The Storyteller

Name: The Storyteller
Genre: Drama

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European folk tales retold by John Hurt beside a fire, with Henson's creature shop doing the rest.

The Storyteller rebuilt its titles: two distinct opening sequences are catalogued here across seasons 1–2, running between 31 and 32 seconds.

At 32 seconds at its longest, it opens well under the 50-second median for drama sequences in this catalogue.

It arrived on NBC in 1987, when Truth or Consequences, Another World and Columbo were also on the network.

Only 139 of the 2,618 shows catalogued here changed their titles at all; The Storyteller did so once.

All 2 opening title sequences

32s

The storyteller's own face in close-up before the dog interrupts him.

31s

Greek Myths, three years later and made for HBO, which swaps the fireside for statuary.

1985–BBC OneDrama

An aerial pull-back over the Thames and the drum that answers it — thirty-two seconds that have barely changed in forty years.

1989–2001NBC / SyndicationDrama

Los Angeles County lifeguards, and at its peak the most-watched television programme on Earth.

1989CBSDrama

Basil Poledouris scoring a cattle drive from Texas to Montana — the miniseries that proved the western was not finished after all.

1985–2025Seven / Ten (Australia)Drama

Ramsay Street across forty years, and a theme song that survived every cast, network and cancellation.

1987–CBSDrama

Los Angeles fashion houses, and the most widely watched daytime serial in the world.

1982–1986NBCDrama

A narrated premise, a scanning red light and a synth arpeggio — the most efficient piece of eighties television branding after the A-Team's.