Mine would have to be the openings to The Drew Carey Show. All of them were great, but my favorite was when they’re doing one of their many dance numbers to the song Five O’Clock World.
I also like the “Ode to Joy” opening of Everybody Loves Raymond, where Ray and Deborah scramble to lock the door (in slow motion) while Frank, Marie, and Robert are walking across the street to the house, all done to “Ode to Joy”.
Everybody Loves Raymond Football intro where, it’s Ray and Deb vs. Marie, Frank and Robert is quite funny too.
And all the couch gags on The Simpsons are good.
Yea and I liked The Drew Carey Show’s intros and dance numbers. They must work really hard to choreograph those dance numbers.
I doubt there are any better openings/intros in sitcoms today.
Andy and son going to the fishing hole. The whistling. Ollie throwing a stone. So Our Town, but great in showing the bucolic nature of the show.
But that was third place to…Pee Wee’s Playhouse (the first version. Which is second place to…
Get Smart.
I’ve always felt that the opening to Dharma & Greg is what a sitcom opening should be: simple, sweet, and short.
Another great one: Get A Life, with Chris Elliot delivering newspapers from his bike while REM’s “Stand” plays, until he wipes out on a parked car while ogling a woman.
Yeah, I love it when the stone Ollie throws hits Stanley in the head and causes him to lose his grip on the piano he’s moving up a long flight of stairs and then it slides down … and … and …
I’m sure you meant Opie. And I agree that this is a GREAT show opening. Really defines the tone of the show.
Personally, I enjoy the Friends opening. Yeah, it’s standard sitcom fare, what with the clips of each character. But the clips have RHYTHM – and they go perfectly with the theme song. For instance, when there are claps in the track, the clip there always matches up with the claps. The most recent one I noticed had Monica patting her stomach in the same rhythm as the claps.
Opening sequence of The Simpsons has always amused me greatly. Also, the damn opening music of Sanford & Son sticks in my head like almost no other.