MovieChat Forums > Hart to Hart (1979) Discussion > Obscure Question

Obscure Question

posted 18 years ago by PlanoRB
4 replies | jump to latest

"Hart To Hart" was pretty good about updating their opening credits every season; they'd change the music, and add scenes from the previous season. My question is: why did they go back to the 2nd season opening sequence for the last season(season 5)? It's the same music, and basically the same pictures that were used for season 2, with just a few extra scenes thrown in from seasons 3 and 4. I guess I'm wondering if this opening was just used in syndication for some reason, or this actually was the season 5 theme when the show originally aired?

[–] PlanoRB 13 years ago

bump

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 13 years ago

Unless someone has a really freakin' long memory, I don't think anyone is going to know this for sure until the Season 5 discs come out -- if that even ever happens. My guess is that the opening credits in s5 syndication are the real deal from when it ran live. As for why? Might be lack of good clips to stick in there s5 was god-awful in almost every way, so current clips that were compelling for the viewer were not plentiful. Their better bet would have been to use strong s3 and s4 clips in the opening credits. that's what I'd do, cuz s5 was slim pickin's.

[–] PlanoRB 13 years ago

HilaryElizabeth, thank you for the response. I can understand your feelings about the season 5 episodes. I think even Wagner and Powers have commented on a decline in the quality of writing. That said, if history repeated itself, the season 5 intro would have mainly featured scenes from season 4.
The tradition seemed to be that each season intro would feature highlights from the previous season. With the season 5 intro, they basically took the intro from season 2, and tacked on some scenes from the season 3 intro, and one or two shots from the 4th season.. I guess maybe the title design department just got a little lazy? LOL. The music is exactly the same. To make it even a little more confusing, a few season 5 episodes have the 4th season intro("Two Harts Are Better Than One", to name at least one).

Check it out: Season 2 intro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNaLVStHXpk

Season 5 intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDwICIC5rHI

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 13 years ago

Just now getting back to this. You're right, when I took a good look, it clearly was simply the s3 intro with some scenes swapped out. And you're also right that if history is an indicator, it would have been season SIX that had the s5 scenes in it, so that doesn't explain the titles for s5, as there were plenty of clips from s4 they could have used. Very odd, indeed. I'm thinking:

* Laziness
* Lack of investment in H2H at that time by ABC, so governance in quality was not on their priority list

I liked this obscure question! It was intelligent and made me think! I miss good conversation on this board, so thanks Plano!