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The 10 Best TV Title Sequences Of The 21st Century

If the 20th century belonged to the movies, then television could be the medium of choice in the 21st century. It is not that quality television did not exist before the year 2000 or that films have become more subpar over the last 15 years. It's just that just as breaking away from the Production Code in the late 1960s ushered in a new wave of exciting filmmakers whose influence on cinema will remain permanent – Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman, for instance – the rise of original cable programming in the early 21st century has turned television into the true writers’ medium. Television had started to step away from the shadow of film.

True Blood

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Although death is still omnipresent on Alan Ball’s second hit show for HBO, True Blood, the opening sequence is far removed from Six Feet Under’s icy elegance. The humor is still dark, but more delightful. This writer has never watched True Blood, yet from the southern rock music, the odd juxtaposition of sex and religion and the mix of blood and barbecue sauce, this seems like a saucy series that one would be curious to taste.

Rising up from a bayou to get an impression on the landscape, as well as the sins of this Southern town, the sequence shows the battle of two opposing forces: the light of religious purity versus the darkness of temptation and titillation. Blending in footage of social unrest and prejudice – the KKK is featured briefly – with the HBO-friendly gyrating and nudity, the opening shows how this tug between good and evil will be a prominent force in the series.

There is a thin line between naughty and nice. Notice how both the scenes of sexuality and churchgoing build up in feeling throughout the title sequence. Both the religious service and the brief sex scenes show hints of violence and aggression within them, too. The color co-ordination is also intriguing, as the southern-fried good times are bathed in red hues, overwhelming the white-lit religious customs. The subliminal flashes and washed-out film stock is far away from Six Feet Under’s elegant opening – but it is just as memorable.