Focus : Scene Setters : OPENINGS OF SERIES ARE CHANGING AS NETWORKS AIM TO HOLD VIEWERS’ ATTENTION

Quick, think of “Cheers.” What comes to mind?

Think of “The Andy Griffith show”--come on, admit it, are you humming?

Odds are, your first memory of a favorite television show is its signature opening sequence, or main title. The music, the repetitious scenes--remember Dick Van Dyke tripping over that couch?--can become like a part of the family.

OK, maybe it’s just a warning that you have about 90 seconds to get to the refrigerator and grab a drink, but you’ve learned to count on it.

So now, in the ever-changing and increasingly competitive world of television, are opening sequences becoming endangered species?

“This is definitely a period of change in our business,” says Carol Johnsen of Castle-Bryant-Johnsen, which has produced openings for such shows as “Cheers,” “Family Ties,” and “Coach.” “Suddenly, the networks have less money to spend on main titles, and they want to shorten them. Worse, we’re beginning to hear this new line that maybe they get in the way and are causing people to check out what else is on.”

So, what for some viewers is a welcome break between shows is to others another opportunity to take a quick scan at the multitude of alternative channels.

Or just ask the folks behind “Wings,” whose own creative wings were clipped when they had to give up their carefully choreographed opening sequence featuring the show’s airplane flying amid clouds and the music of Franz Shubert.

“Everyone said it was breathtaking, but apparently we were the only ones watching it,” says Dave Hackel, one of the show’s executive producers. After a year and a half, the network--determined to hold onto the huge “Cheers” lead-in--found people were grabbing their remotes during the sequence. Now the show, like so many others, opens with a brief tease (run credits), a few exterior shots (continue credits) and smack into that week’s episode. “A few seconds into the show,” says Hackel, “and our credits are done and we’re off and running.”

The networks make no apologies for changing the main sequence format of series. “It’s pretty pervasive now to begin each time period with program material rather than clutter,” explains Alan Sternfeld, ABC’s senior vice president of planning and scheduling. “We’ve asked almost all our producers to begin with either a cold open or some kind of prologue, otherwise it’s conceivable that viewers may have had up to seven or eight minutes between shows for zipping and zapping and channel surfing.”

“The audience has become more sophisticated and more restless,” concedes Steven Peterman, an executive producer of “Murphy Brown.” That five-year-old series, in fact, was among the first to forgo credits for a cold opening that would hook viewers from the onset, in this case, a different Motown song was played each week with credits that roll over new scenes.

“Our openings either have something to do with the general message of that episode,” explains Peterman, “or they’re scenes that lead up to the first line. We always wanted something that grabbed your attention, that wasn’t traditional. Now, of course, it’s become its own tradition. Standard openings are only interesting the first time you see them.”

In an attempt to hold viewers, other series are trying cold opens followed by a main sequence. Stephen Bochco’s shows have made this a respectable and aesthetic form and are produced by his own company.

“I think we’ve always just known what we like, and for me it’s become a bit of a hobby,” says Gregory Hoblitt, who has directed many Bochco shows and is a co-executive producer on the critically acclaimed “NYPD Blue.” “We like to first create a little scene, a special moment, that throws you into the main titles so, hopefully, we hook you early.”

On “Hill Street Blues,” viewers became familiar with the roll call leading into a blustery, rainy night, a car coming out of a garage.

“The idea with “L.A. Law,” was to always keep it in motion,” explains Hoblitt. “Those people are always going in and out of offices, courtrooms, elevators. We do change their pictures every season to keep it fresh.”

For “NYPD Blue,” Hoblitt wanted the unique feel of the city’s movement underground. “New York is all hooked together by trains,” he says, “and I wanted to marry the sound and sights of the subways with the different neighborhoods.” Viewers will see almost a blur of track activity, mixed with its natural sounds. The faces of the cast go by so quicky that sometimes they don’t meet their names on the screen at the same time.”

Although they do them differently, the Bochco folks do believe main title sequences are important: “They are extremely relevant because, through their music and images, you set the taste, the smells, the feel and touch of a show,” says Hoblitt.

They can also sometimes be an important tool in explaining the basic premise of a program. Remember “The Fugitive?” “Run for Your Life?” “Quantum Leap?” “They tell the back stories viewers really need to know,” explains Wayne Fitzgerald, who has created titles for hundreds of shows.

Openings also can be an effective means of getting viewers into the appropriate mood for what they’re about to see. That was what “Moonlighting “ creator Glenn Gordon Caron had in mind when he hired Castle-Bryant-Johnsen: “He wanted something moodier and more romantic than the actual show,” says Bruce Bryant, “to balance all its comedy. He also wanted a feel of Los Angeles by night.”

Bryant’s company really went on the map with its opening for “Cheers,” which started with a vague idea to reflect bars across the country. “The first ones looked sort of like a salute to alcohol,” says Jim Castle, “so we turned it more into the history of that particular bar. We also had a rough version of the music to work with and that always helps.”

Even though the network wanted to have the stars clearly identified (though they weren’t stars at the time), the creators did not. “So we did the illustrations of characters that were similar but certainly not identical to the actors,” says Castle. “Basically, we all wanted an opening that was as different as the show.”

Keeping a concept simple--check out “Coach’s” quiet roam around his office--memorable and interesting week after week is the key. But a good opening knows its place. “It’s important, especially with sitcoms, not to overpower the show,” says Peter Conn, who has done main titles for “Cosby,” “A Different World” and the new ABC series “Grace Under Fire.” Conn tried a new technique for “Grace,” combining blurred and sharp photographic images in the same frame ... with a movie camera.

“They are stills, but they have a very steppy kind of movie look,” he says. When Conn was given the assignment, he was also told that “Lady Madonna,” sung by Aretha Franklin, would be the opening music. “That pulsating beat worked perfectly with what I wanted to do.”

Coming up with new techniques is the constant challenge for those in the business, especially in these times of fewer dollars but higher expectations.

“We’re starting to see budgets like what we had on ‘Cheers’ (about $20,000),” laments Bruce Bryant. “And that was 11 years ago. Yet with the MTV influence, and computer graphics, people expect to see a lot.”

“The challenge is to keep up the high production values,” agrees Billy Pittard, whose company (Pittard Sullivan Fitzgerald) has done main titles for “Brooklyn Bridge,” “Picket Fences,” “Sisters” and “Roc” among others. “There can be more production in a good opening sequence than in any other part of the show. They’re more highly refined because they’re the essence of the show. To do that with less money is obviously difficult.”

For now, the biggest threat is to the openings themselves, as edgy networks try to keep viewers tuned in. “New things are definitely being tried with cold openings and no openings, and in some cases it works,” says Billy Pittard. “But to (delete openings) across the board would be a mistake. First of all, it would place a tremendous burden on the people who create the shows to fill the extra time, or tell the extra information, without that pre-built story definer.”

The producers of “Sisters” discovered that. They used to simply open on the sisters in a sauna but found the scene difficult to write every week. After two years, they asked Pittard to create a regular main title, which he did by combining vignettes of childhood with adult scenes, subtly telling each sister’s story. The opening--using no music--has won several awards.

Though there may be changes, opening titles will likely be around for awhile. “The networks may feel they are just clutter,” says Wayne Fitzgerald, “but that’s nonsense. Basically shows are about identification and a good main title is a large part of your memory ID for a show. And viewers feel they’re in good hands with an effective one.”