The Mayhem Critic
Good evening, my fellow readers. It is I, the great James Stryker and I am here to bring you another hilarious chapter of The Mayhem Critic and today is a very special one. Today, Sean will be talking about the Top 11 Nostalgic TV Show Intros, and he's not doing it alone. He's got fellow critic Ryoma the Craze Critic joining him for this countdown. Did any of the TV show intros make the cut? Well, then let's find out. So sit back, relax and enjoy the new chapter of The Mayhem Critic.
P.S.: I do not own anything involved in this story. All rights belong to their respective sources.
Episode 124
The Top 11 Nostalgic TV Show Intros
We open with Sean J. Archer, a.k.a. the Mayhem Critic, sitting on his red couch in his living room as he prepares to address the audience once more.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Sean the Mayhem Critic, the critic that rips movies a new one." Sean said. "Let's talk about the best part of a TV show… THE INTRO!"
(Clips of Various Intros Plays)
Sean: (Narrating) What is it about a television show intro that gets us all hyped up? Is it the catchy theme music? Is it the visuals? Is it the characters you're going to see? Well, it's everything. Intros today is just a title card, which is just dull because I want to see the characters and hear the catchy theme music as well. They're like watching a trailer for a movie. You're expecting to see what's going to happen. From the music to the visuals, it's the best that you're about to see.
"And we're going to take a look at them. But wait, I'm not going to do this countdown alone. Hold on just for one second." Sean said as he picks up his phone from off of the coffee table as he starts texting someone.
(We cut to Ryoma's house as we see Ryoma in his office talking about Dragon Ball Super)
"And of course, they had to tone Vegeta down by making the prince of all Saiyans into a complete goofball like Goku…" Ryoma said.
His review gets interrupted by the sound of his ringtone as he picks up his phone to read a text message from Sean.
"It's time." Ryoma said.
(Ryoma gets up from out of his chair as he starts flying through the roof, then through the skies, reenacting Superman's first flight from Man of Steel. We cut back to Sean as he continues to wait for Ryoma while he sips on a cup of iced vanilla coffee. While waiting for the fellow critic, a crash is heard, which causes Sean to spit out his coffee, followed by the sound of Taylor screaming)
"Sorry, Taylor!" Ryoma exclaimed.
"JESUS, RYOMA! I'm trying to take a relaxing bath here!" Taylor shouted.
Ryoma immediately leaves the bathroom and ran downstairs to the living room before sitting down next to Sean on the couch.
"What did you do?" Sean asked.
"I didn't mean to crash through your roof and make my way into your bathroom to find Taylor taking a bath." Ryoma said as Sean gives him a death glare. "I wasn't trying to take a peek at her!"
"Good. You better not." Sean said. "And now I've gotta fix the roof. Goddamn it."
"Anyway, we're going to be counting down the top 11 nostalgic TV show intros." Ryoma said.
(We cut to more footage of TV show intros)
Sean: (Narrating) Now, first things first, we will be looking at American shows only. Now, I'm sure that some of you wanted to see intros for Japanese shows. If we did, to quote the Nostalgia Critic, "They'd all win.".
Ryoma: (Narrating) We're going to see which ones made the list. Which ones had the catchiest song? Which ones had the best visuals? Which ones get you really hyped up? There's a lot to choose from, so let's not waste any time.
"So, let's take a look at the Top 11 Nostalgic TV Show Intros. Why top 11?" Sean asked.
"Because we like to kick things up a notch." Ryoma said.
"So sit back and let's take a look at the Top 11 Nostalgic TV Show Intros!" Sean exclaimed.
(The opening sequence features Sean and Ryoma in the Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers logo while the "Top 11 Nostalgic TV Show Intros" title is shown while the instrumental version of the Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers theme plays in the background)
Number 11: Mega Man
Sean: (Narrating) Oh, man. Talk about an awesome intro. Based on the popular Capcom game, this animated series from 1994 did a great job with the feel of the video game while also redesigning some characters as well. I just love that the intro music give it an action and synth pop feel to it. Hell, the song basically tells us everything that we need to know.
Singers: Super fighting robot, Mega Man!
