Terrific TV titles
July 25, 2017 2:30 PM Subscribe
How Opening Titles Became So Damn Good. (SLVWired)
90 seconds of opening credits is great for the first episode of the first season. After that they should have a 20 second opening because watching 90 seconds of blah-blah seen it already stfu credits, plus 20 to 40 seconds of 'and this is what you saw last week in case you don't remember because you're stupid'... well, basically all of that gets skipped - they can be self-indulgent on their own time.
posted by Zack_Replica at 2:57 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Zack_Replica at 2:57 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
I think title design — show opens — have been great for a long time.
posted by bz at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2017
posted by bz at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2017
They have a skip intro button on Netflix. I have never used it when watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
posted by Pendragon at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 3:18 PM on July 25, 2017 [11 favorites]
Warning to the unprepared: they refer to "Too Many Cooks."
But not to the Game of Thrones title sequences, which surprised me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:41 PM on July 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
But not to the Game of Thrones title sequences, which surprised me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:41 PM on July 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
They have a skip intro button on Netflix. I have never used it when watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
I don't skip that, either, and I'm pretty sure you're singing along, and perhaps even dancing, as well. I actually get annoyed when Netflix autoskips the intro when binge watching.
Now if an opening theme goes over one minute, I may think it's a bit much (Sense8's intro is nice but at two minutes can be a bit much).
posted by linux at 3:45 PM on July 25, 2017
I don't skip that, either, and I'm pretty sure you're singing along, and perhaps even dancing, as well. I actually get annoyed when Netflix autoskips the intro when binge watching.
Now if an opening theme goes over one minute, I may think it's a bit much (Sense8's intro is nice but at two minutes can be a bit much).
posted by linux at 3:45 PM on July 25, 2017
Carnivale is in there, so this is fine.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:56 PM on July 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:56 PM on July 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
Rewatching the X Files, man that intro looks like some wack PowerPoint garbage.
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:05 PM on July 25, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:05 PM on July 25, 2017 [9 favorites]
Lemme guess: Computers and a growing need to pad out a timeslot?
posted by Sys Rq at 4:09 PM on July 25, 2017
posted by Sys Rq at 4:09 PM on July 25, 2017
No mention of Star Trek: The Next Generation? Offhand, I would've pegged that one as a turning point in terms of quality.
posted by mstokes650 at 4:13 PM on July 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by mstokes650 at 4:13 PM on July 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
Man, the timing of that article. Published pretty much exactly two weeks before the title sequence from American Gods was leaked.
posted by hanov3r at 4:20 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by hanov3r at 4:20 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
The light vessel automatic household saves time and increases its socio-cultural capital by only watching program intros, now.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 4:28 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 4:28 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
They have a skip intro button on Netflix.
Whhhyyyy is this not an option for Orange Is the New Black? At least it isn't on the platforms I use.
Please tell me this isn't a positive example cited in the video (tl;dw).
posted by supercres at 4:36 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Whhhyyyy is this not an option for Orange Is the New Black? At least it isn't on the platforms I use.
Please tell me this isn't a positive example cited in the video (tl;dw).
posted by supercres at 4:36 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you're a fan of The Expanse, pay attention to the opening credits and to how they've shifted over the first two seasons.
posted by Lexica at 4:51 PM on July 25, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 4:51 PM on July 25, 2017 [6 favorites]
I assume the explanation is, a shit-load of money is getting thrown at TV now. (It does seem like in the binge-watching age shorter titles are better, but maybe auto-skipping solves that problem.)
posted by grobstein at 4:58 PM on July 25, 2017
posted by grobstein at 4:58 PM on July 25, 2017
But not to the Game of Thrones title sequences, which surprised me.They did nod in that direction in passing by mentioning the VHS re-imagining of the GoT titles.
posted by adamrice at 5:08 PM on July 25, 2017
Whhhyyyy is this not an option for Orange Is the New Black?
Oh it is, I click that so hard
posted by oulipian at 5:30 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh it is, I click that so hard
posted by oulipian at 5:30 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
My absolute favorite opening title sequence the past few years has been the one for Black Sails.
posted by Catblack at 5:49 PM on July 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 5:49 PM on July 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
I never, ever skip opening credits. I recently got obsessed with W1A and watched both seasons 5 times, not once skipping the intro. If I miss the opening credits to anything, it feels incomplete.
posted by davebush at 6:57 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by davebush at 6:57 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
There have been great opening titles going all the way back the history of TV...
A major example of suspense for me growing up was "is Dick Van Dyke going to trip over the ottoman this week?"
