JuicyTalk
These first spoken opening lines in TV shows immediately hook you to the story and make sure you’re not clicking “back” for at least another episode. TV shows don’t always behave like movies with their opening lines. There’s no “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” in TV.
However, that doesn’t mean TV doesn’t have its fair share of opening lines that don’t hook you right away into the series. I’m not talking about the best television intros, or even the best opening scenes. I’m talking about those first spoken lines that make you decide you’ll put the remote down and watch a bit longer.
10
Freaks & Geeks (1999-2000)
“You Seem So Distant These Days, Brent, Is It Something I Did?”
Freaks & Geeks opens in typical high school drama fashion, with a camera flying over a football field with students practicing. It then hovers over the cheerleader on the bleachers trying to get her football playing bf (the qb, no doubt) to open up. He’s been distant, you see, because he just loves her so much. Awww.
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Then the camera keeps going. It drops below the bleachers, and we’re introduced to the real main characters of Freaks & Geeks, the hipsters who prefer to smoke cigarettes and weed under the bleachers. That opening line is the perfect way to make you lean in and then be surprised by the switcheroo Judd Apatow pulls.
9
Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)
“Good Morning, West Texas!”
There are few greetings that can get you more excited about football, the fall, or one of the best sports TV dramas ever, as “Good morning, West Texas!” a slogan frequently shouted over the airwaves on Friday Night Lights, can. West Texas is the setting for the series and it is often a good morning.
There’s spunk and happiness in that first line that gets you excited to watch what comes next.
There’s spunk and happiness in that first line that gets you excited to watch what comes next. There are also some expectations placed on the line as well, as if the speaker is daring you not to have a good morning, which can generally only happen if the Dillon Panthers high school football team loses.
8
Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)
“What Do You Expect? They’re Savages.”
With how much people already loved George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones didn’t need a great opening line to hook audiences, but it went ahead and had one anyway. This line is spoken by a haughty Waymar Royce (Rob Ostlere) to an appropriately unnerved Will (Bronson Webb).
Will is later seen being beheaded by Ned Stark (Sean Bean) in another pivotal scene.
This one line delivers some important info and immediately interests you in what’s going to come next. There are two possibilities with the scene. Either these savage “wildlings” can’t scare the men of Castle Black, or Waymar is mistaken and there is something far more evil at work in the show.
7
Glee (2009-2015)
“You Think This Is Hard?! Try Being Waterboarded! That’s hard!”
Glee: a musical comedy series about the eponymous glee club at William McKinley High School. It should be a cute fun series, which makes the opening line snarled over a megaphone by Sue Sylvester (Kane Lynch) all the funnier. From the word go, you know this is going to be a different sort of network comedy.
No matter what you were expecting, it probably wasn’t Lynch making a torture joke as the first line of the series. It immediately introduced Sue as a no-nonsense but hilarious coach and defines the tone of the series moving forward. It’s well choreographed and charming, but not afraid to self-deprecate either.
6
Futurama (1999-Present)
“Space. It Seems To Go On And On Forever. But Then You Get To The End And A Gorilla Starts Throwing Barrels At You.”
You would be forgiven for thinking that Futurama begins with Fry already in the far future if you only heard the first line in the series. In actuality, Fry is just playing a video game called “Space” where a gorilla literally appears and throws a barrel at his character. It’s the type of humor Matt Groening shows are known for.
It’s a funny reversal of expectations. You think you’re about to get something semi-serious about the nature of space, instead, you get a Non Sequitur about a monkey. It also hints a little about what to expect in the show: some space philosophy punctured by ludicrous gags.
5
30 Rock (2006-2013)
“Whoa, Excuse Me, There’s A Line Buddy.”
Of course, the opening line of 30 Rock is a hilarious bit that perfectly explains the main character’s attitude going forward in the series. It was written by the great Tina Fey, who’s pulling double duty as Liz Lemon, the offended woman who has just watched someone cut in front of her.
That line she’s in is one for a hotdog stand. This is the perfect encapsulation of Liz. She has a strict code that she refuses to bend for and gets furious when others break these rules. Even better is that this fight is about her favorite thing, food, and that no one even agrees with her righteous anger.
4
Dexter (2006-2013)
“Tonight’s The Night.”
The opening monologue from Dexter perfectly sets the mood of the series and gives some crucial insight into the character at the same time. Talk about roping viewers in by making sure they have to know exactly what comes next. “Tonight is the night for what, exactly?” Michael C. Hall’s character has you asking.
It’s a line that immediately makes you wonder if you’re staring at the villain or the hero of this story.
Dexter proves himself with these opening lines to be an intelligent, focused, and undeniably strange man, going off about Cuban sandwiches while also saying he’s hungry for something different. It’s a line that immediately makes you wonder if you’re staring at the villain or the hero of this story.
3
Fleabag (2016-2019)
“You Know That Feeling When A Guy You Like Sends You A Text…”
The first part of the opening monologue in Fleabag, spoken by the titular free-spirited woman, tells you all you need to know about the show. It’s a line that makes you interested because you agree, then confused because it goes too far, then makes you laugh at her ridiculousness, then makes you reconsider if you maybe do relate after all.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge writes and directs Fleabag and says the opening line with her distinctive, sardonic, fourth-wall-breaking delivery, and you are immediately hooked. This opening line is funny, smart, and immediately tells you that we are going to play with the television form in this acclaimed TV show.
2
Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
“Oh My God, Christ! Shit. Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My God, Think, Think, Think.”
The first line uttered in Breaking Bad is the whole series writ small. Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) panic, anger, and ability to think on his feet are put on display in this line. If you ever want to know what’s generally going through Walter’s mind in most scenes, it’s his first line.
Walter says this after a short scene of a dirty RV flying through the New Mexico desert. It comes to a screeching halt and a man wearing a gas mask and underwear and nothing else stumbles out. His absolute panic and demands to “think” basically freeze to your seat as you wait to see what he’ll come up with.
1
How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)
“Kids, I’m Going To Tell You An Incredible Story, The Story Of How I Met Your Mother.”
When the first line of a TV show is a promise to the audience that they’re about to hear an incredible story, how can viewers not be roped into the show? The only problem is that after a line like that, How I Met Your Mother had to deliver, and for the most part, it did.
Not only does that opening line make a promise of what’s to come, it delivers the main plot and the title of the series all in one go. That’s how you start a TV show. Get right to the story and don’t mess around with build-up or anything else; there’s only so much time to watch.
