ER - no opening titles

The season premiere of ER had no opening title sequence. Which it had
before, it its first 12 years, except for the live episode.

SoHillsGuy...

It *may* have been -- just a theory here -- that they didn't want to
run a new title sequence featuring John Stamos until his character is
reintroduced next week. Just a guess.

Of course, it also may be due to time. The show started at 10:01,
while episodes in previous years were starting at 9:59. I guess NBC is
now getting higher ad rates on 9PM's "Deal or No Deal" and sticking the
extra commercial in that.

Are more and more shows doing this? 24 has no real opening titles, and
Lost only has the word "Lost" appear. I suppose it's to save time for
the content. People get attached to their opening titles. Can you
imagine Hawaii 5-o not having one??

Brandy Alexandre...

Since so much more advertising has been crammed into programs forcing
and reduction in the scripts, many shows have been eliminating lengthy
title sequences in lieu of getting more show time. Thirty seconds is
thirty seconds.

Marlene Blanshay...

well, no big loss... what do we need a big intro for?? We know what show
it is. As long as we see the title, that's fine with me.

Ken from Chicago...

The theme is the opening act for the episode. It sets the tone, the mood for
what's to come.

Anim8rFSK...

I couldn't disagree more. A good opening sets the tone for the entire
show to follow.

jayembee...

I'm somewhere in between. As someone else said, what would HAWAII FIVE-O
be without that great title sequence. Or MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, or any of
a number of shows over the years.

On the other hand, most of the shows these days have very bland opening
title sequences. Most of the cable shows I watch have outstanding main
title music. But few of those have visually interesting main titles.

I think the main reason fans complained about Sci Fi monkeying with
the main titles for the two 'Gates and BSG were because those three
shows had really nice main titles.

Barry Margolin...

The first few times, maybe. But after a zillion episodes, do you really
need to watch the same title sequence to get into the mood of the show?

Barry Margolin...

Well, not me. As soon as the titles start, I skip 3 minutes ahead, to
jump over the titles and first commercial block.

And it's usually about 3 minutes, regardless of whether the show has
full or abbreviated titles, which makes it pretty clear that the
abbreviation was done to accomodate more commercial time.

BIgW...

I'm a Stargate fan and in the Summer of 2005, SciFi cut both Stargates'
opening tittle sequences down to about 5 seconds. Last winter due to
fan dissatisfaction, SciFi reversed it decision, and both Stargates
returned to airing with "traditional" opening tittle sequences.

Troy.Heagy...

I liked the 10 second openers. Straight-and-to-the-point, especially
since I typically fast-forward through the 1:30 long title sequence.

I knew that if I wanted to see the full opening, I could just buy the
DVDs, or watch the syndicated reruns on local tv.

Major ChrisB...

that was one annoying thing about the show but then they dont have the
Anthony Edwards or Noah Whyle lead actors to roll past camera on an office
chair to start off the credits anymore. Still that theme tune was a big
part of the show and I hope it's not a permanent missing feature.