Pizzaland
Good TV credits get you jazzed. The main thing is the show, of course, but you've waited a week (if you're not binge watching) and good credits set up a Pavlovian response.
I didn't love Westworld, but I watched it. And week after week I was surprised how weak the credits were. HBO retooled the show, and spent $100 million on it--they couldn't come up with a better opening sequence?
Okay, it's just my personal taste, but let me show you the credits of three other HBO favorites. If you're a fan, they'll get you going. We'll follow with Westworld. Wake me up when it's over.
posted by LAGuy @ 10:53 AM
7 Comments:
I agree with you on the Westworld theme ( it tends to dither when it should drive)but then again, I didn't like the Sopranos or GoT themes at first either. I think was familiarity with the shows that got me to like in a sort of Pavlovian way. I am having the same reaction to other shows I have binge watched. I think Vikings and American Horror Story (though that's more a collage that changes every season). I am getting a bit fed up with Edelweiss on Man in the High Castle though. On very old shows I've been fast forwarding though the credits (Twin Peaks, DS9)
Shows used to have long credits when there wasn't much competition. Now it's not unusual for them to all but dispense with the credits, especially on commercial TV.
Some openings may take a few listens before you get to like them, though Game Of Thrones sounded great to me from the start. But if there's a show you watching regularly, and by the end of the first season you're still just waiting for the opening to be over, it's not working. (Some shows change themes each year. The Wire did a new version of its song each year--too bad, since the first season was the best. The Leftovers completely changed and improved.)
I loved the Sopranos opening from the first time I saw it. I watched the show (on DVD) for a while -- made it to early season two -- and gave it up. I didn't empathize with any of the characters. But the intro is still great.
The Buffy intro kept the same music for seven years, but changed the video clips, which always kept it fresh. Fans spent a lot of time trying to interpret the numbers represented by held-up fingers in the Season 5 intro. I never tire of the Firefly theme, but if the show had lasted five years, would it have gotten old?
Back in the old days, even half-hour shows had really long intros. Even Saturday-morning kids' shows. The Lidsville theme is the best ever; at two minutes it took up almost 10% of the show time (not counting commercials) -- and it's by far the best part of the show.
What made The Sopranos so groundbreaking was how unsympathetic the main characters were. Up to that point, a character might be edgy, but when it came down to it, they always did the right thing. While Tony Soprano might be amusing and charismatic, and even sympathetic at points, he's still a horrible, violent person, as are his associates. David Chase showed how far you can go and still have the audience follow (for the most part).
It is probably a trick of memory but I think the Sopranos altered slightly over time. It seems like the big statue of the guy holding the tires (which OK is what I tended to fixate on at first- made me think, Yeah- that's New Jersey)) got darker and less screen time as the seasons went on.
I liked Dexter's theme from the beginning - in fact I have the album of the score.
Twin Peaks was great though too long. Still,around Halloween, I listen to that music all the way through. I f a new Twin peaks is coming this year, I wonder if they will keep the theme?
DG-They will shorten akin to Hawaii 5-0 would be my guess
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