Let's see how good you are in your roadgeeking TV Trivia...
Name for me a TV show which shows at least one head-on shot of a BGS in their opening title, and what was/were they?
I'll start you off with two lesser-seen shows:
- The Fall Guy -- SB US-101/Hollywood Freeway approaching the Highland Avenue/Hollywood Bowl exit.
- One Day At A Time (later seasons) -- I-70 East-Indianapolis on-ramp sign from somewhere west of Indy in Indiana.
There was also some BGSs seen in the opening to the first season of the TV Show "Alice", but I don't remember where in Phoenix the signs were located.
Others? Go!!!
The Sopranos:
I-278 - Elizabeth, NJ sign
I-95 NJ Turnpike sign
Pretty sure CHiPs had this...
I am leaning against WKRP in Cincinnati having one but I might be mistaken.
Mapmikey
Perfect Strangers
Alice - season 1 - 0:13 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedrJdHGHFM
Quote from: Mapmikey on March 24, 2015, 08:14:30 PM
I am leaning against WKRP in Cincinnati having one but I might be mistaken.
You are correct. Plenty of (what I presume to be) downtown Cincinnati freeway porn, but all you see is the back of overhead signs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQvCNLIVydM
Actually, beginning with season 2 of WKRP they show southbound I-71 at the yet to be open I-471 exit. The 471 signage was covered in green out but on the same sign bridge there is a DOWNTOWN Next Right sign
CHiPs had freeway scenes in the opening, but the only shot in the opening with ID-able signs was at the end of the opening when they were on the 10 eastbound approaching the then 11/Harbor Freeway when they panned up to show Downtown.
The Rockford Files had the US 101 Hollywood sign at the Four Level.
Quote from: Mapmikey on March 24, 2015, 08:14:30 PM
Pretty sure CHiPs had this...
You catch a brief, oblique view of the predecessor to this assembly (https://goo.gl/maps/PpEXI) (with a CA 11 shield) as the camera pans up to the skyline.
The second intro to the Drew Carey show has easily identifiable Cleveland OH signage, for Dennison Avenue.
Quote from: thenetwork on March 24, 2015, 07:56:18 PMOne Day At A Time (later seasons) -- I-70 East-Indianapolis on-ramp sign from somewhere west of Indy in Indiana.
Season 5 through 9 featured the I-70 East BGS opening.
Quote from: thenetwork on March 24, 2015, 07:56:18 PM
There was also some BGSs seen in the opening to the first season of the TV Show "Alice",
First (excluding the Pilot Episode)
and Second Season openings featured those.
Quote from: SteveG1988 on March 25, 2015, 07:37:36 AM
The second intro to the Drew Carey show has easily identifiable Cleveland OH signage, for Dennison Avenue.
Which was the exit name before the Jennings Freeway was completed and SR-176 was relocated to it.
Quote from: Mapmikey on March 24, 2015, 08:14:30 PM
Pretty sure CHiPs had this...
I am leaning against WKRP in Cincinnati having one but I might be mistaken.
Mapmikey
The opening credits of CHiPs had Ponch and Jon passing under a pair of BGSes, but it wasn't a front-on view of the signs.
The original, the opening credits of WKRP
(with the unseen person tuning the car radio) showed a full-on view of a "Downtown Cincinatti" BGS. The
later, and shorter original opening credits (
adopted which lasted about mid-way through the first season) showed a side view passing under
the some of the gantries,
but not the and the backs of some of the sign panels themselves.
The TV series Smash, which took place in Boston, had a head-on shot of the diagrammatic sign on the Zakim Bridge northbound in the opening credits. However, the producers changed "Tobin Br" to "Downtown Boston" on the sign.
Corrected to reflect information in other posts on the subject - got my dates crossed.
Quote from: thenetwork on March 24, 2015, 10:31:23 PM
Actually, beginning with season 2 of WKRP they show southbound I-71 at the yet to be open I-471 exit. The 471 signage was covered in green out but on the same sign bridge there is a DOWNTOWN Next Right sign
They also showed an aerial view of that shot, focusing on a car driving, in the closing scene of the Season 1 episode "The Contest Nobody Could Win." No BGSes visible, but you can see a gaggle of orange work zone signs. To me, it was also one of the funniest lines ever on the show, as Johnny announces "Last week we gave away five thousand dollars. This week we're giving away a genuine comb. Be the eighty-seventh caller at ...". Unfortunately, this dialogue was muted from the 2007 DVD version of the episode - I'll have to check out the Shout Factory's version of the episode to see if it was re-inserted.
1992 FOX sitcom "Down the Shore" has a brief shot of an old-time "EXIT 11 1¼ MI." sign with an old-time Shop-Rite truck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQuk-WjNbtE#t=18 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQuk-WjNbtE#t=18)
Quote from: Mapmikey on March 24, 2015, 08:14:30 PM
Pretty sure CHiPs had this...
