Act Four: The art of an opening credits sequence

In the world of peak TV, there's no one best approach to opening credits.   Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics   Jemaine Clement as Oliver Bird in “Legion.” A show that takes place, in part, in a giant psychic ice cube, deserves a trippy credits sequence to match. (Michelle Faye/FX) Every week, I answer a question from the Monday Act Four Live chat in the Wednesday edition of this newsletter. To read the transcript of the May 1 chat, click here. And to submit questions for the May 8 chat, click here. This week, a reader asks about an under-looked part of television-making: What role does the opening credits sequence play in TV nowadays? How important do you think it is for mood setting, introducing themes, etc.? I don’t want to speak for everyone making television these days, but my favorite credits sequences these days are the ones that change slightly every episode to give you a sense of what’s coming, or get you in the mood. To give you one prominent example, the map of Westeros and Essos in the opening credits of “Game of Thrones” shifts with every episode to tell the viewers which cities — and thus which storylines — the sprawling show will visit in the hour of television that’s about to follow. In “Girls,” the show’s logo is rendered in different colors and fonts, and appears on screen to different music in a way that gives the viewer an emotional heads-up. “Legion” did something similar in its first season, and I appreciated the way it demonstrated the show’s mastery of a wide range of styles. That said, there’s nothing artistically lacking about a credits sequence that stays the same, if it works. Since Alan Sepinwall and Linda Holmes pointed out to me that you can sing the phrase “Jabba the Hutt!” to the theme music for “Parks and Recreation,” I do it every time I hear that song. And it would be a travesty to remove “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” from “Cheers.” A show that basically tries to do one thing and does it extremely well should totally have a consistent credits sequence, just as a show that does a lot of very different things may really benefit from a shifting credits sequence. The best thing about television right now is that there’s no such thing as one size fits all. ADVERTISEMENT   Showrunner Dan Goor on the ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ stop-and-frisk episode and the Talk "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" finally did the episode about race and policing its co-creator has been planning for years. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   In Scaachi Koul’s debut essay collection, life is ridiculous–and deadly serious "One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter" is a sharp-elbowed rebuke to limited ideas about what writing can be By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   The Trump-Duterte bromance, and the ghastly realities of wars on drugs If Trump wants to talk carnage, he should take a closer look at the drug war of the man he just invited to the White House. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   Stephen Bannon wrote a movie about the 1992 L.A. riots. Now, you can finally watch it. Bannon's bizarre mash-up of Shakespeare and an attempt at African American vernacular gets a full staged reading. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Silicon Valley’ Season 4, Episode 2 Review: ‘Terms of Service’ "Silicon Valley" takes on the tragedy of the self-defeating tech CEO. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   The Health 202 Your daily guide to Washington's health-care debate. Sign Up »         Share Act Four:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Act Four. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071