Pop culture lists that have 100 or more entries, whether it's a list for television, film, music, books, advertising, whatever - are too long. When you list 100 of anything, you're not really getting down to the "best" (or "worst," if that's the theme of the list), you're just giving a list of 100.Supertremendous.com has their list of the 100 most iconic TV show intros. You can read the first 90, but I wanted to concentrate on the top ten. That list includes The Brady Bunch, The Simpsons, M*A*S*H, Knight Rider (???), and The Twilight Zone, along with the number one pick after the jump. Can you guess it before you click?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-26-2009 @ 12:50PM
thekiteeatingtrees said...
the fact that all in the family isn't top 10 is a travesty. oh well.
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8-26-2009 @ 1:34PM
PN said...
I love the TV show openings of many of those 100 shows! Love Cosby and Brady Bunch and Fresh Prince of Bel Air's and other shows' openings, but All In the Family should have been in the top 10 portion of it. That one with Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton is classic and funny. Maybe they had their mind on other shows when they went to the top 10 rankings of the list. Most current TV shows don't do theme songs anymore. They head straight on to the show. They should go back to it--Theme shows and openings define what the show is about.
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8-26-2009 @ 1:17PM
snowy2004 said...
There's a definite bias towards older shows with that list. I think the only 00' shows there are Sopranos, Simpsons, Mister Rogers and South Park (There might be more) and even they started before the current decade.
While I don't blame the creators of the list for some nostalgia, there are some current/recent iconic intros they should have considers: LOST, House, Mad Men, CSI. Heck! They forgot Law & Order. Now, that's iconic.
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8-26-2009 @ 1:32PM
Brett Alan said...
I think it SHOULD favor older shows--older shows had longer intros and more memorable themes, and it's a nice change from some lists out there that put too much emphasis on current shows. (Like the national TV special that had "You're Fired" as one of the top three tv catchphrases ever. Don't get me started.) Also, it's hard for things to be as iconic today when the market is fragmented. Mad Men is hugely acclaimed and has a big following, but there are many people who have never watched it.
That said, there are some things wildly off on this list. The A-Team and Knight Rider in the top ten, while The Jetsons and Get Smart languish near the bottom? Feh.
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8-26-2009 @ 2:01PM
Midnight13 said...
I don't see how "Star Trek" is more iconic then "The Twlight Zone", not only is the theme to "The Twilight Zone" damn near universally known, even the opening Rod Serling monolouge ("There is a fifth deminsion...) is better then the "Star Trek" one. ("Space..the final frontier...")
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8-26-2009 @ 4:19PM
Jimmy said...
I agree: 100 is too many.
I didn't click through the entire list, but here are a couple of cursory thoughts:
* Knight Rider is too high -- WAY too high!
* All in the Family and Cheers are too low.
* Nice to see Leave It To Beaver gettin' some props. Still one of my favorite shows of all time.
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8-26-2009 @ 4:28PM
Spooky said...
No Dick Van Dyke Show??
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8-26-2009 @ 4:52PM
Barkin said...
An entire generation knows every word of the Fresh Prince theme song. First of all, it should be in the top ten. Second of all, it should have ranked higher then Perfect Strangers.
Maybe the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song got in one little fight, it's mama got scared, and it was sent to live with its auntie and uncle in the 95 slot.
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8-26-2009 @ 5:06PM
Xina said...
I can't beleive that Family Ties is number 50..and i didnt' look at all of them, but Gilmore Girls has a wonderful intro. But Sesame Street and like 47..come on!
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8-26-2009 @ 5:16PM
Mike Doran said...
Did anyone besides me notice that the Twilight Zone opening they used was a discarded one not spoken by Rod Serling? Oldsters like me might have recognized the old newscaster Westbrook Van Voorhis.
And as long as I'm talking old - how about:
Peter Gunn
Mr. Lucky
77 Sunset strip
Outer Limits (the original)
The Wild Wild West
The Man From UNCLE (original b&w)
M Squad
Highway Patrol (best narration ever)
any Quinn Martin show
but especially
The Fugitive
The Invaders
Dan August
Streets Of San Francisco
...oh hell all of them
I'd go on, but I'm old and haven't much time left. Any of you other relics like me, feel free to add on.
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8-26-2009 @ 5:23PM
Bob Sassone said...
Mike: Wow, that's odd. I think it's interesting from a TV history standpoint but they really should have used Serling's classic opening. Thanks for pointing that out.
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8-26-2009 @ 11:22PM
Hobo1964 said...
None of these Warner Bros. series had appeared on network TV for a brief time.
Apple's Way
Big Shots
Blue Collar TV
The Blue Knight
BrainRush
California Fever
Code R
Flatbush
Hunter (the CBS spy series, not the NBC detective series)
I'll Fly Away
Kaz
The Michael Richards Show
Out of Jimmy's Head
Pointman
Spend It Fast!
Shadow Chasers
Spend It Fast!
Spy Game
Street Smarts
Trump Card
V (NBC version)
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8-26-2009 @ 10:33PM
Argent said...
when someone says 'iconic tv show openings', oneof the first things that springs to my mind is 'the rockford files' -- it's about as iconic as it gets.
and it didn't even make this list. meh.
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8-28-2009 @ 3:04PM
christine dix said...
-Cheers was much further back that i thought-who doesnt know that everybody knows your name!
Deadwood- a horse galloping through the camp as the credits play-while giving you an idea of what Deadwood looked like
Arrested Development-What ither show could display slides of the actors/characters while a jaunty ukelele tune plays in the BG
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