Best & Worst Title Sequences - Page 5

Showtime's new series "The Borgias" has some of the best title work since "Carnivale"

For shame - how dare you guys get five pages into this without mention of one of the most iconic credits of all time. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to hide behind the sofa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKg9tuSbXmk

The Bionic Woman.

My list of personal favorites would have to include the Adam West "Batman" series, The Partridge Family, The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, H.R. Pufnstuf, Room 222 and the Star Trek shows. Since this was my first time reading through this thread I was surprised at all the praise for the 'Enterprise' title sequence. I love it as well, but I also remember how it was universally panned back in the day. The 'Dragnet' theme was also, in its day, as iconic as it gets- those first four notes were instantly recognizable. As for the worst, I'm sure there are many but from the classic TV days, the only one that comes to mind is 'Gidget' - hated those awful still photos.

Favorites:

- The West Wing (elegantly done, taking a lot of famous images and recreating them in such a way that it made everything in the show seem a lot more real, just perfectly setting the tone)

- The Twilight Zone (an absolute classic)

- Fringe (particularly the way they've done alternate versions of it for episodes set in different places and time periods)

- Dollhouse (perfect blend of beauty and subversion, with a touch of creepiness thrown in)

Ones I didn't/don't like:

- Firefly (love the show, hate the song)

- Enterprise (not a huge huge fan of the show but liked it enough, but the song didn't really work for me at all)

- CSI (the original, but all versions really... I like the look, but every time I hear The Who blasting through the speakers, it just totally takes me out of the show... and I like The Who, so maybe that's why, because I just associate those songs with things other than CSI)

Ones I started out hating but grew a grudging (or genuine) respect for:

- Twin Peaks (when I first started watching it, I hated how it seemed like they basically had three or four different pieces of music that just looped over and over, but by the last episode, all of those pieces had become familiar comforts)

- Lost (just goes to show the power of repetition; I thought it was cheesy when I first started watching it, but soon I grew to love both the main title and the end of show "Lost-POW" moment)

- Smallville (I generally don't like when existing pop songs are used in themes, but this really grew on me in a big way)

Generally, I like really good smash cuts to titles - they have a way of really submerging me into the show, as well as giving me a point to cheer not necessarily at the actions onscreen specifically but in how well a teaser is set up.  A good teaser leading to a great smash cut into titles is the perfect build-up of tension and then release, and more than once I've found myself actually clapping or giving a brief cheer when that moment happens.  It's kind of that feeling of "I'm back in this wonderful fictional world, and here we go!"  I don't really like when there's no teaser and the theme just begins the episode, like in a Twin Peaks or Simpsons; when the theme comes after a great teaser, I can never skip it.  When it comes at the beginning of a show before any of the content starts, my instinct is usually just to fast forward once I've seen it a couple times.  The Twilight Zone is definitely the exception for me there.

I'll just limit it to currents.  Covert Affairs and Breakout Kings both have nice half-animated/half-live action looks.  Fringe's variety of openers that let you know which universe or time frame the episode will feature is great (the '80s one is the best).  Chuck's is cool and fun, and one that uses an existing song in a fresh way.  Community's song is good, and I like how they switch up the graphics for holidays or special episodes.

Recent demises: Terriers had a good song.  The accompanying visuals were alright.  I didn't like Lights Out's intro that much.  The song was okay in a Rocky sort of way, but it usually didn't mesh with the tone of the preceding scene.

It's been ages since new title sequences were added.. but we have to add:

Showtimes Homeland

American Horror Story