And the animated caricatures on Bewitched became just more perfect when they re-cast Darren.
Opening narration was a necessity for Science Fiction TV... The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Star Trek (Original AND Next Gen with the same words but different voices)... but the best was how Babylon 5 changed its opening each season as the story arc progressed - the first time I heard Claudia Christian say "...our last best hope for peace. It failed." was a gut punching moment.
But the piece really needed to give more credit to The Simpsons, which totally bucked the trend in the '90s when opening titles were generally being shrunk to a few seconds with a long, complex sequence full of set pieces and characters... it initially intended the "Bart's Blackboard" to be the main running joke, only to have the Couch Gags keep getting more and more elaborate (with guest animators? that's the future of TV openers. Let's see Game of Thrones do THAT.)
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:01 PM on July 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
A major example of suspense for me growing up was "is Dick Van Dyke going to trip over the ottoman this week?"
And the animated caricatures on Bewitched became just more perfect when they re-cast Darren.
Opening narration was a necessity for Science Fiction TV... The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Star Trek (Original AND Next Gen with the same words but different voices)... but the best was how Babylon 5 changed its opening each season as the story arc progressed - the first time I heard Claudia Christian say "...our last best hope for peace. It failed." was a gut punching moment.
But the piece really needed to give more credit to The Simpsons, which totally bucked the trend in the '90s when opening titles were generally being shrunk to a few seconds with a long, complex sequence full of set pieces and characters... it initially intended the "Bart's Blackboard" to be the main running joke, only to have the Couch Gags keep getting more and more elaborate (with guest animators? that's the future of TV openers. Let's see Game of Thrones do THAT.)
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:01 PM on July 25, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'd say about 50% of the use the Siri function gets on my Apple TV remote is me saying "Skip ahead 90 seconds" so as to bypass opening titles I've seen way too many times. The Kimmy Schmidt intro gets skipped because that song is such an ear worm it will infect my brain, and my SO's, for a week afterward.
The American Gods intro never, never gets skipped.
posted by ejs at 7:57 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
The American Gods intro never, never gets skipped.
posted by ejs at 7:57 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
I always end up wishing the opening credits for The Expanse were longer.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 8:07 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by HiroProtagonist at 8:07 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
Best TV intros - SLYT - 144 of the good 'uns, including the original animated Batman, Twin Peaks, The Avengers, Doctor Who....
posted by storybored at 8:32 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by storybored at 8:32 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm wondering if modern title sequences, particularly the ones highlighted, reflect overall bigger budgets than older network shows were allotted. Plenty of shows were really done on the cheap, and the bar back when there were three over the air networks was pretty low. Some sequences were incredibly cheap, for example, The Rockford Files, which looked like of a bunch of pre-production stills panned and zoomed.
Interestingly, I think the real creativity of that era wasn't in the title sequence, but the title theme music. There was some fantastic music back then, I think sometimes to this day largely propping up the reputation of the actual shows. Themes from, say, The Twilight Zone, Mission Impossible, and Sanford and Son are remarkable in setting mood, in addition to being very memorable. And I've often thought the best thing about otherwise stupid and/or goofy shows like Green Acres, The Munsters, or Hogan's Heroes was the theme music, far more memorable and entertaining than the actual shows themselves. One of the things that kind of bugs me is how often modern shows use familiar existing pop music rather than original compositions. While it can be used to very good effect, I'm too cynical about payola-type scenarios, and I find it sounds cheap sometimes.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:00 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Interestingly, I think the real creativity of that era wasn't in the title sequence, but the title theme music. There was some fantastic music back then, I think sometimes to this day largely propping up the reputation of the actual shows. Themes from, say, The Twilight Zone, Mission Impossible, and Sanford and Son are remarkable in setting mood, in addition to being very memorable. And I've often thought the best thing about otherwise stupid and/or goofy shows like Green Acres, The Munsters, or Hogan's Heroes was the theme music, far more memorable and entertaining than the actual shows themselves. One of the things that kind of bugs me is how often modern shows use familiar existing pop music rather than original compositions. While it can be used to very good effect, I'm too cynical about payola-type scenarios, and I find it sounds cheap sometimes.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:00 PM on July 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sometimes I find myself wishing that the show were as good as the title sequence. I could probably write decent essay on the layered meanings of the True Blood opener, but the show itself was pretty forgettable.
My current favorites are Daredevil, Westworld, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Black Sails.
GoT can be obnoxious if you're binge-watching, but I find that the music really puts me in an emotional frame of mind for episodic watching. It's especially helpful for transitional, workmanlike episodes that don't have much to do except get all the parts moving from A to B in a logical fashion. It can't all be Red Weddings and Battles of Bastards.
posted by xyzzy at 9:06 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
My current favorites are Daredevil, Westworld, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Black Sails.
