If we’re doing animated shows too, I’ve always loved the opening to Thundercats - the superior animation (compared to what the eps had to offer) combined with that theme made for a grinning ten year old. Still one of my favourite openings to this day.
Also? Amazing Stories had a great opening with a weekly dose of John Williams to score your Sunday night.
Absolute truth.
Stewart Copeland’s brilliant theme is what really makes it, but I think the baby crying is a moment of pure genius, icing on the “our version of New York is a horrible, dark nightmare of a place with criminals around every corner, and it’s probably best if you never ever set foot out the door” cake.
I think it was Season 4 of Alias that used nothing but split-second cuts of Jennifer Garner in different disguises. Dug it.
Old school, I have to praise the original Battlestar Galactica. Something about concentric iris-wipes always works for me, plus that majestic music.
If we’re just talking about the music, Barney Miller.
This awesome shit right here:
I’m not a huge fan of any of the current shows I watch (full title sequences have kind of fallen out of fashion as networks shave additional minutes off every hour for ads), but I just started catching up on Justified, which has the best theme song since The Sopranos. Those are probably my favorites, at least until Sunday night rolls around.
Since someone’s already mentioned Get Smart (and I’m surprised that if anyone mentioned Batman, I missed it), a few more of my old-school favorites:
T.H.E. CAT (credits proper begin about a minute in):
The Avengers (Series 4, the best of the lot IMHO):
The Wild Wild West:
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Season 2, the best arrangment of the theme);
I’ll quit with the videos now, but a few others that deserve mention are Secret Agent (the U.S. version of Danger Man), The Prisoner (best expository opening ever), The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, and, of course, Mission:Impossible.
And I have to say, I think the Modern Family credits set the tone for the show very nicely.
Ahhhh, yeah! Can’t believe that one escaped me!
How could I forget:
I feel rather stupid for not thinking of this. An all-timer, animated or otherwise, in my opinion.
Speaking of cool animated show openings, this one was designed by Darwyn Cooke! Plus, it has disco dancing AND riot police.
This was THE SH*T back in the day:
You never forget your first Doctor:
yeah, i love that version of the doctor who intro, but I gotta say my favourites are the ones that start with that electro scream (the orbital version is a stunning piece of work, the way it gradually builds), rather than the fade in:
it was like “FUCK YOU! DR. WHO IS STARTING!” but the rest of the theme is a bit of a let down, in terms of the theme I like the old analogue electro themes from the second and third doctors, really jarring yet weirdly soothing.
+1 on the Magnum P.I.
+2 the prisoner
how about the jazz freakout that was space 1999
it always seemed at odds with the low-key navel gazing that was the marque of the show.
I do love the versions with the ‘sting’ at the beginning. And then there’s this…