Star Trek: Ranking The Series Intros Worst To Best
Ranking Star Trek intros from utter failure to etched in memory for all time.
They say not to judge books by their covers, but of course we all do. That’s why book covers generally try to look so good. When it comes to television, then, think of intros (AKA title sequences) as book covers selling the contents within.
A proper TV intro must use engaging visuals and music to draw in a potential viewer's attention and then persuade them to keep watching. It has to provide in its scant time a sample of what the series is all about – the tone, themes, setting, and so on. It’s essentially asking for an investment of time, as it were, with the promise of an entertainment payoff to come.
Likewise, successful intros, especially their music, can become as iconic as the series themselves, while a poorly conceived intro can do far more harm than good.
With that in mind, how well have Star Trek TV intros succeeded, both in appealing to casual viewers as well as being compelling companions to their series?
And more importantly, how do they stack up against one another?
9. #9: Enterprise
Episodes of Star Trek’s sixth series open with images of human exploration past and future. Brave men and women take to the seas, then the sky, then to space and worlds far, far beyond. And since the series focuses primarily on humans finding their place in the Star Trek galaxy, it’s all quite poignant.
Sadly, the intro still left many viewers pulling sour faces and scrambling to mute their televisions.
Breaking from tradition, Enterprise featured the first vocal theme in Star Trek history. The song, “Where My Heart Will Take Me”, was a retooled version of “Faith Of The Heart”, a former Rod Stewart radio hit written by soft-rock songwriter Diane Warren. Vocalist Russell Watson was brought in to do his best Rod Stewart impression, and viewers were left with a syrupy, cringe-inducing theme that few enjoyed.
Actor and confirmed Trekkie Simon Pegg spoke for many when he said the theme was “probably the most hideous Star Trek moment in history.”
Whether the theme contributed to the early cancellation of Enterprise is debatable, but almost certainly it did nothing to prevent it.