Top Ten TV Show Opening Credits

Television is a fantastic storytelling medium.  Unlike movies (unless its a movie franchise), where you only get 2 hours to tell your story and flesh out your characters and make you want to emotionally invest in one of the characters, TV shows get 12 or 24 hours per season to do all that and more.  It has the ability to leave you hanging by a thread with cliffhangers and I think the medium allows for more freedom once your show becomes something the fans will watch.  Of course, television fans are fickle and many a great TV show has been cancelled because it might just be a little too niche.  There is an important part of TV shows that often is overlooked but can definitely enhance your investment with the show itself and the characters in it.  The opening credits.  This is something that for as long as you are watching will be in every single episode.  If its a bad opening, you will dread having to listen to that minute or minute and a half every single time.  If its good, you will sing along with the theme song and it will actually become a part of the show.  This is a list with my favorite 10 TV show opening sequences.  There are a lot of TV shows running at this moment and there are thousands that have already come and gone.  There's no way for me to see them all, but from those I have seen, these are my favorites.

Top Ten TV Show Opening Credits

Honorable Mentions

How I Met Your Mother

This is probably one of my favorite sitcoms ever.  While the new stuff might not always be up to par with the older stuff, there are still episodes that make you laugh out loud.  Its a funny show with some really memorable characters.  Since there are about 22 minutes of actual show, the opening has to be quick but still give you a sense of the show that you are watching.  The makers of this show made a perfect opening sequence that consists of pictures of the gang hanging out.  This is a show about friendship and life and the pictures portray exactly that.  Short and sweet.

Mad Men

This show about the 1960s and the people who work in the advertising agencies during that time really took the world by storm.  It's mixture of incredibly smooth performances with smoking and drinking and beautiful women and it just feels like you are really watching something from that era.  It was definitely going to be a test to be able to make an opening that fit the series so well, but what they did is pretty creative.  These Mad Men, as the series calls them, have to adapt or be left behind.  The opening has a black and white figure who enters and office and then is falling down the side of the building.  As he falls, he can see a bunch of different advertisements go by him on his way down.  In the end, there is the figure on a sofa, laid back with a cigarette in hand.  It's just a cool sequence that really fits the series.  The sequence coupled with the great intro of a song by DJ RJD2 fit perfectly together.

10)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Ahh, the 90s.  They brought us the grunge movement, the beginnings of reality TV, and the rise of Will Smith.  I have a love/hate relationship with the 90s.  If there was something that I really enjoyed about it, it was definitely The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  It's a funny show about "Will" who moved to his uncle/aunts house because his mother was afraid that he would get into a lot of trouble in his hometown of Philadelphia.  Hilarity ensues.  The intro for the show was perfect.  The song that Will Smith raps to explains everything you need to know to start watching the show.  You never really need to begin the series with the back-story because everything is explained in the intro.  If someone grew up in the 90s and can't rap you this song (the video has the long version... but the short version) they should be taken outside and shot.  It's really a reminder of my youth and really takes me back listening to it.   

9)

Elfen Lied

I didn't really want to add animated stuff to this list because I would never finish watching stuff to make this damn list.  When I started thinking about opening sequences, this one definitely came up quickly.  Whatever you think about the anime itself (I personally think that it is amazing), the intro to it is so different from what I'm used to that it caught me by surprise the first time that I saw it.  Normally you would get some scenes of the anime along with some silly J-Rock or J-Pop or whatever that absurd music, that is impossible to tell apart from every other, is.  This time, I was met with a beautiful arrangement of piano and violin and the stunning voice of Kumiko Noma as she sings a song based on Bible passages and in Latin.  Not only that, but what we see is the characters of the series being used in the famous works of Gustav Klimt (famous for "The Kiss" among others).  It's an incredibly beautiful and creative introduction to the series. 

8)

Battlestar Galactica

It's safe to say that when the Sci-Fi Channel (or Syfy?) decided to remake the 1970s show, nobody thought it would be a good idea.  The original had run for just one season and it wasn't really considered to be an incredible series except for the small cult following it retained.  People were banking on this to flop incredibly.  It didn't.  Instead we got an incredibly interesting sci-fi series that was complex (maybe overly so at times) and nuanced.  It was full of twists and turns.  The opening credits were, in my opinion, top notch.  The whole series was composed by Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs and the whole thing has some amazing music.  After the introduction narrated by Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos), a slow and subtle orchestra plays while two female voices sing unintelligible stuff.  After that, it switches completely into a very fast paced arrangement that gets you excited about what is to come.  While the music mostly makes it worthwhile, I like that they show scenes of episodes that have passed and then during the fast part, they show a teaser of what will happen in the episode that's about to be shown.  I don't think the video I put in there has it, but they also show how many survivors there are in the human race still, which I think is a nice addition since it changes with every episode.

