Television

For the song alone, the nostalgic side of me cannot not say The Golden Girls doesn't have the absolute best theme song. It's definitely a tie between that and Swat Kats, which would be my pick for best intro sequence, period.

Take my love, take my land

Take me where I cannot stand

I don't care cause I'm still free

You can't take the sky from me

I think it's time we blow this scene

The Cheers theme song encapsulates a whole region of my childhood brain. I still get chills of nostalgia whenever I hear it.

Also, the theme to Trailer Park Boys builds a particular ball of sadness and nostalgia in my stomach.

Doctor Who - lots of variants over the years but it's other worldly and really fits the show.

Knight Rider was a theme I always loved

take my love, take my land -- Firefly

Game of Thrones, hands down. Different every time and focused on where most of the episode would take place.

If we can't agree on that one, then it's Airwolf.

The X-Files is iconic

🎶 It's been a long road.... 🎵

X-Men, Batman and Gargoyles all have fantastic openings.

I always loved the fact the Game of Thrones opening showed the specific places we would visit in each episode.

Babylon 5 has a different intro each season, and the season three opening in particular hits really hard the first time you get to it.

Brisco County Jr had a theme that was so inspiring, NBC bought the rights to use it for the Olympics.

Seconding Firefly

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' theme was groundbreaking comedy on TV for the time because it took an internet trend and did the thing

Gilligan's Island is cultural bedrock

So was Friends

Greatest American Hero, a song about a guy forced to have super powers that just wants to be boring. Best part of the show was the song.

The Muppet Show

Fresh Prince

Are ya ready kids?!

I don't know about best, but I will always watch the intro for the first season of Peacemaker. It is so absolutely ridiculous. The second season opening is good, too, but not quite as classic.

Twin Peaks must be the best one for me. I never got to see it when it was new (too young), but happened to hear the intro music and opening shots before my parents switched the channel. That minute stayed with me till I was in my late teens and bought the show on DVD.

The worst? Maybe Sex and the City, but that's also because I find the main characters self-centred and morally repulsive, which the intro communicates quite efficiently.

Ducktales is the best. I scrolled for a while and some how didn't see it posted

Haven’t seen anyone mention True Detective: S1 yet. Far From Any Road by The Handsome Family

Dexter also had a pretty cool opening sequence. Makes me hungry every time lol

I love the theme song used for MAS*H.

Do you really wanna do you really wanna taste it?

Buck Roger’s & the original Battlestar Galactica had great orchestral theme songs. I have both as ringtones!

FRIENDLY FACES EVERYWHERE

HUMBLE FOLKS WITHOUT TEMPTATION

House

Best: Avatar the Last Airbender (anime). They got across all the world building you’d need to come in at any point without overstaying their welcome or being cheesy.

Worst: Star Trek Enterprise. Obviously.

There's a LOT of great ones, Firefly, Fresh Prince, Scrubs, GOT, Simpsons etc.

One that I cannot stand for some reason is Dexter. I don't know if it's that I saw it too much but god, I hate it with a passion.

Darkwing Duck and Wonderfalls always get stuck in my head.

Since the obvious choice has already been mentioned (Firefly), I’ll add Top Gear to the list of best. I haven’t watched it since the Clarkson, Hammond, May days, so I’m not sure if it’s changed. But that intro was great.

I can't decide between Psych (especially the extended version), Knight Rider, and Airwolf.

Edit: Street Hawk is a banger too.

Edit 2: How could I forget Miami Vice?

When HBO wasn’t run by absolute imbeciles, I honestly believe they greenlit shows based on their intro sequence.

The Sopranos, The Wire, True Blood, True Detective, Game of Thrones, Westworld, Succession, White Lotus. All top tier

Do musicals count?

Damn, beaten by 6 hours

https://lemmy.ca/comment/18693780

I don't think I've ever skipped the Expanse intro. The singing always draws me in!

Babylon 5. I challenge anyone to listen to that intro and not get curious. Also, I think it was the first series to change the intro from season to season.

King of the Hill is a close second.

For me:

Babylon Berlin intro captures the art, the deco, the decadence and the fear of what the viewer knows is going to come of that time period.

Black Sails just perfect

Raised by Wolves I was hit and miss on this in many ways, but this intro is great - albeit I think slightly misleading as to its overall tone.

Pennyworth I thought S1 was a bit silly, but what an intro.

Warrior

Happiness This is just fun, and fits the show brilliantly

See also isn't bad

Romulus Very vikings-esque

Song of the Bandits The song on the YT video isn't great here imo, but they actually mix it up in the show proper and use different songs. And some really fit the theme.

Taskmaster's is one of the few intros I watch every time. Gets me pumped for every episode.

Curb Your Enthusiasm also may be the perfect fit for the show. Every time I see the HBO static come up before any other HBO show, I hear the CYE theme in my head.

• The Leftovers

• Dandadan (both S1 and S2 are bangers)

I get the impression that it's super-obscure these days, but the Perfect Strangers theme is great!

I don't know about the worse but the best for me Star Trek Voyager. The intro song really makes you feel that you're lost far from home, will live various adventures and will eventually return home.

Kinda surprised no one here has mentioned the Barney Miller theme, even though it's pretty old. It's a banging jazz fusion tune.