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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
How 'bout Deadwood?
Surely, I'm not alone in considering the Deadwood opening sequence to be superb. Art and reality combined.
-- Robert Simms
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The opening credits for DEADWOOD are pretty average, but the way they cut to the closing credits and the songs they use are outstanding.
Big Love's opening sequence is not only the best current one, but, ranks right up there with some of the best of all time!
Haha - for a minute there I was afraid Pfizer had its own series now. (Not totally impossible, the way things are going.)
btw, where's Six Feet Under?
You're all mentioning your favorite TV series. You're descending into trivia. Better you should ask, why are so few modern TV series doing this?
For the last ten years or so TV networks and syndicators have been trying to squeeze more and more money out of the shows, adding more commercial time. This also includes promos on networks for their other shows. "Setting a mood" has been replaced by "getting the gelt."
As a result, instead of setting a comfortable mood for whatever show you're watching, the TV show is shoved into your lap almost immediately, like a dog or a baby about to crap. It's like being forced to watch auditions of performers; no set-up, no life story like they did in A Chorus Line, just the raw "do your thing." In effect, show producers have made us suffer the same kind of hell they go through when creating a show, and the same pain of performers having to audition.
It's not the main reason, but it's one of the contributing factors about why television has become really uncomfortable to watch in the 21st Century.
Oh...by the way, have you heard the music inside TV shows? Long way from "Johnny" Williams and Henry Mancini. Or even Billy Joel's contributed songs on Moonlighting. There's always some sandy-haired, underpaid female wailing a lament in the background every time someone dies on Grey's Anatomy and some awful hippie folksinger dude speaking lyrics you can't understand over the love scenes on Smallville. And I bet these poor performers did these songs on specs because "your song will be on TV where millions of people will hear it." Yeah, if you can hear it behind the gushing blood and the sucking sound of people kissing.
BAH-dum BAH-dum BAH-dum ba-da-da
At the risk of geeking out an already geeky discussion, the intro theme to the Japanese Anime "Cowboy Bebop" is probably my favorite intro sequence of any show in the last 10 years or so. The kinetic intro animation full of guns and cigarrettes is perfectly paired with the percussive brass jazz of "Tank!" by Yoko Kanno, performed by The Seatbelts. Sets the stage perfectly for this western/sci-fi/kung fu/noir/dystopic fusion series.
Big Love has a great opening credits sequence.
I second "Cowboy Bebop," even though it's not an American show.
I would also argue that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has a really excellent OP. And the first two seasons of "Veronica Mars."
Not the greatest sitcom in TV history, but the opening credits set up the plot perfectly: American kid leaves family in Wisconsin, hits the road...European kid leaves family on Mypos, sails to Ellis Island...they arrive at their common destination...and the rest is comedy.
As usual, shows with minority casts aren't considered. You mention the opening theme to "All in the Family" but you fail to mention the theme to "The Jeffersons." The song was the best! The Bunkers were lamenting days gone by and the Jeffersons were celebrating movin' on up! Both songs captured the moods of the 2 Americas at that time. And the theme from "Good Times." Everyone (black, I guess) would sing along until they came to that phrase no one knew until Dave Chappell told us!
Other themes that deserve a mention, "Maude" - uncool disco song and just when you thought you would scream if Bea Arthur opened 1 more door, or the doo wop ladies screamed one more, "...and then there's Maude!"BAM! it was over, "Rosanne" - all that song needed was some banjo hook and that last season when the cast morphed in the credits was hideous, but accurate, "Welcome Back Kotter" - even though the show was shot on a Hollywood soundstage, the opening credits made you feel like you were going to Brooklyn; "X-Files" (Creepy), "Taxi" - cool soothing music for a Manhattan taxi ride!; "Barney Miller" - cool music for a cool show; "Cheers" - and you were sure everyone knew your name.
Mission: Impossible
That is all. Now go back to masturbating over whether The Wire or the Sopranos is the greatest thing since the Renaissance.
I'm totally dating myself.
Star Trek
Mission Impossible
Sesame Street
The Jetsons
The Flintstones
The Jeffersons
Welcome Back Kotter
WKRP in Cincinnati
Taxi
Camen Rider (Japanese program)
Battlestar Galatica (2003)
Family Guy
Cold Case(hate the show, love the opening credits)
Get Smart
Sanford and Son! Quincy Jones rocks the hizzouse.
Don't give a damn 'bout my reputation. Great song over the credits of "Freaks and Geeks." And if it's just about the music, how about "House"? And the best credits of all time? C'mon, that's easy: "The Andy Griffith Show."
Is anyone watching Damages with Glenn Close? The show's credits are phenomenal and they perfectly match the tone/story of the show. It should definitely be listed with the rest. I agree with the many others who mentioned Six Feet Under and Sanford and Son. Hell, maybe even Knight Rider!!??
WORST OPENING CREDITS song is Entourage. anybody else feel me on this?
Agree with other people:
The X-Files
The Jeffersons
The Sopranos
Star Trek
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Battestar Galactica (2003)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The OC
Some not yet mentioned-
Angel
Firefly
The 4400
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Golden Girls
In Living Color
How I Met Your Mother
Yes, this is trivia, but that's inevitable when talking about "the best" tv show or "favorite" opening credits. I might go so far as to say that everything to do with television and the entertainment industry is trivia. There's a lot of trivial information which is important only in discussions such as this one. Today's youth simply doesn't have the experience to judge older shows, never having lived through them.
Yup, kids today don't watch enough tv...
I think you're overstating newer attempts to squeeze time. Most "classic" tv theme songs were a minute long. Some were reprised at the end of the show, others not. Producers always tried to keep the time for intro and outro short. Now, we don't even have as many reruns and syndication usually just hacks out a scene from the middle. Indeed, one of the best reasons to watch tv on DVD is to see the real end credits, not those unreadable things squished to make more ad space. I might go so far as to say that if producers made a better product, including a good opening and watchable credits, they wouldn't have to sell as much ad time to pay for it.
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