The Edward Gorey animations for Mystery! deserves a nod. There were a couple version but that’s the one I remember best.
L O S T Season II, with some guy in a quite cosy place putting on a record, injecting himself with some medicine… a place which turned out to be in the mystery hatch embedded in the Island’s soil.
Venture Bros.
Why? The opening credits are just an establishing shot of the office building followed by your standard montage of clips from episodes. I mean, OK, it’s got a memorable, though now dated, theme song, but there was nothing particularly unique or groundbreaking about the visuals. Many (most?) other dramas and sitcoms of the 1980s did the same thing.
You list Three’s Company as well, which also doesn’t appear to be anything special. I love the theme tune, but the visuals are just the main cast walking around the Santa Monica pier (or later, the Los Angeles Zoo). Again, that sort of opening sequence was typical in the 1970s and 1980s.
Damnit. Look, just take the girl and let me live - will that do?
The opening to Jonny Quest: cannibals, dinosaurs, mummies, machine guns, scuba men, lasers, jets - and great music.
What, no ninjas?
I picked those based upon the strength of the songs alone.
The Simpsons has a classic opening sequence: a great orchestral theme; a whirlwind tour through Springfield, giving us a glimpse of many of the show’s major and minor characters and settings; and a Chalkboard Gag and Couch Gag that give us something new each time.
Ahem…
[Sigh]I guess so.[/Sigh]
dammit!
Terriers! Ok, maybe I just really love the show and its theme music. 
It does have a rather nice Quentin Tarantino feel about it, though.
Ok. So somebody already nominated “The Prisoner.” (Seconded!)
And somebody already nominated Peter Gunn’s theme music (seconded!)
And somebody already nominated “The Outer Limits” which was freaking BRILLIANT! (Seconded!)
But nobody nominated “Eureka!” yet! The opener promised smart, fun, whimsical content and the series delivered. It may not always have been as smart, funny or whimsical as the opener, but compared with most SyFy channel series it was the most brilliant thing ever.
And nobody nominated “Secret Agent Man” which I think every kid who owned a guitar during the sixties and seventies was legally required to try to play the theme of.
I came here to nominate Enterprise’s opening for exactly that reason. I get the dislike some fans have for it, I just don’t share it. It’s such a beautiful sequence, and the song is just so perfect. So know that you’re not alone. There are others like us, and one day… one day…
Oh damn, Carnival, the opening titles sold the show for me. Probably one of the greatest titles ever done for a series, too bad the series didnt hold up to the promise (and the premises) of the title sequence. It started to suck seriously at season 2.
Good catch, of all the shows listed here, Carnival would defintely be in the three bests (if not ze best).
“best” can only be decided if you define it. There’s just artistically terrific, stand-alone, wonderfully fun, beautiful attractive titles.
Then there’s all of the above with the added question of whether the titles fit the show or tell the show’s story or premise. I think that’s a valid criteria.
Without it, the field is wide open, but with it, it narrows considerably. And doesn’t include Carnivale. Including that criteria, I think it’s hard to beat True Blood or Six Feet Under.
Burn Notice - “You know spies, a bunch of bitchy little girls.”
Lie to Me
Hawaii Five-0 has a catchy theme, but the montage isn’t spectacular.
Capitaine Zombie, The Equalizer! I remember that show. Is it as cool as it seemed? (Probably not.)
No, Equalizer was rather shitty. Bit of the formula of the Man with the Orchid, but here, fatman becomes ex-CIA agent that takes care of peoples’ problems. In the Reagan era/A-Team way, that is blowing the shit out of them. Still, always thought the title sequence was really good. As I said there must not be one sequence in the whole series that equates the opening sequence. Talk about equalizing.
Blackadder, especially series 2 and 3.
I can’t believe someone already beat me to it, but: Curb Your Enthusiasm. If you haven’t seen it, it’s the show’s title against a black background while the intro music plays for about 7 seconds, then right into the show. Perfect. I appreciate that a lot of work and ingenuity can go into some very cool title sequences, but even the best ones become simply something to fast-forward through after you’ve seen them once or twice.