TV Title Sequences: Riptide

Today’s title sequence is actually a suggestion sent along by Chenopup; it’s the opening from another of those early ’80s detective shows we all loved so much, a Stephen J. Cannell series called Riptide. I’ve got to be honest, I don’t remember this one very well. I know I watched it, and I seem to recall that the three leads had all served together in Vietnam (not that there’s anything unique about that; all the early-80s TV detectives were ‘Nam vets). I believe at least one of them lived on the boat that gave the show its name, too, but I’m not sure and the Wikipedia entry for the show is unclear on this point. In any event, it’s an enjoyable title sequence and another good Mike Post/Pete Carpenter theme song (although it loses a couple of points in my book for sounding so much like the Simon & Simon theme):

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4 comments on “TV Title Sequences: Riptide

  1. Ann Vallier

    My mom and I loved this show. We watched every week. It was on the same night as Remington Steele and, I think, Hart to Hart. The blonde guy with the mustache owned the boat and the other main hunk owned the helicopter, Sreaming Mimi. The smaller boat was called Ebb Tide. I fondly remember the two main characters teaching the geek to punch someone correctly so he wouldn’t keep breaking his thumb when he did.
    (Oh, what a geek I am for this post.)

  2. jason

    No geekier than I am for posting the video in the first place, Ann!
    Remington Steele was another fave of mine – always loved that one. Didn’t get into Hart to Hart much, although I did watch it occasionally.
    Here’s a geeky trivia note for you: the Riptide guy with the mustache, Perry King, played Han Solo in the NPR radio drama versions of the Star Wars movies. Did a great job, too, better in some respects than Harrison Ford…

  3. Ann Vallier

    My husband has that NPR series on cassette. Haven’t listened to that in a while. And I agree with you on his Han Solo. Better emotion, I think.

  4. jason

    Definitely – he shows a much greater range of emotion as Han than Harrison. But then, the radio script probably had a little more meat to it. 😉