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Great TV opening sequences

post #1 of 45
4/28/05 at 7:07pm
Thread Starter 
"It looks good at NASA One." - Flight Com
"Roger." - B-52 Pilot
"BCS Arm switch is on." - B-52 Pilot
"Okay, Victor." - Flight Com
"Lining Rocket Arm switch is on." - B-52 Pilot
"Here comes the throttle." - B-52 Pilot
"Circuit breakers in." - B-52 Pilot
"We have separation." - Steve
"Roger." - SR-71 Chase Plane Pilot
"Inboard and outboards are on." - B-52 Pilot
"I'm comin' forward with the side stick." - B-52 Pilot
"Looks good." - Flight Com
"Ah, Roger." - B-52 Pilot
"I've got a blow-out in damper three!" - Steve
"Get your pitch to zero." - SR-71 Chase Plane Pilot
"Pitch is out! I can't hold altitude!" - Steve
"Correction, Alpha Hold is off . . . Turn selectors . . . Emergency!"
- B-52 Pilot
"Flight Com! I can't hold it! She's breaking up, she's break--"
- Steve




"Steve Austin. Astronaut. A man barely alive."

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.
We have the capability to make the world's first Bionic man.
Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before.
Better . . . stronger . . . faster."

All to a stonking theme tune.

The series might stink (aside from episodes involving the Probes), but God I love this intro!
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post #2 of 45
4/28/05 at 7:39pm
My vote would have to go to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The show's languid pace and masterful characterisation are on full display as the "three of them, and Alleline" (plus Toby Esterhase? I need to rewatch) arrive one by one for a meeting at the Circus. No one says a word, but we know them all by the time an irritated Percy calls them to order, "...we can begin.". Roll credits. Genius.
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post #3 of 45
4/28/05 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bombjack
My vote would have to go to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The show's languid pace and masterful characterisation are on full display as the "three of them, and Alleline" (plus Toby Esterhase? I need to rewatch) arrive one by one for a meeting at the Circus. No one says a word, but we know them all by the time an irritated Percy calls them to order, "...we can begin.". Roll credits. Genius.
Great, GREAT choice!

Two minutes of silence pulled off by sheer Acting Talent alone. The look of absolute boredom on Ian Richardson's face as Michael Aldridge (Percy) says "Let us begin" is Masterclass.
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post #4 of 45
4/28/05 at 7:55pm
Easy. Season 5 of Babylon 5. The entire series up to the end of season 4 is summarized in 40 seconds.
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post #5 of 45
4/29/05 at 9:09am
I don't know if these are all-time, or what you're talking about, but West Wing usually had great teasers in the first four seasons. One of my favorites is from season 1 involving Bradley Whitford trying to avoid Alison Janney, only to find her reading the paper in his office. Janney just drops the paper and says "Boy, are you stupid."

There's also one I like a lot from Angel Season 3 (the premiere, actually), where the crew of Angel Investigations are speculating on what Angel's doing to mourn Buffy's death, and whether he should have gone to Vegas instead of a monestary. Cut to: Angel kicking the crap out of a bunch of Evil Monks, and when someone asks him what happened, he says (in subtitled Chinese): "Demon Monks. Shoulda gone to Vegas."

Finally, major props have to be given to Jerry Orbach, who made plenty of "Law & Order"s memorable with his cutting "pre-credits zinger." Doink-Doink indeed.
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post #6 of 45
4/29/05 at 9:15am
I think two of the most effective for me are

PORRIDGE - a sitcom in the 70s over here in the uk about a man in prison. The opening was no music just the judge sentencing the main charater intercut with scenes of jail doors shutting

The A-Team i mean come on - "972 a crack commando unit......" genius.
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post #7 of 45
4/29/05 at 9:17am
I loved the Rockford Files opening with the answering machine.
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post #8 of 45
4/29/05 at 9:50am
The opening to the A-Team was terrific.