Ryoma: (Narrating) The intro also shows how Mega Man was being created. This intro is fast-paced they're throwing everything at us. This is like Mega Man jacked up with steroids. You have angry robot birds dropping bombs, buildings exploding, a skull-head ship firing it's laser.
(Clips from the intro plays)
Sean: (Narrating) This intro is like an adrenaline rush of excitement. Hell, the only thing that surprised me was Mega Man fighting Ice Man and he disintegrated him with fire. Jesus, violent much, Mega Man?! And then the intro ends climatically as we see Mega Man and Proto Man getting ready to do battle and then we see some of the characters like Dr. Wily, Dr. Light and Roll being shown briefly and then he blasts Proto Man with his Mega Buster before we cut to the title. It's a pretty cool intro, coming in at number 11.
(Mega Man blasts at Proto Man before we cut to him and Rush appearing next to the show's title via flash)
(Interlude)
Number 10: iCarly (2007)
(The intro plays as the song "Leave It All to Me" starts playing)
Ryoma: (Narrating) Okay, okay, okay. So, it's not as big, epic and bombastic as Mega Man, but I'm sure that everyone loves the intro. For those of you who don't know about iCarly and have been living underneath a rock, I'm pretty sure that Sean has talked about it. This sitcom created by Dan Schneider stars Miranda Cosgrove as the title character Carly Shay, who host a webshow with her best friend Sam Puckett, played by Jennette McCurdy. It's as goofy as it sounds but it's an awesome show.
Sean: (Narrating) And yes, this intro shows clips from the show and featuring some of the characters. What I love is that they incorporated computer graphics on there because it's a webshow. Another thing I like is the catchy-as-hell theme song.
("Leave It All to Me" plays during the opening credits)
Miranda Cosgrove: (Singing) I know you see, somehow the world will change for me and be so wonderful…
Sean: (Narrating) It's so catchy-as-hell, that you would end up singing the song with your friends.
(Cut back to the intro)
Miranda Cosgrove: (Sings) So wake up the members of my nation, it's your time to be. There's no chance unless you take one and the time to see. The brighter side of every situation, some things are meant to be. So give me your best and leave the rest to me…
Ryoma: (Narrating) You could see that the cast in the intro clips are really having a ball. But what threw me off about the intro was the season one intro where during the intro Carly and Sam are showing their feet to the camera.
"Christ! Dan "The Foot Man" Schneider strikes again." Ryoma said.
"Yeah, looking back at the intro for the show's first season I'm a little disturbed by that part.
Sean: (Narrating) They did change up the intro over the show's six seasons but the song never changed. And if you're going to tell us what we think about the intro for the iCarly revival, we love it. This show is one of Dan Schneider's greatest shows and all we could say is….
Miranda Cosgrove: (Sings) ...just leave it all to me.
(Cut to a shot of Carly and her friends eating soup in the studio)
(Interlude)
Number 9: The Real Ghostbusters/Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters
Sean: (Narrating) Hell, yeah. This is a show that I remember watching growing up as a kid and I always get pumped up every time I see the intro and hear the song.
(The Ghostbusters theme performed by John Smith plays)
John Smith: (Singing) Who you gonna call?
Singers: (Singing) Ghostbusters!
Ryoma: (Narrating) The animation looks good here compared to the animation in the episode we're watching. In the intro, we see our heroes springing into action as they face off against an army of ghosts and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. That looked awesome.
John Smith: (Singing) Who you gonna call?
Sean: (Narating) Okay, is it just me or does the guy singing the theme song sound like he's having an orgasm or something?
John Smith: (Singing) Who you gonna call?
"Who you gonna call?" Sean sings, imitating John Smith.
John Smith: (Singing) Who you gonna call?
"Who you gonna call?" Ryoma imitates John Smith as well.
(Cut to the intro for the spin-off show Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters)
Ryoma: (Narrating) The show produced a spin-off called Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters, which featured that annoying little snot bubble Slimer, and the show focuses on a more cartoony style, but we get a pretty creative opening. The animation looks great, the characters look amazing, we get some great speed and also a great song. Coming in at number 9.
(Cut back to the intro)
John Smith: (Singing) Who you gonna call?
Singers: (Sings) Ghostbusters!
