Don’t even think about skipping these intros.
Here are our picks for the 30 best TV show opening credits, presented in no particular order.
Haunting, evocative, and also a skeleton plays the piano.D.S.
(Clockwise from upper left) Opening credit title cards for ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Mad Men,’ and ‘Game of Thrones’.Credit:Fox; AMC; HBO
Maybe he’ll be all right after all.
Desperate Housewives(20042012)
ABC
TheDesperate Housewivesopening credits are a work of art literally.
The sequence consists of a series of popular historical paintings, primarily featuring women.
‘The Simpsons’ opening credits.FOX
Kevin Jacobsen
Sex and the City(19982004)
The splash.
(The smart one!
The sassy one!)
‘Game of Thrones’ opening credits.HBO
(RandomBuffy the Vampire Slayerconnection: Tom Whedon father ofJoss was a writer on the show!)
(“That’s a sexist term!")
But then this sense of order isblown up, literally.
‘Westworld’ opening credits.HBO
), the main titles toAmerican Horror Storyare sometimes the scariest part of an episode.
This was #squadgoals, before we even knew what they were.
ladies(includingVicki Gunvalson’s mid-Botox cry of “I don’t want to get old!”
Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton on ‘All in the Family’.CBS
and Lauri Peterson’s iconic “Are the police involved?
“), but the careful crafting of the perfect Housewife tagline has since been elevated to high art.
The O.C.
‘Mad Men’ opening credits.AMC
(20032007)
The O.C.
In related news:Wakanda forever.
It’s no wonder it won the Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design in 2022.
Will Smith on ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’.NBC
‘Desperate Housewives’ opening credits.ABC
Sarah Jessica Parker on ‘Sex and the City’.HBO
‘Alice’ opening credits.CBS
James Gandolfini on ‘The Sopranos’.HBO
‘Six Feet Under’ opening credits.HBO
‘Shameless’ opening credits.Showtime
Rachel Bloom on ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’.The CW
‘The Good Fight’ opening credits.CBS
‘American Horror Story’ season 1 opening credits.FX
‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ opening credits.FOX
(From left to right) David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow on ‘Friends’.NBC
Mary Tyler Moore on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’.CBS
‘Melrose Place’ opening credits.FOX
‘Only Murders in the Building’ opening credits.Hulu
‘True Blood’ opening credits.HBO
‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ opening credits.Bravo
‘The O.C.’ opening credits.FOX
‘The Brady Bunch’ opening credits.ABC
‘American Gods’ opening credits.Starz
‘Masters of Sex’ opening credits.SHOWTIME
‘One Day at a Time’ opening credits.Netflix
‘Parks and Recreation’ opening credits.NBC
‘Even Stevens’ opening credits.Disney Channel
‘Severance’ opening credits.Apple TV+
