Best & Worst Title Sequences - Page 4

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Wow. The Babylon 5 s5 title sequence is the culmination of what came before and a work of art. s4 had the catchiest theme but s5 runs a close second.

Another add to the 'Best Title Sequence' list would be Criminal Minds. I can only hope they add Kirsten Vangsness this year.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

The credits for the first two seasons of B5 are okay, but I usually skip them.

Season 3 was where is started to get great. When I first heard Ivanova say, in an almost matter-of-fact manner, - "The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed", it just really hit me. An absolutely gut-wrenching line.

The season 4 credits, where all the main characters get a say, is stunning. The dialogue perfectly sums up the season - "It was the year of fire... the year of destruction... the year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth... the year of great sadness... the year of pain... and the year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed. The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5." In one of the B5 script books, JMS said that, since they thought this would be the last season at the time, he deliberately wanted everyone to get their place in the sequence.

So, when he came to do season 5, he then had nowhere else to go but in the complete opposite direction. Which was why he went without a new voiceover, instead deciding to go just with the snippets-of-dialogue approach, which I personally find terribly effective. In fact, season 5 would be my favourite of all the B5 credits.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

This is turning into a B5 credits discussion?

Season 5 is my favorite of the 5. In fact, I'd probably just rank them in reverse order.

Shows I like credits for:
Babylon 5
Batman: TAS
Dream On
The 4400
Futurama
MASH
Pinky and the Brain
Sopranos
Star Trek Voyager (and I never watched the show)
Tales from the Crypt

Does From the Earth to the Moon count? I know it's a mini-series, but I think the sequence is perfect. It gets me in the right mood everytime.

I can't think of any that I can't stand at the moment.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Best:

Pinky and the Brain has the BEST theme song ever.

The Twilight Zone has the most iconic opening.

All in the Family's is beautiful. Simple, sets the tone and is funny every episode.

Worst:

Full House. Bad show with a worse opening. The cheesy song and each cast member in the park isn't even the right tone for the show. And every crappy 80's sitcom did the same thing.

I hate the animation on Lucky Louie. HBO gave out preview dvds of the pilot and the original opening was footage of NYC with the Kinks "Better Days" playing. It was much better.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I actually really love the opening to Lucky Louie, though the opening you describe, Jonathan, sounds good. I love the current theme music though. I dunno, it gets me in the mood for comedy, I guess.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

My $0.02

Best:
X-Files
Buffy
Babylon 5
Futurama
All the Star Treks
CSI: (Las Vegas)

Worst:
Lost
Ghost Whisperer

It is really interesting how some of the shows mentioned in all these posts are on some people's Best list and on other people's worst list. Guess beauty is indead in the eye of the beholder.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Did no one mention Underdog?

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

These sorts of lists are always subjective.
The 'best' theme/title will not always neccessarily mean the most flashy graphics or even the best music musically.
In the end it's a theme that you immediately can identify within those first few bars and it evokes both a show anda host of pop cultural references.
With that, I'd go with the X Files. You could play a bar of that and near everyone will know know what it's from.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I actually dislike the 4400 theme.

However, the one theme which I recently saw which I really hate the most is for the show Psych.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Many of my favorite title sequnces are from shows in the '80s, where they actually spent some time on a title sequence.

- It's hard to beat title sequence to Crime Story, with Del Shannon's Runaway playing to the visuals.

- When I was a teen, I always made sure to catch the title sequence to Miami Vice, so that I could get a glimpse of the "bouncy" female that walked across the screen!

- I always liked the title sequence to Magnum, PI. It was catchy, and got you into the mood.

- Another title sequence where music dominates to great effect is Tour of Duty, with The Rolling Stone's Paint it Black. Too bad you don't get to hear it on the DVDs!

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Some of my favorites:

- M*A*S*H
- Six Feet Under
- The Sopranos (Everytime I hear the HBO "white noise\static" I expect the bass line for this to start)
- Scrubs

And kudos for the person that mentioned "It's Gary Shandling's Show" - I forgot all about that one.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I think it's pretty good, but what I really like is the premise montage which begins every episode.

--
H

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

The Onion AV Club did an interesting article called Inventory: 22 TV Opening-Credit Sequences That Fit Their Shows Perfectly. It's worth a look.

I love the credits for Dexter. Never seen the show (still waiting for it to arrive in NZ), but based on those credits, I cannot wait.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

The Prisoner

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I can mainly remember intros that I liked:

Dramas:

The Fugitive (great music and convenient recapping for the 3 people in America who hadn't heard of Dr. Kimble yet )
Law and Order Criminal Intent Seasons 1-6: Fabulous uptempo reworking of the original L & O theme with a harder edge. Sadly abandoned when the show moved to USA in favor of the inferior L&O Trial by Jury theme
Mission Impossible: Not only great music but great use of upcoming clips from the episode

Comedies:
So much better in the old days, they insisted on telling you the story. It was often hilarious. My absolute fav:
Green Acres with Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor singing. "I get *allergic* smelling hay!"
Get Smart, with the closing doors and phone booth.
The Addams Family
The strikingly filmed original opening to That Girl, with the train tracks, the Chrysler building. the works.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

MacGyver!

