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Corynne Steindler Cirilli's avatar

I get SO MAD at my husband when he skips the intro!! I’m like “it’s part of the show and someone took the time to make that — what if your art was always just getting skipped?!” Also sometimes like subtle things change and I like noticing them. This piece is going straight to his inbox!!

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PJ McNerney's avatar

And YES to the subtle changes! That’s it. Skip the intro and you miss the Easter egg that quietly triggers a future domino collapse. Rookie move! Severance did this masterfully. Clues baked right in. 🕵

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Jane Pratt's avatar

I thought if I waited a bit I might be not the only dissenting opinion, but I am here to confess: I skip intros and everything possible every time. I just want to get efficiently to the parts I don't know already. I have to go be efficient right now but I plan to come back and explain more about my laziness and lack of appreciation for all the great things in life. If you will all still have me.

I love this piece!

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PJ McNerney's avatar

No shade to the intro-skippers! I totally get it. But something about everyone watching on-demand instead of together, bonded by a shared saxophone earworm, just gives me the sads.

(Also: thank you for giving this tiny nostalgic breakdown a home. Still floating somewhere on the Lido Deck.)✨🛳️🍹

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Corynne Steindler Cirilli's avatar

PS Not me digging through the recent subscriber list to figure out who this secret crush is … 😒🥸

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Ha ha ha ha ha! You might even figure it out!

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Andy Finley's avatar

Best TV theme song ever: The Munsters. The treble of the surf guitar offset by the deep blasts of the horn section. The syncopation. Glorious. A close second is I Dream of Jeannie.

It's not all our fault though. So many shows these days have no intro at all. I mean, hello, Law and Order! It takes more time to click Skip Intro and for the bandwidth to catch up than it does to just let it play.

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PJ McNerney's avatar

Agreed. Stranger Things, White Lotus, Succession? Undeniably great. But if humming it in Target doesn’t make a stranger either join in or slowly back away with concern, is it even a theme song?

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Julie Atwood's avatar

The Charo episodes of The Love Boat were definitely the best ones. 😊

If you say "camp songs" my brain immediately goes to a weird mix of Sunday School songs, kids call and response songs, and TV themes and commercial jingles from the 80's.

I don't know if streaming is 100% to blame for TV being less fun, but it was definitely the last nail in the coffin started by the VCR (I remember renting them!), cheap cable, Satellite TV, and TIVO. I miss "old-school" TV. I used to have friends over to watch The X-Files, and then the Sopranos (I learned to cook more Italian food) on Sundays, and my husband and I would spend Fridays watching "Sci Fi Friday," back when there was still a Sci Fi channel (and it was spelled right). Now I watch TV with my dogs. Usually multiple episodes of something. It's fine I (they enjoy my commentary), but its not as nice, and it's definitely not an event.

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PJ McNerney's avatar

Yes! I can totally hear Charo’s “cuchi-cuchi” and those flamenco riffs in my head now.

I love seeing everyone’s favorite theme songs. I’ve been revisiting them on YouTube. Pretty sure it’s my new favorite hobby. 💃

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Kel's avatar

"Nails courtesy of 300 Skee-Ball tickets" 😂

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Sarah Swinwood's avatar

Imagine skipping the intro to ‘Murder She Wrote’? ‘Twin Peaks’? ‘The X-Files’? It would be like skipping the COZY.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Well said, and yes! The cozy is key!

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PJ McNerney's avatar

Here in Cabot Cove, we never skip the Murder, She Wrote intro. 😉

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Sarah Swinwood's avatar

What’s a PJ without a JB? 📚

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Sarah Swinwood's avatar

Live for the cozy. If you ever feel off or directionless, go watch the murder she wrote intro and I promise you life will be restored into alignment. ❤️‍🩹

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Christina Kelly's avatar

I always want to watch the intro. It gets me excited for the show!

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Angie's avatar

This could be my story. :) 'It takes Different Strokes to rule the woooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrllld! Love it. How about the Facts of Life? Such a classic pop song. 'You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life...' I remember all the lyrics to my childhood. Thanks for jolting my fond memories.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

This brings me right back there! And seeing these lyrics in print, they're actually much deeper than I realized. Thank you, wow! And I too would have died for Blair's hair.

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Angie's avatar

It’s such a wonderful and well observed article. I had never considered how the intros were so crucial and fun (and just great songs) when I was young and I skip them now. It made me think and relive my youth in one piece! So clever.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

I completely agree and this comment is so clever also! Do you think you will stop skipping them now?

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Angie's avatar

Yup I have stopped skipping. Starting last night I sat through all the intros and they were excellent. Not sure why I was in such a hurry before? The extra minute or 1'30 it takes to see an intro and we can't wait?! What is happening to us??

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Awesome! I'm so glad that those 1 1/2 minutes are being well spent by you now in that you are enjoying them, because however I'm using them certainly isn't doing much. I'm taking a queue from you and I'll let you know how it goes!

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PJ McNerney's avatar

Confession: I once got a body wave because I thought it would give me Blair Waldorf curls (great name, right?). It did not. I looked like Gene Wilder after a windstorm. No offense to Gene. Absolute icon. Just not the look I was going for. 🌪️

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Even your comments are cracking me up here. And now picturing you with Gene hair. Thank you!

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Angie's avatar

OMG I wanted to look like Blair. Had a big girl crush on Jo though.

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Julie Atwood's avatar

Didn't we all?

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Ha! Yes, we sure did.

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Jasmine Glass's avatar

I laughed, I felt personally attacked…what a rollercoaster! 😂🎢 😅

Listen, you make a strong argument. I will give it a shot, although, as a binge watcher, probably the best I can do is compromise to watch the intro the first episode of five that day. 📺

Let’s see how it goes, I certainly do not want to be guillotining my joy!!! 🥲

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Jane Pratt's avatar

I am so in that with you, Jasmine! How about this: I will try for one in five if you do and we can report back. That's progress at least.

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PJ McNerney's avatar

It’s tough! I respect the struggle. They truly don’t make them like they used to. And hey, once-per-binge-intro is a solid compromise. Every revolution starts small. 📺🎶💪

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