"If you have a problem.....and no one else can help......maybe you should hire.....the A-TEAM."
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM. Cool stuff.
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post #9 of 45
4/29/05 at 10:22am
There are who believe life here began out there, far across the universe with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. That they may have been the architects of the great pyramids, or the lost civilisations of Lemuria and Atlantis. Some believe there may yet be brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, far far away amongst the heavens...
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post #10 of 45
4/29/05 at 11:06am
I never get tired of the opening credits of Carnivale.
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post #11 of 45
4/29/05 at 11:12am
We used to re-enact that 6 Million Dollar Man opening in kindergarten. Ahh, good times.

My vote is for Night Gallery. Great, creepy music accompanied by the psychadelic stream of pictures. Similar to the equally cool Doctor Who opening.
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post #12 of 45
4/29/05 at 11:55am
I used to watch this with my Daddy... Still gives me chills.

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
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post #13 of 45
4/29/05 at 12:23pm
The "Who is number one?" stuff from the Prisoner was gold
Dr Who has the best opening title music of any show ever in the history or the future of humankind.
The openings of The X-Files alway gave me a stiff one. When that X appeared through a cloud of bong smoke i was always in a chill.
The Hulks opening sequence was cool in a Knight Rider kind of way.
The Simpsons chalk board and couch gags.
The way that guy would scramble up to the camera and say ".....Its" before the credits to Monty Pythons Flying Circus was fried Horn
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post #14 of 45
4/29/05 at 12:29pm
OhioJones already beat me to the punch-- The A-Team. Classic.

I like the opening to The Sopranos, quite a bit too. Sorry to see them cut the brief shot of the Twin Towers, though.
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post #15 of 45
4/29/05 at 12:31pm
The litmus test is whenever I own a series on DVD and don't automatically skip the credits. For some reason, I can always watch the openers to Futurama and Arrested Development, although maybe that's because they're short.
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post #16 of 45
4/29/05 at 12:56pm
you got your standard cheesy 1980s A-team/Knight Rider intros, then you got your stuffed crust quattro formaggi intro to Streethawk:

"Jesse Mach, an ex motorcycle cop INJURED in the line of duty.... blahblahblah... to RAAAYYYYYD Streethawk... something something... capable of INCREDIBLESPEEDS.

Man... Machine... Stareeeethawk."
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post #17 of 45
4/29/05 at 12:59pm
also I liked:

The Equalizer

Tales from the Darkside

The Incredible Hulk
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post #18 of 45
4/29/05 at 12:59pm
Not yet a Get Smart reference? For shame.
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post #19 of 45
4/29/05 at 2:06pm
MacGyver: Great music.

Twilight Zone: Spooky.


A year ago or so someone here at Chud posted a link to a website where you can download and watch intro sequence to a whole bunch of different tv-shows.
Anyone got a link to that site?
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post #20 of 45
4/29/05 at 2:42pm
Thread Starter 
I used to know a DJ who began his act with the opening theme to Stingray. It was the best bit of the night.
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post #21 of 45
4/29/05 at 3:12pm
Do you remember in the 90s when they had those remixes in the charts of Thunderbirds and Stingray?
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post #22 of 45
4/29/05 at 5:54pm
"Knight Rider... a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man...who does not exist. Michael Knight...a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law."

Cue speeding cylon car racing off into the desert....
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post #23 of 45
4/29/05 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fett
Do you remember in the 90s when they had those remixes in the charts of Thunderbirds and Stingray?
Believe it or not, I've got the tape somewhere.
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post #24 of 45
4/29/05 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioJones
"Knight Rider... a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man...who does not exist. Michael Knight...a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law."
The show never did live up to the coolness the opening promised.
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post #25 of 45
4/29/05 at 6:25pm
"People have always told me I'm lucky..."
Strange Luck... short lived but gloriously fun...

Canivale gets props...