Slimer (Voiced by Frank Welker): And me, and me!
Ryoma: (V/O) God, I hate you!
(Interlude)
Number 8: Teen Titans (2003)
(The intro to Teen Titans GO! is shown)
"No, no, no!" Sean yelled out.
"Wrong show! Fuck that show! Give us the real Teen Titans!" Ryoma shouted.
(The intro to the 2003 version of Teen Titans is shown as we see Robin springing into action while the theme song by Puffy AmiYumi plays)
(A clip from Army of Darkness plays)
Ash Williams (Played by Bruce Campbell): (Yells) Yeah, baby!
Sean: (Narrating) Oh, hell yeah! Now we're talkin'! This is definitely the show that we watched when we were kids. And we get hyped up every time we see the intro. Kids today only know about that crappy "GO" version instead of the awesome 2003 version and we get the nostalgic feels from the intro.
Ryoma: (Narrating) In the intro, we're introduced to the characters and what their powers are, well Robin doesn't have any powers. His only power is being a badass and shipping him with Starfire.
Sean: (Narrating) Hell, you've gotta admit that the theme song is catchy and admit it, you sang along to the lyrics. Admit it, guys! You did!
Puffy AmiYumi: (Singing) When there's trouble, you know who to call (Teen Titans!) From their tower, they can see it all (Teen Titans!) When there's evil on the attack. You can rest knowing they got your back. 'Cause when the world needs heroes on patrol. Teen Titans, go!
Ryoma: (Narrating) There's also a Japanese version of the song sung by Puffy AmiYumi. And you know what, we're gonna count that one as well.
Sean: (Narrating) So, which one would you rather watch, this or the Teen Titans GO! version? I could agree with Ryoma and every one that Teen Titans will always be superior over Teen Titans Go!. This is definitely the intro that will get your blood pumping.
Puffy AmiYumi: (Singing) 1, 2, 3, 4… GO! Teen Titans!
(Interlude)
Number 7: Sonic SatAM
Ryoma: (Narrating) Aside from the catchy theme song, there's something about this intro that makes it so grand and epic. Hell, this is better than the intro to The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
(Cut to footage of the intro)
Sean: (Narrating) This show has a dark tone to it and how serious it is. This shows the perfect example of effective storytelling. All the background to the series is told in 1 minute. Man, how can you not get hyped from hearing that awesome theme song.
(The theme song plays in the background)
Ryoma; (Narrating) It's the theme song that says, "Yeah, Sonic is cool and he can outwit you clowns. Robotnik's ass is grass.".
Sean: (Narrating) With great animation and a catchy song, this is a fantastic opening for the greatest Sonic cartoon.
Singer: (Sings) He's the fastest thing alive!
(The logo for the series is shown)
(Interlude)
Number 6: X-Men
Ryoma: (Narrating) Aside from the awesome guitar work in the intro, there's something about this intro that makes it so grand and epic. It looks like something straight out of the comics. Look at the imagery. You have characters flying, laser beams, characters wearing yellow spandex. And the letter "X" looks cool. And you want to know why it's cool? Because they just throw it out in the middle of the ocean and they have it explode.
Sean: (Narrating) How can you not get hyped up from seeing the names of the characters fly by and have their powers displayed as they fight off the bad guys, how awesome is that?
(Cut to footage of the Japanese intro for the show)
Sean: (Narrating) Now, we know that we said no Japanese intros for the countdown but this one is just as amazing. It's so good that they put it at the end of the American end credits, so we're counting it.
(The bell tolling in the opening is heard)
Ryoma: (Narrating) Man, I get chills every time when I hear that bell. (The bell tolling is heard once more) When that bell rings, you know that it's go time. Hell, it's the bell that says to you: "Hey, you got a date with your girlfriend? Well, X-Men is more important than her. Your ass is ours."
Sean: (Narrating) And the intro ends with an army of bad guys led by Magneto rushing to an army of heroes with civilians panicking in the middle before shit gets really real, this is the intro that gets you all pumped up, coming in at the number 6 spot.
(The intro ends)
(Interlude)
Number 5: The Outer Limits (1995)/Poltergeist: The Legacy
Ryoma: (Narrating) Okay, okay, okay. Now, I know we're cheating a bit, but come on. These two shows pull you in for a night of terror and pulling you into another realm of terror. We all know about The Outer Limits and their intro, right?
