I know it’s an old one, but it may have been in reruns. I saw a DVD with some episodes, anyway.
Peter Gunn went a long way toward turning me on to jazz. I can hum every tune on both albums of the soundtrack. Mr. Lucky was good, too. Same artist and composer.
Bah! The Venture Brothers did Johnny Quest’s opening better than Johnny Quest did Johnny Quests opening.
"There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture … "
Works for me, anyway.
Hands down, Mission: Impossible, with Lalo Schifrin’s amazingly tight and propulsive score along with a blizzard montage of what you could look forward to each episode.
“Steve Austin, astronaut: a man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him: we have the technology… We have the capability to make the world’s first Bionic Man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before: stronger… faster…”
Of course, he’d cost a heck of a lot more than Six Million Dollars nowadays. On the other hand, he’d probably come with built-in 802.11g wireless networking and whatnot.
Mind you, the intro was the best thing about that show. What started out as a pretty neat idea devolved (even in the opinion of my then-8-year-old self) within a few years, as we saw the introduction of an evil twin (the Seven Million Dollar Man), some kind of bionic dog, and eventually, a Bionic Bigfoot(!).
Most economical has to go to Lost, and it’s creepy enough to set the mood.
But my favorite right now has to be Rescue Me. I love that song for that show.
Is this the first mention of the Futurama opening? Okay, then. I like the Futurama opening. Music that really fits the mood of the show (tubular bells!), cool CGI-enhanced animation that gives you a glimpse into the world of the show, cool speed up/slow down effects. An awesome opening.
Visually, sure, but not musically. The runs in it are insane for all involved.
I personally have a weak spot for Johnny Danger (Ayyy Eeee!).
One of the best matches of music to show is the Dandy Warhols’s “We Used to Be Friends” opening for “Veronica Mars.” But the opening montage isn’t anything special.
“Mission: Impossible” with the lit match, though, is awesome.
And I have a fondness for the opening of “The Nanny.”
Land of the Lost
::cue the banjo::
Marshall, Will, and Holly
on a routine expedition
Felt the greaaaaaatest earthquake
ever knooooooown.
High on the rapids
it struck their tiny raft (“aaaaahhhhhhhhh”)*
And plunged them down a thousand feet below
To the Laaaaaand of the Looooooooost!
::cue bad synthesizer, family being chased into rock cave::
To the Laaaaaand of the Looooooooost!
To the Laaaaaand of the Looooooooost!
::cue the worst T-Rex puppet ever turning and, um, roaring into the camera::
*I always loved the underwhelming scream. I think I’d be a little more terrified in their situation.
I have to go with the Wide, Wide World of Sports, mainly with that scene of the skier whiping out in ‘the agony of defeat’.
Thought I do like Megus XLR’s little catchy themesong.
Another vote for Mission:Impossible. The awesome music, the burning fuse, the rapid (always expertly done) montage… you can’t beat it.
I also thought that the opening titles for The Sopranos (at least Seasons 1 and 2, which is all I watched) were excellent. It had an absolutely stunning choice of theme music / song (Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3). The song sounded 100% scored specifically for the Soprano character and series, but no, it wasn’t, and it also sounded 100% authentic American to me, but no, the band are based in Brixton, London, UK. And the editing together of the images as we ride home with Tony thru New Jersey was simply brilliant from start to finish.
Ah, bite me. I just wanted to talk about how bad-ass Paranoia Agent is.
Other good votes so far:
The Venture Brothers (can’t believe I forgot that one), just because it does Jonny Quest so well.
Futurama for the great theme song and the subtitle gag at the beginning of every episode.
Wonder Woman for the sparkle effect they do on Lyle Waggoner’s teeth.
The Avengers mostly for the music.
and this website has a QuickTime file of the opening to UFO so that the non-initiated can bask in its coolness.
I can’t believe that no one has yet mentioned Hawaii 5 - 0. The theme song and opening montage are even more memorable than the show itself.
Honorable Mentions:
the Mod Squad
Bewitched
the Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (because of that cool maze)
Soap - original opening, when the ceiling collapses on the family & nobody seems to notice.
I agree, but how does one get a JuJu (JewJew? :eek:) in one’s eye and, more importantly, how does one remove it?
My vote goes to Friends. Not a huge fan of the series, but thought that the theme song was quite catchy and the clips of the 6 of them dancing in the water fountain were immensely watchable. Pretty people playing in fountains…does that make me shallow?
Let’s try that again.
I agree, but how does one get a JuJu (JewJew? :eek: ) in one’s eye and, more importantly, how does one remove it?
My vote goes to Friends. Not a huge fan of the series, but thought that the theme song was quite catchy and the clips of the 6 of them dancing in the water fountain were immensely watchable. Pretty people playing in fountains…does that make me shallow?
Another enthusiastic vote for Sopranos . I definitely concur that the opening music simply marries with the theme of the show. I’m from northern NJ too, so it’s probably just extra-special for that reason as well 
.
Haveta second Law and Order. It seems so methodically thought out and yet the final result is so artistic. I’ll bet that one was a collaboration of more than one person…
Oh, anyone love the opening for Teen Titans ? It’s so cool! I like the one sung in Japanese (rather than English, the language I know) even better.
And I must cast my vote for classics which many of you have kindly given me remembrances: Wonder Woman (oh, yeah, that sparkle in Lyle’s teeth…), Get Smart , Gilligan’s Island , Lost in Space (my “greenlady” SDMB persona is from that beloved show), I Dream of Jeannie (has anyone mentioned this 60’s classic yet?), ** Charlie’s Angels** (1st season with Farrah), Six Million Dollar Man (cheezee, but you know, it’s gotta be mentioned in this context), ** Land of the Lost** (thank you, to whomever mentioned this little gem!), and Petticoat Junction – it’s just so, so, well, fun.
I didn’t know something could be both cheesy and cool. Sweet!
Guilty pleasure*. T-E E-N T-I-T A-N-S! Teen ti-tans, let’s go!**
*The song, not the show. The show is all sorts of awesome.
**Yes, that’s the ending theme. Its also in the extended version of the theme song.
I’ll second the vote for Twin Peaks for best ever. Second place would go to: KUNG FU.
(Worst opening would be Star Trek: Enterprise…which I never watched because I couldn’t get past that damn theme song…)