# Shows that have cold openings. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969 "2011-08-08T18:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/21 "2011-08-08T20:52:04Z")
_The Shield_. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/22 "2011-08-08T21:11:35Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Don’t most shows do cold opens? +1 This is hardly as rare as the OP suggests. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/23 "2011-08-08T21:14:48Z")
I think all of the Star Trek series had cold opens (I can’t speak to TAS, since I haven’t seen it since I was a little kid). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/24 "2011-08-08T23:21:39Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Don’t most shows do cold opens? Yeah…Isn’t the answer “almost all of them”? I can’t think of any shows I watch now that don’t do a cold opening, nor any I’ve watched in the past 20 years that didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/25 "2011-08-09T06:26:49Z")
Monty Python did this regularly in the sixties. In one show the opening credits were almost at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/26 "2011-08-09T12:56:15Z")
\*\*NCIS The Closer\*\* pretty much dispenses with credits entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/27 "2011-08-09T13:18:27Z")
Live from New York…It’s SATURDAY NIGHT (live)!!! ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/28 "2011-08-09T13:29:18Z")
Eureka and Warehouse 13 both have extended cold openings. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/29 "2011-08-09T13:40:32Z")
Actually, upon further reflection, the thread topic might be slightly improved if we talk about specific gimmicks that shows used in their cold openings, such as somebody yelling “Live from New York…” etc. The first few years of Monty Python Flying Circus, the show had a dishevelled old man (played IIRC by Palin) exclaiming “It’s…” right before the credits play (and an offscreen announcer identifies the show’s title.) The show “Welcome Back Kotter” always began with star Gabe Kaplan (Kotter) at home with his wife, and him asking “Julie, did I ever tell you the story about [some relative]?” She would say no, and he would tell a corny joke story about some misadventure the relative in question. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/30 "2011-08-09T13:44:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I can’t think of any shows I watch now that don’t do a cold opening, nor any I’ve watched in the past 20 years that didn’t. I could only think of one that didn’t do it as a rule: _The Sopranos_, which IIRC did it exactly once. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/31 "2011-08-09T18:02:10Z")
_MacGyver_ usually did the cold open with him at the end of a mission, and then after the credits on to his real mission for the week. ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/32 "2011-08-09T18:46:16Z")
I don’t know about “cold openings” but in most teleplays, this part is referred to as the teaser. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/33 "2011-08-09T19:05:11Z")
30 Rock does it. Usually with an establishing shot of the eponymous building. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/34 "2011-08-09T19:05:56Z")
The X Files ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/35 "2011-08-11T21:28:25Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > _Flashpoint_, which often runs the title sequence so far into the show that it usually elicits a “Oh yeah, they didn’t run the titles yet, did they?”. I think that’s a function of CBS, rather than how it’s originally filmed. They’ll be a scene or two that are clearly supposed to be a cold open, but the show keeps going and the guest star credits show up, and then, finally, the opening sequence. Maybe the Canadian length of cold open is too short for them? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/36 "2011-08-13T03:56:20Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > A cold opening, eh? > > I guess they needed something > :: puts on sunglasses :: > to break the ice. > > YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/37 "2011-08-13T23:00:11Z")
I don’t know this to be correct, but I think there’s a difference between a cold open and a teaser, in that the cold open is in some way detached from the narrative. For instance, Futurama used to do this a lot in its first couple seasons, and it would just be a one-off joke or, sometimes, a fake commercial. A teaser, in contrast, is when the central conflict of the episode is established in dramatic fashion. (Star Trek being the king of this device.) House and Supernatural, et al., are somewhat combined in that the first scenes typically show some never seen before characters who are about to suffer a terrible fate that the main characters soon arrive to solve over the next 40 minutes. Shows where the credits sequence is simply pushed back until after the narrative is well underway aren’t the same type pf thing at all. (LOST is what comes to mind for me – it wasn’t uncommon for 10 minutes to go by before the title screen.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/38 "2011-08-14T05:26:56Z")
Pretty much everything I watch nowadays. A better question might be “Who doesn’t use it”. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/39 "2011-08-14T06:21:04Z")
**Psych** employs a cold open that starts with a scene from Shawn and Gus’s childhood/adolescence that shows the principal of detection that will come into play in the investigation of the episode, then segues into the present, with the crime of the week. **Cold Case** also employed the “start with the past” cold open, showing the crime of the week (or the setup of it) back when it originally happened, with contemporary music (often misdated, bad research on that) as the backdrop. We always saw the file boxes with the case name and date being shelved in the cold case warehouse, then the segue into the present. The cold open for **Pushing Daisies** also tended to start in the past, telling about some sad part of the childhood of The Piemaker or Charlotte Charles, denoting age in explicit detail, such as “The Piemaker was 10 years, 5 months and 19 days old when…” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969/40 "2011-08-14T07:26:32Z")
The latest Batman cartoon, _The Brave and the Bold_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-have-cold-openings/591969.md?page=1)