Why Do TV Title Sequences Have So Much … Stuff?

Have you noticed that there’s a lot of stuff on TV lately?

I don’t mean sitcoms and dramas. I mean stuff. Matter. Material. Substances. Particularly in opening title sequences of TV series, where all manner of effluvia flows, wends and re-forms, though the magic of C.G.I., into shapes and symbols that echo the themes of the program.

In “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” the Tolkien prequel that concerns the forging of the titular enchanted jewelry, gold dust swirls into images of circles, tree branches and other symbols resonant of the saga:

In “The Last of Us,” it’s the fungi responsible for turning humankind into zombies, which spreads across the screen, creating landscapes and images of the central characters:

In “The Wheel of Time,” it’s threads, the medium through which magic is “weaved” in the fantasy series:

In “Foundation,” more dust, or rather the grains of colored sand that are used to create artworks in the culture of its sci-fi empire:

Do you get it? You can hardly not. Whether they work in sand or spores, heavy-handed metaphor is the true material of choice for all these opening titles. The series are different in genres and tone. But all of them seem to have collectively decided that the best way to convey the sense of epic event TV is with an overture of shape-shifting, literal-minded screen-saver art.

To understand how TV titles ended up in this pattern, it’s useful to understand where they started out. They functioned, in the early days of TV, to welcome in viewers and keep them from changing the channel. They might set a mood, as did the let’s-mosey-to-the-fishing-hole whistle of “The Andy Griffith Show” …

… or literally tell a story, establishing the premise of a series for newcomers, as did the twangy themes of “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Dukes of Hazzard”:

Over the decades, as commercial breaks on ad-supported TV got longer, network sitcom credits were often squeezed down into a few seconds of musical “stings” and title cards, as with the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it intro of “Happy Endings”:

But cable, especially ambitious channels like HBO, FX and AMC, went in the opposite direction. These were outlets that wanted to get attention for being, in the slogan of HBO, “Not TV” — at least not TV as usual. Their marquee dramas aimed at literary sweep and cinematic scale, and they announced themselves with grand, scene-setting opening titles that evoked this, like the gritty North Jersey journey of “The Sopranos”:

Or the scene setter of “Mad Men,” a sleek, period-appropriate design that imagined a protagonist’s fall from the cold heights of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper:

This mode of opening sequence arguably reached its apex with “Game of Thrones” in 2011, whose titles were an ingenious joining of form and function. The series was adapted from a complex, multivolume saga of novels by George R.R. Martin, with action taking place among dozens of characters spread across myriad lands on multiple fictional continents.

The sprawl of the series was a lot for viewers to hold in their heads. So the opening titles, like the front matter of a fantasy book, gave them a map. Westeros, its surrounding lands, and their various fortresses and citadels sprung up like the workings of a wondrous medieval machine:

The images suggested the feel of this world, but they also served a practical purpose, telling the viewer: Here is where this location is, and this one, and here is how far these characters are away from those. (Cleverly, the titles changed with each episode to depict the specific places where that installment’s action took place.)

When HBO followed “Thrones” with the prequel “House of the Dragon,” it essentially spun off the credits as well. Look familiar?

Here the form also has something of a meaning. A river of blood spills forth, connecting the symbols of various royal houses, echoing the series’ focus on genealogies and bloodlines. But really — especially with the reuse of the “Thrones” theme music — the primary message is: Here is another series from that world that you love, and there will be plenty more murdering.

This approach may have reached its ultimate travesty in the titles of “Those About to Die,” the gladiator serial that promises bloody good times by dumping an absolute tsunami of the red stuff on a collection of Roman artifacts:

While you fetch yourself a towel, I should note that there is fortunately still plenty of creativity in modern TV titles, even some of those that follow this popular “borrow an image from the series” format.

The opening screenscape of Netflix’s adaptation of “The Decameron,” for instance, draws on the visual metaphor of the bubonic plague — specifically rats, the ink-drawn bodies of whom swarm across the credits forming a chalice, praying hands, a skull. Granted, it’s not for rodentophobes, but it’s a startlingly beautiful animation that puts across the dark-comic sensibility of the series:

In the recently ended “Evil,” created by Michelle and Robert King, the titles follow the pattern of the amazing sequence from the Kings’ “The Good Fight.” For “Evil,” a drama about a team of investigators for the Catholic Church who balanced belief and skepticism while investigating possessions and other phenomena, black and white objects (accessorized with tasteful splashes of red) collide in a ballet of Heaven and Hell:

Why does all this matter? (And why shouldn’t you just skip the credits?) Because an opening title sequence is more than a pretty picture. It’s a vehicle for distilling and concentrating the spirit and ideas of a series.

The best titles, like the best series, tell you to expect original concepts, engaging turns and a distinctive voice. They can entice you with a sense of play, like the otherworldly visuals for “Severance” (I will not spoil the new sequence for Season 2, which begins Friday on Apple TV+, but it’s a humdinger.)

A good title sequence gets you ready to be entertained, but it is also a work of art in itself. It delights. It mesmerizes. Above all, it tells you that you are not just sitting down to watch more of the same stuff.

Videos via Prime Video (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”); HBO (“The Last of Us,” “The Sopranos,” “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon”); Amazon Studios (“The Wheel of Time”); Apple TV + (“Foundation” and Severance”); CBS (“The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Dukes of Hazzard”); ABC (“Happy Endings”); AMC (“Mad Men”); Peacock (“Those About to Die”); Netflix (“The Decameron”); Paramount+ (“Evil”).

Produced by Tala Safie and Jolie Ruben