Michael Hardner Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Posted October 25, 2010 Any Top Ten list that does not have The Wire at first or second is a joke. The list pre-dates The Wire. For that matter, I think that long-form cable shows like The Wire need their own list, as they have less to do with the classic shows on the list than old-time radio does. Quote Click to learn why Climate Change is caused by HUMANS Michael Hardner
fellowtraveller Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 No, at least two on the list-Sopranos and Simpsons, do not predate The Wire. Quote The government should do something.
Michael Hardner Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Posted October 25, 2010 No, at least two on the list-Sopranos and Simpsons, do not predate The Wire. Both of those predate The Wire. Quote Click to learn why Climate Change is caused by HUMANS Michael Hardner
fellowtraveller Posted October 26, 2010 Report Posted October 26, 2010 predate:be earlier in time; go back further The Sopranos ran 1999-2007, The Wire 2002-2008. Simpsons still running for twenty years of so. Obviously The Wire was running while those were too, which is unlike the elderly shows tha make up the rest of the list. Quote The government should do something.
Michael Hardner Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Posted October 26, 2010 predate:be earlier in time; go back further The Sopranos ran 1999-2007, The Wire 2002-2008. Simpsons still running for twenty years of so. Obviously The Wire was running while those were too, which is unlike the elderly shows tha make up the rest of the list. Correct, and the list was made in 2002 so The Wire isn't on it. Quote Click to learn why Climate Change is caused by HUMANS Michael Hardner
bush_cheney2004 Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 More faves...note how violent these 60's era TV shows were: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6YKsDuV8lk&feature=related Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
bush_cheney2004 Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 More spying and violence...great stuff! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdvSD_lezvM Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
kimmy Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 This one put shivers up my spine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYMjt92fVNA I don't know if Twin Peaks was one of the best openings ever, but it must be one of the most beautiful theme songs... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oDuGN6K3VQ -k Quote (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ Friendly forum facilitator! ┬──┬◡ノ(° -°ノ)
kimmy Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) I'm a little too young to remember this from the first time around... I'm definitely too young to remember this from the first time around, but it's such a catchy tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXtpoO_DlDM I couldn't find one that had the video to go with the music. However, I gather that the credits started with Funny -k Edited October 27, 2010 by kimmy Quote (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ Friendly forum facilitator! ┬──┬◡ノ(° -°ノ)
Shady Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 Miami Vice definitely! Also, I'd like to include... Quote
M.Dancer Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 lETS GO BACK...WAY BACK http://mythemes.tv/series/untamedw.htm Quote RIGHT of SOME, LEFT of OTHERS If it is a choice between them and us, I choose us
August1991 Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 (edited) All very good examples. I'm surprised that you missed Perry Mason: (Jean Charest recently said that he chose law because of Perry Mason.) A relaxed and affable Charest admitted on his first day of testimony that his idol when he was young was Perry Mason, the fictional television defence lawyer. "He won all his trials and he saved the widow and orphan," Charest told head prosecutor Giuseppe Battista. "I wanted to do trials in front of a judge and jury." Montreal Gazette The Flinstones... a classicYears ago, I was travelling in eastern Europe in a train compartment with an American - and Romanians/Hungarians who smoked cigarette after cigarette, drank and sang. At one point, they asked the two of us if we knew any Canadian/American folk songs. Folk song? The intrepreted question came out as: "A song that everyone in your country knows. Everyone knows immediately."The American looked at me, and started singing: "Join us, with the Flintstones. Have a yabba-dabba do time... " Edited November 2, 2010 by August1991 Quote
Michael Hardner Posted November 2, 2010 Author Report Posted November 2, 2010 All very good examples. I'm surprised that you missed Perry Mason: ahem... from post #7 on this thread, I stated - Perry Mason and that excellent theme song - another one I would watch for the opening Quote Click to learn why Climate Change is caused by HUMANS Michael Hardner