(Footage from the original 1960s intro)
Control Voice (Played by Vic Perrin): There is nothing wrong with your television set. We are controlling transmission. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear.
Sean: (Narrating) Well, for the 1995 revival series, they kick up the creepiness meter up to a 10 with it's music and some of it's bizarre imagery. Yeah, I know that some of the graphics look cheesy and outdated for something that came out of the 90s, but watching this intro as a kid, that definitely scared the shit out of me.
(Footage from the 1995 intro is shown)
Control Voice (Voiced by Kevin Conway): There is nothing wrong with your television. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are now controlling transmission. We control the horizontal and the vertical. We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand one single to crystal clarity… and beyond.
"Oh, that's just great. I was busy watching reruns of American Housewife on CMT and this asshole starts taking over the airwaves." Sean said.
"I think this guy means business, Sean." Ryoma said.
(Cut to the intro for Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Ryoma: (Narrating) For Poltergeist: The Legacy, it's intro is pretty straightforward with it's eery tone and dealing with the supernatural, plus who wouldn't get chills from listening to the theme song.
(The theme music in the intro plays)
Sean: (Narrating) We get our cast of characters for the show, and yes, that's Sheriff Keller from Riverdale in the show and Littlefoot's mother from The Land Before Time in the show as well. I'm referring to Martin Cummins and Helen Shaver. Fun fact: The Undertaker guest starred in an episode of Poltergeist: The Legacy.
Ryoma: (Narrating) These two shows set the perfect tone for giving you a night of suspense, coming in at number 5.
(Interlude)
Number 4: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Sean: (Narrating) What? You didn't think that we were going to add it to the list. It's not as grand and epic and bombastic like Sonic SatAM or X-Men, but… holy chiz. Who doesn't know the lyrics to the song?
(A clip from iParty with Victorious is shown)
Tori Vega (Played by Victoria Justice): The song goes: "Chewing some meatballs outside of the school.".
Jade West (Played by Elizabeth Gillies): No, it doesn't.
"Well, some people." Sean said.
Fresh Prince: (Singing) In West Philadelphia, born and raised, on the playground was where I spent most of my days…
Ryoma: (Narrating) This is a perfect representation of the show: it's silly, it's over the top, its clever and it's creative and it marks the end of the 80s and moving into the 90s. Every time that the show comes on, I couldn't help but sing along to to lyrics.
Fresh Prince: (Singing) I begged and pleaded with her day after day, but she packed my suitcase and sent me on my way, she gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket, I put my walkman on and said, "I might as well kick it!"
Sean: (Narrating) This intro is so timeless and dated, and we enjoy it. It gives it's own sense of humor that we can all laugh from and we can get a lot of joy from this intro.
(A clip from iParty with Victorious is shown)
Tori Vega: The song goes: "Chewing some meatballs outside of the school.".
"It's "shootin' some B-ball outside of the school,", ya dumb broad!" Ryoma yelled out.
(Interlude)
Number 3: Pinky and the Brain
Ryoma: (Narrating) By far, the best part of every episode of Pinky and the Brain was always the intro. Now don't get me wrong, I love the episodes and get a great laugh from watching them. And just like Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, this show has a great intro and the most catchiest theme song.
Singers: They're Pinky and the Brain. Yes, Pinky and the Brain. One is a genius, the other's insane…
Sean: (Narrating) The best thing about this intro is that during the song, the lyrics are displayed on the screen for us to sing along to. Every time you hear that song playing, you couldn't help but sing along to it.
Singers: They're dinky, they're Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain.
Sean: (Narrating) It's a theme song that you try to get out of your head. It's just like the Ducktales theme song, it will never leave.
"You'll be busy taking a shower and you're singing The System's Don't Disturb this Groove and when you get to "Hang a sign up on the door. I say don't disturb this… Pinky and the Brain. Yes, Pinky and the Brain." What the hell, man?" Sean asked after he stops singing.
Ryoma: (Narrating) You know, cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation have the catchiest of theme songs and this is one of the catchiest. Oh, yeah. I just want to point out something: Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain blows! This is one intro that will make you ask what do you want to do tonight.
