Created by Rockne S. O’Bannon in 1999, the Australian-American series was produced by The Jim Henson Company, who provided the stunning makeup, prosthetics, many of the alien creatures for the series. Originally slated to run for 5 seasons, the show was abruptly cancelled after the end of the 4th season — stopping the narrative on a cliffhanger. A couple of years later, a mini-series, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, was produced and directed by Brian Henson, ostensibly to bring the series to a satisfying conclusion.

Farscape tells of Earth scientist John Crichton — portrayed by the pleasingly well-formed Ben Browder — whose space shuttle is sucked into a wormhole and flung to a far corner of the universe. He manages to immediately offend an obsessive member of the militaristic Peacekeepers, who begins to relentlessly pursue him — and the small group of escaped criminals he inadvertently falls in with — across the galaxy. The series was incredibly imaginative — brilliantly populating a new universe and many fleshed-out cultures and civilizations — and had a sensibility that combined the funny-sarcastic and the deadly serious in a seamless and delightful way.

UPDATED: The theme and incidental music for the  first series was written by SubVision — a collective name for brothers Chris, Toby, and Braedy Neal. Starting with Season Two, Australian composer Guy Gross took over the incidental music. Seasons 3 and 4 also feature his new theme song. (Many thanks to Mr. Gross for correcting the record on that point.) Incorporating electronic and dance elements — along with several ethnic influences — Gross helped the brilliant writers and production designers to create the unique worlds depicted on the show. The opening titles for the first season are more musically epic than the show itself usually became, but they leave an indelible impression. The orchestra begins on a very intense note — a quick tempo and dark harmonies over a militaristic electronic drum track — building quickly as Browder gives a rapid-fire voice-over exposition. Once his info-dump is over, the theme music explodes into a wall of sound. Female vocals wail over gigantic chords and a chugging electronic track, ending on a completely unresolved note that never fails to make me smile.

Here is the Season One version by Subvision (Chris and Braedy Neal).

And here is the Season 3 version by Guy Gross. It starts with the original as the foundation, but incorporates fleshed-out orchestral and choral elements.

Browder and some of his co-stars went on to play virtually the same characters on Stargate SG-1 for a time after Farscape was cancelled, but otherwise, the legend continues on, on DVD, in books and comics, and in RPG’s. It’s also on Netflix Instant Viewing, so it’s really easy to check out an episode on your lunch break!

Next Up: Gilligan’s Island and The Greatest American Hero

The series can most easily be described as a space western, telling the tale of the 9 people aboard the smuggling ship, Serenity. Her captain, her crew, and her disparate group of passengers take a series of smuggling jobs on the Outer Rim worlds, trying to avoid being arrested by The Alliance, and keeping brilliant savant River Tam out of the clutches of the “Men in Blue”. The show is great fun — creating a wonderfully layered universe — and it’s a shame it didn’t get a fair shake.

The wonderful incidental music was composed by Greg Edmonson. Using mostly portable folk instruments — evoking the nomadic lifestyle of the characters — Edmonson created a distinctive and wholly original sonic universe for the series. The real magic, however, was his knack for taking what could have been a terribly cheesy musical recipe and making it work beautifully. It is often sad, frequently melancholy, and very exciting and scary when it needs to be. Not everyone can make a fiddle and a squeezebox work in dramatic scoring. I tip my hat.

The theme song — The Ballad of Serenity — was written by creator Joss Whedon and was performed by Sonny Rhodes. Following along after The 4400, this song was written by Whedon before the show was produced specifically to be the Firefly theme song. It’s a wistful country ballad that nicely gives voice to the longing of the characters for a place to call home — whether that be on land, or on board their ship. The title sequence defaults to clips from the series and the faces of the characters, but the song absolutely makes it work.

So this one is for all you Browncoats out there. Stay shiny!

Next Up: Farscape and Gilligan’s Island

Here is the premise: A ball of light approaches Earth from space, lands near Mt. Rainier in Washington State, and vanishes, leaving behind 4400 people who have been missing from various time periods spanning the last 70 years. None of them knows what happened to them, and none of them have aged a day. Slowly, many of the “returnees” begin to manifest abilities — some very X-Men like, others more subtle and conceptual — and the truth of what happened to them, and why they were returned, is gradually revealed.

The theme song is the first example in our series of a pop song-based opening title sequence. Oftentimes, I think that the use of a pop song for an opening theme is a lazy shortcut. On the few occasions that it works, it usually works really well. I will always think that The 4400 might have benefitted from a dark orchestral or ambient electronic theme, but — since they opted for a pop song — the choice of “A Place in Time” was inspired. Written by Bosshouse (composer/producers Robert Phillips and Tim Paruskewitz) and sung by Lebanese-American singer Amanda Abizaid, the song — written to be the title song — nicely evokes the spirit and emotional subtext of the series beautifully. Coupled with time lapse scenes of various abandoned locations, it creates a poetic and evocative introduction to the series. I particularly like the fact that the opening is a series of abstract visuals, eschewing the standard (and often boring) practice of showing the principle actors’ faces.

The show also gets points for having the longest actor’s first name I’ve ever seen in the opening titles. Mahershalalhashbaz.