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

My Favorites: Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Mission: Impossible and how could I forget The Rockford Files

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Best:

Boston Legal

The quick camera movements mimic what you can expect on the show, and the theme song is *catchy*. This particular clip actually breaks the 4th Wall while intro'ing the show (starting around the 2:20 mark).

YouTube - Boston Legal theme with Jerry

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Everyone's mentioned most of the ones that I love, but I have to add a few more that seem to have been unmentioned:

Get Smart - I was OBSESSED with all those doors as a kid. It was my favorite part of the show.

Popular - Although I disliked the theme song, I thought the female cast members looked spectacular dolled up as "supermodels."

When Things were Rotten - I used to sing this show's theme song constantly as a kid. Pretty amazing for a series that lasted only a few episodes...

The Banana Splits - One of the best openings ever. I didn't even like the show, but the opening made me want to spend my life on an amusement park go-cart singing the theme song. Liz Phair covered it about ten years ago. Awesome.

Story Theater - I think that's what the show was called (could have been "Storybook Theater" or "Fairy Tale Theater" - I just remember that Bob Dishy and Peter Bonerz were in the cast). It was in the VERY early 70's, and it was an ensemble cast that acted out popular fairy tales. I mention it only because it had the most infectious theme song I've ever heard. The song was a "hippyish" multivocal ditty that wouldn't sound out of place in "Godspell." I seem to remember the lines "Why don't we sing this song all together/Then we can see where we all come from." The melody will haunt me forever, in fact, I'm getting choked up just thinking about it right now.

I didn't notice anyone mention (Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh) Batman! (Did I get the right number of "nuh"s?

F Troop - again, just because of the theme song.

Edit: Oh my God, I just found out on IMDB that the theme song to "Story Theater" is actually a cover of a Rolling Stones song! I wish I had known that for the last 35 years!

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Favorites: Closing theme to season two of TOL (Lubin) and the opening themes to Mission: Impossible, The Mod Squad, and Perry Mason (the arrangements in the original series more so than in any of the films).

Least favorite: With a few exceptions, I can find something good in most music. Music lacking any melody and harmony and which includes only rhythm (even when very well constructed) throughout its entire course can for me get quite tedious rather quickly.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Make. Me. Freaking. GAG.

Hate, hate, HATE that 'theme' song. To think that the same guy who wrote that fantastic season 3 SLIDERS theme wrote that Boston Legal theme....damn. It's appropriately silly, but I can't stand it.

Reading this thread, I see ANGEL is on a lot of 'worst' lists. That also makes me gag. That theme was pitch perfect for the series.

I rank CSI as being my favorite because I love the 5.1 mixing.
I've broken it down to its individual channels for listening and it's very creatively done. I've tried (unsuccessfully) to locate a cheap copy of the Who DVD that features the full length version of it, but there's no way I'm paying $40 and up when all I want is that one song in surround sound.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

More:

The Equalizer - I was not much of a fan, but that title sequence was BAD A-S-S.
Renegade
The Avengers (70s version)
90210 - season 2-... I dunno. More by positive association with high-school memories than anything else.

--
H

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

One of the Best ever

Dallas

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Of the newer shows, I really like opening credits of Dexter.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Since the title of this thread is "Best & Worst Title Sequences", not simply theme song, Medium is a real standout IMO of the current programs on network television! It hearkens back to the classic work Saul Bass did for Hitchcock and others, and perfectly sets the mood for this series.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

Best:

Best opening credits i've ever had the pleasure of listening to, and seeing as the visuals go splendidly with the music, is for Friday Night Lights.

I actually have it on my mp3 player lol.

I'm also loving the opening song for Firefly, in fact i'd love to have that song, too.

The Big Bang Theory, The Barenaked Ladies rule! I'm constantly either singing it under my breath or humming it.

Bones, love it when that intense housebeat comes up, I always crank it to give my sub a workout.

Angel, especially in the first couple seasons when the opening violin gives way to the faster beat which is introduced with the shot of Angel smashing through the door. Just plain cool the way they placed those two elements together.

I'm growing very fond of the opening for Eureka, that whimsical whistle is infectious, if I could whistle I would whistle it in the shower.

Sledge Hammer!..."Trust me, I know what i'm doing.".

Worst:

Can only think of one right now, the opening song 'Little Boxes' for Weeds, it disturbs me for some reason that I can't quite figure out lol.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

It's actually a cello.

You have a PM...

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I love that opening. I love how it pokes fun at the suburban lifestyle that too many of us are a slave to.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I'm really surprised Dexter was only mentioned once so far (even though I realize this thread is pretty old to begin with).

Some of the versions of the Weeds song are horrible though as far as I'm concerned. I really didn't like the original that much, just because of the singer, but some have been much better.

Re: Best & Worst Title Sequences

I like the Dexter and Weeds titles also (at least some of the versions of Little Boxes, anyway). I loved the end of season 3, when they showed all of the scenes from the title again, Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)