Beginnings of television programs serve a number of purposes. They set the
mood for a program (the pompous "Dum, Dee, Dum, Dum" theme music known as the
"Dragnet March" composed by Walter Schumann heralded each episode of the police
drama DRAGNET); they tell a story ("Come and listen to story about a man named
Jed..." at the beginning of the sitcom THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES); they educate
("There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man..." dramatically
delivered by host Rod Serling on the beginning of each episode of THE TWILIGHT
ZONE); but most importantly, beginnings saves the script writer from writing
about one minute of dialog each week. No matter what form the beginning takes,
be it music, lyric or narration or a combination of all three formats, it gives
us a sense of what is to come and prepares us for the fun and excitement that
most surely will follow.
This compilation of beginnings is restricted only to "Narration" format. For
those who enjoy the full lyrics to their theme songs heck out the
TV Resources
section of this website under "Theme
Songs" for links to popular sites on the
web.
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