Favorite Opening Credit Sequence from a Star Trek TV show

[Griffeytrek]

It's interesting to compare the themes in close proximity - you realise how militaristic most of the Berman-era ones were. You can imagine any of them played at a ceremonial occasion, flags fluttering, troops saluting.
Compared to these I guess you can argue that ENT's theme choice, however misguided, was an attempt to return to civilian virtues as represented by a more popular musical style.

Today was actually the first time I heard the TAS theme! Very 70s. If they'd got Barry Gray to write it, it might actually have been good.
I chose TOS seasons 2-3 for the full-on exotica stylings, which now sound utterly unique.
DS9 seasons 1-3 for its mood of the loneliness of space and sense of mission; the added whooshes for the shuttlepod fly-bys in the later version drag it down.
I chose ENT for the visuals, not the song! I note the poll doesn't differentiate the two versions, with the later "upbeat" version having added percussion. Fair enough; the later version is generally agreed to be inferior.
The Mirror Darkly credits always get me stirred up: "Hell yeah, kill those dirty aliens - Humans rule!" I imagine this is how Trump supporters feel most of the time.

I'm surprised how much support the VOY credit sequence is getting. I always found it moderately pleasant but dull.

I always thought the main TAS theme was pleasant. But it always reminded me more of something from an Irwin Allen series. Or perhaps one of those other Gene Rodenberry pilots? Genesis II etc? The regular episode music was great. But was so overused and so bombastic that you quickly tired of it. Especially once Filmation started using it as stock music for other shows.

 

[Elder Knight]

I remember how they waited a full season to add a third actor (Kelley) to the opening credits for TOS. It didn't seem fair to me to have, what, seven names up front when TNG premiered. Actors were better organized by then, I daresay.

 

[eyeresist]

The TAS theme is actually a musical inversion of the TOS theme. I've always thought of it as "How can we have a theme that's like TOS's, but isn't so we don't have to pay royalties?"

I did not realise that! I knew it was a sound-alike, but I wasn't listening for the note relationships.

I know for a fact I am in a minority that Enterprise is my favourite and no I prefered the earlier version of the song rather than the jazzed up version.

I think that instead of adding percussion to the later version they should have stripped it down and added a bit of brass towards the end. Those strings near the beginning of the song are great.

 

[apollo1984]

I did not realise that! I knew it was a sound-alike, but I wasn't listening for the note relationships.


I think that instead of adding percussion to the later version they should have stripped it down and added a bit of brass towards the end. Those strings near the beginning of the song are great.

Honestly I kind of forgot how the jazzed up version went, but I remembered not liking it at the time. I have not got to season 3 on my re-watch yet but will get to it soon.

 

[JayTheTrekkie]

My favorite is all of TNG, DS9 and also Voyager.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Nostalgia urges me to vote for TOS, but, honestly, VOYAGER's credit sequence was a thing of beauty. The slightly wistful theme music meshes perfectly with the stunning astronomical vistas, while conveying the idea of a one lone ship out in the vast depths of space, encountering amazing wonders. It's so good that I seldom want to fast-forward through it.

I don't have TOS nostalgia because I wouldn't be born for another 22 years, but TOS is my favorite show and I have a lot of emotional attachment to it. Nevertheless, Voyager is easily the most beautiful Trek opening sequence and score. It's kind of mournful, yet optimistic. It surges and builds. It's almost cathartic. I'm shocked and pleased that Voyager got that high poll number. Did not expect that at all.

 

[Vandervecken]

Kind of a TOSup.

On the one hand, I love the triumphalist brass sound of TNG (and TMP). It is just so energized (make him stop, mommy please make him stop!).

On the other hand, Voyager's theme is somehow restful but not boring like DS9's. It feels the most "homey" and warm to me, while still saying Star Trek.

 

[The Old Mixer]

On the other hand, Voyager's theme is somehow restful but not boring like DS9's. It feels the most "homey" and warm to me, while still saying Star Trek.