7)

The Sopranos

In 1999, HBO brought us one of the most well done series in a long time.  The Sopranos dealt with New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano and how his personal life and his business is affected by a myriad of things.  It was a really good series (even though the finale was pretty lame) but it was made even better by the really cool intro.  HBO has always done well with most of their opening sequences (you'll see more later) and this is one of them.  We see Tony Soprano in his car emerging from the Lincoln Tunnel and passing through different landmarks around the area that the series is set.  While this is going on, Tony smokes a cigar and the song "Woke Up This Morning" by the British band A3 plays.  It's a good song and a nice introduction to the show.  Any time you hear the static of the HBO logo, you immediately think of coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel.

6)

Fringe

This show began in 2008 and it quickly caught the attention of science fiction fans with an incredibly interesting story and a fantastic performance from John Noble (as Dr. Walter Bishop).  I also have to admit that some of the stuff between Joshua Jackson and Noble are pretty nice.  They have good chemistry together.  So, this team uses fringe science to resolve things that are unexplainable by other means.  The intro to the series uses these fringe sciences (or ideas) like synesthesia, wormholes, and retrocognition among other things while showing different symbols and images within a blue/green background.  The cool thing about this intro is that during the series, there is a parallel universe that is part of the main story and every time an episode is in one of the two universes, it changes from the bluish green to red and vice versa.  If the episode takes place in both, it interchanges the colors during one intro.  The music is one of the things I like.  Only hearing the music lets you know that this is a sci-fi show that you are about to see.   

5)

Dexter

This is an interesting show in and of itself.  It's strange to me that a show about a serial killer could get such a huge fan base.  The thing about this show is that it gets you to root for someone who is obviously not such a great guy.  Even though he tries to channel it into killing people who are bad, he's still not a good guy.  Beyond the philosophy behind the show, the creators of this show knew that in order to make this character into someone the public could sympathize with, they needed to make this show funny.  Not funny in a ha-ha way, but funny in a dark and goofy way.  That is the reason why the intro works so well for me.  It shows Dexter's morning routine.  What it does is show different actions that might seem like he is hurting someone (eg. the tying of the shoelaces and the hot sauce on the eggs).  The music is incredibly goofy but with an edgy 'something bad is gonna happen' feel.  In the end, he leaves his place and gives you the goofiest grin that Michael C. Hall could muster... and if you see the picture above, you know he can look goofy as hell.

4)

Game of Thrones

I reviewed Game of Thrones some time ago and I got to the conclusion that it was a damn good series.  Having read the books (except the latest one) the series is based in, and having expected this series for a while now, I was happy with it.  The performances are fantastic and while not as 'magical' as stuff like The Lord of the Rings, it still has a sense of wonder.  This is a series about family, politics and war.  The intro for this series works incredibly well with the show.  What they did is used some really nice instrumental music composed by Ramin Djawadi while the the intro plays.  Something that is really important for any fantasy show/book/movie is to set up the world we are going to be spending time with.  A simple map almost always works.  In this specific show's intro, we get a map but we also get a birds eye view of the places that specific episode will take you.  Winterfell, The Wall, King's Landing, Vaes Dothrak, they are all there.  Not only that but the designs of those cities come of the flat ground like an incredibly cool pop-up book.  Not only do the creators let the viewer see what Westeros is like, but you can position yourself in there and better understand the locations.  You know what King's Landing is before you see the first episode.  Which is kind of neat.

3)

The X-Files

There are very few series whose music has become pop culture icons.  The X-Files is just such a series.  Originally I had this one at number one solely based on the music.  Back in 1993, the series began to air.  It dealt with two FBI agents who dealt with the unexplained and the supernatural.  After 9 seasons, it is one of the most well remembered series of all time and a must see for any science fiction fan.  The intro begins with the logo for the show and the creepiest music you can imagine.  During the intro, there are different images of just strange stuff.  We are presented with our two main characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully when we see their FBI IDs.  It ends with the words that have identified this series, "The Truth is Out There".  It is a great introduction because it sets up the mood perfectly.  Back then there was nothing like it.  Nothing as incredibly creepy which is why it eventually became such a hit.

