Top 18 TV Opening Title Sequences of All Time
Ninety seconds to set a mood before a word is spoken. A few here are so good that nobody skips them, even on the fourth rewatch.
1Game of ThronesThe clockwork map of Westeros that rebuilt itself every week to match the episode's locations.
2Mad MenA silhouetted adman falling past Manhattan billboards, set to a David Carbonara cue.
3True DetectiveSeason one's double-exposure portraits of Louisiana industry laid over its cast, scored by The Handsome Family.
4The SimpsonsThe couch gag that has never repeated itself, running since 1989.
5Stranger ThingsRed ITC Benguiat letters assembling in the dark over a synth arpeggio.
6The SopranosTony's drive from the Lincoln Tunnel to the New Jersey suburbs, cigar in hand.
7Six Feet UnderA minute of clinical, beautiful images of death and preparation, scored by Thomas Newman.
8WestworldA player piano and a 3D printer building horses and human forms out of white filament.
9DexterA serial killer's breakfast routine shot like a crime scene: shaving, blood orange, floss.
10The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirA rapped origin story that a generation can still recite unprompted.
11Twin PeaksA sawmill, a waterfall and Angelo Badalamenti's theme, moving at the pace of the town itself.
12FriendsSix friends, a fountain, an umbrella and a song nobody can hear without clapping.
13CheersSepia illustrations of old American barrooms under a theme about wanting to be known.
14House of CardsTime-lapse Washington at dusk, empty of people, scored by Jeff Beal.
15SuccessionHome-video footage and Nicholas Britell's off-kilter piano, the family's whole thesis in ninety seconds.
16The WireA new cut of street and surveillance footage each season, over a different cover of Way Down in the Hole.
17SeveranceNested, dreamlike animation of Mark falling through his own office, designed by Oliver Latta.
18Band of BrothersCharcoal sketches of the men of Easy Company dissolving into archive footage, scored by Michael Kamen.
Comments
Mad Men's falling adman, a clockwork Westeros map and sixteen more sets of credits, judged as design rather than drama: https://youpick.best/articles/game-of-thrones-ranked-many-ways https://youpick.best/articles/the-simpsons-ranked-many-ways
Red ITC Benguiat letters sliding out of blackness, judged against Mad Men and Succession. Eighteen sequences, and a page of other angles: https://youpick.best/articles/stranger-things-ranked-many-ways
