With the ending of many of our favourite TV shows for the season, it seems only right to pick some of the best TV show openers to console us that it will be another whole year until we get to see any new episodes.
Game of Thrones
One of the hottest TV shows of the year, Game of Thrones has been collecting fans with every episode with its amazing and twisted characters, its witty and disturbing dialogue and its sets that combine elements of fantasy and medieval England.
Like everything related to this show, its TV intro is amazing. It pans over a world map that shows the universe, with each important landmark rising out of the map with the emblem of the controlling house on top. The score also helps to convey the feeling of grandeur and the epic nature within the show.
In a world that is as complex and detailed as Game of Thrones, the opener works flawlessly to show the audience where exactly everything is happening and the importance of the four houses.
Pokemon
Without a doubt, Pokemon was the best TV show on when I was a kid. I remember waking up early every morning before school to watch the next adventure of Ash and Pikachu. Nothing got me as excited as when I heard the music start up and the line, “I wanna be the very best,” begin.
The bright colours and all the different pokemons on screen, in addition to the awesome rock ballad playing over top, pulled me straight into the world in eager anticipation.
Now I’m a classified adult, but I could still sing you the theme song even though I haven’t watched Pokemon in years. Every time I hear it, it still floods me with excitement and that bittersweet feeling of nostalgia for a time when my biggest concern was getting a shiny Charizard card.
Dexter
This is probably one of the most disturbing shows, and its opener definitely reflects that. On the surface, it simply shows Dexter getting ready for the day: shaving, eating breakfast, flossing, getting dressed.
Yet, the way it’s shot, with the intense zoomed-in frames and the focus on items that look like flesh (bacon and red orange), or look like murder weapons (breakfast knife, floss, shoelaces and white t-shirt), all create this creepy and disconcerting feeling. Not to mention the great score that at first sounds happy, but is tinged with an ominous undertone that perfectly characterizes Dexter.
The title sequence for this show is great because it manages to take a totally normal routine and make it sinister.
Friends
Of course, Friends has to make it onto the list. Arguably one of the biggest sitcoms of all time, its theme tune is iconic. Although the clips that make up the intro aren’t anything too different for sitcoms at the time, the song chosen to go along with the opener makes it memorable.
Firstly, the song “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts (who join the club for one-hit wonders) completely encompasses the happy and caring feeling of Friends. Secondly, this song is synonymous with the TV show. There’s no way to hear this song without thinking of Friends, in fact most people can’t think of it as just a single from a band. It is the theme tune. That is all. You couldn’t ask for more successful branding than this, and that’s why it earns its spot on the list.
True Blood
Finally, there is True Blood, and its opening credits are simply amazing.
It may be long for the opening of a TV show at 1:30, but every second is worth it. It manages to capture so well the themes the show is concerned with without explicitly stating it. Seriously, I could write a whole article analysing the meaning behind True Blood‘s opener, which I’m sure someone already has.
To begin with, the music. It has that southern country twang to it, which works as the show is set in Louisiana, but also has this sexy and dark mood that would definitely describe True Blood.
Then there are the actual images. Interestingly, there is not one shot of any of the actors, but instead clips from real places and events in the South.
What’s great about it is that the intro clearly shows the huge contradictions of the South, with half the images revealing the lustful and sinful behaviour of the locals and the other half representing people in types of holy ecstasy and cleansing.
It was hard to choose these top 5, so if you have your own, leave them in the comments.
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