TALES FROM THE CRYPT...great music...
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post #26 of 45
4/29/05 at 6:44pm
the Doctor Jonathon Chase based opening to Manimal was absolutely (Mc)corkin!(dale)
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post #27 of 45
4/29/05 at 7:15pm
I agree with previous posters, the openings to The Six Million Dollar Man, Dr. Who, The X-Files and The Sopranos are things of beauty, but...

...Macgyver is my all time favorite. I got goosepumps as a kid when Mac's passport came on screen, and I still got 'em wathing the show on DVD this year.


I love the Alias opening for it's simplicity (the old one without the shots of Garner in disguise), and for the fact that sometimes the episodes are 20 minutes in before it comes on.
Scrubs has a great and simple one as well.
C.S.I. makes great use of "Who Are You", one of my favorite songs.
Sledge Hammer - "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
Of newer show's (meaning show's I've discovered this year) The Shield and Rescue Me have great openings.
Miami Vice had nice, jiggling brea-- erm, I mean, a great theme by Jan Hammer.

The worst? Friends.
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post #28 of 45
4/29/05 at 7:18pm
One word:

Airwolf
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post #29 of 45
4/29/05 at 7:30pm
I remember the UK didn't have 'Who Are You?' on the titles for a while, so I was seeing the end titles saying "'Who Are You?' by The Who" and thinking WTF?
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post #30 of 45
4/29/05 at 8:36pm
Batman the Animated Series. No credits. No titles. No contest.

Dead Like Me. Reapers with day jobs. Hooked me to that show in 30 seconds.

And I'll echo Guttenberg: 17 posts till somebody mentions Get Smart? Shame on you all indeed.
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post #31 of 45
4/29/05 at 10:58pm
While I'll never fast-forward through the title sequences of MIAMI VICE, MOONLIGHTING and THE EQUALIZER because they've all got such cool theme music, this thread really begins and ends with THE ROCKFORD FILES.

Semi-humourous anecdote: When I was living in the UK back in '79, the current affairs shows manufactured this controversy about ROCKFORD's title sequence, claiming that moral values were being eroded by the split-second glimpse of the silhouette of a topless sunbather. Honest to God, this shit went on for weeks!
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post #32 of 45
4/30/05 at 12:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff Foster
"It looks good at NASA One." - Flight Com
"Roger." - B-52 Pilot
"BCS Arm switch is on." - B-52 Pilot
"Okay, Victor." - Flight Com
"Lining Rocket Arm switch is on." - B-52 Pilot
"Here comes the throttle." - B-52 Pilot
"Circuit breakers in." - B-52 Pilot
"We have separation." - Steve
"Roger." - SR-71 Chase Plane Pilot
"Inboard and outboards are on." - B-52 Pilot
"I'm comin' forward with the side stick." - B-52 Pilot
"Looks good." - Flight Com
"Ah, Roger." - B-52 Pilot
"I've got a blow-out in damper three!" - Steve
"Get your pitch to zero." - SR-71 Chase Plane Pilot
"Pitch is out! I can't hold altitude!" - Steve
"Correction, Alpha Hold is off . . . Turn selectors . . . Emergency!"
- B-52 Pilot
"Flight Com! I can't hold it! She's breaking up, she's break--"
- Steve




"Steve Austin. Astronaut. A man barely alive."

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.
We have the capability to make the world's first Bionic man.
Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before.
Better . . . stronger . . . faster."

All to a stonking theme tune.

The series might stink (aside from episodes involving the Probes), but God I love this intro!

Geoff, your a newbie here, but I love ya. This is my all-time favorite show. No stink for me

I will add the opening to the original "Battlestar Galactica", epic, vast and lonely. And what great music!

The Incrediable Hulk is another great intro.

Thundarr the Barbarian rules.

Millenium was good.

X-Files ditto.

Smallville is awesome with the meteors crashing into the water towers and shit.

