Also the lack of opening sequences or theme songs will be to save both time and money.  Hour shows are shorter now to allow more commercials and promo during programs.  So "frills" like long openings with theme music and credits at the end that you actually can read have been almost done away with to save time.
 
Notice too on many dramas the opening "executive credits"  for producers, associate producers, writers, director etc. are placed at the beginning and actually are part of the show.  The dialogue has already begun, and  these opening credits can take up to five minutes since they are placed throughout the opening establishing scenes.

The new Hawaii Five O needed to reshoot their opening and re-record the theme after viewers were complaining about the short theme music opening of only about 12-15 seconds.  The original program had an opening of 57 seconds back in the 60's with the classic theme from the Ventures.  CBS produced a new opening after a few episodes for the new show and increased the opening length to 32 seconds and changed to theme music to be a closer version to the original Ventures recording.\
https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=h7bO9Z17J2s

You all make great points. And they're all some of my pet peeves. Think about the great theme songs that wouldn't exist if this had been the norm back in the 60s and 70s. "Welcome Back Kotter," "Hill Street Blues," the previously mentioned "Hawaii Five-0" (all fairly big chart hits as well), "Love American Style," "WKRP In Cincinnati," and my personal fave, Sonny Curtis' "Love Is All Around," from the first season of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. 

Those are classics, along with The Addams Family, Green Acres and The Ballad of Jed Clampett. All those opportunities are gone and if you ask the theme for any modern show, there simply isn't one. And that's a shame because you never know where the next classic might have come from. Unless you consider Law & Order's "Ching Ching!" a theme song. 

Now I admit to being a bit of a hypocrite here - I often speed through the themes when watching an old show in the interest of saving time. That's why the current networks no longer bother. But we've definitely lost a touchstone in the world of entertainment and that's a shame.

And by the way - another thing I lament is the loss of the final credits. Almost every show has them relegated to a box so small on the screen, you'd have to have a huge magnifying glass to read them all, so they can run a promo. And even if you could see them, they go by at warp speed. I always used to like to see who was playing "Man at counter," or "Injured cop," but those bit players never get the glory any more. 

And I speak from some experience. One of the jobs I used to do involved running what we called "long credits" on a Friday night out of our 6 PM newscast. It was the only time the behind-the-scenes crew - like the sound guy, the lighting tech or the PA ever saw their names on screen. 

Yes, it meant nothing to most people. But to those who worked so hard all week to put that show together - and their families - it was a nice gesture that took up all of about three minutes of air time. (I remember one TD jokingly calling them the "grandma credits," because they knew their grandmothers would be watching for their names,)

Those are gone now, too. Those people deserved their brief moment in the sun. But alas, that sun has long ago set on all of them. 

67GreenRambler wrote:

CHCH News still rolls a Friday "long credits" exiting the 6pm. With the final commercial pack at 4-5 minutes it actually runs at approx 6:53pm.

CTV Kitchener and CTV2 London also run long credits usually on Friday at the end of their 6pm or late night cast.  

RA mentioned the Law & Order "Cha Chung". As soon as you hear it, you know what program is airing. The same could said for the "Tick, Tick Tick" of the 60 Minutes clock or the first four notes of the Twilight Zone Theme. For some reason, the "Chung Chung" is considered a piece of music and every time it is played, the bank account of its creator, Mike Post gets larger and larger. For the record the sound is a combination of a jail door slamming shut, a man hitting an anvil with a hammer, and 100 men stomping on a wood floor in Japan.

Peter the K wrote:

I'm very biased.  If I go see a movie, I'll be the the last one in the seat because I actually read through the end credits.  That's why I enjoyed Ferris Bueler so much because there was some cute business during the end credits that most people never saw because they had already left.  I especially got a kick out of the actual end of the movie where Matthew Broderick's character literally tells the audience to leave.

But back to the topic.  Nothing beats a Vic Mizzy theme.  I'm talking about the likes of "The Addams Family", "Green Acres",  "Pettycoat Junction" (writer) and many others that he either wrote or performed.
If I had to pick a favourite, I'd go with the Pruitts of Southampton.



 

That is one very long theme song. Not a very funny show though. Most viewers preferred Red Skelton on Tuesdays in 1966-67.
 

RadioActive wrote:

I loved the Pruitts of Southhampton, but I was one of the few. 

A long time ago, I interviewed Phyllis Diller and asked her about the show. Her response was a disgusted, "Oh that thing!" and she refused to talk about it, I suppose because it was a failure. (I'll never forget the teabag with the patch on it.)

But the theme was tremendous and I still remembered all the words years later, even before it wound up on YouTube. But Peter The K is right - it's a great Vic Mizzy tune and tells you everything you need to know regarding what the show was about. In today's TV landscape, it wouldn't exist. 

As for Red Skelton, I was a huge fan of that show, as well, but in those days before simsub (and VCRs), when stations didn't have to program everything in direct sync with the U.S., the CBC would have Skelton's show on half an hour early, so I could see that show and the "Pruitts," too, when it came on ABC later that same night.

I was in public school at the time and I have no idea when I found the time to do any actual homework...

My parents had a strict rule. No tv until the homework was completed.

Seinfeld was famous for having virtually no opening at a time most shows had elaborate, lengthy intros. Earlier episodes went straight to Jerry doing stand-up, and later episodes went straight into the plot and dialogue.

I STRONGLY believe that the opening credits of a TV show should be fully restored, but the twist
would be to include product placement for extra revenue.  

Interesting to note that Reality shows still get full opening credits theme song and all. 
I'm not sure about the American version, but the Canadian version leaned heavy on the idea that they drink a certain energy drink. Instead of just doing the product placement in the show itself, they should have also thrown it in as part of the opening credits...