Best & Worst Title Sequences

BenjaminX · 01-28-2005, 03:31 PM

Here's my lists:

Best

Law & Order- The music is perfect and matches the feel of the show. So does the visuals.

Northern Exposure- The moose walks around to odd Caribbean-Canadianesque music. Quirkiness.

St. Elsewhere- The synthesized music and hospital visuals were good without being cheesy, which is hard with synthesizers.

Worst

Full House- That song bothered the hell out of me! Hated it!

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation- The sequence compared to its spinoffs is low-key and cheesy. I mean, can they do something better than that tacky name font?

21 Jump Street- 'Nuff said.

Second Time Around- Has anyone seen the show? It's title sequence looks like it was made using PowerPoint and PhotoShop.

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Paul Sandhu · 01-30-2005, 12:54 AM

Best

CSI: NY - Its the better than the original CSI and Miami.

JAG: - I can't explain why I like it... I just do.

Star Trek: Enterprise - I may be alone on this but I think its really cool considering its showing our exploratory achievements of the last century, the music fits too.

Smallville - You get a real good feel what the show is about by watching this.

Worst

The Apprentice - Hate the theme song and not interesting in watching the "Don" walking.

NCIS - I like the show but dislike the intro the same reason BenjaminX doesn't like the orignal CSI's intro.

Lost - I wish they could have done something more to it.

Angel - Compared the the Buffy intro this one is boring. Buffy's is full of energy.... Angel is the kind where you can fall asleep watching it.

Walter Kittel · 01-30-2005, 01:44 AM

Haven't watched it recently, but in the earlier seasons I enjoyed That 70's Show - The station wagon sequence was always fun and got me in the mood for the show.

Other recent shows include:

CSI: Miami - I like the bold color sequences in this one. CSI: NY is pretty good also. Both are better than the sequences on the original Vegas Show.

Las Vegas - Very flashy with a solid song. (Too bad about the DVD release of Season 1 and the credits. )

Older shows whose credits stood out for me include:

Kung Fu - I always like the retrospective nature of the shots in the credits. The fact that it is one of my top 10 favorite alltime shows probably doesn't hurt.

Star Trek: Voyager - Even though the show was pretty bad, always liked the credits.

Babylon 5 - I liked the fact that each season had different credits that reflected the show's major story arc.

Worst. Eh, probably too many to count.

- Walter.

AlexSchwarz · 01-30-2005, 05:06 AM

The best title sequence I've ever seen: Carnivàle. It's just incredible.

And the worst one...um...I don't dislike any credits of the shows I'm watching, so right now I can't think of anything.

Lew Crippen · 01-30-2005, 09:15 AM

I agree with Alex: Carnivale is the best right now.

On the flip side, I like the very simple idea of the title sequences giving some background. Some in the past:

All in the Family basically showing us where Archie and Edith lived and who they were, all the while they sing the theme.

Mary Tyler Moore with the concluding freeze frame of the hat toss.

Bob Newhart and his commute—many in Chicago tried to figure out the exact locations.

The Sopranos is a direct descendent of this—plus it has just an incredible theme.

Kenneth Cummings · 01-30-2005, 10:54 AM

Well my list has come from years of watching tv and cartoons, so bear with me.

Best

Twlight Zone : What I got to say...it's a classic. Plus that music sets up the creepy tone the show has.

Gargoyles : Great theme song that sets up the show with the dramtic music with powerful scenes from the pilot movie while Goliath's narration brings you up to speed on the plot.

ER : Powerful music playing while scenes of the doctor saving lifes play. Note that I only really seen the first two season, so I don't know if this rings true anymore.

Batman the Animated Series : Great music while a simple bank robbery happen sets up the tone of the show.

Worst

Goliath Chronolocials : Compare to the classic theme song of the first two seasons of Gargoyles...this blows. Plus the cheesy CGI scenes of the buildings with bad looking pictures fo the villains on the CGI...bah!

Tail Spin : Don't get me wrong, I like the show, but that theme song is so annoying that I can't bear to listen to the theme without the mute button handy. Acually...this is a case for a lot of Disney Afternoon shows.

Adam_ME · 01-30-2005, 11:17 AM

I love the simple intro to 24. Especially in 5.1 surround.

An older show that had a great title sequence was Quantum Leap. Well, at least until they redid the theme music in Season 5.

And on that subject, am I the only one prefers the old Alias theme to the newer remixed version?

TravisR · 01-30-2005, 11:23 AM

I think the reason why Lost has such a short (non) title sequence is because they want to use every second for the story. More power to them for that.

My favorite (maybe not the best) title sequence is for Millennium. The music and the images just nails the tone of the show perfectly.

Todd Terwilliger · 01-30-2005, 11:30 AM

Among current shows, I have to give another vote to Carnivale

Just an awesome sequence.

BenjaminX · 01-30-2005, 11:33 AM

Carnivale's title sequence is pure brilliance. I didn't list it as one of the best because it's in a class on it's own.

But here are two more title sequences I love:

The West Wing- It screams elegance and hubris and elitism and I love it!

Hill Street Blues- It's too good to describe.

BobPeck · 01-30-2005, 11:39 AM

I say Firefly had the best intro.

At first, I hated it. But after being trapped by a blizzard I watched all (but two) episodes in a single day, I grew to love it (and the show!)

Nicodemus · 01-30-2005, 12:00 PM

Another vote to Carnivale. Just brilliant. The music is amazing too.

Other good choices are Star Trek: Enterprise (the sequence tells a kind of clever story "from there