The Greatest TV Intros Ever

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Where Have All the TV Intros Gone?

Do you remember a time when television shows had really great intros?

Back in the 60s and up until about the 80s, program makers loved to entice their audience with some very exciting opening credits which were almost like a mini movie in themselves.

It seems that those days are now gone and instead we have either no program opening or a poor excuse for one. Broadcasters are more interested in condensing these down to allow for either commercials or to tell the audience what's coming up next. It seems that the good old intro has suffered at the hands of the advertisers.

Thanks to the internet, these intros can be found playing over a wide range of video sites and I have gathered together what I believe to be several of the greatest intros ever. Now, of course, this list is purely subjective and there are plenty more shows out there with great intros, but these are my personal favorites.

Also included towards the end of the page is an all time classic kid's program, which used to be shown in England and Europe repeatedly back in the Sixties and Seventies. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe had a very short intro, but had one of the most magnificent theme tunes, which can be heard in this video. Play it a couple of times and you too will be hooked.

In fact, as well as having great intros, these TV shows had some of the greatest theme tunes too. So, travel back and enjoy these memories from yesteryear.

Some Great TV Themes 

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Star Trek 

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Star Trek: The Story So Far 

The History of Star Trek

Star Trek Transporter


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Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.

The original Category: Star Trek - : The Original Series|Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise. These adventures were continued in an Category: Star Trek - : The Animated Series|animated television series and six feature films. Four more t...

Mission: Impossible 

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Mission: Impossible: The Facts 

The History of Mission: Impossible

Peter Graves

Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The leader of the team was Category: List of Mission - : Impossible characters#Jim Phelps|Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in the first season, during which the leader was Category: List of Mission - : Impossible characters#Dan Briggs|Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill.

A hallmark of the series shows Phelps receiving his instructions on a tape that then self destructs, accompanied by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin, which is widely considered to be one of the most iconic television themes.

The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973. It returned to television, as a Category: Mission - : Impossible (1988 TV series)|revival, for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990 and later inspired a popular Category: Mission - : Impossible feature films|trio of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames in the 1990s and 2000s, with the role of Phelps played by Jon Voight.

CHiPs 

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CHiPs Information 

The History of CHiPs

2005 TV Land Awards - Press Room

CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now owned by Turner Entertainment) that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977 to June 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol. The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons.

CHiPs On DVD 

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Hawaii 5-0 

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Hawaii 5-0: Booked 

The History of Hawaii 5-0

James Macarthur


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Hawaii Five-O is an American television series that starred Jack Lord in the lead role for a fictional Hawaii state police department. The show ran for 12 seasons, from 1968 to 1980. The twelfth season was repackaged into syndication under the title McGarrett.

Hill Street Blues: Be Careful Out There 

The History of Hill Street Blues

Hill Street Blues is a serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987."Hill Street Blues" (1981) Reruns are currently being aired on AmericanLife TV Network on weekday nights in the United States, and on weekday afternoons on digital network More 4 in the United Kingdom. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received high critical acclaim and its production innovations proved highly influential on serious dramatic television series produced in North America. Its debut season achieved eight Emmy awards, a debut season record surpassed only by The West Wing, and the show received a total of 98 Emmy Award nominations during its run.

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Thunderbirds 

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Thunderbirds Are Go! 

The History of Thunderbirds

The Tracy Family

Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation". The series followed the adventures of International Rescue, an organisation created to help those in grave danger using technically advanced equipment and machinery. The series focused on the head of the organisation, ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his five sons who piloted the "Thunderbird" machines. Perenially popular, the series is still shown today and has inspired a number of subsequent television programmes and films.

Thunderbirds on DVD 

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The Persuaders 

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The Persuaders! - Curtis & Moore 

The History of The Persuaders!

Tony Curtis and Roger Moore Ham It up on the Set of the Television Series the Persuaders

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The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most expensive of Sir Lew Grade's international action adventure series".

It starred Tony Curtis as Danny Wilde, and Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair, two international playboys. Much of the humour of the sh...

The Persuaders! On DVD 

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The Prisoner 

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The Prisoner - I Am Not A Number! 

The History of The Prisoner

40th Anniversary Of TV Show "The Prisoner"

The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968.As noted in Andrew Pixley's 2007 The Prisoner - A Complete Production Guide book, the first UK premiere was 29 September 1967 on ATV Midlands and the last episode first aired aired on 1 February 1968 on Scottish Television.The world broadcast premiere was on the CTV Television Network in Canada on 5 September 1967.Toronto Star, 5 September 1967, p. 22 Starring and co-created by Pa...

The Prisoner on DVD 

The Prisoner: The Complete Series (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)

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Though it ran for a mere 17 episodes, the British sci-fi spy drama "The Prisoner" is one of television's biggest cult hits. The brainchild of star Patrick McGoohan, the series followed the adventures of No. 6 (McGoohan) a former secret agent who is being held captive in a highly secured village - the location of which remains a mystery throughout the series.

This groundbreaking and innovative show reached an unfortunate end when British TV bosses got cold feet following low ratings and increasingly strange story lines. But McGoohan himself took control and steered the show to an ending that continues to cause great debate among The Prisoner's faithful fans. This release includes the entire series of the show.

The Prisoner Memorabilia 

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The Avengers 

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The Avengers - You're Needed 

The History of The Avengers

Avengers Airport

The Avengers on DVD 

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Great Avengers Deals 

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Doctor Who 

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Doctor Who - Exterminate! 

The History of Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious, humanoid alien known as "the Doctor" who travels through time and space in his spacecraft, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box. With his companions, he explores time and space, faces a variety of foes and rights wrongs.

The programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction televisio...

Doctor Who Cult Collectibles 

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Department S 

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Department S: The Facts 

The History of Department S

Department S was a British spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series lasted for 28 episodes, which aired in 1969-70. The series starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King (who later went on to star in his own, eponymous, spin-off series), Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department (the 'S' of the title) of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse (pl...

The Invaders 

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The Invaders - The Nightmare 

The History of The Invaders

The Invaders Collectibles 

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The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 

Superb Theme Music

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The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe - The Facts 

The History of The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe () was a French children's television drama series made by Franco London Films (a.k.a. FLF Television Paris). The show was first aired in Germany in October 1964 under the title Robinson Crusoe as four 90 minute episodes by co-producers ZDF television, and syndicated in the USA the same year. It was first aired in the UK in 1965 as a 13 part serial, this English dubbed version produced by Henry Deutschmeister also had a new musical soundtrack composed by Robert Mellin and P. Reverberi which gave the serial a more strident and appealing theme tune than the music composed by George Van Parys for the French/German original. It was based on the first of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe novels, but is perhaps best remembered for the haunting theme music composed for the English language version - recreated since by bands such as The Art of Noise.

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About the Author 

Lensmaster JustBon-Crochet-Designs has been a member since January 4 2007, has rated 1,109 lenses, favorited 370, and has created 149 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Handsome Hunky Men Headquarters". See all my lenses

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by JustBon-Crochet-Designs

I have always enjoyed classic television shows, as well as their related intros and theme music. These are some of the best television intros.



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