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

### 1990s

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

### 2000s

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

### 2010s

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

### 2020s

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

## Programs with multiple wins
### 2 wins

* Monk

## Programs with multiple nominations
### 2 nominations

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