2)

Firefly

It has been a long time since I have seen a show have so much of an impact on pop culture, even when the series was never really finished and cancelled during its first season.  Joss Whedon's Firefly was a show about the renegade crew that travel and live in the "Firefly" class spaceship Serenity.  What made it incredibly interesting to me was the mixture between space opera and a western.  It was like nothing I had seen before and I fell in love with it quickly.  One of the things I loved most was the opening sequence.  Joss Whedon wrote the lyrics and then they used the voice of blues singer Sonny Rhodes to give it life.  The music uses a lot of elements form the Southern blues genre which fits perfectly with the mood and theme of the show.  I love how it ends with a shot of the Serenity flying over a team of horses.  I also liked that when they are introducing the cast members, they show some of the traits that set them apart from the rest of the characters.  It's just incredibly well done.

1)

True Blood

It would have been really hard not to pick this specific opening sequence as the number one.  I fought with myself over the positioning of the first three but eventually decided to go with this one.  While I had a really hard time dealing with the first few episodes of this series, after a while, it grew on me.  It deals with Sookie Stackhouse (a telepath) as she deals with different supernatural species, especially vampires, who have finally come out and told the world that they actually exist.  The opening sequence to the show was created by Digital Kitchen (also responsible for Dexter's opening) and it plays with the song "Bad Things" by country artist Jace Everett.  The sequence has a lot of different images but mostly the idea is to give the viewer the setting and the overall tone of the series.  All the images are trying to portray a South that is both sexual and religious at the same time.  With scenes of exorcisms and baptism interspersed with dancing at a bar and other scenes of the scenery and family life in the South.  And truthfully, I find it hard to think of a song that better fits this sequence than Everett's "Bad Things".  The song is a little less country and a little more rock but it is a grimy song with a wailing guitar and themes that fit with the show.  Also, Jace Everett's deep voice whenever he says "I wanna do bad things with you", is almost as if you'd see this being said by any character in the show.  It's just a perfect marriage of the imagery and song with what the show is all about.

A Parallel Universe - Dexter By Design

Dexter. The name itself just makes me smile these days. I stand firm in saying that it's the best thing on TV right now. And the ratings back up my statement. But it seems to me that the books the hit Showtime series was based on seem to be flying a bit under the radar. With the sixth book, Double Dexter, about to hit the shelves, I'm slightly behind.

To say that the novels by Jeff Lindsay have an odd relationship with the show would be quite the understatement. They seem to borrow ideas from each other back and forth, but the plots are totally different. The only actual thing in common is the setting and the characters at the start. And by at the start I mean first book (Darkly Dreaming Dexter), first season (Ice Truck Killer), but that's really as far as the similarities go directly.

It's almost like the comic book universes where the same characters are doing different things. Some get killed off, some turn on each other, and in this case, some get physically mutilated forever (That last part couldn't be more literal). But in the end it really works well to give a new depth to characters that are already pretty well developed.

By the fourth novel, Dexter By Design, which I just finished, Dexter's situation is very much different from what you've seen on the show, but somehow he's handling a lot of the same issues he faces on TV. The book kicks off with Dexter on his honeymoon in Paris where he and his wife Rita get invited to a rather bizarre art exhibit that peaks Dexter's interests. From there the story picks up into a tale of a serial killer who thinks of his victims as vessels to showcase his artistic side. Eventually Dexter crosses this new foe, and we have a very pleasant cat and mouse game to the death.

There are a couple of subplots in the story which differ greatly from the show. These mostly revolve around the interactions between Dexter and the people around him. It's here where the two go totally in opposite directions. Without spoiling much I can say that Dexter's stepchildren, Cody and Astor, play a much bigger role in the novels. Lets just say that Dex is a much bigger influence on their lives, and it's not really his choice.

SPOILERS


The other big subplot involves Dexter's stepsister Deborah dealing with the fact that she discovered the truth about Dex at the end of the first book. She had been silent throughout the second and third, but Debs finally confronts him about his reality at the worst time. Dexter is left wondering what he would do if the cop in her takes over and decides to bring him to justice. This is a real stand out moment in the tale of Dexter. When confronted with the decision on what to do about the person he considers closest, Dexter sees himself forced to contemplate things he never thought he would, making him a much more human character.


END OF SPOILERS


Story wise the book is a huge step up from the third (Dexter In The Dark) which had a overly strange plot that included Dexter hallucinating and being kidnapped by a cult. Yeah, I'm glad that's over. This one is more the usual Dexter style. Serial killer vs serial killer.

