In the first decades of television, the opening title sequence of a TV show might have been more memorable than the series itself. Sometimes animated, later times featuring clips from episodes of the show, these videos did a great job of getting a fan excited to start with a show. Even as we went into the 21st century, the theme music for shows like Smallville, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or even CSI would get us ready to watch whatever show is about to begin.
Can you imagine Friends without the theme music? Three’s Company? I Love Lucy? M*A*S*H?
Thankfully, there are still some series, like Dallas, Degrassi, or The Americans, that still use and employ this dying trend. In those cases, it’s good — although I miss the triple-split-screen titles Dallas once employed, the playing of that opening theme song always gets me in my chair and ready to watch the latest happenings in the Ewing family.
Unfortunately, most shows have reverted to just a title card when a show is about to begin, especially on a network like The CW, but other genre favorites like Once Upon A Time also rely on just the title card (although in the case of Once, at least they change it up every week). Instead, it’s now up to fans to create titles to get things in the mood. Check out this sequence that fan “ManyVid” made for Nikita, which came to our attention courtesy of a tweet from Matt Fowler:
Great stuff, isn’t it?
What a sequence like this gives us — although this may not be my favorite music ever — is a beacon to come watch, but also, a feeling, as a fan, of belonging. We see who the series regulars are, we know their faces and their names, and we get to “know” them. It also was fun from season to season to see how the sequence would be changed up, with new shots put in and others taken out, especially when cast members leave. I remember when I first saw Reaper, thinking what a bummer it was that we only got a rather bland title card. Nikita’s isn’t much better.
So, congratulations are in order for “ManyFan” for creating these titles, and maybe – hopefully – TV executives will take notice and someday more aggressively bring back one of my favorite parts of watching TV. Now, will someone make one of these for Once Upon A Time for me? Or a split-screen Dallas? Thanks.
3 Comments
Babylon 5 had awesome titles every season, too.
Yeah, the music doesn’t really fit the tone of the show, but the video is excellent. Professionally put together clips.
I think the actual pictures were good. Very professional. Personally, I’d have chosen the music used in the end credits.