The Dick Van Dyke Show
A man walking into his own living room and either tripping over the ottoman or stepping neatly around it — two versions shot, and the network alternated them.
The Dick Van Dyke Show rebuilt its titles: two distinct opening sequences are catalogued here across seasons 1–2, running between 20 and 35 seconds.
It arrived on CBS in 1961, when Candid Camera, Guiding Light and As the World Turns were also on the network.
Only 139 of the 2,618 shows catalogued here changed their titles at all; The Dick Van Dyke Show did so once.
All 2 opening title sequences
Season 1
35sThe 1961 opening on its own, in which Van Dyke trips over the ottoman.
Season 2
20sThe 1962 opening, half the length, in which he sidesteps it. The show alternated the two gags for the rest of its run.
More comedy opening titles from the 1960s
2 sequences
Sesame Street
Children running through a New York street to a song asking how to get there — an opening that has been remade every decade for over fifty years.
- Season 1
- Seasons 24–25
1 sequence
The Addams Family
Harpsichord, bass clarinet, and two finger snaps that half a century of television has never managed to shake off. The family assemble for a portrait while Lurch supplies the only three adjectives the song needs.
- Seasons 1–2
1 sequenceThe Brady Bunch
A three-by-three grid of faces all looking at each other — a title sequence so structurally famous that the grid alone is the reference.
- Season 1
1 sequenceBewitched
Animated witches and a swing arrangement — a live-action sitcom that opens as a cartoon, which was the only way to show the magic on a 1964 budget.
- Season 1
1 sequenceGilligan's Island
A theme song that narrates the entire premise, names every castaway, and was rewritten after the first season to stop leaving two of them out.
- Season 3
1 sequenceThe Andy Griffith Show
A father and son walking to a fishing hole while somebody whistles — twenty-three seconds, and one of the most quoted pieces of music in American television.
- Season 1