# When did titles stop being yellow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2021, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469 "2021-04-06T04:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/1 "2021-04-06T04:33:44Z")
For the longest time credits and titles on TV and movies were usually in yellow text. Around when did this finally die out? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/2 "2021-04-06T16:41:34Z")
They were? In my memory, the entire universe was in grayscale. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/3 "2021-04-06T16:50:34Z")
Not something I ever noticed. A TV with some color balance issues might make them look that way, but if it was on a real theater screen it should have been apparent. I’m not claiming I have fantastic color perception, mine is actually off a little, but I can pick out yellow just fine. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/4 "2021-04-06T17:01:54Z")
I don’t know if it was an industry standard, or just certain shows, but some did. This tweet compares the episode titles of _Batman_ (1966) and _Night Gallery_ (1970-1973): > Note that the _Batman_ title is, indeed, in yellow, while _Night Gallery_ is in white. So, if this was the standard and not idiosyncratic to those series, apparently sometime between 1966 and 1973. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/5 "2021-04-06T17:53:49Z")
I never noticed this before, but I think there’s something to it. Maybe it was a 1970s thing, but it doesn’t look like it was ever universal. Quite a few 1970s shows produced by MTM Enterprises had yellow-gold titles and credits, including but not limited to The Mary Tyler Moore Show (premiered 1970), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and Lou Grant (1977). But later MTM shows did not, like WKRP in Cincinnati (1978) and Newhart (1982) which had blue and St. Elsewhere (1982) and Hill Street Blues (1981) which had white. Among non-MTM productions I looked at, I saw found a couple with yellow or gold credits: McCloud (1970) and MASH (1972). Gunsmoke (first color episodes 1966) had white, The Big Valley (1965) had a sort of pale orange that some might call a yellow. The Waltons (1972) had yellow-gold title and opening credits but white closing credits. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/6 "2021-04-06T18:50:29Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not something I ever noticed. Something I notice all the time. A few minutes on Google Image search: [https://imgur.com/a/Gh2Rbkk](https://imgur.com/a/Gh2Rbkk) [https://imgur.com/a/ewR9Uro](https://imgur.com/a/ewR9Uro) I thought about it _this_ time when I started watching this movie: [https://imgur.com/a/iLmnDNo](https://imgur.com/a/iLmnDNo) And I suppose I don’t actually _need_ to show a Star Wars opening crawl… ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/7 "2021-04-06T19:01:00Z")
This page adds _Mork & Mindy_, _The Dukes of Hazzard_, _One of the Boys_, _9 to 5_, _Married With Children_, and _Saved By the Bell_. > **[32 TV Opening Credits Sequences With ‘And \[Actor Name\] As \[Character Name\]’](https://www.vulture.com/2014/03/opening-credits-sequence-naming.html)** > > A tribute to “And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver” and its ilk. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/8 "2021-04-06T19:04:14Z")
_ **Star Trek** _ switched from yellow to pale blue titles in the third season (1968–69). The type face was also different after the first season. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/9 "2021-04-06T19:08:21Z")
_The Irregulars_, a 2021 Netflix Original, has an orange title: [![](https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Netflixs-THE-IRREGULARS.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=750&h=375&dpr=1.5) ](https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Netflixs-THE-IRREGULARS.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=750&h=375&dpr=1.5) So, I don’t think yellow titles ever “died out.” Different series have used different colors for their titles, going back to the 60s. Yellow titles may just be less prevalent currently. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/10 "2021-04-06T19:08:43Z")
[Some](http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/seven-ways-from-sundown-1960-opening-credits/) [more](http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/the-yellow-mountain-1954/) [movies](http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/appaloosa-1966-marlon-brando/) with yellow text. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/11 "2021-04-06T19:14:36Z")
Current series with yellow titles: [![](https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/i/cbslocal/wp-content/uploads/sites/31326144/2021/04/Black-Lightning-feat-image.jpg?w=1024&h=576&crop=1) ](https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/i/cbslocal/wp-content/uploads/sites/31326144/2021/04/Black-Lightning-feat-image.jpg?w=1024&h=576&crop=1) > **[Good Girls (2018)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6474378/mediaviewer/rm255903745/)** > > Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman in Good Girls (2018) I can’t find any quickly linkable images, but a Google search shows CW’s _All American_ with yellow, blue, red, black, white, and black & white title variants. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/12 "2021-04-06T19:16:49Z")
That’s in the promo images, but do they actually use yellow text in the titles and opening and closing credits of the episodes as they air? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/13 "2021-04-06T19:26:26Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Something I notice all the time. A few minutes on Google Image search: Well now that you show them it’s really obvious 🤦‍♂️ I was focusing on more on movies, but I’ll bet there are plenty more of those too. A lot of those are TV shows that I should have recalled as well. My memories were also distracted by credits, almost always B&W, and I pay more attention to those, but the colors on those titles were clear, they just didn’t register with me. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/14 "2021-04-06T19:29:46Z")
_The Irregulars_ uses white for the chapter titles, and doesn’t have traditional opening credits. The end credit title card has _The Irregulars_ in that orange tone and “Created and Written by Tom Bidwell” in yellow, and then the rest of the credits in white. _Black Lightning_ has the show’s title in white, then the main cast’s name in a sort of metallic color that’s being illuminated by yellow lighting. I don’t know about _Good Girls_ ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/15 "2021-04-06T19:35:04Z")
_The Last Blockbuster_, a 2021 production, has its titles and credits in yellow. Of course, that’s because Blockbuster’s logo was itself yellow, which was quite possibly because yellow used to be more common in titles and credits. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-titles-stop-being-yellow/939469/16 "2021-04-06T19:52:15Z")
BTW, I found this interesting post last night before I started this thread. I know _why_ they used yellow so much, but I was wondering when it mostly stopped. > **[And It Was All Yellow: The Color Theory of TV Graphics](https://filmschoolrejects.com/yellow-tv-graphics/)** > > Covering everything from color theory to psychology, here's a video essay about why the color yellow is so common in older TV graphics.