Joan of Arcadia opening? (1 Viewer)

[Gord Lacey]

I'm watching the Joan of Arcadia set and something struck me as being a bit odd...

There's no opening to the episodes, except for the pilot.

I haven't seen the show before so I don't know if there should be one, but the Osborne theme song is listed in the credits, which makes me assume that it aired in every episode of the series.

So, if there's anyone out there that's already seen season 1, did every episode contain a proper credit sequence with the theme song?

Thanks,
Gord
P.S. The packaging also notes that there are music changes to the set.

 

[RogerH]

I watched the show since the premiere and remember every show has the opening sequence.

 

[Josh_HI]

Are you kidding me?>?? There is no theme song! Yes there is a theme. "What if God was one of us....Just a slob like one of us....Just a stanger on a bus trying to make his way home"

I cannot believe that! Only on the first episode?! NOW I am seriously questioning wheather I should buy this or not.....especially if it might be canceled.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Thanks guys...that's what I thought.

I'm not sure what's worse...totally ditching the opening of the show, or replacing the theme song with something different. I'm going to say that ditching the whole opening is probably better.

Gord

 

[Josh_HI]

Yeah I'd have to agree. *Cringes at the thought of Dawson's Creek*

Man well that makes me wonder if they cut anything out. I know that the show usually starts and they show the characters doing stuff and then it leads into the theme song. How are they going to do that... I am wondering if those beginning parts are on the set.:frowning:

 

[Gord Lacey]

Yes, they're on the set. They've actually redone stuff for the DVDs. There's an opening piece (roughly 2 mins) that would be before the opening of the show, and the names of the stars appear over this, just like the regular credits that would be after the opening. It was seemless enough that I thought it was possible they didn't continue with the opening, but the bit in the credits gave it away.

It also means we don't have to reach to skip over the opening (I'm looking for positives here).

Gord

 

[Natalie F]

Holy shit! They took the theme song out? WTF?

 

[Jim Beaver]

Man I can't believe Paramount did that. I can understand and not be bothered by music changes or 1-2 minutes of cut footage like Alf or Ren & Stimpy but why would they take out the opening credits? That makes no sense at all. I wonder if Paramount says something like "We know most people watch shows on dvd now and most skip the credits so we thought we were doing them a favour"

 

[Scott Kimball]

The theme hasn't been taken out of every episode... It is present on some.
I had never seen the show before, and thought they cut the theme for time on some episodes... I've seen that before on other shows.

Can anyone absolutely confirm? Was the theme on the opening of every episode when aired?

I understand that some music was changed, but it doesn't make sense that they'd cut the theme for some episodes and leave it intact for others. Plus, the theme is heard sans vocals frequently in the show.

-Scott

 

[RogerH]

The theme was in every episode that aired on CBS.

 

[ravma]

I'm glad that its in there at all. At least we get it once. See, that way, you can encode a clip of the opening on your computer, then pause your dvd player, watch the opening, and resume.

Gord, do you know the costs of licensing an opening? Is it a lot more than a normal song?

 

[Pavan_P]

Review I did: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/joanofa...dvdreview.html

What I saw was a scene before the opening credits, like it is on CBS, but they also have credits rolling and an episode title shot, which were not on CBS. I didn't look for the theme in every episode; I assumed it was there.

EDIT: I just went through the set once more. The first episode on EACH disc has the opening credits. The other episodes have the rolling credits during the opening scene. I guess that is a good idea. Each episode has an episode title shot.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Pavan, I was just about to post the "one per disc"; you beat me to it

As for the costs...I think each contract is different, but I know of a few others that involve a payment EACH time the song is played (so they're paying for 6 uses, instead of 22 on this set).

Gord

 

[Natalie F]

I still don't like that they cut it out at all. I like watching the opening credits for all shows I watch when I watch them. Even though I've seen the Buffy credits a trillion times, I still like watching them now.

 

[Josh_HI]

oooooooh i get it now... No wonder. Why in the world won't dawson's creek get a clue and do the 1 theme per disc thing like this set. IMO 1 original theme per disc is better than 22 crappy new themes.

 

[Andreas_K]

I don't get it. JoA is a relatively new show so DVD rights must have been an issue when they cleared the song for the TV broadcasts.
I don't know how one can defend this practice - it has never been more obvious that the only reason the opening isn't on all episodes is to cut costs, no "timing issues", general rights problems or other excuses. Well, cutting costs is exactly what I'm doing right now by canceling my order :frowning:

I'm a big fan of nicely done opening sequences - I was quite disappointed when they replaced "A Little Less Conversation" from the "Las Vegas" credits. I rationalized buying the show anyway because they used the song from the international credits. Cutting the whole sequence is far worse in my opinion!

 

[Scott Kimball]

ummm... yeah... and to cut the street price is another big reason. The makers and distributors don't care how much it costs... only that they will recoup that cost in sales. If intact music added $15 to the street price, people would be avoiding this title more than they would avoid it for missing title music.

I don't defend the practice, but I certainly understand it.

The changes are well done - so much so that as someone who had never watched the show, I didn't know a change had been made. There are shows that occasionally cut the title sequence for broadcast to make more time for the story. I thought that's what I was seeing. Having the title sequence intact one time per disc is an acceptable compromise, I think.

-Scott

 

[David Tayman]

Another Joan of Arcadia question:

I know the music was changed for many episodes, but there's one specific cue I'm sort of worried about:

The final scene in the episode JUMP was pretty much a beautiful silent, visual scene with only the song 'Time' playing very significantly in the background. Can anyone tell me if this song is still intact?

This particular scene was a highlight for the season for me, the specific music selection making it perfect and beautiful.

 

[Roni F]

David, I just got Joan in the mail today, and quickly checked "Jump" to see if the music in the last scene is intact, and I'm happy to say that it is! "Across the Universe" is also still there in an important scene earlier in the ep. "Jump" is a special episode, and I'm so glad they were able to at least keep those two songs in.

P.S. Ms. Lischak rocks.

 

[Scott Kimball]

I never watched the original broadcasts, but I have noticed that there is plenty of "high profile" music to be found in these episodes. I wonder if the only change was the elimination of the theme on all but the first episode on each disc...

It was my intention to have a review posted over the weekend... unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way of one's plans. I'll have my review posted ASAP. I have two episodes left to watch, and the bonus stuff. I did listen to one commentary already... the cast commentary. It was... well... interesting - but only for the unrehearsed interactions. There was nothing of interest revealed, beyond who was having a bad hair day.

-Scott