Best & Worst Title Sequences (1 Viewer)

[Dave Sutton]

Some of my favorites:

- M*A*S*H
- Six Feet Under
- The Sopranos (Everytime I hear the HBO "white noisestatic" 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.

 

[Holadem]

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

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H

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

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.

 

[Egbert Souse]

The Prisoner

 

[roseha]

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.

 

[Tom McA]

MacGyver!

 

[Raasean Asaad]

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

 

[Greg_C_T]

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

 

[Don Giro]

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!

 

[Ockeghem]

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.

 

[Nick Martin]

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.

 

[Holadem]

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.

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H

 

[Tim Mauldin]

One of the Best ever

Dallas

 

[Lew Crippen]

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

 

[pitchman]

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.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

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.

 

[Nick Martin]

It's actually a cello.

You have a PM...

 

[Kevin Hewell]

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

 

[Joe_H]

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.

 

[Greg.K]

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, with the fire all around.