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The first time I ever noticed that opening credit scenes for television shows were outrageously long was when my parents allowed me to stay up on Sunday evenings to watch Band of Brothers on HBO.
Each new episode started with a testimonial from the men who actually served in Easy Company and it always related to what was about to happen on the show. Right after that, an introduction scene would play that listed the cast and flashed humblebrags about how Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were executive producing.
It was during these opening credit shots that my dad would tell me to get up off of the couch and brush my teeth. By the time I was done, the episode had usually started and I never thought anything of it. I actually welcomed the idea of an introductory sequence over time. I became conditioned to expect it week in and week out like Pavlov’s dog. At the time, pausing live tv wasn’t an option, and the insanely long intro gave me time to grab a snack from the kitchen, take a piss, and obviously obey the instructions of my parents to brush my furry ass teeth.
At the time, the term “binge-watching” wasn’t in anyone’s vocabulary. You watched television on a week to week basis (usually Sunday nights, although I seem to remember Thursday night being popular as well) with new episodes premiering once a week.
Over the years television shows on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and any other streaming website you can think of have taken this idea of an introductory credit sequence to insane heights. Game of Thrones immediately comes to mind, with sweeping animated shots of the entire Thrones universe with a theme song that even people who do not watch the show would recognize. The Big Ten went so far as to mimic the opening intro sequence from GoT for a promo commercial.
But somewhere along the way people just got fed up with it. Netflix clearly heard the calls for reform. They know that people want to binge watch so this only seemed like a natural progression for them –
HBO still goes by the premise that people don’t want a show all at once and I tend to agree with them. I don’t love or hate the long intro scene for TV shows because as I said, it does give me some time to get up and maybe grab a snack, take a piss, or brush my teeth.
On rare occasions, I’ll even enjoy the song that is played while the credits are rolling. Perhaps that’s what producers had in mind with the obnoxiously long intro – let’s give the people some time to pee or pop some corn before they settle in for an hour of drama, sex, and violence.
Binging a tv show in one sitting is fun, but the suspense of waiting week-in and week-out is something that I personally enjoy. Why HBO hasn’t given us the option to skip introductions on their streaming application is a bit confusing, though.
If you’re watching HBO on Apple TV or something similar, you have to use your remote and time up the stopping of you pressing the fast-forward button perfectly. If you’re on a computer, you simply have to guess how long the intro sequence is using the time bar and that’s a total crapshoot.
I mean, I understand that this is the definition of a first world problem but guess what? I live in a first world country and this is a bit of a problem for me. Plus I think we can all agree that this topic is more fun than yet another article about Russian meddling.
For the quote-unquote prestige tv show like GoT or something with similar viewing numbers, I guess it’s nice that they don’t allow you to skip the intro? A show takes a lot of work so giving those people behind the scenes some screen time is nice, I guess? For the first time in a long time, I’m having trouble choosing a side here. I can see both sides of the coin on this.
On the one hand, I too get annoyed sometimes at the length of the opening credits. It just seems like overkill. Like, yeah, I understand that I’m watching something that is higher brow than a CBS sitcom. I don’t want to listen to the same shitty five-minute song eight times over when I’m hungover in bed binging something. On the other hand, the elongated intro is now so ingrained in my mind that I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with something short and sweet. I just don’t know. .
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jduda@grandex.co
Love the skip intro button. There are only so many times I can be abruptly woken up by the alarming loud intro to The Office before going insane.
The next major innovation needs to be binge-mode auto skip intro, so you don’t even have to click and the song is completely skipped over. I have woken up in a panic to obnoxious intros too many times as well. @netflix I take cash or check
Doesn’t Netflix already have this? I swear mine automatically skips the intro to white collar and the office on my Xbox.
Some do this if the into comes right before or after the recap of the previous episode. But only when your binging and it’s set to auto-play after a few seconds
I related to this so much. Double that with the fact that it’s also blared during the outro and it’s a jarring experience.
The day they cut the New Girl intro down into a 3 second blip was a great day. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a disproportionate like for a show and dislike for its theme.
Avid GoT fan here, the intro is crucial because it helps you remember which houses control what and it also gives sneak peaks into later locations in the season.
also great way to annoy the gf by singing the wiener version from South Park the entire time
Currently in the middle of season three. I skip it about half the time, but it is a great refresher for what you mentioned. Also, it’s still an awesome theme song
It is a bigger issue on 30 minute shows. Hearing some poorly produced intro 5 times in a sitting is torture, but On the hour+ shows it is an critical opportunity to weigh if you really want to watch another or head to bed.
I’ve always been a fan of the Mad Men Intro but sometimes you just want to get right into it.
I like intros more for longer dramas than say a comedy. Hearing the “Friday Night Lights” theme song takes me back to the time period I was watching it and everything that was going on in my life, mostly what connected me to the show. So every time I hear that theme song it brings back memories. I think much like any simple audio song can do, a theme song can make you relive those days you listened to them on a daily basis.
To be fair, FNL’s intro is roughly 45 seconds whereas the “prestige dramas” have something that’s more than twice as long.
As a new Game of Throne guy I’m all about the long intro. My three episodes last night allowed me to get a snack, take a piss before episode two, and then pack my lunch before episode three. It’s a dream come true
Nothing like an epic cello rendition to really give the experience of spreading mayo on your sandwich a little extra oomph
I thought you were anti-snax
I am a broken man, Clay
Why do we fall?
At least that intro tells you something about the upcoming episode by which parts of the map they highlight so you know which characters to expect. In contrast, Westworld might as well just be a giant fart noise after the first two times you see it.
Right there with you, I somehow avoided any spoiler for years while dismissing it as ‘fantasy BS’. But now, dear lord am I hooked on GoT!
I skip the House of Cards intro because it gives me PTSD of DC traffic
Sopranos intro. One of the best all time. Forever will be engrained in my mind.
You just inspired me to set that as my alarm clock.
Woke up this morning
I skipped the “Friends” intro once, I though my wife was going to kill me