TV Show Opening Credits - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I’ve been watching Californication on Netflix these last few weeks, and while I’m enjoying the show, I can’t stand the opening credits sequence.  While the music isn’t so bad, it certainly isn’t great, I find the visuals to be very off putting.  Some of them look amateurish while the rest seem to be shot with a classic 70’s filter making the scenes seem retro.  Nothing else with the rest of the show uses that retro vibe so I’m confused with the use of that type of cinematography in the opening.

My dislike for this opening credits sequence in Californication got me thinking about ones that I actually do like.  I think the best I’ve seen in a long time is from Netfix’s House of Cards.  The music is powerful and the time-lapse video sequence of various locales in and around Washington D.C. is very well done.  When watching the show, a part of me wants to see the opening credits!  A few months after finishing House of Cards, I started watching Damages, which pre-dates House of Cards by a few years.  In watching this opening sequence, I had to wonder if it inspired the House of Cards team.  While the style of music is very different, it’s a similar sequence of scenes in New York City from morning through evening.  It’s not quite as good as HoC, but it’s also well done.  The edginess of the song “When I get through with you” is very appropriate for the underlying battle between the show’s two main protagonists.

A current show with a powerful opening sequence is American Horror Story.  When I first started watching Season 1, I was very disturbed by the music (if you can even call it that) and the images.  I started fast-forwarding through it because of the visceral reaction it was eliciting.  I didn’t like how it made me feel!  Writing this now, it’s hard to recall the emotions, but I know that the sequence took me to a place outside of my comfort zone with respect to horror.  Of course, that doesn’t mean this isn’t a good opening.  It may in fact be too good, and that’s why I can’t handle it.  In Season 2, I continued my strategy of fast-forwarding and averting my eyes from the screen to avoid discomfort, and it’s been successful.  The show can be creepy enough without the opening sequence.