I've seen a bunch of great posts in the past couple months listing favorite credit sequences and opening themes, which got me thinking about one of my favorite television gimmicks: Taking the normal opening credit sequence and winking at the fans by twisting it somehow, or using it in an interesting way. Here are five of my favorite examples.
1. Boston Legal - In this fantastic clip, Jerry describes a song he sings in his head to Shirley, and when she asks him to sing it for her, it segues into Jerry singing along with the opening theme (which I already love):
2. Veronica Mars - At the very end of this clip, Wallace expresses surprise that Veronica knew someone. Veronica says, "We used to be friends. A long time ago." Which in the episode, of course (though not in this clip, sorry), segues straight into the fantastic Dandy Warhols theme song, with the lyrics "A long time ago, we used to be friends." Ah, so deliciously meta:3. Holiday-themed credits! This example is from Psych's holiday special last month:4. The Simpsons - In the beginning of this episode, Skinner installs vending machines in Springfield Elementary, which Bart uses to gorge himself on junk food. "Three weeks later..." we get this parody of their usual opening credits sequence, but with an obese Bart:5. The X-Files - I don't have a clip of this, unfortunately. The show's usual opening credits sequence would end with the famous "The Truth is Out There" tagline splashed across the screen. Occasionally, though, the tagline would be replaced by something pertinent to the specific episode, such as "Trust No One," "Apology is Policy," or "All Lies Lead to the Truth." (You can see the full list here.) It was always pretty exciting for us X-Files dorks when it happened--just a little extra nugget of information for those who were paying attention.
Feel free to chime in if you have any favorite special or cleverly-used opening credit sequences! I'm sure there are a zillion examples out there--these are just the best ones that came to mind.
9 comments:
Oooh, great pick with your #1. Boston Legal has had several that I love but that one and the one where Denny interrupts the credits (complaining about new people) are my favorites.
I also really loved the Psych holiday-themed credits this year. Another are the credits on the second Halloween episode of Two Guys and A Girl.
I'll have to think of others...
Thanks! I partly love it so much because it's Jerry on TV doing exactly what I do in front of my TV every time the Boston Legal opening credits come on (including the dancing...it's so infectious!). I haven't seen the one with Denny, but it sounds genius.
I never really watched Two Guys and A Girl and the link didn't want to load for me, but I trust you--Halloween credits are almost guaranteed gold.
And Psych can really do no wrong, in my eyes. Even the credits are in on the fun!
How did I miss that Boston Legal episode? I don't remember that at ALL which means I must have missed an ep. Crap.
And I would have figured I would remember THAT opening sequence!
Sigh. I miss Veronica Mars...
It was when Jerry was trying to get his job back at the firm...last season, I'm going to say. And yeah, it was totally amazing.
Ah, Veronica Mars. It's almost better not to think about it, rather than dredge up painful memories.
Sorry... he doesn't interrupt the credits, he starts them. He's meeting Coho and Claire and says, "Oh please, if there were new guys they'd have shown up in the season premiere." Then, after an exchange for them he turns to look at the camera and says, "Cue the music." I just like how the show breaks the fourth wall and, in this case, how it leads into the credits like that.
Ah, that sounds really funny. Yeah, Boston Legal is great for the self-referential stuff. There was one episode this season that was basically a series of meta, fourth-wall-breaking joke.
My fave for those 'X-Files' opening tag lines was from the 1950s baseball episode: "In The Big Inning...."
Agreed--that one was totally classic, Toby. And I'm assuming it was David Duchovny's doing, since I believe he wrote that episode.
Although my favorite is probably "Trust No One," since it was the first one, and echoed Deep Throat's last words in that episode, which set so much of the tone for the series.
This is certainly one of the best shows on TV.William Shatner is damn good in tis show..lot appreciable!! I believe that Boston Legal is a fantastic show and is not to be missed.
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