The Importance of Opening Credits On Television & Some of My Favorites
Remember when you’d watch television and your favorite show came on? You’d be able to hear it from anywhere because that song would start to play, you know, the one you just couldn’t help but sing a long to? Well pardon me for a asking a lot of questions, but where the heck did that go?
I recall when I was younger being able to watch any show on TV and know exactly who was in it and the tone of the show as a whole just based on the opening credits. When I was younger and really into Smallville, I used to watch the opening credits over and over again and when a new season came out I was excited to see which scenes they would put into the opening title sequence for the new season, what order the cast would be in, how they would line up certain scenes to the lyrics, etc.
Lately, there seems to be less and less opening credits on television. I get why, mostly because it gives the show more room to pack actually story and a lot of credits end up being cut when the episode is no longer due to ad space and other circumstances. However, there some shows out there that you have to ask yourself “WHY DON’T YOU HAVE OPENING CREDITS?” One such show was LOST, I mean the show was full of plane crashes, sadness and “WE HAVE TO GO BACK!” but ABC even felt the same way I did because back in 2009 they had a theme song contest for the show.
One of the essential qualities of a good theme or opening credits sequence for a show is that it tells the story without actually telling the story. A good theme song can have you singing all day, and just like Jack Shepherd it will make you want to go back; watch the show over and over again.
It’s a lot different these days, shows seem to incorporate opening credits less and less through the years and have replaced them with simple title cards and just watching actors names appear while you sit through a scene which if fine and all but I want to hum a tune, I want to be able to get pumped when I see my favorite actors on the scene. It’s an adrenaline rush at time and a great piece of nostalgia.
True story: I was watching Pete and Pete a few years ago and I hadn’t seen the show in YEARS, the moment the opening credits came on I almost cried, I felt like a child again and it brought me back to those Saturday nights when I would watch the show on my couch. I could watch episodes of the series but without the sound of that theme song I don’t think I would have felt for it as much as I did. A great theme song can bring back memories like no other. To those of us who remember our lives through the shows that we watched the opening credits bring us back, whenever we hear them we grow entranced, it’s just something that happens. So why can’t all shows just bring them back?
In honor of my love for this art I thought I’d share some of my favorite opening credits of all time. Agree, disagree, I couldn’t fit them all into one place so maybe a second part of this essay will be in the works soon enough.
So without further ado in no particular order…
Now I know I missed a bunch, so hit up the comments below to share your favorites and I might have to do a part 2.. .
