10 Instantly Addictive TV Show Opening Credits

Television introductions can sometimes seem like they are a random addition to the beginning of a show, that they don't serve much of a purpose beyond giving you a warning that the commercials are over. After all most movies don't need obvious introductions, so why should television?

If you stop and think about it television themes actually serve a vitally important role. Television is a more compact medium than books or movies; there's far less time to tell the story whilst also having to spread it over a longer period of time . A TV show introduction is there to bring you into focus, if the ads end and the program just begins you are lost and unfocused. By putting an intro there you are instantly reconnected with your favourite shows.

More complex narratives also often use this as a baseline. Put the major themes and ideas in the introduction and you can begin the first episode with an awareness of what it is you need to follow. This list sets out the 10 most addictive introductions in television and outlines why exactly you remember them so well.

You probably aren't shocked to see this on here, but for good reason. Most people have no idea who sang this song (The Remembrandts), they have no idea that the version actually released on CDs sounded very different to the TV version. But that doesn't matter, because this theme is so iconic that practically every single American, Canadian, Briton and likely almost any other western nationality can recognise this as the Friends intro theme in a second.

Even now you are imagining the song in your head. You can see Chandler spraying water out of his mouth, Ross hiding in the fountain and everyone else dancing around. You remember this theme better than you remember your own birthday party last year, and that is as true for the rest of us as it is for you.

The main theme behind the song is one of friendship, and companions. It is a comforting song to tell you your friends will always be there, and that is what the intro always was to us.

Friends isn't the funniest show that was ever written, they aren't the greatest characters ever written. But, Friends is the best comfort TV ever made, it's simple, it's enjoyable, and it's the easiest thing in the world to watch when you first get home from a long day at work. This intro reinforced that, they were there for you just as much as they were for each other.