TV Show Openings Which Changed Over Time

[mleach]

Going WAY back..the old Joan Davis sitcom "I Married Joan", I remember seeing three different intros used.

Most of the episodes opened with Joan Davis near a wedding cake and that theme " I Married Joan...what a .....". Then some annnouncer calls Joan "Queen of Comedy" and "America's favorite comedy show" (?) and then introduces Jim Backus as "Judge Bradley J. Stevens".

however I have also seen this....

the opening featured Joan being carried by a group of other women and while the theme was still there ( added with a bunch of "woo hoo"s in it ) also the theme seemed to have done at a faster pace too..then the announcer says pretty much only "Joan Davis.....and Jim Backus...in...." then the singers sing "I Married Joan".

and this...

the opening shows Joan standing behind a car with words "just married" on a sign behind it and then comes another sign to go along with that "just married"..."and it wasn't easy" (?)

Sorry for the (?)..been awhile since I have seen I Married Joan.

 

[Braves2005]

The Patty Duke Show changed openings with each season:

1963-1964: Patty and Cathy are standing together playing like they are looking in a mirror, Cathy comes downstairs wearing a ball gown while Patty is dancing at the malt shop, among other things.

1964-1965: Patty and Cathy are standing in school in front of the lockers talking, among many other things.

1965-1966: Cathy is shown first, and then Patty is shown next smiling, and then they are both in their room talking, and there are scenes from that season where Patty is shown with curlers in her hair and Patty dancing with a band in her room and then Patty has her head stuck in the plumbing under the sink and then Patty walking home from school putting on Chap-stick. There are minor changes when Jean Byron is featured, first in the first few episodes of the season she is shown standing and smiling while for the rest of the season she is shown talking on the phone.

 

[nightfly61]

The Twilight Zone had 2 different...the early ones with the eye & the later famous music bed with the "You're traveling through another dimension..."

Family Ties changed their song halfway through the 1st season to the Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. "Without Us" then around season 3 or 4 the whole intro changed because Andy was born :. That's when I watched it much less. Call me a heel but I've never been one to watch "too- cute child actors" say things a child WOULD NEVER SAY. (especially about politics). Even Jennifer was like that the 1st season. :

The Sarah Connor Chronicles has a new open this season.

Beverly Hillbillies had about 3
...and many many more!

 

[bpatrick]

Daytime is not immune (and I don't mean soaps
changing openings and theme songs, since that's
pretty common). Here are a couple of game-show
changes:

Let's Make A Deal: In the beginning Jay Stewart
would say "Would YOU trade up to (amount of money)
for one of these three doors...knowing that behind one
of them is a prize worth (again, amount of money)?
Several people have to make that decision during the
next few minutes as we bring you the marketplace of
America...LET'S...MAKE..A DEAL!"

Later this changed to: "THESE people, dressed as they are,
come from all over the United States to make deals here in
the marketplace of America...LET'S...MAKE...A DEAL!"

The Price Is Right: In the first week or so Johnny Olsen called
on the first four contestants to "stand up" rather than "Come
on down!"

To Tell The Truth: In the Bud Collyer version Bern Bennett (or
Johnny Olsen) would ask, "Number One, what is your name, please?"
(Number 1 says) "Number 2?" (Number 2 says) "Number 3" (Number
3 says). Only one of these three people is the real _____________
and will try to fool this panel: Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean,
and Kitty Carlisle on TO TELL THE TRUTH!"

When Garry Moore took over, Johnny (or Bill Wendell) would say,
"Ladies and gentlemen, GARRY MOORE!" Garry would enter, say a
few words about the first "central subject," then "We'll meet him (her)
after we meet our panel here on 'To Tell The Truth'". Then the
announcer would introduce the panel while the famous "It's a lie, lie"
theme song played.

