Remember the Main… Title Design

Clarence Moye: So, one day last week, some friends and I were having a conversation over sushi when my cell phone rang. Naturally, being obsessed with HBO’s Game of Thrones, my ring tone blasted the music that plays over the opening credits. I need not defend my choice as all of my friends are equally obsessed with the show and praised not only the music but also the imaginative opening credits, a kind of time-lapsed Legos on steroids. This conversation started me thinking about opening credits in general, and, especially appropriate given the Emmy season in play, was there even an opening credit category.

Turns out, there is. Here are this year’s nominees:

 

I did a little more digging and discovered that, yes indeed, Game of Thrones won the Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design in 2011. It’s stiffest competition was really sister show Boardwalk Empire for its rock-themed liquor bottles washing onto the Jersey shore.

Of this year’s crop, though, I have to say, as much as I love Masters of Sex, I really hate the opening credits.

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Extant: Sleep Perchance to Scream

‘Nightmares’ is the title of this week’s episode of Extant for 2 reasons.  Ethan wakes up screaming at the very top of the episode, and John is concerned since Ethan isn’t programmed to dream at all.  The baby that was extracted from Molly’s stomach last week feels like something out of a nightmare as well.  The tall, bald man who declared Molly’s baby a boy last week suddenly has that ring symbol showing up on the back of his head, and he goes on a murderous rampage in the lab, presumably killing the new character known as Dr. Meehan.  At least he got a few lines in and probably got a paycheck.  Is Molly’s baby some sort of newborn Damian?  What exactly does all this have to do with Sparks’ daughter?

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“Going Home” – You Can’t Go Dome Again

In this week’s “Going Home” episode, we got a glimpse of life Outside of the Dome (I smell a spin-off!), with two characters dying and experiencing rejuvenation. If you watched last week’s episode, you can guess who the first character was (Uncle Sam), and if you happened to see previews for this week’s episode, with Barbie dangling off a cliff, you can probably guess the next character.

Of all the characters on the show, Barbie probably has the most to be disturbed about (killing his girlfriend’s husband and then keeping said husband’s bed warm), but in this week’s episode, the untimely death of Sam the uncle (not the butcher) was weighing on his conscious, causing him to wake up in a cold sweat next to Julia.

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Masters of Sex: ‘Giants’ Among Men

“Masters of Sex infuriates me like no other television show does. How can a show that gets so much, and I mean SO MUCH right, go so incredibly off-center and nearly tone deaf in its execution?”

That was my opening paragraph from last week’s review of Masters of Sex, and little has changed week over week. Sure, Masters of Sex continues to produce excellence in a few story lines, but it doggedly frustrates with some of its best characters. Its newest episode, Giants, further widens the chasm between the quality and the cartoonish aspects of the show.

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The Knick: Better off Dead

Having (temporarily?) given up feature films, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh has branched out to television to pursue the kinds of projects typically not funded by major Hollywood studios. He along with cast and crew were showered with Emmys last year for Behind the Candelabra, the Liberace biopic widely praised for its unsparing and honest portrayal of the famed pianist.

Soderbergh again looks to television this year for The Knick, an equally unsparing fictional account of very early 20th century medical practices and social customs at New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital. The show, which airs on Skine… I mean Cinemax, wildly succeeds on so many levels that, if Soderbergh chooses to never make a feature film again, we can rest assured that he would bring the same focus and intelligence to any television project he pursued. That is if, in the case of The Knick, your stomach is game for the ride.

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Outlander: Somewhere in Time

Not all entertainment is meant to be consumed by the masses. There are dozens of television shows that were either wildly beloved by all or are current cult favs that, for one reason or another, just never jelled with me. ER. Buffy. X-Files. Anything on CBS Monday nights. Sure, maybe I’ve caught an episode or two. Maybe even a season.

But these shows aren’t what I would call “appointment television.” And that’s OK. Not everything is meant for everyone. But this does bring me to Starz’s highly publicized new dramatic series, Outlander. I know a lot of people, very smart people, who will love this show and who love the long-running series of novels by Diana Gabaldon upon which it was based.

And, having watched only the first episode, I can tell you that this is not a show for me.

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Extant: Earth Is Awesome!

I thought this week’s Extant was going to be an Earth Day themed episode when I saw refrigerator magnets that spelled out EARTH IS AWESOME! in Molly’s kitchen.  Nah, just a menacing message in childish, colorful letters.  Ah, Extant.  You know how to weird me out in the first few moments of each episode.

This week’s episode starts in a flashback.  Molly wakes up in her bed, and she goes down to the kitchen to pour herself some juice.  We know something isn’t right when the juice starts to move and bend in the glass, and then Molly feels a hand on her very pregnant stomach.  She turns around and sees Marcus.  After she pushes her confusion aside, she joins him on his car ride to work even though she is concerned of the rain.  On the way, they get into an accident (the one that eventually killed Marcus), and Molly wakes up in bed.  Ethan stands in the doorway, and we hear a baby crying.  She pulls back the covers next to her, and Marcus’ body lays twisted and bloody next to her.  It cuts to Molly and Ethan unconscious on a hillside.  John find them with a search party.  He changes Ethan’s batteries (much to the shock of the EMTs), but they can’t find a fetal heartbeat on Molly.  BLACKOUT!  EXTAAAANT OPENING CREDITS!  Told you.

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Under the Dome: In the Dark

I have a theory. What if “Under the Dome” is connected with “The Leftovers”?

Halfway through Monday’s “In the Dark” episode, I wondered whether Lyle’s Four Hands theory affected the love-it-or-hate-it HBO drama. What if they existed in the same universe? After all, Lyle believed that killing Angie, Joe, Junior, and Norrie would bring down the dome and cause the Rapture.  If Lyle succeeded, what if the Rapture on “The Leftovers” was a direct result?

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Masters of Sex: ‘Dirty’ Women

Masters of Sex infuriates me like no other television show does. How can a show that gets so much, and I mean SO MUCH right, go so incredibly off-center and nearly tone deaf in its execution? It’s latest episode, Dirty Jobs, is a prime example of how effortlessly it offers up both the sublime (its remarkable shift in focus on the brilliant women of the show) with the subpar (its curious exploration of race relations through persistent demeaning of black characters).

Maybe it’s just me. You tell me…

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Extant: Take Shelter

Extant has been pretty solid so far.  In the first three episodes, we’ve seen Halle Berry only presuming what her pregnancy might mean, and we have witnessed the birth (so to speak) of a conspiracy against her and her family.  This week’s episode kept me on the edge of my seat, and it’s clear the higher-ups at the ISEA aren’t above messing with anyone to get their way.

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