Bookshelves have a certain gravity. They suck me in. The reason they suck me in? So many stories are suggested there that I cannot resist their allure.
Of course, bookshelves aren’t the only things that hint at stories.
When I was but a young tot, there was this show on PBS, often airing Sunday afternoons. My family watched it pretty often. You might have heard of it… Doctor Who?
Anyway, I pretty distinctly remember this particular opening theme sequence:
So, maybe for you that one minute is a curiosity, an abomination, or maybe something terribly dated. But for me? Seeing that galaxy swirling in the background, and then to see the Tardis – that wonderful Time And Relative Dimension In Space – that blue police box zooming around the cosmos, knowing that every pinprick of light could be another destination for the Doctor and his companion (only one at the time), oh, that lit my mind afire. All those stories! Where would they end up next? The planet of the Happiness Patrol? Maybe visiting The Greatest Show in the Galaxy? It could be anywhere – maybe even earth! (Though I admit I usually didn’t care for those episodes at the time.)
Something similar would happen with this opening sequence:
That map.
That map.
How often do television shows open with maps?
(Yeah yeah Game of Thrones, but that’s so recent. It certainly didn’t affect me as a child! I’m hoping it doesn’t overly affect too many children directly… I’ve read the first novel and enjoyed it, but it’s hardly kid appropriate now, issit?)
But every time I saw that map, I couldn’t wait to see the show. Where would we go this time? What part of the map would we get to see?
For neither it particularly mattered to me where we would be this episode (usually); just knowing it could be anywhere blew me away. Each place on the map, each star, could be another story.
Did any television show openings do that to you? Invite you in with the incredible possibility of stories to be told? Now, I’m not asking what was a good television theme. There are so many of those! I’m asking specifically about ones that tickled with all the possibilities of so many different stories. I suppose A-Team did that fairly well, too, come to think of it!
What do you think?
As for me… I’m going to go do some nostalgic listening of old TV themes now…
Jonathon Mast: Author 