10 Bad TV Shows With Great Opening Title Sequences

Perhaps its unfair to say that nothing The Walking Dead could do at this point would bring it back to the level of its own pilot. But it's true nonetheless - the pilot episode (and most of the first season) is the best version of that story it could possibly be, making the gradual downward slide in quality less depressing than inevitable. And in the middle of the 7th season, it feels like the show has become the TV equivalent of a dead heart-rate monitor. A flatline.

But the design of the opening credits is something that should not be ignored. And, unlike everything else in the show, it actually changed for the better as the show went on. It started with some very haunting and effective shots of a deserted world, strewn with trash.

This pattern continued, but as the show went along, it started incorporating more off kilter shots, and instead of using dirty pictures to show the faces of its main cast, it shifted the focus to items that were symbolic of their characters - Rick's revolver, Darryl's jacket, Glen's watch - emphasizing the abstract and hauntingly desolate feel.

And by the current season, the bizzare cuts and shaky camera angles don't feel like gimmicks. They feel like shots of a dead world the way the zombies (okay, "walkers") see it. Once you notice that, the opening never looks the same. It's the one time we see behind the eyes of the titular antagonists.