The opening/title/theme sequences to certain TV shows sometimes changed over the life of the series. This may have been due to any number of factors: cast changes (a frequent phenomenon), real-life events (think The Sopranos, which edited out views of the twin towers after 9/11), sometimes just a wholesale change for artistic purposes (the opening of The Cosby Show was completely revamped season to season), or to make it episode-specific (example: Mission:Impossible, where the entire sequence of rapidly-edited visuals accompanying the famous theme music for every episode consisted of clips from that week’s show), etc.
The one specific category to be discussed in this thread: openings in which, while the bulk of the sequence remained the same, a single specific bit, clip or gag was deliberately and systematically changed on almost a weekly basis. The sort of thing that loyal viewers would take notice of and anticipate every week. It seems to be a fairly rare practice, and most of the examples are animated shows or show openings (where such repeated changes were easier to accomplish) -- see if you can think of any to add to this more or less chronological list:
The Mickey Mouse Club – The oldest example, perhaps the pioneering one, which later definitely inspired imitation (see below). The variation coming at the end of each week’s animated opening occurred when Donald hits the gong, and a different gag ensued each time.
The Rockford Files – The classic “answering machine” cold openings, in which every week we heard a different (usually humorous) message being left on Jim’s answering machine. (I understand that as the series went on, coming up with a fresh message every week became rather burdensome, with the staff eventually even using suggested messages submitted by fans, friends, or family!) A rare example of a live action (humans, not muppets, see below) show using this concept, but of course, it was fairly easy to accomplish as just an audio edit with the same unchanging static visual shot of the machine.
The Muppet Show – Clearly in an homage to the original MMC, the creators did a similar ending bit in which something different would happen every week when Gonzo appeared in the “O” of the show’s title logo to blow his trumpet.
Animaniacs – Not quite in the same league, as the variations were not strictly show-to-show, but the opening theme sequence used several variations on the penultimate line of the lyrics (“We’re Animan-ey, totally insan-ey, [insert variant here], Animaniacs!”) with the accompanying visuals also changed. Again, a sort of marginal example as certain variations were used many times, and others less so (some only once or twice). Probably the need for each variation to both rhyme and fit the meter limited the degree to which this could be done.
The Simpsons – Perhaps the most famous example to modern-day viewers, with the changing blackboard messages and “couch gags” every week. Yes, they have occasionally reused some of the couch gags (lazy bums), but there is sufficient variation to merit being more than worthy of inclusion on this list.
Those are all I can think of – any others?
(And BTW, no, I do not include The Dick Van Dyke Show because it only used two variations -- Rob trips over the ottoman, or sidesteps it -- for the last several seasons. Now, if they had changed it every week -- Rob sidesteps the ottoman, but trips over the coffee table; Buddy trips over the ottoman walking to greet Rob; Rob anticipates the ottoman gag, but someone has moved it, so he deliberately puts it back in place and then sidesteps it -- maybe it would have qualified!) <bg>
The one specific category to be discussed in this thread: openings in which, while the bulk of the sequence remained the same, a single specific bit, clip or gag was deliberately and systematically changed on almost a weekly basis. The sort of thing that loyal viewers would take notice of and anticipate every week. It seems to be a fairly rare practice, and most of the examples are animated shows or show openings (where such repeated changes were easier to accomplish) -- see if you can think of any to add to this more or less chronological list:
The Mickey Mouse Club – The oldest example, perhaps the pioneering one, which later definitely inspired imitation (see below). The variation coming at the end of each week’s animated opening occurred when Donald hits the gong, and a different gag ensued each time.
The Rockford Files – The classic “answering machine” cold openings, in which every week we heard a different (usually humorous) message being left on Jim’s answering machine. (I understand that as the series went on, coming up with a fresh message every week became rather burdensome, with the staff eventually even using suggested messages submitted by fans, friends, or family!) A rare example of a live action (humans, not muppets, see below) show using this concept, but of course, it was fairly easy to accomplish as just an audio edit with the same unchanging static visual shot of the machine.
The Muppet Show – Clearly in an homage to the original MMC, the creators did a similar ending bit in which something different would happen every week when Gonzo appeared in the “O” of the show’s title logo to blow his trumpet.
Animaniacs – Not quite in the same league, as the variations were not strictly show-to-show, but the opening theme sequence used several variations on the penultimate line of the lyrics (“We’re Animan-ey, totally insan-ey, [insert variant here], Animaniacs!”) with the accompanying visuals also changed. Again, a sort of marginal example as certain variations were used many times, and others less so (some only once or twice). Probably the need for each variation to both rhyme and fit the meter limited the degree to which this could be done.
The Simpsons – Perhaps the most famous example to modern-day viewers, with the changing blackboard messages and “couch gags” every week. Yes, they have occasionally reused some of the couch gags (lazy bums), but there is sufficient variation to merit being more than worthy of inclusion on this list.
Those are all I can think of – any others?
(And BTW, no, I do not include The Dick Van Dyke Show because it only used two variations -- Rob trips over the ottoman, or sidesteps it -- for the last several seasons. Now, if they had changed it every week -- Rob sidesteps the ottoman, but trips over the coffee table; Buddy trips over the ottoman walking to greet Rob; Rob anticipates the ottoman gag, but someone has moved it, so he deliberately puts it back in place and then sidesteps it -- maybe it would have qualified!) <bg>
