Best TV show of the late ’80s? Best show ever? I leave that to the jury. But if there’s one thing this two-decade-old clip reminds us of, it’s that TV intros used to be brilliant, brief works of art, mini narratives that got the audience up to speed each week on the program’s dramatic backstory (in an exhaustive minute and a half — take that, Lost!). Sidebar: Oh my God, let’s not forget the sax! Listen, Venus Butterfly adherents…and love.
Apr 24
2009
12:00 PM ET
Clip du Jour: 'L.A. Law' and the power of the saxophone
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Thank for the memory. I LOVED this show and just hearing the words “previously on LA Law …” meant the best hour on TV was starting.
ahhh the 80′s- synths, sax and shoulder pads… hahaha corbin bernsen! larry drake has always looked creepy… and my my, blair underwood sure has grown… i never got into this show cause i was too young to appreciate it.
now you know this is 80′s tv when courtney thorne smith has an appearance!
geez, I miss this show…………..
Law & Order still kills it! The show and the theme.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/04/24/tv-tonight-friday-april-24th-2009/
I might be in the minority, but I watched an episode of LA Law a couple of years ago, and even though I had followed the show when it first aired, I was stunned by how slow and old-fashioned it seemed.
Hadn’t heard that in a long time. It gave me a little shiver of joy and nostalgia for a time when theme songs were played to their full length over a montage of great images and evoked such a vibe and mood for their shows. “The Rockford Files”, “Hill Street Blues”, “Magnum PI”, “Hawaii 5-0″, and “St. Elsewhere”, just to name a tiny handful, are ingrained the the psyche of all of us who grew up watching, and listening to TV. Just hearing the classic theme at the end of the final “ER” one last time a couple of weeks ago choked me up a bit. OK, I’m weird, but unapologetically so…
I had forgotten how much I loved this show! My friends all knew not to call me during LA Law and thirtysomething. Who can forget “Your honor, permission to vomit.”
Charles – I agree with you. Don’t forget Magnum (great show) and the A-Team (which I didn’t really watch) in terms of great opening themes/montages.
Ah, the trifecta of Hill St Blues, LA Law, and then ER as the Thursday 10:00 anchor.
EW, you give good sax! Thanks for making my day. : )
EW, you give good sax! Thanks for making my day. : )
EW, you give good sax! Thanks for making my day. : )