Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

  For several years now, I’ve been of the opinion that television is the dominant storytelling medium of the 21st century. When I say dominant I mean, television has been consistently turning out storytelling, acting, and action set pieces that we normally only expect from big budget Hollywood films. Personally I think the real game changer was Game of Thrones. 

    Love or hate how it ended, up until Game of Thrones, in theory there’s nothing stopping a television show from having an actor give a riveting and compelling performance that rivals the years Oscar nominees. Where television couldn’t measure up, was its ability to deliver visual effects heavy, action set pieces. Game of Thrones was the first television show to deliver action sequences that were as good or better than anything on the big screen that year. The Siege of Castle Black, The Massacre at Hardholme, The Battle of The Bastards, were among some of the best battle sequences in any medium and rivaled what we’ve come to expect from our summer blockbusters. The VFX quality that went into making Dany’s dragons look damn near photo real was astonishing. In fact I’ll go so far as to even say that I think Daenerys dragons were the most realistic looking dragons ever put on film. They look like real living breathing creatures. 

     Game of Thrones was only the beginning. My favorite kind of storytelling: fantasy, science fiction, superhero stories, all require complex VFX, stunt work, and make up effects, among other things to make them work. Fortunately as Television has progressed as a medium, Visual Effects have become advanced enough and cost effective enough, for even a network like The CW can have one of their hit superhero shows feature a spectacular fight scene between The Flash and Gorilla Grodd. Now we get to see armies of creatures out of fantasy clash in battle, we can marvel at our favorite superheroes saving the day in daring fashion, and watch some of the coolest fight choreography this side of John Wick, all without setting foot in a movie theatre. 

     Especially with movie theaters currently closed, we all appreciate now more than ever that some of the most memorable characters, some of the greatest drama and storytelling, as well as incredible VFX are available to us every day on streaming and TV. Which is why I loved it when one of my favorite YouTube channels,  Watchmojo,  put together this list of the Top 20 TV Show Opening Scenes. As I thought back to some of my all time favorite, opening scenes to a TV series, it was fun to think of all the shows that came to mind for me and compare them to the 20 picks and honorable mentions in this video. Like I said, I had a some fun with it, so will I thought I’d share it with all of you! Give it a watch right here:

I’d love to know what some of your favorite TV show openings are! Hell, it doesn’t have to be just TV, what are some of your favorite movie openings scenes? Let me know in the comments below!

-Paul