Matty Flatt here, with my last day running the Hoddle before Fitzie returns. I'll make it quick, because... I have the series finale of Andor to watch!
I'm a huge Star Wars nerd, for those of you who don't know; and Andor has been a high watermark of not just Disney's era of the franchise, but of the franchise in general.
There's so much I love about the show: the deep themes, the dialogue, the set design... but one thing that's quite unique is the opening theme.
The theme is a reasonably simple leitmotif, but arranged with completely different production and instrumentation week on week, with each musical theme reflecting the overall thematic focus of the episode. It's a really cool point of difference (and one that a lot of people probably miss, given streaming services allow people to skip intros... but I digress).
There's a couple of other shows that have changed up intros that come to mind, both of which are fantastic series: The Wire changed the arrangement of its theme song, Way Down in the Hole, each season (in a similar manner that Andor has each episode); The Leftovers (another HBO show just like The Wire, interestingly) did completely its own thing with theme songs, a classic orchestral arrangement that was ever present through Season 1 replaced at the start of the second season by Iris DeMent’s Let the Mystery Be - a knowing wink at the audience - with various other songs opening the show throughout its run.
What are some of your favorite TV Show themes? Can you think of any other examples where producers have changed things up musically?
Matty Flatt’s track of the day: Way Down In The Hole, by Tom Waits
And now for your links:
A loan player round-up from Alasdair Gold, including their availability (or lack thereof) for the Europa League final
Carty Free alum Kim McCauley dives into the painful rebuild sorely needed for Tottenham Hotspur’s squad