Hall of Fame: This deserves the grand prize for great openings.
Hall of Shame: Seeing as this was the opening credits for a pilot that was shown, but never became an ongoing series, I don’t know if it counts. But you can tell why it didn’t get the greenlight.
great jazzy music, some animation and scenes from that episode.
The Prisoner
iconic imagery, really exciting driving score, and it sets the scene that is so surreal and odd that it’s almost frightening. Plus bonus-big-white-bubble points!
I’ve always thought The Flinstones, The Simpsons and Futurama had some of the best tv theme songs ever. The first two were always fun to play in the school band!
I’m always disappointed by the CSI (Vegas) theme song. I just think it’s too long. It’s powerful and all that but when I watch CSI I just want to get right to the show. Sort of the same for House.
I have remarked before on this Board (in fact, I think it was my very first post) that the theme from The X Files sounds to me like the theme from the 1960’s Kaye Ballard/Eve Arden comedy The Mothers-in-law, only slowed down and played more spookily.
The Venture Brothers have the best opening ever (well, just season 1. Season 2 is good, but a lot shorter so not as good.) Whatever you were going to say, stop saying it now, 'cause you’re wrong. (Unless you’re going to agree with me, then say it.)
Since I TIVO everything, I usually skip the opening credits. The only recent show who’s opening credits I would always watch was Joan of Arcadia. I REALLY liked the Joan Osborne song they used.
I even bought the CD that song was on, and found I hated everything else on the CD. Go figure.
I have a special place in my heart for the opening to St. Elsewhere but that’s because, when my fiancée and I watched the 1st season DVDs, we’d make up random lyrics to the theme every time.
Here at Saaiiinnnttt Elsewhere, someone’s gonna get-stabbed
Howie Mandel bought himself-a-gun!
There’s doc-tor White, no-body liiikkeess him
And there’s that foreign-doc who-gets-no-lines!..
Much as I like many of the recent, good, HBO shows, such as Deadwood, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and Rome, I’ve always been pretty unimpressed by their opening credits, and just fast-forward through them. I really wish they associated the names of the actors with the characters, the way Joss Whedon’s shows all do. Big Love at least associates the 4 main characters with their actors, plus it is just super-catchy.
Others I love: Veronica Mars (particularly season 1) Firefly My So Called Life
Gotta agree with kytheria and Small Clanger on the Star Trek: Enterprise intro. Might have been tolerable had they actually used an orchestral title theme like every other Star Trek series. Every show has had its own beautiful, distinctive, and identifiable theme, but I guess Paramount couldn’t afford to pay Goldsmith this time around. Perfect excuse to say “well we’re trying to appeal to a young and sexy demographic and they don’t like orchestral music, they like pop country western ballads!” :rolleyes:
The interesting thing is that the “progress of mankind in space” visual montage wasn’t bad, and neither is the ‘Faith Of The Heart’ song either, but whoever thought they’d work well together needs to be smashed in the head with a brick. Perfect example of two things which, separately, are good efforts, but when combined, cause you to ask yourself what the blue fuck they were thinking. Big Hall of Shame nomination from me.
I’m surprised it took 19 posts before someone mentioned “Hawaii Five-O”. Tremendous theme song and opening sequence. (How about when that lovely cutely-coiffed wahine stares right into the camera?)
I’ll also second those nominations for “The Avengers” and “The Prisoner”.
I’m not a fan of the show, but as sitcoms go, I’ve always thought Dharma & Greg had a good opening sequence. It’s only 10 or 15 seconds, just a little tune and the main characters, and it’s kinda sweet, and it gets across exactly what the show’s about: he and she, yin and yang.
The first season of Battlestar Galactica had an awesome opening. The mournful music, the destruction of humanity, the ragged gathering of survivors and the beginning of the war…very gritty. And then, the drums and the high-impact scenes from the very episode you’re about to watch. Keeps ya hooked, but good. It’s still pretty good, but I prefer the old music to the new vocalizing, and there’s too much text now.
Worst? Hmm…well, last season’s ultra-glurgy theme and opening montage on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was absolute crap. They seem to have recognized that and changed it.
My Hall of Fame nominee is The Gary Shandling Show:
*"This is the theme to Gary’s show
The opening theme to Gary’s show
This is the theme song that you hear
as you read the credits
I’m almost at the part
where I start to whistle…"*
That’s all I can recall
I second **The Ropers ** for Hall of Shame, but not just the credits.
That was the cheesetastick Small Wonder about the litle girl Robot named VIKI (was that how it was spelled?). It was a syndicated show in the mid-80s. It was deliciously bad.
