Grand TV intro's. They're an endangered species nowadays. Maybe a quick flash of the actors/actresses names, the creator's name, title (sometimes), maybe even a licensed song. But I remember a time, a time as a young boy in the late 70's and early-mid 80's when just about every TV show had a full blown intro. with original music and everything. A little 30 - 90 second "welcome back" every week just for Me, the TV viewer.
I wax nostalgic at this time, because, well, it's easier than waxing my truck! (*Pause for uncontrollable laughter*....mmmkay, then). But seriously folks, I wax nostalgic because I realize just how lucky I was to grow up during a time of such great craftsmanship.
No better craftsmanship was displayed than what those gifted editing masterminds forged into the greatest TV intro, ever - The Six Million Dollar Man.
That dang thing just gets cooler and cooler as the years go by! Everytime I see it, I want to drop everything that I'm doing and watch a full episode right then and there. But then I realize - it's not the 70's anymore...and the dang show has yet to come out on Region 1 DVD. Sure, the folks over in Europe get to watch all The Six Million Dollar Man they want on their fancy-Euro Region 2 DVD's, but I, a tax-paying, law-abiding American, cannot yet re-live the exploits of one Steve Austin! Where is the justice in that?...where, I ask you, where?!
I mean, I still have my Steve Austin doll - er - action figure with red jumpsuit! And, yeah, I'll admit it, I still like to look through the little Bionic Eye peephole on the back of his head while making the Bionic Eye's Bionic Magnifying sound! Yeah - I'm still that cool!....and, um, yeah, I'm still that single...*ahem*.
Anyhoo, while I'm on topic, coming in a close 2nd on my "Great TV Show Intro's" list is the one for a little cartoon known as - Battle of the Planets! Between this epic opening and the one for the original (and still superior) Battlestar Galactica, I was able to satisfy my Star Wars pangs during 1978 - a year in which my little 4-year old mind could not yet fathom such great inventions as: Cable TV, VCR's, DVD's, and high-speed Internet, in which I could watch all the Star Wars I could handle.
There are many more great TV intro's I could rave about, from the 70s' Starsky and Hutch, Emergency!, CHiPs, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, Happy Days, Three's Company, Eight is Enough, Dallas, Buck Rogers; transitioning into the 80s' Dukes of Hazzard, Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, MacGyver, Cheers, Family Ties, Growing Pains, etc.
But there's one show that stands out above the rest in this "Best of the Rest" lot...a show that set sail in the 70's and finally docked after many hot-to-trot voyages in the 80's - yes, I think you're expecting them, because - "...they're expecting youuuuuuuu" - The Love Boat!
I mean, c'mon! You get a classic, cheesy theme song (is there a better karaoke song for people who can't sing? - no, because how can you make the song any worse?), and perhaps one of the greatest moments in TV history - the coolest bartender ever, Isaac, whipping out the "six shooters"! Hell yeah! The dual "six shooter" quick-draw is still in my personal repertoire - see a hot chick? "six shooters"; see one of your buds in the pub? "six shooters"; knock over an old grumpy waiter with your cool Euro friends, yet earning a smile from the old gruff at the end? "six-sh-" well, actually, that's a "Mentos Moment", but anyway...
Bring back the lost art of the full-fledged TV intro. Like silence, they're golden...and I'd like to grab me a nugget.
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