Monday, March 05, 2007

First Things First

Now, here’s something to start my week off right. Author Lee Goldberg tops his ever-nostalgic Main Title Heaven page today with the opening credits from The NBC Mystery Movie (1971-1977), complete with Henry Mancini’s oh-so-recognizable theme music. Since this clip’s rotation includes the Richard Boone series Hec Ramsey, and shows Rock Hudson still sporting a ’stache for his role in McMillan & Wife, my educated guess is that it comes from the Mystery Movie’s second season. I was, and remain, a big fan of that so-called wheel series, but haven’t seen the opening credits in 30 years. (Watch them for yourself here.) Bless you, Lee, for gladdening an aging TV-head’s heart.

By the way, does anybody know the identity of that shadowy, bowler-wearing figure wielding the flashlight? Talk about mysteries!

Also featured among this week’s Main Title treats are the intro to the Buddy Ebsen private-eye show Barnaby Jones (1973-1980) and the opener to the less memorable 1971 series Cade’s County, in which veteran film star Glenn Ford played a modern California sheriff.

No comments: