Opening Acts

Here’s something the paper-and-ink Los Angeles Times Magazine would not have been able to do prior to the Internet’s existence: hold a contest to choose the best-ever prime-time American TV opening, complete with videos. The 52 candidates include the main title sequences from Batman, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Monkees, Get Smart, and Star Trek, as well as several crime/spy dramas, among them Mission: Impossible, 77 Sunset Strip, The Avengers, The Fugitive, Dragnet, and Hawaiian Eye. (Curiously, many of the openings featured in The Rap Sheet’s still-evolving rundown of “The 25 Best TV Crime Drama Openers” didn’t make the L.A. Times’ cut.)

Go here to vote for your favorite. When last checked, the results had The Lone Ranger, Gilligan’s Island, and Hawaii Five-O leading the pack.

(Hat tip to Lee Goldberg’s Main Title Heaven.)

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Speaking of TV openers, about a year ago I launched a Rap Sheet “channel” on YouTube, devoted primarily to the introductions of old boob-tube programs I remember fondly. With almost 50 such videos now posted, I am rather amused to see which ones have drawn the greatest attention. Here are the top five most-watched:

• Crazy Like a Fox (11,192 views)
• Wiseguy (4,892 views)
• Bourbon Street Beat (3,197 views)
• Get Christie Love! (3,034 views)
• Hooperman (2,985)

Who knew there were so Crazy Like a Fox fans still around?