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The Art Of The Title: 50 Of The Best TV Title Sequences

The Art Of The Title: 50 Of The Best TV Title Sequences

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When starting a new television show, the thing I look forward to the most is the title sequence, so it only felt right to devise this list when I heard the theme was favourite television shows this month.

In early television there wasn’t a huge focus on title sequences; their only purpose was to present the names of the cast members but sometimes we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the characters sporting a smile amid transitions like wipes and dissolves. With frequent exterior shots of the setting bestowed, they were often simply clips spliced from the show itself cut to a theme song. Back in the 80s and 90s, theme songs were the main focus but now the title sequence is as important, if not more.

Title sequences are the creators first chance to grab their audience. Good title sequences express the concept of the show, feature the typographic logo as well as presenting cast members and key production. In the early 90s, title sequences became such an impressive and important part of television that an Emmy Category was devoted to them. Now most television shows consist of extravagant, lavishly produced main title sequences that often last more than a minute. Combining conceptual visuals and memorable songs, there are a number of brilliant, complicated and beautiful title sequences out there. So here are 50 awesome main title sequences, ranging from comedies, dramas and even cartoons.

 

50) Snuffbox

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49) Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place

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48) The Addams Family

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47) Saved By The Bell

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46) Family Guy

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45) Goosebumps

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44) Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

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43) Scooby-Doo

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42) Wacky Races

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41) Top Cat

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40) Doctor Who 

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39) Modern Family

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38) Will And Grace

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37) Sherlock

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36) John From Cincinnati

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35) New Girl

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34) Peep Show

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33) Community

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32) The Big Bang Theory

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31) Workaholics

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30) Arthur

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29) Boardwalk Empire

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28) How I Met Your Mother

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27) The Tudors

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26) The Twilight Zone

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25) Dead Like Me

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24) Charmed

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23) Everybody Loves Raymond

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22) Moomins

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21) Back To You

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20) Parks And Rec

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19) Father Ted

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18) Arrested Development

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17) Friends

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16) Futurama

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15) Daria

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14) The IT Crowd

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13) Dexter

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12) Flight Of The Conchords

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11) The Mighty Boosh

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10) The Simpsons

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9) Buffy The Vampire Slayer

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8) The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air

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7) Malcolm In The Middle

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6) Freaks & Geeks

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5) That 70’s Show

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4) The Sopranos

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3) Mad Men

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2) American Horror Story

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1) True Blood

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