GoT can be obnoxious if you're binge-watching, but I find that the music really puts me in an emotional frame of mind for episodic watching. It's especially helpful for transitional, workmanlike episodes that don't have much to do except get all the parts moving from A to B in a logical fashion. It can't all be Red Weddings and Battles of Bastards.
posted by xyzzy at 9:06 PM on July 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
Happy to see Bojack Horseman mentioned in there 'cuz it's one of my favorite intros ever.
They did use the word "funny" while talking over it tho which....... debatable...........
posted by suddenly, and without warning, at 9:06 PM on July 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
They did use the word "funny" while talking over it tho which....... debatable...........
posted by suddenly, and without warning, at 9:06 PM on July 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
Hawaii Five-O was my old school favourite... but have to admit even that looks kind of like something a 13-year-old would whip up for class now.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:45 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:45 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes! Hawaii Five-O is one of those shows (Knight Rider is another, and of course the old Doctor Who, which rather blows the whole "this is a new thing" thesis out of the water) where I am intimately familiar with the opening titles, but never made it halfway through the first act of any episode.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:55 PM on July 25, 2017
posted by Sys Rq at 11:55 PM on July 25, 2017
Cheap drone photography means that 13-year-old could probably even whip up a helicopter shot quick-zooming seamlessly into Jack Lord's Piercing Gaze that looks smoother than the original. (Minus Jack Lord, of course.)
What I assume are close overhead drone shots of the waterfall in the new Twin Peaks intro are IMO very effective at literally showing a new and more abstract perspective on the original title sequence, and it probably didn't cost them too much more than setting up all those static shots on location at the sawmill.
posted by mubba at 8:06 AM on July 26, 2017
What I assume are close overhead drone shots of the waterfall in the new Twin Peaks intro are IMO very effective at literally showing a new and more abstract perspective on the original title sequence, and it probably didn't cost them too much more than setting up all those static shots on location at the sawmill.
posted by mubba at 8:06 AM on July 26, 2017
I've never seen True Blood, but I'm a big fan of the psuedo-documentary Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus and I've heard the True Blood credits "borrow" pretty heavily from it.
posted by haileris23 at 11:49 AM on July 26, 2017
posted by haileris23 at 11:49 AM on July 26, 2017
I've never seen Black Sails as I've heard and seen that it's...not great...but that opening title was phenomenal.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:18 PM on July 26, 2017
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:18 PM on July 26, 2017
Post-Sopranos, the first title sequence I can recall getting very excited about was the one for Six Feet Under. Surely that was influential?
And yeah, Bojack's title sequence is only superficially funny and really is truly a masterpiece of representing depression. I find it compelling and very sad.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:24 PM on July 26, 2017
And yeah, Bojack's title sequence is only superficially funny and really is truly a masterpiece of representing depression. I find it compelling and very sad.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:24 PM on July 26, 2017
...which is pitch-perfect for the show. such a hauntingly sad show that is also hilarious
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:26 PM on July 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:26 PM on July 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
And gorgeous! One of the most visually beautiful comedies, certainly.
posted by grobstein at 9:31 AM on July 27, 2017
posted by grobstein at 9:31 AM on July 27, 2017
Interestingly, I think the real creativity of that era wasn't in the title sequence, but the title theme music.
I was talking to my girlfriend about this not long ago, although the conversation was more about the mnemonic power of music. I can still sing the credits to Branded, and I haven't seen that show in probably something like 30 years. Also, the clip calls out the intro to Magnum PI sucking, but again, I still remember the music. Couldn't tell you one thing about either show anymore, but I think that just makes that more impressive.
but the best was how Babylon 5 changed its opening each season as the story arc progressed - the first time I heard Claudia Christian say "...our last best hope for peace. It failed." was a gut punching moment.
I came here to call that specific moment out. :)
posted by mordax at 6:40 PM on July 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was talking to my girlfriend about this not long ago, although the conversation was more about the mnemonic power of music. I can still sing the credits to Branded, and I haven't seen that show in probably something like 30 years. Also, the clip calls out the intro to Magnum PI sucking, but again, I still remember the music. Couldn't tell you one thing about either show anymore, but I think that just makes that more impressive.
but the best was how Babylon 5 changed its opening each season as the story arc progressed - the first time I heard Claudia Christian say "...our last best hope for peace. It failed." was a gut punching moment.
I came here to call that specific moment out. :)
posted by mordax at 6:40 PM on July 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
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