TV’s Longest Opening Credits, Ranked — Which Are Actually Worth the Watch?

Team TVLine
·6 min read
TV’s Longest Opening Credits, Ranked — Which Are Actually Worth the Watch?
TV’s Longest Opening Credits, Ranked — Which Are Actually Worth the Watch?

A funny thing happened with TV show opening credits over the decades. They were long… and then got really short… and then got extra-long again!

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Opening title sequences used to regularly be long and leisurely, trotting out the names and/or faces of cast members, punctuated by glimpses of their fictional world. The Fall Guy (set to a title track crooned by star Lee Majors himself), Dallas, Happy Days and Dynasty are but a handful of examples whose opening credits easily broke a minute-and-a-half in length, while the full (and eventually truncated) Twin Peaks opening ran 2 minutes, 40 seconds!

But then… but then the number of commercial minutes being sold per hour grew, and the first place that TV producers went to reclaim their lost storytelling time was through the trimming, if not chopping, of opening credits. The almighty Lost, for example, only gave you a 14-second, floating logo!

The advent of cable but more so streaming — a platform without ads (😂) and without structured running times — returned to producers the option, at least, of indulging (and ohhhh, how some have indulged) in longer, sometimes-laborious opening credits. But for every overly serious expounding on circles or silo machinery, you might get a jaunty gem that truly rocks.

Below, the TVLine staff brainstormed many of the longest opening credits on current, non-cancelled series , ranked from shortest (at least 60 seconds) to longest. We then offered a handy guide to whether we feel you should WATCH these XL sequences most every time, or if you should frankly lunge for that “SKIP INTRO” button.

STRANGER THINGS (60 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
Those ominous synths and simple but hypnotic graphics set the stage for Upside Down goings-on too perfectly for us to ever fast-forward.

SWEET MAGNOLIAS (60 seconds)

— SKIP! —
It’s ironic that the lyrics to Sweet Magnolias’ theme song begin with “You don’t owe me one more minute of your wasted time,” because the opening credits last exactly one minute, and sitting through them would in fact be time wasted. (They’re not “bad,” just blah!)

SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS (60 seconds)

SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS (60 seconds)
SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS (60 seconds)

— SKIP! —
Unless you need a refresher on who plays who — which, let me tell ya a story, kids, is all that opening credits used to be about — this montage of faces and emblems of military might is non-essential viewing. (No video available, but you could seek it out on Paramount+…?)

FOR ALL MANKIND (65 seconds)

— SKIP! —
The snoozy golden images and quiet orchestral theme song are nowhere near as thrilling as the show’s space action.

THE LAST OF US (65 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
Fungus ekes its way through the sequence, contaminating everything it touches until it transforms into the silhouettes of the show’s central pair. Talk about setting the mood!

THE CROWN (75 seconds)

— SKIP! —
Watching strands of liquid gold forming a literal crown is kinda cool the first time — although a bit of a Game of Thrones rip-off — but after that, you might as well jump ahead to the latest royal drama.

SEVERANCE (80 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
Designer Oliver Latta’s haunting visuals perfectly illustrate the series’ problematic approach to work-life balance.

PACHINKO (85 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
To create the most rewatchable opening credits on this list, Apple TV+’s multigenerational drama took the titular set, then invited cast from all of its timelines to dance amongst themselves to the Grass Roots’ 1967 cover of “Let’s Live for Today,” by the British band The Rokes. Simply a joy.

PEACEMAKER (85 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
The good news: The 90-second song-and-awkward dance number, set to Wig Wam’s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It,” was instantly iconic.

The bad news: Given inevitable and significant cast changes, Season 2 will need a new opening that can only hope to be as entertaining.

EVIL (85 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
The stark sequence changes a little each season (see also: the bloody icepick) but never fails to invoke the classiest, sleekest, most watch-through-your-fingers sense of dread.

THE WHITE LOTUS (90 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
This intoxicating mix of classical art and thumping dance beats is an absolute banger, and we wouldn’t dream of cutting it short.

THE ORVILLE (90 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
With New Horizons (aka Season 3) came a new opening that amped up the scope of the flying and swooping visuals, as the camera takes the viewer on a tour of the titular vessel’s out-of-this-world world.

THE GILDED AGE (90 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
The drama! The splendor! The strings! Not only do we willingly sit through this over-the-top masterpiece every week, but we often find ourselves pausing to appreciate newly discovered details.

YELLOWJACKETS (90 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
The grainy VHS footage and quick MTV-style cuts here are certainly ’90s era-appropriate, but it’s the perfectly grungy rocker of a theme song that won’t let us press the “SKIP” button. 

WINNING TIME (90 seconds)

— SKIP! —
This lengthy montage of vintage ’80s L.A. scenes, backed by an anachronistic hip-hop track by The Coup, unfortunately matches the decade it covers: flashy, but way too self-indulgent.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER (90 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
Howard Shore and Bear McCreary’s powerful theme accompanied by the stunning visuals that pay homage to Tolkien’s beloved Middle-earth make these lengthy opening credits a no-skip affair.

SILO (95 seconds)

— SKIP! —
Dark, muddy sketches, pans and close-ups of the titular structure accomplish nothing besides barely setting the dystopian scene.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (100 seconds)

— SKIP! —
Unless you really like to watch blood course from one sigil to the next, you’ll be bored 10 seconds in.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS (110 seconds)

— WATCH IT! —
No matter how many times we’ve watched this beautiful opening sequence, featuring Jeff Russo’s incredible score as well as lovely nods to the original series, we’ll never tire of seeing it before each episode of the Paramount+ series.

THE MORNING SHOW (120 seconds)

— SKIP! —
Designer Angus Wall previously told Deadline that the idea behind the title sequence was to use dots as a metaphor “for people and the struggle to become who you are, to individuate and to find your place” — but it ultimately just looks like a very expensive screensaver.

SECRET INVASION (120 seconds)

— SKIP! —
This series of morphing, sometimes-grotesque caricatures proves that even A.I. can have bad taste.

What are your most favorite opening credits from a current TV series? Hit the comments with your own picks and pans!

ALSO: Revisit the Best TV Theme Songs of the
1950s/60s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

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