The last season of "What's My Line?" (1974-75) opened with the
announcer (Chet Gould) saying something about one of the two
contestants, then introducing the panel, rather than the traditional
practice of the panelists introducing each other with the last (Arlene
Francis in syndication) introducing the host.

 

[bpatrick]

"The Odd Couple," IIRC, did not use the "On November 13, Felix
Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence"
narrative in the first or fifth (last) seasons.

And don't forget that "The Partridge Family" changed its theme
song from "Come On, Get Happy" to "When We're Singing."

The November 13th part on The Odd Couple did not happen until the middle of the 1st season and it lasted until the end of the 3rd season. After that, from 1973 to 1975, they showed scenes from past episodes of the show mixed in with several outside shots of Tony Randall and Jack Klugman doing various things (playing tennis, jogging, etc.)

And you have The Partridge Family theme songs mixed up. In the 1970-1971 season, the theme song was "When We're Singing" and then from 1971-1974, the theme song became "Come On, Get Happy." Years ago, when I watched reruns of the show, I always thought that Come On, Get Happy was actually the theme all the way through until years later when they showed the 1970-1971 season reruns on FOX Family, they brought back the song "When We're Singing" and it was the first time I had ever heard the song in my life.

Indeed, I've found a couple of sources that prove you're right about
"The Partridge Family" (which also proves two other things: my memory's
getting short and also just how much of a fan of the show I was--not
at all). Again, blame my error re "The Odd Couple" on a memory lapse;
I never remember the "on November 13" opening in the first season, but
again I stand corrected.

I do, however, stick to my guns on the others; on another thread,
though, someone mentioned that in the next-to-last season of "The Mary
Tyler Moore Show" the theme song was truncated to little more than
"you're going to make it after all," but the whole song was reinstated
for the seventh and last season.

One other no one has mentioned: "Gunsmoke." The famous showdown
scene where Matt Dillon guns down a bad guy was replaced by shots
of him riding across the plains after Congress got nervous about violence
on television following the Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy assassinations.

 

[Kurt Toy]

Gilligan's Island in its first season had the theme with "and the rest", and in seasons 2-3 [the color years] "The Professor and Mary Ann".

 

[Kurt Toy]

Oops, didn't know it was on another thread, my bad!

 

[Braves2005]

When Gunsmoke changed to color in 1966, they started using the picture frame opening of the cast (I don't know if they used it when the black and white 1 hour shows were aired between 1961 to 1966) where the announcer said "Gunsmoke!! With Milburn Stone as Doc, Amanda Blake as Kitty, Ken Curtis as Festus, the guy who played Thad Greenwood in 1966-1967, and then after he left, Buck Taylor as Newly, and starring James Arness as Matt Dillon. Later on, there was no announcer that did this and I think that this happened sometime during 1971 they did this. In the 20th and final season after Amanda Blake left the show in 1974, the picture frame opening was replaced by upclose shots of Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor and James Arness.

 

[anotherguyTN]

The Cosby Show was mentioned earlier. Not only did it have a different opening every season, (except for the season with the mural that was disputed) but there was a different arrangement of the theme song. The one I liked the best was the one on the sax (I'm not sure who did it) where they're dancing in front of the sign for the Apollo Theater, then the doo wop version by Bobby McFerrin. The one I hated was the one with a classical version and they were doing ballet. I know some people probably liked that one, but I didn't.

 

[nightfly61]

The Twilight Zone had 2 different...the early ones with the eye & the later famous music bed with the "You're traveling through another dimension..."

Family Ties changed their song halfway through the 1st season to the Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. "Without Us" then around season 3 or 4 the whole intro changed because Andy was born :. That's when I watched it much less. Call me a heel but I've never been one to watch "too- cute child actors" say things a child WOULD NEVER SAY. (especially about politics). Even Jennifer was like that the 1st season. :

The Sarah Connor Chronicles has a new open this season.

Beverly Hillbillies had about 3
...and many many more!

Oops! Just caught my own mistake! It was Deniece Williams & Johnny Mathis.