The Extratextuals

I’m a sucker for a great opening credit sequence in television, especially as they become a dying species.

Showtime and HBO, for instance, deserve considerable praise for some of their excellent opening sequences: The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and the City, Dexter, United States of Tara, Weeds – all had or have superb intros that introduce the style, tone, and character of their shows, giving us a good sense of the kind of world in which they’re set.

So I’m on the watch for great examples of the form on network television. This year’s newcomer on FOX, Human Target, has a beautiful sequence. The animation is an intriguing mix of Chuck, Bond, and an edgy, grown-up graphic novel, hence promising an interesting marriage of fun, humor, action, and a little bit of darkness. Turn the sound off and it’s one of the better opening sequences on television.

But if you turn the sound on, it’s not only bad, but boring. Somebody at FOX put all the money into the visuals and forgot about sound. It sounds like the cheesy music you’d hear in low-budget war movie. Thus not only does it short-circuit all the beautiful workmanship of the animation, but it creates tonal problems. Test this out – listen to it with your eyes closed and ask yourself whether you’d watch or change the channel.

So let’s go back to Showtime for some remedial lessons: United States of Tara also has an animated intro, very different style, yet suitably quirky. The pop-up book sensibility neatly suggests the character’s multiple characters while also gesturing to her “three dimensionality.” The quick movements also note how quickly things can change for Tara and for the viewer. It all encourages us to watch for changes, depth, and connections. And yet the music works with the visuals, preeminently odd, setting the tone not ruining it. FOX, please take note.

opening credit sequences Human Target, opening credit sequences, United States of Tara

Just before I start with our third installment, this one on TV opening credit sequences, I wanted to give a shout-out to Michael Newman’s fantastic blog post on the best of 2007 across media. His list makes no distinctions between media, and thus is chock-full of good extratextuals. It also preceded ours significantly, so don’t let my belated link suggest we got there first.

Anyways, kudos offered, let me proceed. The best opening credit sequences ready you for the program, performing the careful act of transferring you from your world to the show’s world. The best ones also bear out multiple viewings, becoming a favored announcement of the show, and a generator of anticipation. Think of the orchestra’s hum of tuning instruments before a performance, of the grand curtains being lifted at a theatre, of the “Let’s get ready to rumble” before a boxing match, or other ritualistic intros. Hence I divided this category into newer shows and long-running ones, since it’s something special when an older show can still do the business with its intro. First, the new recruits.

Best TV Opening Credit Sequence: Newer Show

Runner-Up: Chuck. One of my favorite new shows, and it has a very playful opening credit sequence that captures the silliness and fun of the show as a whole. Stick man spies seem to capture exactly what Chuck is. And the first spy falling out of Chuck’s nose cues the irreverence: Chuck doesn’t take itself seriously, and this is made clear from the very beginning. It’s perhaps worth noting, too, that the action is all shown to occur within the barcode on Chuck’s shirt lapel, appropriate for a program whose title character has a massive spy computer in his brain. The theme song’s fun, too. Moreover, it cues following an opening scene that sets up this week’s spy issue: very James Bond, yet clearly not James Bond at one and the same time.

Winner after the fold…

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awards Amazing Race, American Idol, Chuck, CSI: Miami, Dexter, Lost, opening credit sequences