Thursday Movie Picks (TV Edition): Opening Title Sequences

 

For the 12th week of 2021 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We return to the world of television in opening title sequences as it always presents something memorable to set up the show and what people are going to watch. It introduces the players in the show and all sorts of things as here are my three picks that would inspire episodes of the Marvel TV series WandaVision with themes written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez:

1. Bewitched





The show that ran from 1964 to 1972 about a witch who marries an ordinary man and tries to lead a normal life for him is considered an iconic show that play into the silliness of married life with a witch having to deal with her mother who wants her to leave her husband. It is a show that opens with an inventive sequence told in hand-drawn animation as it plays into the silliness of Samantha’s desire for a normal life with her husband Darrin. It is an iconic intro that would be the inspiration for the second episode Don’t Touch That Dial that pays homage to the show and its introduction.





2. Malcolm in the Middle





The early 2000s sitcom about the life of a kid and his dysfunctional family as they try to live their lives while dealing with all sorts of problems was popular during its 7 season run from 2000 to 2006 as it focused on a middle child with three siblings and parents who are eccentric yet loving as he is the smartest kid of them all but has trouble relating to his family. The episode’s intro that is performed by the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants as it plays into the manic energy of the series. It would be the inspiration for the sixth episode of the series All-New Halloween Spooktacular! in which its intro song is sung by riot grrl artist Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.





3. The Munsters





The classic 1960s TV series that only ran from 1964 to 1966 about a family of monsters that mixes that mixes horror-comedy with the tropes of the sitcoms was a short-lived series that does remain popular in its aftermath. Notably as it features an introduction piece that sets up the series with a rock n’ roll-based music intro that was kind of a new thing for its time. Yet, the theme would be the inspiration for a major twist in the episode Breaking the Fourth Wall in which a character reveals herself and with her own theme intro that has now become a really popular song in Agatha All Along.





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