August1991 Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 (edited) ahem... from post #7 on this thread, I statedSorry. Guilty as charged.What most of the show openings that have been mentioned have in coomon is the musicévisual combo. One exception... Law and Order... No music at the start, no stunning visual, just a short text. and yet, it is one of the best openings in recent years.It seems to me that Law & Order opens much like the Hill Street Blues - except for the electronic music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtWjhN86WLU&feature=fvw Heck, they both have the "starring as" final credits and then the "created by" line. Same circus, different clowns. Edited November 2, 2010 by August1991 Quote
bush_cheney2004 Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 More Bruce Geller and Lalo Shifrin: Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
DogOnPorch Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 Hah...Mannix...that was good. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
DogOnPorch Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F0wlfmxKdU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRQnrY5V-rY Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
DogOnPorch Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 For those that grew-up in the Pacific North West... Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
Michael Hardner Posted November 2, 2010 Author Report Posted November 2, 2010 Sorry. Guilty as charged. It seems to me that Law & Order opens much like the Hill Street Blues - except for the electronic music. Created by the same guy - the great Mike Post. One of his first jobs in television started when he was 24, as the musical director on The Andy Williams Show. Another early job was writing the theme music for the short-lived detective series Toma in 1973, but his big breakthrough (together with co-composer Pete Carpenter) came in the following year with his theme song for The Rockford Files, another series by producer Stephen J. Cannell. The theme also got cross-over Top 40 radio airplay and earned a second Grammy for Post.[2] Post subsequently won Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition for the themes for the television shows Hill Street Blues in 1981 and L.A. Law in 1988 as well as another Grammy in 1981 for Best Instrumental Performance for the Hill Street Blues theme.[2]Post won an Emmy for his Murder One theme music, and had previously been nominated for NYPD Blue, among others. He has won BMI Awards for the music for L.A. Law, Hunter, and the various Law & Order series. The theme for The Greatest American Hero is one of the few television themes to reach #1 as a single record on the Billboard charts.[2] Other TV music works include The A-Team, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Blossom, CHiPs, The Commish, Doogie Howser, M.D., Hardcastle & McCormick, Hooperman, Hunter, MacGyver, Magnum, P.I., NewsRadio, Profit, Quantum Leap, Renegade, Riptide, Silk Stalkings, Stingray, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, The White Shadow, Wiseguy, the BBC series Roughnecks, and Law & Order. Mike Post Wiki Page Quote Click to learn why Climate Change is caused by HUMANS Michael Hardner
Sir Bandelot Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 I agree that the theme song is one of the things that makes all these openings great. Some of the shows like Hawaii 5-O had theme songs written by highly acclaimed composers. As a kid I liked the theme song to "Chico and the Man" written by Jose Feliciano, but the show was kinda dumb. Quote
Wild Bill Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 For those that grew-up in the Pacific North West... Aha! Now I know where Bill and Ted got the idea for the "Evil Us's!" This robot is a dead ringer! Hollywood is just full of plagiarism! Quote "A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." -- George Bernard Shaw "There is no point in being difficult when, with a little extra effort, you can be completely impossible."
DogOnPorch Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 Aha! Now I know where Bill and Ted got the idea for the "Evil Us's!" This robot is a dead ringer! Hollywood is just full of plagiarism! The Simpson's Krusty the Clown is modeled after a mix of JP Patches and Bozo the Clown. Quote Nothing cracks a turtle like Leon Uris.
August1991 Posted November 19, 2010 Report Posted November 19, 2010 I agree that the theme song is one of the things that makes all these openings great.You make a good point. The theme song is sometimes stronger than the show.The same composer who created this: ... also created this: And I'll also add, to be politically correct, that the composer was a woman. Quote
Sir Bandelot Posted November 19, 2010 Report Posted November 19, 2010 Well since you've resurrected it, I thought about this one a while ago. I like the jazzy intros that were in style in that era, even as a little kid. The sort of big-band sound, with the horn section, radical beats and disonnant harmonies. Some other intros from that time in a similar style were already mentioned in this thread, like "Mission Impossible", "Hawaii 5-0". Quote
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