Thirty Days of TV: Day Eighteen

[selenak]

Day 18 - Favorite title sequence

Impossible to narrow it down to one, but I shall try. Before I discuss the various top candidates under a cut because I shall use the vids to demonstrate, let me explain about one candidate which isn't there: the Dexter title sequence, which is witty and clever (making what turns out to be Dexter simply going through his morning routine of breakfeast, cleaning his teeth, getting dressed, leaving his apartment look incredibly sinister). However due to my increasing disaffection for the show I can no longer enjoy it as I used to. It's not the title sequence, it's me! Now on to the others.



Let's start with one of the classics: I, Claudius; short, nothing fancy, but very effective. That serpent crawling over the Roman mosaic somehow captures the spirit of the show immediately. Also, the title sequence of Rome decades later, far more elaborate, is definitely inspired by it.

Then there is my beloved Babylon 5. Which has a different intro for each of its five seasons, fitting the "novel on tv in different chapters" theme. (No, David Simon, you were not the first to use that comparison; JMS preceded you by a decade.) As for my favourite, I'm torn between the one for s4, which I like best musically and which has all the cast speaking:

And the one for s5, which no one still intending to watch the show and not wanting to get spoiled should watch, because it's spoilery as well. B5 never did "last time on Babylon 5" sequences, but the s5 intro sums up the show so far beautifully and has an elegic majesty:

Then there are the three different Farscape intros, which capture both the gorgeous visual style of the show and its frenetic, anarchic energy. Here someone put them all in one vid. I think my favourite of them is the second version (which was used for s3):

On to HBO, which never dissapoints with its title sequences. The one for Six Feet Under, in addition to making it clear this is a show about undertakers, captures the black humor (those wilting flowers!) and the juxtaposition between the undertaker utensilia and the cheerful music tells you something, too. (Though what it doesn't get across is that for all the black humor, loss through death is isn't treated lightly, but with considerable emotional depth.) I love it a lot.

And then there is the intro to Carnivale, which really is a work of art and gets across both the mystic and the America-in-the-age-of-depression dimension of the show:

Trying to decide between these is really hard, you guys. With a pistol pressed at my head, I shall say that artistically I admire the Carnivale intro most, am most mushy about the B5 season 5 intro, and in its mixture between the stylistic and the emotional appeal love the Farscape s3 intro best.






Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 – Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series



Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death.

Comments

[kalypso]

I don't think of the music for Six Feet Under as cheerful, exactly, but I have spent half the day trying to think of a better adjective and failed; I can't get closer than "delicately appealing with a touch of whimsy". But the peculiar thing about that title sequence is that, although it has many fine moments - I love the hands pulling away at the start - from the first time I saw it I have been fixated on the turn of the wheel early on. In fact, if you asked me to describe the sequence from memory, I would describe it entirely in terms of the turn of the wheel and how perfectly the music fits it, and I was quite surprised to find that it's seen only once.

But I am very fond of the Farscape credits, despite the lack of turning wheels; I particularly like the way the murmur of "my friends" floats over the top of the main speech.

[selenak]

"Whimsical" is probably a better adjective. But it definitely comes across as upbeat to me in juxtapositon of the dead body rolling around which we get to see while it plays. :)