Letters to the Editor
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Where's
The Dick Van DYke SHow? THose pratfalls (the one he makes and the one he avoids) are great. And that was a great show, too, especially the office episodes and sequences.
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addition...
"Six Feet Under" - nearly perfect opening... music and images both.
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Other candidates
I can agree about Six Feet Under but the best of the bunch was Hill Street Blues. The gentle theme, playing against the shots of cops in action was a perfect setup for the mix of humanity and violence that followed.
I also think the old -- ancient? -- opening to the U. S. Steel Hour was a stunner.
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Too short
Way too short. Should have had at least another 10 clips in it.
For a near perfect mix of visuals, music, mood and foreshadowing, what about Twin Peaks? Also, the credits for Rome - fantastic concept, stunning execution, and it summed up the character of the show about as well as I've ever seen it done.
And of course Green Acres goes without saying. Just remember, it's not goofy, it's surreal!
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Cagney and Lacey
That hot saxophone duet! I liked it better than the show!
Also, "Seventy-Seven, Sunset Strip"! (You meet the highbrows and the hipsters; the call girls and the phony tipsters. You meet most every kind of girl and guy, including a private eye!)
And as an artifact of the primordial music video age, don't forget "The Monkees".
And finally, two words: "Perry Mason". that was such a powerful opener, that as a little kid of about 5 or 6, long before I was old enough to enjoy the show, I would "mime" Perry's actions to the music.
And I may as well throw in "Peter Gunn".
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Law & Order, Buffy
I first got hooked on Law & Order because of the opening credits. I'd never heard of the show, just caught the opening sequence, thought it had potential, but... I was teetering on turning the dial, and then the opening credits came on. That convinced me to watch the first segment, until the second commercial break. And the segment convinced me to watch the whole show.
Now, isn't that just what an openinig credit sequence is supposed to do? Draw you in and sell you?
Buffy, well, what can I say? What needs to be said? It was thrilling and inspiring, sprinlked with tiny little flakes of the Buffyverse inside, and at its best when it had the footage with Buffy's hammer and sickle homage. Every time I saw it, it made me feel like a kid again--a kid on Christmas morninig, about to open the best present ever.
The opening credits for Homicide, Life on the Streets weren't too shabby, either.
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Were you all born after 1980?
Better than many of the openings you had:
All in the Family - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hO239D5ljs (Honestly the most iconic opening of any American show)
Welcome Back Kotter - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMyC9dKjkrI
Mannix - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_1Ax4vliO8
The Saint - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phvZf6EHac4
Batman! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQBobrCBTNI
Magnum, P.I. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VIPlG8Xtq8
Police Squad - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLXyC1cuN3M
Three's Company - (Couldn't find online, but come on!)
Quincy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08cXyrDewlQ&mode=related&search=
Odd Couple - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2be6jGwLoJ0
Laverne and Shirley -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mVKUpT4g5k (wave bye bye to the beer)
Star Trek
Doctor Who (any season, any Doctor)
and of course, the best opening credits ever - Twilight Zone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y
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First one that popped into my head...
The Jeffersons
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DS9
Speaking as a professional with nearly 50 years of musical experience (and TV), the opening theme music from Deep Space 9 is my all-time favorite. And the graphic design was pretty near too.
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Those are great but....
How could you leave out "Get Smart"?
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missing
Get Smart
Addams Family
The Prisoner
Love Boat
Sesame Street
Dick Van Dyke
The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman (Season two)
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The Rockford Files!
Not that I am biased, but clearly one of the best opening sequences ever -- the answering machine messages, that montage of still photos, the fantastic music...
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A Few More
Great topic! Some of my favorites not shown or listed in the comments, SECRET AGENT, THE AVENGERS, VERONICA MARS, ROCKFORD FILES and THE DREW CAREY SHOW. Someone did just mention PETER GUNN, I've got to agree, I recently watched that via Netflix, just for the theme song.
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We can rebuild these opening credits, make them stronger, faster, better.
The Six Million Dollar Man: awesome opening credits.
Honorable mention, on top of all the others mentioned in the letters: Kolchak, the Night Stalker.
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A Few More
The Prisoner had both a classic opening sequence and a classic closing sequence.
The opening to Babylon-5 was a good one, I always thought.
The Simpsons opening is good, yes, but it's of course a takeoff on The Flintstones, which is itself a takeoff on The Honeymooners. (Not that I personally think that the opening of The Honeymooners is classic . . .)
I always like the opening of Baretta, myself. And S.W.A.T. may have been an execrable show, but it had a pretty kickin' theme song. For the 70s, anyway. And finally, the trumpet flourish of The . . . F . . . B . . . I . . . was always one I liked.
And yeah, I was born before 1980. 'Way before.
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Sorry,
but to me they all pale in comparison to the bass line from the theme to Barney Miller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAh5SJrIEwY
Bet you can't listen just once!
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No Cheers?
"Where everybody knows your name..."
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Folk Songs for Yuppies
Shockwave Radio Theater regularly plays "Folk Songs for Yuppies". TV theme songs. Sometimes, covers of tv theme songs. I have loads of fun slipping in and out of eras and mental images . Many people have mentioned some of favorites, and I'll try not to repeat, but here are some more that stick in my mind:
Of the current shows, I really love Two-and-a-half Men, the occasionally used opening with the 2 1/2 of them in tuxes lip syncing the great (and short) theme.
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
Green Acres
The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite (oh, those teletypes!)
The Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck Show (Overture, curtain lights! This is it, we've hit the heights...)
It's About Time (It's about space, about two men in the strangest place...)
Did you know that Desi Arnaz wrote lyrics to the theme to I Love Lucy? Great stuff. Better than the Gene Roddenberry lyrics to Star Trek, or the Bonanza words...