I am leaning against WKRP in Cincinnati having one but I might be mistaken.
Mapmikey
WKRP did have several by Riverfront Stadium on I-71 in the pilot episode in the opening. Unfortunately, none of them are really readable.
At least one of the early opening titles for Mary Tyler Moore had what might have been a LGS reading Minneapolis, St. Paul, with arrows pointing to the respective cities.
Honorable mention goes to Welcome Back Kotter, which notably had "Welcome to Brooklyn, 4th largest city in America" near the beginning of the opening credits. Not a BGS, but it was the first large sign you saw on the Belt Parkway after coming off the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Boston Legal had a shot of a BGS on the Zakim
Quote from: lepidopteran on March 25, 2015, 07:19:30 PM
At least one of the early opening titles for Mary Tyler Moore had what might have been a LGS reading Minneapolis, St. Paul, with arrows pointing to the respective cities.
Was a small green sign superimposed to the screen at :31 http://uploadsociety.com/video_v34994
Quote from: Big John on March 24, 2015, 09:17:31 PM
Alice - season 1 - 0:13 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wedrJdHGHFM
This structure was on I-19 northbound in Tucson at the I-10 junction.
Hardcore Pawn have a BGS of M-102/8 Mile road in the opening (at the point where the announcer says Detroit's 8 Mile).
Quote from: Big John on March 25, 2015, 10:02:39 PM
Quote from: lepidopteran on March 25, 2015, 07:19:30 PM
At least one of the early opening titles for Mary Tyler Moore had what might have been a LGS reading Minneapolis, St. Paul, with arrows pointing to the respective cities.
Was a small green sign superimposed to the screen at :31 http://uploadsociety.com/video_v34994
This is the clip I immediately thought of when reading the thread title. Amazed it took so long to get mention.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on March 24, 2015, 08:57:35 PM
Perfect Strangers
I retract this pending further review. I could have sworn there was a Dan Ryan Expressway sign in the opening credits–I even recall recalling this while driving past that point–but the two different opening clips I've looked at show only an overhead, non-green "Welcome to Chicago" sign. Two listens to that (very long by today's standards) intro song is all I can bear, so I'm letting it go.
Quote from: lepidopteran on March 25, 2015, 07:19:30 PM
At least one of the early opening titles for Mary Tyler Moore had what might have been a LGS reading Minneapolis, St. Paul, with arrows pointing to the respective cities.
That sign, which appeared during the first season opening credits, was entirely fake, and was superimposed over a view of the roadway and skyline - it was not even mounted to a gantry.
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps has a big green sign (and The BRIDGE)
Not quite what you were looking for probably, but The Middle.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpop-break.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F09%2Fthe_middle.jpg&hash=28a0356a024e4a132841b22bd6066e06a85c7884)
The Fall Guy, right at the beginning:
Quote from: doorknob60 on July 28, 2015, 07:56:31 PM
Not quite what you were looking for probably, but The Middle.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpop-break.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F09%2Fthe_middle.jpg&hash=28a0356a024e4a132841b22bd6066e06a85c7884)
That looks like an old ad rather than part of the show. My wife likes that show and the opening simply shows the title in an all lowercase typeface that looks like Courier. No theme music or anything and it doesn't show the cast. Plus the three kids all look a lot older than that now.
I'm betting Simon & Simon had an I-5 BGS in its opening. Too lazy to check, but I believe there's a 50/50 chance that I'm right. :D
Quote from: Rothman on August 24, 2015, 09:45:26 AM
I'm betting Simon & Simon had an I-5 BGS in its opening. Too lazy to check, but I believe there's a 50/50 chance that I'm right. :D
yes you are right.
Quote from: 1995hoo on August 24, 2015, 09:34:37 AM
Quote from: doorknob60 on July 28, 2015, 07:56:31 PM
Not quite what you were looking for probably, but The Middle.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpop-break.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F09%2Fthe_middle.jpg&hash=28a0356a024e4a132841b22bd6066e06a85c7884)
That looks like an old ad rather than part of the show. My wife likes that show and the opening simply shows the title in an all lowercase typeface that looks like Courier. No theme music or anything and it doesn't show the cast. Plus the three kids all look a lot older than that now.
I can confirm what you said, 1995hoo. The artwork was just something designed by ABC promotions.
I'm a huge fan of the show for 3 reasons: it's really funny, it's set in Indiana, and my niece is co-creator/producer. There is no theme song, but the sound of a crow cawing and two musical notes are heard over the brief opening of a generic corn-soybean-lined rural road. It's very Hoosier-looking.
On second thought, the thing that's missing are the ditches on either side of the road. In Indiana, you have to have ditches.