Funny you should describe it like that, because it always reminded me of "Home for the Holidays"....

 

[Vandervecken]

Funny you should describe it like that, because it always reminded me of "Home for the Holidays"....

Oh I ALWAYS stop on that song when I'm driving during Christmastime and scanning music. Perry Como is da man, what a smooth voice, he could give Dean pointers in a few spots.

We nerds are sentimentalists. Well I know I am one.

Other people have pointed out that general idea, I've noticed--that you get a feeling of family from Voyager overall, AND a feeling of them being essentially ordinary although skilled and smart people. It hearkened back to the national campfire idea in its execution, even though the material would never be national but only for a small segment of viewers. Voyager was exceptional in achieving this , and it's something none of the others, not even TOS, had. Pretty often I got the feeling I was with them in the DQ, fighting all this horror, part of the group, and that says alot about the acting's ability to place my suspension of disbelief in total control over any other faculties. The writing sometimes failed, but rarely the acting.

 

[Lance]

Voyager is by far the best. DS9's got better from Season 4 after they added more 'business' to it, but nothing else quite compares to Voyager's "flight through the unknown". Jerry Goldsmith's Voyager theme is also so beautiful in conjunction with the images.

I actually prefer TNG seasons 1 & 2 (the 'journey out of the solar system' idea) to the more generic images used from season 3.

 

[Seven of Five]

Well I cheated because the poll let me off easily. I voted for everything except The Animated Series and Enterprise. TAS was interesting, but not a patch on the original, and ENT was just too cheesy for me.

I think we're very blessed with good theme music over the years. Most of the films have good music too. I hope Discovery brings something awesome to the table as well.

 

[GeordiFan]

I never really got into the ENT theme, other than that I loved them all, I voted for Voyager because the music and the visuals were incredible, slightly followed by TOS and TNG for nostalgia

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Voyager is by far the best. DS9's got better from Season 4 after they added more 'business' to it, but nothing else quite compares to Voyager's "flight through the unknown". Jerry Goldsmith's Voyager theme is also so beautiful in conjunction with the images.

I actually prefer TNG seasons 1 & 2 (the 'journey out of the solar system' idea) to the more generic images used from season 3.

I haven't seen that far into DS9, so I had no idea they touched up the intro. Just looked it up on YouTube and that is a huge improvement! Now that theme is just slightly second to Voyager. On a different day, maybe they'd tie for me.

 

[eyeresist]

You're saying all the wooshing sounds improved it?

 

[Seven of Five]

Yeah I always found the wooshing a bit weird when it was added, but I appreciated that the station looked more busy now. It wasn't just alone in the ass-end of space anymore. The faster theme was nicer to the ears too. I did like the S1-S3 intro as well but not as much.

Being as I didn't answer properly earlier, and that I've started watching Voyager yesterday, that's my favourite. I forget about the goosebumps I get when I haven't heard it for a while.

 

[SPCTRE]

Hmm, this is a lot harder than I would have imagined.

Good thread, OP, good thread.

 

[at Quark's]

My vote goes to VOY. Easily the best opening sequence IMHO, even though I don't think the show itself is that good.

 

[eyeresist]

Yeah I always found the wooshing a bit weird when it was added, but I appreciated that the station looked more busy now. It wasn't just alone in the ass-end of space anymore.

It wasn't alone. And wasn't DS9's remoteness a core part of the series concept?

 

[Seven of Five]

Yeah that's what I was referring to. The original opening reflected the original premise of being out on the frontier. The second one showed the station as the busy hub it had become with everything that followed.

 

[David Strickhouser]

Jerry Goldsmith could do no wrong, and the Voyager theme and title sequence is lovely...
but the TOS title sequence from seasons two and three with Shatner's narration can stop me dead in my tracks when I hear it.
Kudos to Alexander Courage (and Fred Steiner's arrangement)!