TV Shows

Best TV show intros

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73contenders high-voltage

2.2kvotes

33TopList

0commentsUpdated on 10/06/2026 at 02:00 PM

Game of Thrones1379

The worldwide ranking generated by 2.2k votes

73 / 73

Game of Thrones1379

Stranger Things1364

Prison Break1360

CSI: Miami1358

Friends1350

NCIS1328

The Walking Dead1322

Malcolm in the Middle1311

Money Heist1306

#10

Buffy the Vampire Slayer1300

#11

Narcos1297

#12

The Good Doctor1296

#13

Breaking Bad1294

#14

One Tree Hill1293

#15

Desperate Housewives1291

#16

Ghost Whisperer1278

#17

Smallville1275

#18

The Last of Us1270

#19

The 1001263

#20

Charmed1256

#21

Vikings1244

#22

Hawaii Five-01239

#23

Doctor Who1238

#24

The Big Bang Theory1235

#25

Marvel's Daredevil1233

#26

Shadowhunters1233

#27

Heroes1232

#28

True Detective1228

#29

Peaky Blinders1228

#30

Marvel's Runaways1224

#31

House1223

#32

Pretty Little Liars1223

#33

Mindhunter1222

#34

Suits1221

#35

Grey's Anatomy1219

#36

Criminal Minds1213

#37

H2O: Just Add Water1207

#38

Brooklyn Nine-Nine1197

#39

Veronica Mars1192

#40

Dexter1192

#41

Scrubs1187

#42

Orange Is the New Black1185

#43

Sons of Anarchy1185

#44

The Office1182

#45

The Crown1178

#46

The X-Files1159

#47

Jessica Jones1158

#48

How I Met Your Mother1157

#49

House of Cards1155

#50

Sherlock1152

#51

Reign1150

#52

From1145

#53

Shameless1144

#54

Gilmore Girls1144

#55

Westworld1140

#56

MacGyver (2016)1133

#57

Dark1133

#58

Orphan Black1130

#59

The O.C.1125

#60

Marvel's The Defenders1121

#61

Grimm1115

#62

Luke Cage1109

#63

The Mentalist1102

#64

Skins1101

#65

Iron Fist1090

#66

Anne with an E1085

#67

Mad Men1080

#68

Wynonna Earp1076

#69

Misfits1052

#70

The Sopranos1052

#71

A Series of Unfortunate Events1043

#72

Yellowjackets1009

#73

Community990

What the community says

Game of Thrones leads with an ELO of 1,379, ahead of Stranger Things (1,364) and Prison Break (1,360). Ranked over 2,161 duels between 73 contenders, last updated October 6, 2026.

Which TV show intro is impossible to skip? Rank the most memorable series openings, from classics to recent hits.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.