Enlightened
Nature footage of the sort used in wellness videos, played entirely straight — which becomes the joke the moment the show starts.
Enlightened opens with a main title sequence of 95 seconds.
At 95 seconds, it opens well above the 38-second median for comedy sequences in this catalogue.
It arrived on HBO in 2011, when Curb Your Enthusiasm, In Treatment and The Comeback were also on the network.
The opening titles
Season 1
95sThe first season's sequence.
More comedy opening titles from the 2010s
1 sequenceTaskmaster
A bust of the host's head and a fanfare, in the register of a much grander programme than the one that follows.
- Season 1
1 sequenceShameless
A bathroom door opening on each member of the family in turn — an entire household characterised through one room.
- Season 1
4 sequencesYoung Sheldon
The Big Bang Theory prequel, narrated by the adult Sheldon it never shows. Its titles are one family portrait in the West Texas hills, reshot every couple of seasons as the children outgrow the last version of it.
- Seasons 1–2
- Seasons 3–4
- Seasons 5–6
- and 1 more
1 sequenceSchitt's Creek
A motel sign and a town crest, in the register of a place that has never once considered how its name reads.
- Season 1
1 sequenceThe Righteous Gemstones
Eleven seconds of gold-plated megachurch branding, delivered with exactly the sincerity the family would want.
- Season 1
1 sequenceThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Barely a title at all: the name in a magenta 1950s script on black, held for about three seconds.
- Season 1