Bosom Buddies
“When we first moved to New York, we found an apartment…dirt cheap.”
Pushing Daisies often did.
Didn’t Buffy in the first season or so have a Giles voiceover that explained the show?
Michael Westen explains what being burned as a spy means at the beginning of each episode of “Burn Notice”.
Jack Webb always had a voice-over at the top of “Dragnet”.
What the hell is that?
This is my boss, Jonathan Hart - a self-made millionaire. He’s quite a guy. This is Mrs. H. She’s gorgeous. She’s one lady who knows how to take care of herself. By the way, my name is Max. I take care of both of them, which ain’t easy; 'cause when they met… it was murder!
Narration by a character from Hart to Hart.
SOAP had both a narrrated open, “This is the story of two sisters…”
and a recap “Confused? You won’t be, after this epsiode of…”
Just about every episode of Magnum, P.I. started with a voice-over by Magnum, explaining some little tidbit about being a detective, or just about life in general. But if differed from episode to episode, and was more about the episode than the show in general, so I don’t know if it “counts” for what you are looking for.
“And now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It’s Arrested… Development.”
Older Sci-Fi geeks should remember this short lived series from the late 70s.
The Fantastic Journey
It’s Monkey Magic! Woo-ooh!
The first couple of seasons of “NUMB3RS” had a voiceover by Charlie Eppes talking about how we all use math in our daily lives all the time, but it wasn’t really an explanation of the premise of the show.
The Untouchables…The voice over was almost as famous as the main character or lead actor.
Lots of old TV shows:
**The Fugitive
The Invaders
Mr. Terrific
I Dream of Jeannie** (for a while, anyway)
**The Adventures of Superman
Coronet Blue
The Prisoner** (sorta: “Where am I?” “In the Village”)
Star Trek, fer cryin’ out loud
**The Twilight Zone
The Outer Limits
**
I seem to remember that at the beginning of the TV show that starred Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, The Persuaders, there was a voice over (I think by Curtis himself) on how these two very different individuals got together.
“In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.”
Interestingly enough, the first couple of episodes have the narration delivered by some anonymous woman. Then Giles picks it up a little ways into season one.
Quantum Leap “…Dr. Sam Becket stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished…”
First season of Remington Steel “…want to know a deep, dark secret? The great detective Remington Steel? He doesn’t exist…”