Why Did the 'Deadliest Catch' Theme Song Change? Fans Loved the Original Intro

There's nothing worse than tuning into an old series and realizing a song you remembered from the show has now been replaced with some random other tune. (OK, fine, there are worse things in life, but you know what we mean.)

One example of this would be the original Jackass series. If you go back and stream the original show on Paramount Plus and expect to hear that iconic "96 Quit Bitter Beings" song during the shopping cart scene, you'll be sorely disappointed when you realize the music has totally changed.

In the case of the show Deadliest Catch, not only did the show's theme song change over time even with new episodes, but you'll also be hard-pressed to find the original theme song even if you stream the old episodes, apparently.

So what gives? Why does this kind of thing happen? Let's break it down.

From what we can tell, the first couple seasons of Deadliest Catch seemingly opened up with an instrumental theme song that sounded very similar to Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive"; it's unclear if it's actually the song, though.

Then, starting in either Season 3 or 4, it appears that the show began using the actual Bon Jovi song, including the vocals. The intro would start in the middle of the first verse, where Bon Jovi sings, "Another place where the faces are so cold / I'd drive all night just to get back home." Then that iconic chorus would come on: "I'm a cowboy / On a steel horse I ride / I'm wanted dead or alive."

But starting in Season 14, things seemingly changed. "Why did they change the theme song [for] Season 14, what was the reason why they did it?" someone asked on Reddit.

Not only that, but apparently if you go back and watch older episodes on streaming platforms like Hulu or Discovery Plus, you might hear different music even in the earlier seasons.

So, what gives? Well, the widely accepted theory is that it all boils down to music rights. If a network isn't willing to shell out the big bucks for licensing costs when it comes to streaming services, then that means you won't be hearing certain songs in the reruns. And by all accounts, that's probably exactly what happened in this situation with Deadliest Catch and "Dead or Alive."

There was supposedly an uproar about the song change after Season 14 when it came to the fans on the Deadliest Catch Facebook page. And in recent years, as fans have discovered different music while streaming the old seasons, they've taken to the internet in droves to voice their displeasure.

"Sounds like a generic Hollywood movie now," one Redditor said of the replaced music.

Over on YouTube, fans have commented on videos featuring the original intro, noting how they long for this better time in Deadliest Catch music history.

"This banger comin' on when your dad is watching Discovery Channel at 3 p.m. and you actually watch the show with him because it's good," someone commented.

"The manliest theme song in the history of theme songs!" someone else wrote.

"The new theme is so dogs--t," one disgruntled fan wrote.