# Are the opening credits of Archer and Cowboy Beebops riffs on a particular show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-opening-credits-of-archer-and-cowboy-beebops-riffs-on-a-particular-show/784359 "2017-04-13T03:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-opening-credits-of-archer-and-cowboy-beebops-riffs-on-a-particular-show/784359/1 "2017-04-13T03:48:09Z")
The two shows have similar opening credits and opening themes. They both look vaguely like cartoon versions of 70’s TV openings, and both shows are inspired by 70’s TV genres (Westerns and spy shows). So I always assumed they were riffing off the same opening of some previous show. Is that correct, and if so, what’s the show? [Archer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzrwK8uDiiE) [Bebop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw3fN3OPk3A) ---
**Author:** ![bobo\_blesinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@bobo\_blesinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobo_blesinger)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-opening-credits-of-archer-and-cowboy-beebops-riffs-on-a-particular-show/784359/2 "2017-04-13T04:47:15Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The two shows have similar opening credits and opening themes. They both look vaguely like cartoon versions of 70’s TV openings, and both shows are inspired by 70’s TV genres (Westerns and spy shows). > > So I always assumed they were riffing off the same opening of some previous show. Is that correct, and if so, what’s the show? > [Archer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzrwK8uDiiE) > > [Bebop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw3fN3OPk3A) [Mannix?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7TdnvEpgl0) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-opening-credits-of-archer-and-cowboy-beebops-riffs-on-a-particular-show/784359/3 "2017-04-13T05:12:51Z")
Both use Saul Bass-inspired graphics and "collage frames that were popular in the late 'Sixties and 'Seventies, largely aping the innovative use of split screen in the John Frankenheimer film, _Grand Prix_ and the original _Thomas Crown Affair_, both staring Steve McQueen. _The Wild Wild West_ (the show with Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, not the regrettable film adaption with Will Smith and a big-ass robot spider) famously used collage frame titles in the opening and commercial breaks, filling in the frames as the story progressed. I don’t think either show is intentionally trying to riff off of a specific inspiration as much as the style of that era; _Archer_ is nominally set in the post-Cold War present but with decoration that is distinctly Mid-Century Modern in the ISIS offices and Archer’s penthouse, and since it is satirizing Bond-like spy shows and movies, it is entirely appropriate. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-opening-credits-of-archer-and-cowboy-beebops-riffs-on-a-particular-show/784359/4 "2017-04-16T21:42:24Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I don’t think either show is intentionally trying to riff off of a specific inspiration as much as the style of that era; _Archer_ is nominally set in the post-Cold War present but with decoration that is distinctly Mid-Century Modern in the ISIS offices and Archer’s penthouse, and since it is satirizing Bond-like spy shows and movies, it is entirely appropriate. It’s [more complicated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_(TV_series)#Time_period) than that, but yeah, it’s patterned after your typical Saul Bass title. I kind of [like](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690346) them. (The [doodle](https://www.google.com/doodles?q=saul%20bass) in question.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-opening-credits-of-archer-and-cowboy-beebops-riffs-on-a-particular-show/784359/5 "2017-04-16T22:25:57Z")
I assumed Archer is directly lifting from Bebop, and that Bebop was inspired by the feel of those 60’s and 70’s shows, just like its theme song Tank! was inspired by those crime jazz theses of the day like Peter Gunn and Legs Diamond, but is new music.