Personally, I loved the opening credits and theme songs. I used to get excited for the new season of a show partly to see what they did to change the credits. Smallville used to make subtle changes to its opening credits. The song that was used was Save Me by Remy Zero. They even appeared in an episode of Smallville where they performed the song. During Seasons 1-4, the opening credits would add different scenes here and there in the credits. Of course, one change in most shows would be when new characters join the show or leave. Smallville drastically changed the design of its opening credits from Season 5 all the way until the end of its run. The song stayed the same. The only time Smallville did not have the opening credits was the Pilot.

Back in the day, most shows had theme songs, and many have become iconic. I Love Lucy and Bewitched had instrumental openings with animated sequences. The Andy Griffith Show had the famous whistling and a shot of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard heading to the lake with fishing poles. These shows were the 50s and 60s. I love Lucy was black and white while Bewitched and The Andy Griffith Show started off black and white and then converted to color. The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda had their respective theme songs at the beginning of the episodes and had end credits that had everyone else’s names. Both shows had their opening credits solely focused on Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper who played Rhoda. They were walking around their respective cities. The Mary Tyler Moore Show used the song Love is All Around penned by Sonny Curtis while Rhoda used an instrumental score.

Tons of hit shows had popular theme songs that would get stuck in people’s head. The Golden Girls had everyone saying, “Thank you for being a friend” while Cheers was the bar where you could go and “everyone would know your name.” The Fresh Prince sets up the premise for the show in the opening credits. Same for The Nanny as well. Friends had the song I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts. That song was a huge hit. Charmed used the song How Soon is Now? By Love Spit Love which was a cover song of The Smiths’ song. The song used in Charmed became a hit. One Tree Hill used Gavin DeGraw’s song I Don’t Wanna Be which became one of Gavin DeGraw’s biggest hits.

Besides the music itself, opening credits provided cool designs for their respective shows. Cheers used photos and paintings of old-school bar revelry with the actors’ names showing up on screen. The Golden Girls showed scenes from the series with the actors’ name showing up over the shots of them. This is usually used the most with TV shows. Dallas did a three-way split screen for each actor. Desperate Housewives used paintings in its early seasons.

As time has gone on, credits have become a dying breed. One Tree Hill had opening credits during Seasons 1-4. During special episodes, it would have a title card and then the episode would continue with the credits on the bottom of the screen. Once Season 5 hit, One Tree Hill cut out the opening credits entirely. It remained this way until Season 8, where after fan complaints, the opening credits returned for the season. Its 9^th and final season went back to the title card. ER did something similar. ER cut out its opening credits at the start of Season 13. When it ended in Season 15, the opening credits came back for the series finale which made fans happy. Desperate Housewives cut out its opening credits after Season 3. Unlike ER and One Tree Hill, the credits were never restored. Grey’s Anatomy used to have opening credits as well. It stopped midway through Season 2.

The reason given for why shows do not have opening credits is due to time constraints. With TV shows that air on broadcast as well as cable have time limits. Half hour sitcoms are really 21-22 minutes long while 1-hour dramas are usually 42-43 minutes long. There is some fluctuation. Some episodes of The Big Bang Theory have clocked in around 18-19 minutes while some dramas clock in around 39-40 minutes. The CW’s 90210 had some episodes that clocked in around 39-40 minutes. Opening Credits usually clocked in around 40-45 seconds depending on the show. One Tree Hill and Charmed usually clocked in around that amount. Back in the day Dallas and Knots Landing had longer credit sequences but even those started to get trimmed down as they continued. When One Tree Hill restored its opening credits for Season 8, it was stated that it was done since the fans wanted it, but it also meant that it would be less content. In truth, it really meant it was 40-45 seconds less of content. I always felt there were ways for shows to do credits without cutting out things from their episodes. I know networks look at advertising and it would mean less commercials.

We are now in an age of streaming. Since Streaming does not have restrictions to how long episodes should be there really is not a reason why shows should not have theme songs or opening credits. It should all be creative choices, but time constraints should not be a factor for streaming. I have noticed newer shows don’t have opening credits. I am currently watching the Netflix show Wednesday. The first episode had opening credits. It was cool, it was inventive, and it fit the tone of the show. I am currently halfway through the season. I have just completed episode 4. I have not seen the opening credits since the first episode. Shadow and Bone is another show that does not have opening credits. All Star Wars and Marvel shows do not have opening credits either on Disney Plus. One could argue that the end credits are considered the opening credits. The Mandalorian technically does have a theme song. Its just at the end as opposed to the beginning. What If? is the only Marvel show that has opening credits. It also is an animated show. Animation typically has opening credits whether its cartoons for kids or cartoons for adults like Family Guy and The Simpsons.

The only shows I have seen with opening credits for Disney Plus is National Treasure: Edge of History. It is not a long sequence and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised that it even had opening credits. Most shows I have watched on Disney Plus typically don’t. The only shows I watch that have opening credits at this point on broadcast or cable networks are Grownish and The Conners. Both sequences are not very long. They are average length. The credits for Grownish I think are a little shorter currently since it has a smaller list of names to go through. There are currently five actors in the credits whereas the previous seasons had up to eight.

One thing I found refreshing and exciting when I first got Netflix was that their original shows seemed to have opening credits. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has opening credits and they are long. It clocks in around 1 minute and thirty seconds give or take. I remember when I first started watching the show, I was surprised that there were credits. I was used to the fact that most shows don’t have opening credits. I watched The Politician, from Ryan Murphy creator of Glee, and that show also has opening credits. Every show is different. I was pleasantly surprised when the CW’s reboot of Dynasty had opening credits. Some of the CBS shows have them too. After watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Politician it showed me that streaming services really could do opening credits and be as creative and inventive as they want. Both sequences for those particular shows are fairly long compared to the average on network or cable TV.

I believe opening credit sequences are a dying breed and it makes me sad. Yes, in the grand scheme of things its not that big of a deal. It does not take away from the shows themselves which is true. Tons of my favorite shows do not have theme songs or credit sequences. It is something I miss seeing. I am currently watching older shows Dawson’s Creek, Gilmore Girls, and The O.C. which all have opening credits. I can always rewatch my favorite shows that have opening credits whenever I want. Even back in the day there were shows that did not have opening credits either. Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond never had them when they aired in the 90s. Boy Meets World, another 90s show had opening credits in Season 1. By Season 2 through the rest of its run, it did not. It had opening sequences, but the actors’ names did not pop up until once the episode was airing. The Hulu Show Only Murders in the Building does have an opening credits sequence as well. There are exceptions to the rule no matter which way you look at it. I also am aware that this based off shows I have watched. When it comes to Streaming specifically, unless I comb through every original series on Netflix and other streaming services, I will not fully know how many of those series have opening credits. I think opening credits are like icing on a cake. You don’t necessarily need it, but it is nice to have especially when done right.