"Faster than a speeding bullet..."--favorite openings

[Fisherdude]

Ooohhhh, running home from school to sit in front of the big ol' b&w.

"Hi-yo Silver, awaaayyyyy!"

Sniffle...

[Jack Lord]

That curling wave on "Hawaii 5-0" that appears with no sound for just an instant before the theme song kicks in. That, my friends, is beautiful

A particular favorite of mine as well since my handsome mug would invariably appear.

I have the original soundtrack if you are interested. I will even autograph it for you.

[CUlater]

"Space...

...the final frontier. These are the voyages of..."

[JerryM]

"This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here. I carry a badge. My name's Friday..."

[Arkay]

Originally Posted by KeninDC

That curling wave on "Hawaii 5-0" that appears with no sound for just an instant before the theme song kicks in. That, my friends, is beautiful.

Ken

Heck, the theme song itself was pretty good, too! Makes a great piece to get your legs moving in a gym...

But that curling wave? Um, OUCH! Surfed there once in the late seventies. in the off season. Dislocated my shoulder, trying not to get drowned by the undertow. No one had told me WHY they only surf there for half the year, but I figured it out pretty fast after that experience.

[Jack Lord]

They also used the curling wave right after a usually suspensful moment and before the commercial break. Very ominous. But the premise itself was omninous- nefariousness and evil in paradise.

I think Horatio Kane (David Caruso) in CSI Miami is a direct theft of my legendary character and alter ego in Hawaii 5-0.

[Holst]

1) "there is nothing wrong with your television"
2) Johnny River's singing "There's a man who leads a life of danger, To everyone he meets, he stays a stranger, With every move he makes, another chance he takes, Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
3) Johnny Cash singing "Johnny Yuma was a rebel, He roamed through the West. Did Johnny Yuma, The Rebel. He wandered alone. He got fighting mad, this rebel lad, He packed no star and he wandered far, Where the only law was a hook and draw, The Rebel. Away, away, away rode The Rebel. "
Elvis originally sang the theme but the shows producer prefered the way Cash did it.

[Paul C]

Originally Posted by Bigerik

"Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aid Kato, and their rolling arsenal the Black Beauty. On Police records a wanted criminal, the Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the Daily Sentinel, his dual identity known only to his secretary and the district attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides THE GREEN HORNET" {Green Hornet theme played by Al Hirt starts}

The narration is by William Dozier, producer of the show, who also narrated Batman. Awesome stuff!

The Green Hornet theme was actually "Flight of the Bumblebee" played by Al Hirt.

[Paul C]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.

Sounds like AK'ers...

Kenwood, receiver. A unit barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have De-oxit!

Originally Posted by Jack Lord

A particular favorite of mine as well since my handsome mug would invariably appear.

Hey, did you know that Traci Lords named herself after you?

[Jack Lord]

She added an "S".

Amongst other things.

[RussinOhio]

I just loved the opening theme song by Nilsson for: "The courtship of Eddies father"

Another cool opening was "The Rockford Files". The theme music was always kicked off with a few moments of funny dialouge.


Russ

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by Paul C

The Green Hornet theme was actually "Flight of the Bumblebee" played by Al Hirt.

Sorry to tell you, but Nada!
Flight of the Bumblebee was used for the Green Hornet radio shows. The soundtrack for the tv show was done by Billy May. There is some FOTBB influence there, but it is a completely different, but VERY cool, piece of music. One of my prize possessions is the original soundtrack album.
There are references all over the interweb about FOTBB being the TV theme. I need to get on Wikipedia sometime and change it there too!

[Wornears]

Thanks for some cool flashbacks:

That "Outer Limits" : "Do not adjust your set, we control the vertical, we control the horizontal..." used to freak me out when I was about 7 years old. My dad finally explained it was just an o-scope trace -- showed me one -- and not to worry. That show regularly used to send me hiding behind the couch. Had quite an over-active imagination in those days...

Sky King! What an opening it had.

And of course, Hawaii 5-0 with its Ventures opening and scanty (for '60s) clothes girls.

If you were a Superman fan (who wasn't?) its opening was mighty impressive. I want to go see "Hollywoodland" which is a movie about typecast George Reeves who played Superman and died under mysterious circumstances.

Hasn't anyone mentioned the campy (and repetitious) opening theme to "Batman" with Adam West, or the "Monkees" : "Here we come, walking down the street..." Stupid shows, but huge in the '60s.

[Sandy G]

I still get warm 'n' fuzzy over the Black Beauty....it's basically a Mopar version of the suicide-door Lincoln, a guy named Elwood Engel designed both of 'em. A review of all of the American luxocars at the time said the '65 Imperial was really the best of the lot. But yeah, that jazzy music, & the Black Beauty..Oh, man...<grin>