Coolest openings for '50s shows?

At 4:30 pm Monday through Friday on CBS: a visual of the Cincinatti skyline in bright light and a diagonal darkness descended from the upper right corner of the screen so the city was in darkness as the lights came on, you'd hear Paul Taubman strike some suspenseful chords on the piano, and while the words appeared on the screen Harry Kramer would intone: The EDGE of Night.

Zorro

I've seen some Highway Patrol re-runs on 'This' TV late at night this summer. Yeah, it seemed like the openings were adapted to that weel's episode, with a camera in a helicopter or plane speeding over the highway until it passed a Highway Patrol roadblock or something.


Zorro, I only vaguely remember the opening. The theme song sticks with me, but not the visual. I think Guy Williams cut a bunch of Z's across the screen, but I don't recall exactly.

Certainly Zorro was great (as was the Mickey Mouse Club opening) but surely the coolest had to be Peter Gunn

What made Peter Gunn cool? I remember the hit theme song, but not the opening.

The Henry Mancini music was cool enough, but it was accompanied by sort of animated "absract" art (that's what we used to call it then, anyway) which, as far as I remember, finally resolved itself, out of fairly shapeless blobs, into the words "Peter Gunn"

It was cool, baby

I remember Highway Patrol started that whole "10-4" kick that people later used when they got on their CBs. That whole "ten code" business. Broderick Crawford sure came across as this no-nonsense tough highway bull.

Also, the visuals "pulsed" to the beat of the music. It was a great opening!