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A title sequence, in a television program or film, is shown at the beginning which displays the opening credits.
Television
A montage of clips from the show, and possibly a theme song are often included to suggest the essential tone of the series.
One notable example of this is Law & Order, with pictures of black and white New York City photos of crimes, murders, trials, etc. The main characters are zoomed out (photo-printing style), with the police characters appearing in blue tint, and the lawyers appearing in red. On Special Victims Unit, their characters appear in a yellow-gold tint, and on Criminal Intent the characters are blue-grayish.
On some sitcoms and dramas, the ensemble cast is shown together at the end of the titles. Some shows, like Good Times and Family Ties, went one step further and had the main players sit for a painting, which was then shown in the titles.
Some shows have title sequences that are subtly different in every episode (or season). Some famed title sequences with variables include:
- American Dad - where Stan picks up a newspaper with a unique headline.
- The Critic - where Jay would answer a different phone call and later be shown reviewing a different movie parody clip each episode.
- The Dick Van Dyke Show - where Rob (Dick Van Dyke) enters through the front door and trips over the ottoman. Three versions were filmed: one in which he trips over the ottoman, one in which he steps around it, and a rarely seen third variation in which he avoids the ottoman but then trips on the carpet. Viewers were kept wondering which version would be used on any particular episode since the episode's editors were instructed to use them randomly.
- Frasier - where the "Frasier" logo changes color, and a different animation involving the logo's skyline graphic happens every episode.
- Futurama - where the text below the title and the cartoon clip playing on the big screen changes each episode.
- L.A. Law - where the personalized "LA LAW" license plate has a different validation sticker every season.
- The Rockford Files - where a different message is left on Rockford's answering machine.
- Seinfeld - where the "Seinfeld" logo changes color and style every season.
- The Simpsons has two main variables in its title sequences:
- "Chalkboard gag" - where Bart Simpson writes a different sentence on a blackboard in his classroom.
- "Couch gag" - where the Simpson family sits on the couch in a different, wacky way.
Films
Film title sequences are often considerably longer than the title sequences of television shows, and are often much simpler as well, focusing mostly on listing the credit names of all the actors and producers. This is because in films, title sequences are often controlled by detailed contractual provisions regarding crediting the major players in the film (actors, directors, producers, casting agents, etc.) In some cases, directors have found their desire to make the title sequence they want interfered with by the technical requirements of these contracts (e.g., that the actor's name be at least as large in font size as the film's title). Sometimes, these requirements can be avoided by negotiating an amendment to the actor's contract, although that can be expensive, if possible at all.
George Lucas was fined by the Directors Guild of America for refusing to have a standard title sequence in his Star Wars films. After paying the fine, Lucas quit the Guild. By the 1990s, however, it was not uncommon for motion pictures to no longer have opening credits sequences.
See also
"Title sequence"