main titles in old shows

[jamesanthony]

It seems like in the main titles of old shows the regular actors' names were listed either along with the names of their characters or with a visual of them (either live or a cartoon fascimile). I guess this was done so the viewing audience would not be confused about who played which part. This practice seemed to be done away with in the 70s. Are there are pre70s shows that just list the actors and not the character names or a visual for them? I was thinking of The Honeymooners but I'm not sure if the fireworks opening that I see in syndication was used in the original airings. Same with I Love Lucy.

One 70s show I was thinking of was the Jeffersons. In its 3rd and 4th years the names of the actors on screen don't match the actors in the scenes shown on the screen (Ex: Zara Cully's name appears on the screen while they show a scene of Roxie Roker, Franklin Cover and Sherman Hemsley). If you didn't know who played who on that show that would be confusing.

From the 90s on there have been a lot of shows that just show the main actors' names at the bottom of the screen while the episode itself plays and if you didn't go to a website you wouldn't know who played which part.

[EmoJoe]

Actully, I think it goes like this.Shows from the 70s-80- and early 90s had the persons name flash at the bottom of the screen while their picture was on the top, while older sitcoms had the theme song run while the persons name flashed at the bottom while (usually, a cartoon with the theme song) was running. But current sitcoms have the stars name flash while the episode is playing.

[treky]

Originally posted by jamesanthony
It seems like in the main titles of old shows the regular actors' names were listed either along with the names of their characters or with a visual of them (either live or a cartoon fascimile). I guess this was done so the viewing audience would not be confused about who played which part. This practice seemed to be done away with in the 70s. Are there are pre70s shows that just list the actors and not the character names or a visual for them? I was thinking of The Honeymooners but I'm not sure if the fireworks opening that I see in syndication was used in the original airings. Same with I Love Lucy.

One 70s show I was thinking of was the Jeffersons. In its 3rd and 4th years the names of the actors on screen don't match the actors in the scenes shown on the screen (Ex: Zara Cully's name appears on the screen while they show a scene of Roxie Roker, Franklin Cover and Sherman Hemsley). If you didn't know who played who on that show that would be confusing.

From the 90s on there have been a lot of shows that just show the main actors' names at the bottom of the screen while the episode itself plays and if you didn't go to a website you wouldn't know who played which part.

if you mean, was the "heart opening" on "I Love Lucy" shown when the show first aired, then it wasn't. That was put on it when the show went into sydnication in 1957. If you get TV LAND, you can see the show on there with the original animated openings (there was more than one).
However, I just read somewhere recently that TV LAND doesn't show ALL the animated openings, only about 3 or 4, and they also play the version of the theme that's been heard for years on the sydnicated shows.

As for "The Honeymooners" yes, I think that "fireworks opening" was added to it for sydnication.
I THINK, I'm not 100% sure.