AKA: If the intro’s shit, the show’s shit
Wow, that’s a hell of a schedule slip. Let’s ignore that entirely and launch into my latest idea!
I believe that it’s possible to judge the quality of a show based on the qualiy of the show’s intro. Let’s first discuss a few examples, and then get into why I think this is a thing.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2
I can’t figure out what this intro is trying to say. There’s some pretty-sounding music, some shiny visuals, and then a perfunctory refrain of the main Star Trek theme. Thematically, it’s a mess. Funnily enough, exactly like season 2 of Star Trek Picard: unfocused, messy, disappointing, paved over with shiny visuals. Wow, it’s almost like I cherry-picked my first examples to demonstrate my theory! Honestly, this one is kind of emblematic of the problems with bad intros in general, so I won’t put too many more in.
The Expanse
Right from the first seconds, we get an idea of the world of The Expanse. You can immediately tell who the major players are in the Great Game by who’s shown, and you can get a sense of the tribulations that they’ve been through in the flooding of Earth. As the show evolves and events occur, so too do the images shown in the title sequence: from when the ███████ launches in season 2, demonstrated with █████ ███████ no longer displaying the grand vessel alongside itself; to when the █████ show up and dominate the entire last quarter of the animation. It’s a very quick run-down of the world as it stands, demonstrating the history of the world as it’s built.
The music, meanwhile, gives us a picture of the overall feel of the show: dark, mysterious, eerie, but also just a little bit wondrous. Whatever Pink Floyd wants, it’s strange and alien and beautiful and will irrevocably transform us, as every black swan throughout history does.
A fun fact: I listened to this theme at least three times over the course of writing this post!
The 100
The 100’s intro is a really interesting example of my idea, because the theme becoming more fleshed out is directly correlated with when the show gets good (well, almost, it starts getting good partway through season 1 but shh)! Season 1 has one of those really generic “five seconds of vaguely interesting notes and the show’s title showing up on the screen” that seems to have taken over television these days, and… well, it’s not a great first season, let’s say. Season 2, when the conflict with the ████████ ███ starts in earnest, the show evolves and matures, also has an extended title sequence, that gives me some real Expanse vibes.
Again, we’re given an overview of the major players: in season 2, the ████████ ███ and ███████. Grounder politics don’t play as heavily into this season, and the intro reflects that – or maybe the crew just hadn’t thought of the location of Polis yet. Grounder politics come into much greater prominence in season 3… and Polis starts showing up! Again, cherry picking is really saving my idea here.
Honourable Mentions
Three examples is enough, but I feel like I should list a few more that demonstrate my idea without bogging you down with a million videos. You can go and give them a watch at your own leisure!
- Foundation (uses art style prominent in the show, music belies grand-scale events, very very good)
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (the distilled essence of Star Trek, absolutely perfect)
- Star Trek: Enterprise but only the mirror universe episodes (militaristic theme matched with images of fighting and domination, fits the mirror universe very well)
- Star Trek: Lower Decks (imagery demonstrates perfectly the overall tone of the show, why is there so much Star Trek in this list?)
- Babylon 5 (good example of an evolving intro that changes as the show does)
- His Dark Materials (another good example of an evolving intro as the scope increases, hints at concepts that will become important later in the series)
- Another Life (bad, very very bad, you could get the same experience watching a shitty fucking JPEG of the intro with some generic-ass sci-fi music in the background)
- Person of Interest (voiceover is a bit gauche but otherwise a solid example of setting the mood and introducing important elements of the show)
- Fringe (gives you a great idea of the kind of things that Doctor Bishop and gang have to deal with, music sets the mood quite well – special mention goes to the 1985 version, which is a delightful Casiotone remix)
- From (doesn’t quite fit my rules, but holy fuck that’s a banger of a song)
But Why?
I think that the causation to my correlation is a lack of care, particularly among the higher-ups. When a producer or executive doesn’t care about what they’re making, it shows in a great many ways, all of which are also reflected in the show’s theme. People aren’t given enough direction, or maybe they’re given too much direction because Upstairs is more concerned about making money, or whatever. But it shows! When the composer has no idea what the show’s supposed to be about, they’re forced to put together something generic. When the art team has no idea, they just do something to fill in however long the composer needs. The writers and actors get the same BS, and do the same less-than-stellar job.
Please note that I’m not actually involved in the industry at all, and this is all just speculation on my part. But I think it’s pretty good experience.
Now, I’d like to hear what y’all think. Am I onto something? Am I full of shit? Are you angry that I didn’t mention one of your favourite (or least favourite) shows? Please let me know!