Buffy & Angel are equally cool.
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post #33 of 45
4/30/05 at 1:08am
Shit, almost forgot...

Amazing Stories.
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post #34 of 45
4/30/05 at 3:11am
I agree with a lot that have been mentioned, but this thread will not be complete without Magnum PI. The music kicks ass, plus....



Also thought Quantum Leap was cool. It had like three openings. First the whole voiceover explaining the premise, then the quick "Oh Boy" scene, then the opening credits.
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post #35 of 45
4/30/05 at 9:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod
Geoff, your a newbie here, but I love ya. This is my all-time favorite show. No stink for me
You know, my memory aint what it used to be but I swear I've been here for three-and-a-half years. <grin>
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post #36 of 45
4/30/05 at 9:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
I don't know if these are all-time, or what you're talking about, but West Wing usually had great teasers in the first four seasons. One of my favorites is from season 1 involving Bradley Whitford trying to avoid Alison Janney, only to find her reading the paper in his office. Janney just drops the paper and says "Boy, are you stupid."
My favorite West Wing teaser was the episode where they introduced Ainsley Haynes and she's just destroying Sam on a talk show. During a commercial, Sam sighs to himself and says, "I hope they're not watching." Cut to Josh running to Toby's office and shouting, "Hey, come quick, Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" followed by Toby running out and yelling for someone to make popcorn. Still cracks me up and I've seen this episode about six times thanks to Bravo.

I have to say I love the opening credits for Deadwood. There's something creepy about the music combined with that wild horse running through town, plus the other scenes that do a nice job of illustrating what the town is about -- gold, blood, mud, and pussy.
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post #37 of 45
4/30/05 at 11:23pm
Though it wasn't a regular series the opening to "Band of Brothers" was pretty classy. But for just kick ass I loved "Paint it Black" being played over "Tour of Duty," a shame they couldn't have gotten the rights for that on the DVD.
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post #38 of 45
5/1/05 at 12:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti
Though it wasn't a regular series the opening to "Band of Brothers" was pretty classy. But for just kick ass I loved "Paint it Black" being played over "Tour of Duty," a shame they couldn't have gotten the rights for that on the DVD.

I started to mention Tour of Duty last night. They really needed to get the original music for Tour of Duty on the dvds.
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post #39 of 45
5/1/05 at 12:49am
The first episode of the second series of "Spaced" had a great opening that got you caught up with what was going on "For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a graphic artist.....and someday I WILL be"



"This was their flat....and it always would be"



God, I wish more people knew how awesome that show was.
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post #40 of 45
5/1/05 at 1:36am
They'll fight for freedom wherever there's trouble...

Those words could have quite an effect on a 3rd grader. The opening to "Robotech" wasn't half bad either.
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post #41 of 45
5/1/05 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti
They'll fight for freedom wherever there's trouble...
And remember Moltisanti.....knowing, is half the battle.
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post #42 of 45
5/1/05 at 1:31pm
'Cowboy Bebop' has a great opening credits sequence.
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post #43 of 45
5/1/05 at 3:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioJones
And remember Moltisanti.....knowing, is half the battle.
If not for Roadblock I surely would have been killed playing with downed power lines.
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post #44 of 45
5/1/05 at 9:23pm
The Goodies! Goody goody yum yum...

Been watching these on dvd, had seen it as a kid and not fully appreciated its genius, its Monty Python without the annoying stuff. A giant kitten destroying a city, Tim Brooke-Taylor riding a bucking gym-horse, a nun falling into a lake, people being squashed by giant weights with "1 Ton" written on them, Bill Oddie just being Bill Oddie - and all in glorious double speed! And with an awesome song to go with it.

Can anyone here remember how the opening to Automan went? I want that on dvd!
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post #45 of 45
5/2/05 at 2:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guttenberg Fan Club
Not yet a Get Smart reference? For shame.
If only I had seen this thread earlier...
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