Comments on: Title fights

By: Rob Williams

Rob Williams — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:11:07 +0000

Any show that subverts their titles… Example from the last series of Family Guy where Peter falls down the stairs crushing a dancer and Stewie quiping “P-perhaps you should go ahead and switch that off…” to the camera

By: Gervillian Swike

Gervillian Swike — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:37:51 +0000

It was mentioned in the Blackadder retrospective on BBC4 last week, that for Blackadder II they could film a whole series of sequences in an ornate garden with a harlequin apparently singing a variation on the main theme every week, with Rowan Atkinson reacting accordingly. Ah, such days are gone now, replaced by trailers for the next programme – in an age where many people have already set their reminders and so such trailers won’t make a jot of difference! Shame!

By: Bumper

Bumper — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:09:06 +0000

Six Feet Under gets my vote. Beautiful visuals and fantastic music. Those wilting flowers get me every time.

I always think of these when I see the Who Do You Think You Are titles — the tree on the hill is almost identical.

Interesting information here:
http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/credits/index.shtml#
But, oddly, the ‘final version’ video doesn’t include the actual credits, and so the sequence seems wrong to me.

By: Ian Jones

Ian Jones — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:06:21 +0000

No worries – I was just a little spooked by seeing what looked like my own name!

By: ljones

ljones — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:58:30 +0000

BTW, I’m not Ian jones, my first name is Lee. The first letter of my name I normally use is a lowercase “l” there, btw. It might be hard to read on some screens, so my apologies. Oop!

LJones

By: Andy Elms

Andy Elms — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:46:33 +0000

Am I the only one to appreciate the simple elegance of the Torchwood opening? Or do people think it should be filed under the “Will this do?” section.

And of course, don’t forget the closing credits of “Ashes to Ahes” in their full Amstrad greenscreen-and-flashing-cursor glory. But then I still have nostalgia for my old PCW8256.

By: Rob Buckley

Rob Buckley — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:39:57 +0000

We had a bit of a chat about some of the best and worst title sequences on my blog a while back, but those were mostly sci-fi. And a blogging pal of mine did his own round up a week or two ago, too. If we restrict it down to modern title sequences, I'd say: 1) Touching Evil (US), because they're so bleak and spinny 2) Chuck (they're so fun) 3) Penn and Teller's Bullshit (for sheer creativity - they start about a minute into the clip) But Dexter and Mad Men are both great choices and should be on anyone's list. PS One bloke's already set up a blog completely dedicated to title sequences.

By: Ian Jones

Ian Jones — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:58:22 +0000

That’s not me, by the way. It’s another Ian Jones. Or someone trying to pretend they’re me.

By: ljones

ljones — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:48:54 +0000

I can forsee a time when the credits are cut completely at the end, and all you get is a web address to go see the credits at.

ljones

By: Graham Kibble-White

Graham Kibble-White — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:20:56 +0000

As you can see, I’ve embedded that clip. And you’re right, it’s rather good.