The series is well worth checking out, and is available on Netflix.

Next Up: Farscape and Firefly

Though he hasn’t done much television music, his theme song for the groundbreaking medical drama E.R. is particularly memorable. It’s a little dated — having been created in the early 90′s — but the tune is a solid, simple theme that captures both the clinical drama and the humanity of the characters. The production gives the music a very Peter Gabriel-esque sound — especially the ethnic percussion, the meter changes, and the Fairlight piano — which I’ve always loved, and the little high electric guitar part at the end is a nice touch. Nicely tinted visuals and simple titles accompany the theme, illustrating perfectly how a good show can be heightened by an excellent opening sequence.

Next Up: The 4400 and Firefly

Enjoy!

Hypothetical Ending

Composer Ron Grainer wrote the Doctor Who theme, but famously was too busy to work on realizing it. Instead, he handed it over to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where a young electronic composer named Delia Derbyshire took over the job of bringing Grainer’s music to life. Using a tone generator, a white noise generator, and samples of the bass string on an old piano, Derbyshire painstakingly made the tape loops by hand. The multiple tape loops were mixed by pressing “Play” on several tape machines simultaneously (needing several takes to execute perfectly), these loops became the now incredibly distinctive original Doctor Who theme. Grainer — upon hearing Derbyshire’s realization — didn’t even recognize that he had written it. This didn’t stop the BBC from giving Grainer total credit for the piece, leaving Derbyshire to become an unbilled cult figure.

THE VERY FIRST DOCTOR WHO OPENING CREDITS (1963-1965)

Derbyshire made a few minor but notable changes to her original version at the beginning of the Troughton era (1966), the beginning of the Pertwee era (1970), and during Pertwee’s last season (1974), and continuing on into Tom Baker’s lengthy tenure as the titular Doctor. It was during Pertwee’s final season and Tom Baker’s first 6 seasons that Bernard Lodge’s now-famous “Time Tunnel” was adopted for the opening sequence. This was inarguably the most iconic iteration of the theme tune, the visuals perfectly married to the music.

THE TOM BAKER ERA OPENING CREDITS (1974-1979)

Derbyshire’s final changes lasted until 1980, when her version was scrapped in favour of a new, synthesized version created by Peter Howell at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. This new version — in a new key and with a dance-club feel — brought the show storming into the 1980′s. Although not as good as the original, it definitely made an impact.

THE PETER DAVISON ERA OPENING CREDITS (1981-1984)

The tune was retooled again for the “Trial of a Time Lord” season by Dominic Glynn. Though a darker and creepier take than Howell’s disco version, it was not popular at the time of broadcast, and was scrapped the following season. (I personally think it’s somewhat underrated.)

THE COLIN BAKER TRIAL OF A TIME LORD OPENING CREDITS (1986)

The final version of the theme used in the original broadcast run is the Keff McCullough version used from 1986-89. This version is probably the only good thing Mr. McCullough ever created, as his incidental music for the series is probably the worst incidental music I’ve ever heard on any television program, ever. His realization of the Doctor Who theme song, however, coupled with the first computer-generated title sequence, is quite good and — despite the wink — is a great opener. (It also brings the “middle eight” back into the opener, instead of relegating it to the closing titles, as had been done in the past.)

THE SYLVESTER MCCOY ERA OPENING CREDITS (1986-1989)

For the new series in 2005, composer Murray Gold wisely decided to go back to basics. He began with the Delia Derbyshire version of the tune (which can still be heard in the mix), and wrote orchestral parts to be laid in over it. The result is quite wonderful — proving that the Derbyshire version was always the best. Gold also added a fierce viola part, which is easily my favourite thing about the revamped tune.

THE DAVID TENNANT ERA OPENING CREDITS (2006-2009)

The newest version — created for Series 5 — is another complete reworking that took a while to grow on me. I now like it fine, but it’s a dramatic revamping from the previous 5 seasons. I particularly like the men’s choir at the end.

THE FIRST MATT SMITH OPENING CREDITS SEQUENCE (2010)

Which one is your favourite?

Having only seen the first two seasons, Desperate Housewives originally wrapped up satirical noir in a candy-coated soap opera shell. This marries perfectly with Elfman’s dark, quirky aesthetic, and the resulting title sequence — with visuals by Los Angeles design firm yU+co — is a wonderful opener for the series. Elfman’s deft, orchestral coloring — probably created in conjunction with Steve Bartek his usual orchestrator (who also wrote much of the incidental music for the series) — accompanies animated scenes taken from several famous pieces of art. Each painting can be loosely associated with one or more of the characters on the show, and it’s a lovely tour through evolving images of women through history.

The opening has won several awards — rightly so — and remains one of the best opening sequences on television today.

Next Up: Doctor Who!