Brain (Voiced by Maurice LaMarche): The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!
(Interlude)
Number 2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
Sean: (Narrating) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hey, we've gotta add this one to the list because this is one of the greatest nostalgic intros of all time and it gets you all pumped up. The animation looks great: from the shadows, the lighting, the motion. Hell, it looks amazing. And the song is awesome too.
Singer: They're the world's most fearsome fighting team.
Leonardo: We're really hip!
Singer: They're heroes in a half-shell and they're green.
Raphael: Hey, get a grip!
Ryoma: (Narrating) After season three, they moved the show to CBS and aired it on Saturday mornings from it's forth season to it's seventh season and it fits more to the show's silly tone. Then for the show's final three seasons, they definitely changed it up a bit by giving the show a darker tone and the theme song changed as well. It's not as good as the original but it's pretty underrated.
Sean: (Narrating) Everybody looks amazing in it, everybody moves amazing, the city looks amazing as well. Hell, I just love the high-pitched noise that the singer makes when he says "Heroes in a half-shell".
Singer: (In a high-pitched voice) Heroes in a half-shell! Turtle power!
"Man, how did they come up with that. I'm curious to know." Sean said.
Singer: Heroes in a half-shell! Turtle power!
Ryoma: (Narrating) Everything looks amazing, the song is catchy as hell. If you're a fan of the Turtles, then you'll get all sorts of hyped up when you watch this opening that would make you shout "Cowabunga!".
Singer: Heroes in a half-shell! Turtle power!
"Now before we get to number 1 on the list, here are a few runners up." Ryoma said.
Runners Up
Ed, Edd 'n Eddy
Goosebumps
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Perfect Strangers
Beetlejuice
Thundercats
Silver Hawks
Batman Beyond
(Interlude)
Sean: (V/O) And the number one nostalgic TV show intro is…
Number 1: Batman: The Animated Series
Sean: (Narrating) And here we come to the greatest intro to one of the greatest shows ever. What can we say about this one? It's amazing to all royal hell. It is so artistically pleasing, it's musically driven and yeah, it makes us forget every little detail in it, like that little white dot on Batman's lip. Luckily, they fixed that up in the remastered version on Blu-Ray.
Ryoma: (Narrating) This is like a little mini movie and the animation looks stunning and to top it all off, we get Danny Elfman's music for the intro. How awesome is that? The animators put a lot of work and creativity to it.
(Clips from the show's intro is shown)
Sean: (Narrating) This intro is so good that we don't need to see the title for the show, we all know who it is. This is one of the best looking intros ever. They did change up the intro when they retooled the show to The Adventures of Batman & Robin and as much as I loved the show's first intro, I love this one as well, even though it's basically just clips from some episodes and some clever editing. But what saved the show's intro is the magnificent theme music composed by the late Shirley Walker.
(The intro to The Adventures of Batman & Robin plays while the theme music plays)
Ryoma: (Narrating) What can we say about this intro? It's gets better and better every time we see it. It's just incredible.
(The intro ends with Batman standing on top of another building gloriously as lighting strikes, revealing him)
"I'm Sean the Mayhem Critic…." Sean said.
"And I'm Ryoma the Craze Critic…" Ryoma said.
"And we'll see you guys next time." Sean said.
And that's all for the Top 11 Nostalgic TV Show Intros for The Mayhem Critic. So, what did you think of the list? Was there a nostalgic show that you wished was on the list? Next time on The Mayhem Critic, Sean reviews the horrendous 1987 Bill Cosby spy comedy Leonard Part 6. A movie that really upset Sean and made him turn into a raging madman in this hilarious rant/review. Is it worse than the movies that he reviewed? Well, tune in next time. After that, Halloween Havoc comes back with Halloween Havoc IV. Hope that you're excited for that one. Anyway, feel free to leave a comment on the story, follow it for future updates and add it to your favorites. If you want to help out with the intro to my Leonard Part 6 review, then feel free to PM me. Also, I will be getting back to working on Up All Knight with Chad Knight. I know that it's been a while since I've worked on that one. I'll see you guys next time. Till next time, my fellow readers.