TMC
07-04-2017, 02:04 AM
http://www.agonybooth.com/9-classic-tv-intros-that-were-too-damn-long-56690
If you’re a lifelong TV viewer like me, you know that TV show opening credits were much, much longer back in the day. The insane length of opening credits for classic sitcoms has since been endlessly satirized; MadTV once did a sketch about it, this parody from Upright Citizens’ Brigade was amusing (especially in the way it perfectly replicates the slow zoom-ins on actors holding uncomfortably long smiles), and of course, there’s the epic-length Adult Swim spoof Too Many Cooks that took the internet by storm a couple of years back.
TV show intros from 20 and 30 years ago seem particularly prolonged in these days of shows that give you, at most, a couple of seconds of the title being animated, along with a quick musical sting and (if you’re lucky) the name of the show’s creator, but at the time, these drawn-out intros had their benefits. They were often seen as a way to hook in new viewers, both through the use of voiceovers to explain convoluted premises, and also via clips of past episodes that basically said, Hey, look at how much insane action and/or zany fun we’ve had on this show before!
Alas, the TV landscape has changed a great deal since then, and viewers have a lot more options now, and broadcast networks are presently terrified that you’ll reach for the remote if forced to sit through long opening credits (or long closing credits, which have also been whittled down to almost nothing). Which makes some of those ridiculously long intros of TV shows past seem even more ridiculous, and long. Here’s a look at nine of the worst offenders.
If you’re a lifelong TV viewer like me, you know that TV show opening credits were much, much longer back in the day. The insane length of opening credits for classic sitcoms has since been endlessly satirized; MadTV once did a sketch about it, this parody from Upright Citizens’ Brigade was amusing (especially in the way it perfectly replicates the slow zoom-ins on actors holding uncomfortably long smiles), and of course, there’s the epic-length Adult Swim spoof Too Many Cooks that took the internet by storm a couple of years back.
TV show intros from 20 and 30 years ago seem particularly prolonged in these days of shows that give you, at most, a couple of seconds of the title being animated, along with a quick musical sting and (if you’re lucky) the name of the show’s creator, but at the time, these drawn-out intros had their benefits. They were often seen as a way to hook in new viewers, both through the use of voiceovers to explain convoluted premises, and also via clips of past episodes that basically said, Hey, look at how much insane action and/or zany fun we’ve had on this show before!
Alas, the TV landscape has changed a great deal since then, and viewers have a lot more options now, and broadcast networks are presently terrified that you’ll reach for the remote if forced to sit through long opening credits (or long closing credits, which have also been whittled down to almost nothing). Which makes some of those ridiculously long intros of TV shows past seem even more ridiculous, and long. Here’s a look at nine of the worst offenders.