Weird old title sequences

Old TV programmes that had really weird title sequences

Weird old title sequences: Late Night Horror (1968)

1 December 2016 Rob Buckley Post a comment

We’ve seen in our Weird Old Title Sequences section quite a few genre shows of the 60s and 70s, such as Out of the Unknown and The Tomorrow People, that had properly weird title sequences designed to do your nut in.

It was, after all, a psychedelic time, during which Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop were doing all manner of fun things with music and sound effects, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that television was trying to do the same visually.

But this wasn’t the occasional effort by a programme – such was the age, even smaller shows got in on the act.

As the name suggests, 1968’s Late Night Horror was an anthology horror show, one that would have fit quite nicely into TMINE’s The Wednesday Play section were it not for the fact five of the six pisodes were lost/wiped by the BBC, with only The Corpse Can’t Play surviving. In part a test of the new colour capabilities of television, it was also a beneficiary of the boom in TV horror in the late 60s that also gave us Mystery and Imagination (1966-70), A Ghost Story For Christmas, The Stone Tape, The Dead of Night and more.

What else survives of it, except for that one episode? Well, its weird old title sequence, naturally – music by the Radiophonic Workshop, of course…

Weird old title sequences: Near and Far (1975-1988)

13 November 2014 Rob Buckley Post a comment

There seemed to be something in the air in British kids programming in the 1970s. Overwhelmingly, the idea seemed to be scare the crap out of anyone watching, usually through music. That extended not just to dramas, such as Children of the Stones, The Changes and Sapphire and Steel. Even the schools programming wanted to have them hiding behind the sofa.

We’ve already looked at ITV’s Picture Box, which deployed the fairground steam organ to terrifying effect, but if you thought the Beeb would take that lying down, you’re wrong. Behold, children: Near and Far. Things can be near, things can be far, but you will be frightened either way. So frightened that all you’ll remember about it is the title sequence and theme tune by the Radiophonic Workshop, not the content.

Whenever Trevor Eve gets too serious, remind him about Shadow Chasers

13 October 2014 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Trevor Eve is a serious actor. Very serious. Although best known for being only slightly grumpy in Shoestring, he’s gone on to some pretty dour roles in the likes of Waking The Dead, Kidnap and Ransom and the miserable Channel 5 ‘updating’ of Doomwatch. Even in interviews, he can be very serious.

But Trevor Eve has a sense of humour. Or at least he used to. He might not want anyone to remember that these days, but he did.

How else can you explain his decision to appear in the 1985 mystery series Shadow Chasers, in which he played an anthropologist blackmailed into working with tabloid journalist Dennis Dugan to investigate the paranormal? Created by Kenneth Johnson (The Bionic Woman, Alien Nation, V, The Incredible Hulk) and the Oscar-winning Brian Grazer (Splash, A Beautiful Mind), it was nevertheless the lowest rated of the 106 shows in the 1985-1986 season, with only the first nine of its episodes airing on ABC in the US, leaving the Armed Forces Network to air the remaining four.

Maybe the opening credits had something to do with that.

Poor old Eve – he never stood a chance. Maybe that’s why he lost his sense of humour?

Still, if that’s only whet your appetite for more, here’s the whole of the first episode.

Weird old title sequences

Weird old title sequences: The Banana Splits (1968-70)

20 December 2012 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

The Banana Splits

Chances are, you’ll have heard The Banana Splits’ theme tune at some point. Still popular in its own right, it’s also a favourite for remixes and sampling.

Chances are you won’t ever have watched it, though – at least not the original series. Unlike other kids shows of the time, this weird mix of live action and animation that crossed The Monkees with Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In hasn’t had the longevity of other shows. Yet if you watched it, it would be hard to forget the near nightmarish qualities of Fleegle the beagle, Bingo the gorilla, Drooper the lion, and Snork/Snorky the elephant, and the somewhat surreal show they were in.

Imagine you’re four years old. Now watch the title sequence and know fear.

PS I should point out that Cartoon Network put out some Banana Splits Internet cartoons in the early 2000s and there was a new series in 2008, so there’s probably a generation of kids being traumatised right now by the latest incarnation of the Banana Splits.

PPS I should probably also point out than Jan Michael Vincent of Airwolf fame appeared in the not at all racist Danger Island strand of the show that ran in the first season.