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.

1

Game of Thrones

The clockwork map of Westeros that rebuilt itself every week to match the episode's locations.

2

Mad Men

A silhouetted adman falling past Manhattan billboards, set to a David Carbonara cue.

3

True Detective

Season one's double-exposure portraits of Louisiana industry laid over its cast, scored by The Handsome Family.

4

The Simpsons

The couch gag that has never repeated itself, running since 1989.

5

Stranger Things

Red ITC Benguiat letters assembling in the dark over a synth arpeggio.

6

The Sopranos

Tony's drive from the Lincoln Tunnel to the New Jersey suburbs, cigar in hand.

7

Six Feet Under

A minute of clinical, beautiful images of death and preparation, scored by Thomas Newman.

8

Westworld

A player piano and a 3D printer building horses and human forms out of white filament.

9

Dexter

A serial killer's breakfast routine shot like a crime scene: shaving, blood orange, floss.

10

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

A rapped origin story that a generation can still recite unprompted.

11

Twin Peaks

A sawmill, a waterfall and Angelo Badalamenti's theme, moving at the pace of the town itself.

12

Friends

Six friends, a fountain, an umbrella and a song nobody can hear without clapping.

13

Cheers

Sepia illustrations of old American barrooms under a theme about wanting to be known.

14

House of Cards

Time-lapse Washington at dusk, empty of people, scored by Jeff Beal.

15

Succession

Home-video footage and Nicholas Britell's off-kilter piano, the family's whole thesis in ninety seconds.

16

The Wire

A new cut of street and surveillance footage each season, over a different cover of Way Down in the Hole.

17

Severance

Nested, dreamlike animation of Mark falling through his own office, designed by Oliver Latta.

18

Band of Brothers

Charcoal sketches of the men of Easy Company dissolving into archive footage, scored by Michael Kamen.