As always, the city of Miami is almost as important as the characters, which is one of the things I've always loved about the series. I've never spent too much time in Miami, I've been there once or twice for a day or so, but I swear that I know my way around that city. That sounds absurd, and I'm probably (totally) wrong, but these books just describe that city in a way that you just believe you know your way around. Then again, if I believed everything in these books I'd probably be dead within a week of arrival.

Lindsay does another spectacular job at bringing to life these amazing characters. He places you in the head of a serial killer, and you love it. He makes you feel what he feels, and he makes you justify every stab and slice he performs. He makes these outlandish stories believable with ease. I do believe it's in the details; from  the way things are said, to the way the forensic stuff is explained... He just gets it.

Even if you haven't seen the show (you should!), take a look at these novels. They stand for themselves, and they might be just as good. And if you do enjoy the show, and you haven't checked out the novels, then you're really doing yourself a disservice.

7.5/10

Series over Shows - An article mostly about Psych

Around two years ago, I tried watching a show called Monk. I hated it. I finished the first season and started the second one, just to quit like three episodes in. I just couldn't watch it. I'd find myself multitasking; gaming, reading, and just not paying attention to the show. Whole episodes would go by and I wouldn't remember shit because I just wasn't invested in what I was watching.

The problem with shows like Monk is exactly that, it's a show. And I'm the type of guy who prefers a series. What do I mean? Well, lets compare.

It's just an image, and I'm already bored.

In the simplest way possible. A show suffers from little to no character development. You walk out of episodes and seasons the exact same way you went in. Nothing changes with or between these characters. They always treat each other in the exact same manner. Which is totally crap, because everything people do changes their reality and the way they treat one another.

On the other hand TV series, requires at least an underlying story arc that motivates and carries the viewer from episode to episode. I say 'at least' because it can be underlying. It's not always the most important aspect, but it just needs to be there. There are many shows that I like that use this underlying system (Burn Notice, Castle, White Collar).

Then we have the shows that I really love. Where the story is everything. If you miss one single episode you shouldn't watch the next one, because you're going to be totally lost in the story. It's this type of show that gets the viewer invested in both the characters and what's happening to them (Dexter, Lost, True Blood, Weeds, Chuck, Californication).

That's why I just couldn't get into Monk. As far as I could see, it just wasn't developing any real story. It was just lame case, after lame case. It never grew into anything. I could pick any episode from any season and I could just jump into the story without needing any background whatsoever. And in some ways, I can see how that would be appealing to some people, but I guess it's just not my cup of tea.

I went through this long winded introduction so I could get into one particular show. In my final bit of late night summer boredom, I started watching Psych. And I must say, that at first I wasn't really into it. Much like Monk, it starts out in a case to case basis. The only difference is that Psych made me laugh. It's quirky and it constantly throws out the most obscure references you could imagine. And it made the lack of story bearable. It satisfied my boredom.

They may seem unlikeable, but they grow on you. I promise

I put up with two seasons. And suddenly, I received a pleasant surprise for season three: A story. Psych actually pulled off one of the nicest transformations I've seen on television. It evolved from show to series out of nowhere. It really does sneak up on you.

Once this story begins to unfold I actually realized that over three seasons I had grown to care about these characters. Without this story I would never have noticed because I always assumed that nothing would ever change between them, so why should one care about them.

Out of nowhere an episode comes along where you realize that something bigger is going on. This situation between these people is actually causing a reaction that's deeper than the usual episode. It breaks the superficial nature of the show and it alters the way they are around each other, impacting the way they conduct themselves in the next episodes. And that's what makes a good series. Instead of just isolated incidents, you get a chain of events.

I'm not saying it's perfect. It's actually far from it. It's slow and tedious. It's the slowest build I think I've ever seen on television. But it's actually very well handled. Psych has it's 'blah' episodes. But when it's good, it's really good. And in every season there's a good handful of episodes that really carry it along.

The Yin Yang trilogy is the perfect example of this. For three consecutive seasons (3-5), every finale had a related storyline. I don't think I've ever seen a story told from finale to finale. But they make it work. Through interesting storytelling and well placed humor they really build a short story arc over a three season span by just using three episodes. And I just find it amazing that they hooked me into it.

All in all, I'm not really considering this a review. More like a little rant.

If you really want me to review Psych you can request it. For now, I'll just recommend it to those who need something to watch to pass the time. Honestly, you could even skip seasons one and two if you really wanted to.