Television episode first lines

“Counselor Deanna Troi, personal log, stardate 44805.3. My mother is on board.”

(Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Half a Life.” For those who watch the show, Counselor Troi’s mom is a whole thing, and even for those who watch more casually, the line with the following scene sets the tone quickly.)

^ What is a show you like that establishes its lore well enough that the first line of an episode can invite an entire clown car of baggage? And what’s a first line that does a lot with that?

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My partner and I have been watching Babylon 5 and we joke that parts of the Narn uniform is are made from Lwaxana Troi’s clothes when they vanquished her in battle when we saw the actress in a small part in Babylon 5. Aslo the actor that plays her was Roddenberry’s partner and was in a ton of the various series since the beginning. I love her character in TNG. You can tell everyone was having a lot of fun. I understand if you hate that character though.

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It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.

Much ink has been spilt by many people, but The Sopranos is an amazing show about American decay that refuses to age like anything but a fine wine.

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The Flinstones theme song does a good job of getting you up to speed on the lore. It also helps put you in the right mindset.

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I skip the Flintstones op :pensive:

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Conversely, Saved by the Bell’s OP does a fantastic job of relating to the title of the show but does very little to apprise an uninformed audience to the struggles and successes of Zack and company

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the Saved By The Bell theme is all qualitative information, while The Jetsons is strictly a few bare facts. The Flintstones and the Brady Bunch are a good mix of both. The most informative of all has to be Gilligan’s Island though I would think

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Gilligan’s Island is all premise, and doesn’t give a great description of the actual show experience, or many characters, notably Gilligan, who not a “mighty” anything, and Mary Ann, who even in the revised version of the song is only mentioned as a name without any defining features. As for setting up premise, Fresh Prince of Bel Air is about equal I’d say.

For most informative, I’d submit The Nanny.

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“I gotta ask ya, if every time Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away… why’d you even let him in the game?”
“…What?”
“If Snot Boogie always stole the money, why’d you let him play?”
“Got to. This America, man.”

Opening scene that set the tone for the entire run of The Wire.

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And here’s the first line of The Sopranos that actually matters.

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For reasons I can’t articulate I couldn’t get into that show even though I really feel like I should have. The video game parts are the only parts I really remember.

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Speaking personally, it helps if Tony reminds you of your dad.

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:joy: I’m so sorry.

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Or at least Italians you grew up around

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It’s true that no-one told me life was gonna be this way.

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It’s funny where topics go. I didn’t even have theme songs in my head. I was thinking more like the first line in a script. @nickfourtimes gives a really good example: the theme is right there.

The opening of Fleabag season 2 is pretty good too, because it’s not clear what has just happened, but the lines play against the situation we see. The result is uncomfortable and funny - Fleabag.

Description

Someone knocking at the bathroom door. “Can I do anything?”
Fleabag, mopping blood off her nose: “No thank you!”
Someone: “They’ve gone … so…”
Fleabag finishes, silently offers a washcloth to someone whose nose is bleeding on the floor. The second woman says, “Thank you.”
Fleabag composes herself and then says to the camera, “This is a love story.”

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That’s a dang Tiger Electronics handheld. Possibly Lion King.

Bill Dauterive: sips beer Yep.

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I looked into this back in the day and determined it was aladdin x.com

Since twitter doesn’t work anymore:



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Amazing. I figured it was a tiger like handheld. I wonder if Tiger had an issue about making a game about the inferior lion.