# Latest TV Show “Opening Credits”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524 "2024-02-13T20:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/1 "2024-02-13T20:18:56Z")
I’ve started watching _Better Call Saul_, a great show. I love its brief, slapdash and interrupted introduction (opening credits). The “intro”, with title and brief credits of the biggest names, occasionally appears at the beginning of the episode. But sometimes it appears as much as eighteen minutes from the beginning. Is this a record, for TVs or movies? What is the most amount of time from beginning to opening credits? ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/2 "2024-02-13T20:25:55Z")
Well there was one episode of _Seinfeld_ where the opening credits were the very last thing. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/3 "2024-02-13T20:29:36Z")
Monty Python’s Flying Circus had one episode where the opening credits rolled just a few minutes before the end of the ~30-minute episode (and another with the _closing_ credits just a few minutes after the beginning). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/4 "2024-02-13T20:48:36Z")
The longest “normal” gap from beginning to credits that I have seen was one Miami Vice episode that was nearly ten minutes into the episode (and that ten minutes was pretty artsy even so. Minimal dialog and lots of driving, IIRC). That was back when that simply wasn’t done. Then we got shows like 2 1/2 Men whose theme music takes less time to sing than it does to type. Might as well not even have credits, no matter when they arrive. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/5 "2024-02-13T20:53:06Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > But sometimes it appears as much as eighteen minutes from the beginning. Is this a record, for TVs or movies? What is the most amount of time from beginning to opening credits? When Breaking Bad was on, I listened to the pod cast with Vince Gilligan and Kelley Dixon (the editor). The subject of opening credits came up from time to time. I remember one of the episodes had the opening credits well into the show (15ish minutes) and Vince mentioning he had to get permission from, IIRC, the writers/actors unions to do that. Apparently there’s a lot of rules surrounding credits. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/6 "2024-02-13T21:46:32Z")
My wife used to watch “Castle” a lot, and I swear the credits were still rolling 15 minutes into each episode. It was a regular thing. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/7 "2024-02-13T22:19:11Z")
Don’t the titles for _Apocalypse Now_ occur just before the closing credits? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/8 "2024-02-13T22:58:45Z")
_Monty Python_ occasionally had the credits mid-show and once put them at the endm ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/9 "2024-02-14T15:08:32Z")
**For that matter, which are the shortest opening credits on a TV show, which have a song and are repeated regularly?** ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/10 "2024-02-14T15:11:35Z")
I thought the “titles” for that film were just the words “APOCALYPSE NOW” showing up randomly in the background of one scene near the end. (IIRC, there’s a copyright notice after the last scene.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/11 "2024-02-14T21:18:22Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > For that matter, which are the shortest opening credits on a TV show, which have a song and are repeated regularly? _Scrubs_ has to be in the running. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kBz1vvlkzSw/hqdefault.jpg "Scrubs Opening Theme Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBz1vvlkzSw) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/12 "2024-02-14T21:49:30Z")
**The O.A.** Hilariously, the pilot episode didn’t show an opening until well over 30-40 minutes. After this, they never aired another opening…until season 2, which was also 40+ minutes into the season premiere. It’s a bizarre joke if you watch the show, but the entire show is very strange. My wife and I use to watch the timestamp on **Alias** to see how late its credits would air. 14 minutes or so was the record. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/13 "2024-02-14T22:33:14Z")
The part before the credits is traditionally known as the “teaser”. When it’s 18 minutes, that term seems wrong–or cruel… ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/14 "2024-02-14T22:56:28Z")
I may be the only person on this board who watches the show, but Blue Bloods is in the running. They don’t run the credits until after the first full segment of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/15 "2024-02-14T22:56:39Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > My wife used to watch “Castle” a lot, and I swear the credits were still rolling 15 minutes into each episode. It was a regular thing. Yeah, that’s my gold standard for delayed opening credit. Whenever we’re watching a show and the credits come on 10-15 minutes after it starts, my wife and I both shout “Castle!”. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/16 "2024-02-15T20:38:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > For that matter, which are the shortest opening credits on a TV show, which have a song and are repeated regularly? Depending on your definition of “theme song”, _Frasier_ just had the title card and the jazzy theme. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/17 "2024-02-15T20:50:54Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Depending on your definition of “theme song”, _Frasier_ just had the title card and the jazzy theme. Likewise _The Good Place_ and _Great News_ (minus the jazziness). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/18 "2024-02-15T21:24:11Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Likewise _The Good Place_ and _Great News_ (minus the jazziness). I mean, Supernatural just played a brief splash. All of them below: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wg0yCihdKio/maxresdefault.jpg "Supernatural Seasons 1-15 Main Title Cards") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg0yCihdKio&t=72) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/19 "2024-02-15T21:43:06Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > For that matter, which are the shortest opening credits on a TV show > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Then we got shows like 2 1/2 Men whose theme music takes less time to sing than it does to type. It consists of, and I quote: “me-e-e-en.” About 2 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-tv-show-opening-credits/997524/20 "2024-02-16T07:23:49Z")
I remembered Noah Hawley’s _Legion_ doing something like this, had to click through a whole lot of episode descriptions to find it. IMDB tells me it was [Season 3 Episode 6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9776906/?ref_=tt_ep_nx): > Bizarrely, the episode’s opening “Marvel” credits don’t appear until the episode’s 43rd minute, and the “Legion” title doesn’t appear until a few minutes later, at the end of the episode, immediately followed by the closing credits.