher Klatman
	Covington Cross	Carl Davis	ABC
	Love and War	Jonathan Tunick	CBS
	Picket Fences	Stewart Levin
1994 (46th) [8]	seaQuest DSV	John Debney	NBC
	Frasier	Bruce Miller and Darryl Phinnessee	NBC
	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Jay Gruska	ABC
	NYPD Blue	Mike Post
	The X-Files	Mark Snow	Fox
1995 (47th) [9]	Star Trek: Voyager	Jerry Goldsmith	UPN
	Chicago Hope	Mark Isham	CBS
	ER	James Newton Howard	NBC
	Friends	Michael Skloff and Allee Willis
	My So-Called Life	W. G. Snuffy Walden	ABC
1996 (48th) [10]	Murder One	Mike Post	ABC
	Central Park West	Tim Truman	CBS
	Chicago Hope	Mark Isham
	JAG	Bruce Broughton	NBC
	Nowhere Man	Mark Snow	UPN
1997 (49th) [11]	EZ Streets	Mark Isham	CBS
	The Cape	John Debney	Syndicated
	Crisis Center	Danny Lux	NBC
	Dark Skies	Michael Hoenig
	Early Edition	W. G. Snuffy Walden	CBS
1998 (50th) [12]	Fame L.A.	Robbie Buchanan, Maribeth Derry, Richard Barton Lewis, and Tom Snow	Syndicated
	Four Corners	Christopher Klatman	CBS
	Earth: Final Conflict	Micky Erbe and Maribeth Solomon	Syndicated
	Nothing Sacred	Mark Isham	ABC
	Sessions at West 54th	Mitchell Froom	PBS
1999 (51st) [13]	Trinity	Martin Davich	NBC
	Profiler	Danny Lux	NBC
	The PJs	George Clinton, Quincy Jones III, La Rita Norman, and Marie Norman	Fox
	V.I.P.	Frankie Blue	Syndicated
	Viva Variety	Robert Ben Garant and Glen Roven	Comedy Central

2000s

Year	Program	Nominee(s)	Network
2000 (52nd) [14]	The West Wing	W. G. Snuffy Walden	NBC
	Falcone	Jay Gruska	CBS
	Jack London's Call of the Wild	Hal Foxton Beckett	Animal Planet
	Jack of All Trades	Joseph LoDuca	Syndicated
	The Pretender	Velton Ray Bunch and Mark Leggett	NBC
2001 (53rd) [15]	Gideon's Crossing	James Newton Howard	ABC
	Big Apple	Marc Bonilla	CBS
	Soul Food	Kenneth Edmonds and Al Green	Showtime
	Survivor	Russ Landau	CBS
	Thoroughbred	Michael Josephs	Animal Planet
2002 (54th) [16]	Six Feet Under	Thomas Newman	HBO
	A Day in Their Lives	Mark Leggett	History
	First Monday	Bruce Broughton	CBS
	Justice League	Lolita Ritmanis	Cartoon Network
	Wolf Lake	David Schwartz	CBS
2003 (55th) [17]	Monk	Jeff Beal	USA
	Boomtown	Philip Giffin	NBC
	Everwood	Blake Neely	The WB
	Miracles	W. G. Snuffy Walden and Joseph Williams	ABC
	Penn and Teller: Bullshit!	Gary Stockdale	Showtime
2004 (56th) [18]	Monk	Randy Newman	USA
	Deadwood	David Schwartz	HBO
	Monster House	Daniel Mackenzie	Discovery
	Nip/Tuck	Jeffrey Cain, Cedric Lemoyne, and Gregory Slay	FX
	Two and a Half Men	Lee Aronsohn, Grant Geissman, and Chuck Lorre	CBS
2005 (57th) [19]	Desperate Housewives	Danny Elfman	ABC
	Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends	James Venable	Cartoon Network
	Huff	W. G. Snuffy Walden	Showtime
	Justice League Unlimited	Michael McCuistion	Cartoon Network
	Stargate Atlantis	Joel Goldsmith	Sci Fi
2006 (58th) [20]	Masters of Horror	Edward Shearmur	Showtime
	Get Ed	Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner	Toon Disney
	Over There	Chris Gerolmo	FX
	Prison Break	Ramin Djawadi	Fox
	Rome	Jeff Beal	HBO
2007 (59th) [21]	The Tudors	Trevor Morris	Showtime
	Dexter	Rolfe Kent	Showtime
	Hu$tle	Simon Rogers	AMC
	On the Lot	Mark Williams and Jeff Lippencott	Fox
	30 Rock	Jeff Richmond	NBC
2008 (60th) [22]	Pirate Master	Russ Landau	CBS
	Canterbury's Law	Tree Adams	Fox
	Kid Nation	Jeff Lippencott and Mark Williams	CBS
	Phineas and Ferb	Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Michael Hirano Culross, Carl Hill Williams, and Michael Walker	Disney
	Saving Grace	Eric "Everlast" Schrody	TNT
2009 (61st) [23]	Great Performances	John Williams	PBS
	The Mole	David Michael Frank	ABC
	Sons of Anarchy	Bob Thiele, Dave Kushner, Curtis Stigers, and Kurt Sutter	FX
	Story Makers	Bill Sherman	AMC
	United States of Tara	Tim DeLaughter	Showtime