To paraphrase Hedwig, in the late-mid 80′s I was in my early-mid teens. I still often rose early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons (a sadly vanishing ritual). Now, Saturday morning cartoons in east central Illinois, are always sandwiched between farm reports (on at, like, 6am) and community access shows (on at, like, 10am). I remember one morning, I was listlessly flipping through our 4 stations (we never had cable, so were limited to CBS, NBC, ABC, and my beloved PBS) when I happened upon PBS. I adore PBS, but they never had any cartoons on Saturday morning, so it surprised me to see an obviously youth-oriented show’s opening credits when I got there. Though not a cartoon, I was immediately drawn into this little show about kids in a Jr. High that was just like mine, except for their very strange accents. I felt as though I had made this amazing discovery that no-one else knew about, and started watching regularly. It wasn’t until a few months later that I discovered that many other people had also discovered the show. And thus the American template for Degrassi fans is revealed.

Beginning as a workshop production in the late 70′s, The Kids on Degrassi Street was a strictly Canadian phenomenon. It wasn’t until it morphed into Degrassi Jr. High in the late 80′s that it started making inroads into US television, by way of PBS. The show followed a group of kids — played refreshingly by untrained actors who were the appropriate ages — as they made their way through the trials and tribulations of Jr. High. The unknown actors and the realism of the situations gave it an almost documentary feel. It was quite captivating television. When the kids graduated in 1989, the show became Degrassi High and continued on. The show made many headlines by dealing head-on with teen pregnancy. Beloved porcupine-haired Spike got pregnant, decided to keep the baby, dealt with all the crap that goes along with that choice in high school, and gives birth on prom night. It was controversial, but cemented the show into the pop culture landscape as one that fearlessly dealt with the issues that teens really have to go through.

The theme song for both Degrassi Jr. High and Degrassi High is more or less the same. A little synth-bass line drives a very earnest 80′s female vocalist singing about waking up in the morning and going to school. It’s super head-boppy and more than a little corny, but it caught my attention back in the day, and is still a great little pop-tune opening title. The photo-overlap visuals are also priceless…and the hair! The theme song was written by Lewis Manne and Wendy Watson, who also did the lyric tweaks for the transition to high school. I assume it was done on a 4-track with The Zit Remedy’s recording equipment.

After a long hiatus, Degrassi: The Next Generation came back in 2001. Brilliantly, the baby that Spike had on prom night becomes the main character, as she is entering Junior High. The updated series continued the original’s traditions of having age-appropriate actors, most of whom were untrained, dealing with realistic — and often tough — material.  Everything from internet stalkers, abortion, gay issues, school shootings, bullying, date rape, gang violence, and many others. The show is now entering it’s tenth season (and can be seen on TeenNick here in the US!), and will be featuring a transgender teen. Rock on, Degrassi! The new theme song was written by Jim McGrath, Jody Colero, and Stephen Stohn. It has undergone many incarnations — including new versions by Jakalope, and several bands that are comprised of actors on the show — but is still more or less the same. It follows nicely in the footsteps of the original with earnest, optimistic vocals, and an uplifting, synth bass line.

(I am unable to post a link to a video of the Degrassi: The Next Generation opening titles, due to copyright restrictions. I would instead suggest that you either check it out on TeenNick, Netflix it, or grab a copy from your favourite DVD retailer. The creators of the show are awesome, and your continued support means the continuation of an awesome TV franchise.)

Next Up: Desperate Housewives and Doctor Who

Another of the fabulous women composers featured in our series, Yoko Kanno — working with her usual band, The Seatbelts — crafted a brilliant opening title song called “Tank!” for Cowboy Bebop. A crazed, syncopated, punchy, brass arrangement over a frenetic rhythm section blasts over disconnected and stylized images from the series. Just when it settles into a groove, it surprises with artful twists and turns, brash solos, and brilliant flares of virtuosity. From the opening count-off with the violently slapped bass, to the screeching clarinet solo at the end, it’s a fantastic listen every time. It’s rare to hear a theme song allowed to play in its entirety — something almost unheard of in America — but this one is always welcomed and exciting. If only all opening sequences got you this pumped to see what happens next! (Incidentally, Cowboy Bebop is a great series, and well-deserving of its many awards and accolades. Be sure to add it to the list if you haven’t seen it!)

Next Up: Degrassi and Desperate Housewives

However, if you ever want to see three women rocking feathered bangs like nobody’s business, check out an episode of the original Charlie’s Angels.

This precursor to Alias and any other spy show where “hot chicks” wear hotter disguises and kick some ass, is a delightful slice of almost post-feminist late 1970′s television.

The voice over in the opening — done by Dynasty’s John Forsythe (the voice of Charlie) — describes them as “3 little girls”, and tells of his liberating them from jobs where they were under-appreciated and making them FABULOUS! The music, by Jack Elliot and Allyn Ferguson, is 70′s spy-schlock gold. The wah-guitar is amazing, and the string line has that uniquely 70′s cadence, that would be heard in TV theme songs well into the 90′s. This falls nicely into the exposition-opening category, of which there will be quite a few more as our list continues! My favourite quote about this show from Season One star Farrah Fawcett (courtesy of Wikipedia), details her saying that when the show hit #3 on the charts, she attributed it to their acting. When it hit #1, it’s because none of them were ever wearing bras. Gloria Steinem just had an aneurism.

Enjoy!

Next Up: Cowboy Bebop and Degrassi