2010s

Year	Program	Nominee(s)	Network
2010 (62nd) [24]
	Nurse Jackie	Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin	Showtime
	Human Target	Bear McCreary	Fox
	Justified	Jason Keaton and Oscar Owens	FX
	Legend of the Seeker [note 2][25]	Joseph LoDuca	Syndicated
	Warehouse 13	Edward Rogers	Syfy
2011 (63rd) [26]
	The Borgias	Trevor Morris	Showtime
	Any Human Heart	Dan Jones	PBS
	Camelot	Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna	Starz
	Episodes	Mark Thomas	Showtime
	The Kennedys	Sean Callery	Reelz
	Mildred Pierce	Carter Burwell	HBO
2012 (64th) [27]
	Page Eight	Paul Englishby	PBS
	Great Expectations	Martin Phipps	PBS
	Hell on Wheels	Gustavo Santaolalla	AMC
	Homeland	Sean Callery	Showtime
	Touch	Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin	Fox
2013 (65th) [28]
	Da Vinci's Demons	Bear McCreary	Starz
	The Americans	Nathan Barr	FX
	Copper	Brian Keane	BBC America
	Elementary	Sean Callery	CBS
	Hemlock Grove	Nathan Barr	Netflix
	House of Cards	Jeff Beal
2014 (66th) [29]
	Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey	Alan Silvestri	Fox
	Black Sails	Bear McCreary	Starz
	Magic City	Daniele Luppi
	Sleepy Hollow	Brian Tyler and Robert Lydecker	Fox
The Spoils of Babylon	Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau	IFC
2015 (67th) [30]
	Transparent	Dustin O'Halloran	Amazon
	The Dovekeepers	Jeff Beal	CBS
	Marco Polo	Daniele Luppi	Netflix
	Penny Dreadful	Abel Korzeniowski	Showtime
	Texas Rising	Bruce Broughton and John Debney	History
	Tyrant	Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna	FX
2016 (68th) [31]
	Marvel's Jessica Jones	Sean Callery	Netflix
	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Rachel Bloom and Adam Schlesinger	The CW
	Narcos	Rodrigo Amarante	Netflix
	The Night Manager	Victor Reyes	AMC
	Sense8	Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer	Netflix
	The Whispers	Robert Duncan	ABC
2017 (69th) [32]
	Stranger Things	Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon	Netflix
	Feud: Bette and Joan	Mac Quayle	FX
	Genius	Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe	Nat Geo
	The Good Fight	David Buckley	CBS All Access
	Victoria	Martin Phipps	PBS
Westworld	Ramin Djawadi	HBO
2018 (69th) [33]
	Godless	Carlos Rafael Rivera	Netflix
	The Last Tycoon	Mychael Danna	Prime Video
	Marvel's The Defenders	John Paesano	Netflix
	The Putin Interviews	Jeff Beal	Showtime
	Somebody Feed Phil	Mike Olson, Bridget Kearney, Mike Calabrese and Rachael Price	Netflix
	The Tick	Chris Bacon	Prime Video
2019 (71st) [34]
	Succession	Nicholas Britell	HBO
	Castle Rock	Thomas Newman	Hulu
	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Rachel Bloom, Jack Dolgen and Adam Schlesinger	The CW
	Good Omens	David Arnold	Prime Video
	Our Planet	Steven Price	Netflix

2020s

Year	Program	Nominee(s)	Network
2020 (72nd) [35]
	Hollywood	Nathan Barr	Netflix
	Carnival Row	Nathan Barr	Prime Video
	Defending Jacob	Ólafur Arnalds	Apple TV+
	Unorthodox	Antonio Gambale	Netflix
	Why We Hate	Laura Karpman	Discovery
	Wu-Tang: An American Saga	RZA	Hulu
2021 (73rd) [36]
	The Flight Attendant	Blake Neely	HBO Max
	Allen v. Farrow	Michael Abels	HBO
	Bridgerton	Kris Bowers and Michael Dean Parsons	Netflix
	Ted Lasso	Tom Howe and Marcus Mumford	Apple TV+
	WandaVision	Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez	Disney+
2022 (74th) [37]
	The White Lotus	Cristobal Tapia de Veer	HBO
	Loki	Natalie Holt	Disney+
	Only Murders in the Building	Siddhartha Khosla	Hulu
	Severance	Theodore Shapiro	Apple TV+
	Squid Game	Jung Jae-il	Netflix
2023 (75th) [38]
	Wednesday	Danny Elfman	Netflix
	Andor	Nicholas Britell	Disney+
	Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities	Holly Amber Church	Netflix
	The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power	Howard Shore	Prime Video
	Ms. Marvel	Laura Karpman	Disney+
2024 (76th) [39]
	Palm Royale	Jeff Toyne	Apple TV+
	Feud: Capote vs. The Swans	Thomas Newman	FX
	Lessons in Chemistry	Carlos Rafael Rivera	Apple TV+
	Masters of the Air	Blake Neely
	Shōgun	Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross and Nick Chuba	FX

Individuals with multiple wins

2 wins Danny Elfman Trevor Morris

Individuals with multiple nominations

7 nominations W. G. Snuffy Walden 5 nominations Jeff Beal 4 nominations Nathan Barr Sean Callery John Debney Mark Isham Thomas Newman Mike Post 3 nominations Bruce Broughton Mychael Danna Danny Elfman Lee Holdridge James Newton Howard Bear McCreary Blake Neely

2 nominations Rachel Bloom Nicholas Britell Stanley Clarke Lisa Coleman Jeff Danna Ramin Djawadi Jay Gruska Laura Karpman Christopher Klatman Russ Landau Mark Leggett Stewart Levin Jeff Lippencott Joseph LoDuca Daniele Luppi Danny Lux Wendy Melvoin Trevor Morris Martin Phipps Carlos Rafael Rivera Adam Schlesinger David Schwartz Michael Skloff Mark Snow Jonathan Tunick Mark Williams

Programs with multiple wins

2 wins

• Monk

Programs with multiple nominations

2 nominations

• Chicago Hope
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• Feud
• Great Performances
• Monk

Notes

1. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. None of the nominees met the benchmark and no award was given.
2. In 2010, Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones were nominated for the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. After learning the same theme music had been submitted for the show the previous year, the theme was ruled ineligible and sixth place finisher Joseph LoDuca received the nomination.

References

1. Emmy, Volume 12. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 1990. p. 47.
2. "Nominees/Winners". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
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