Can You Name the TV Show by Its Narrated Intro?

By: Becky Stigall

6 Min Quiz

Image: NBC

About This Quiz

Do you remember which TV series opened with a tale about a man from "West Philadelphia, born and raised," or which series revealed that "the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups?" Know which show opened with a narration about a man named Jed, or a man named David Banner? Any idea which took viewers into "the dangerous world of a man who does not exist?" If you remember the opening narrations to classic TV series, test your knowledge with this quiz!

Viewers have been tuning into their favorite shows week after week since the 1940s. Of course, back then they were switching on the radio, not the TV. With no visual to let fans know their favorite series was on, radio shows turned to opening narrations that served as a cue that a program was starting. Even as radio shows became a thing of the past and TV took over, the use of narration has continued on many programs.

This opening narration not only lets regular viewers know the program is beginning, but also clues new fans into what the series is all about, allowing them to better follow along with the episode. With many popular series running for years or even a decade or more, hearing the same narrated opening hundreds of times can ingrain it into memory as well as any theme song.

Think you can match the narration to the show? Take this quiz to find out!

Which sitcom had an opening rap featuring the words, "In west Philadelphia born and raised/On the playground is where I spent most of my days/Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool/And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school"?

Soap

Nightrider
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

How I Met Your Mother

What television show began with “In the year 1987, NASA launched the last of America’s deep space probes”?

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

The Twilight Zone
Charlie's Angels

Knight Rider

"And so Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home" ushered in what television show?

The Twilight Zone

Quantum Leap
Charlie's Angels

Knight Rider

What intro sequence featured the words, “Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?”

The Odd Couple

Beverly Hillbillies
Charlie's Angels

Nightrider

What show begins with the lines, "If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire..."?

The Odd Couple

The A-Team
How I Met Your Mother

Nightrider

What hugely popular television show featured the following words in the intro - “the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups”?

The A-Team

Law and Order
How I Met Your Mother

Charlie's Angels

What television show began with "Space: the final frontier..."?

Star Wars

Star Trek
Star Traveler

Starman

What television series included the words, "Better than he was before. Better... stronger... faster"?

The Bionic Woman

The Six Million Dollar Man
How I Met Your Mother

Soap

"This is a story about a man named Jed..." was heard at the beginning of every episode of what show?

The Beverly Hillbillies

Nightrider
How I Met Your Mother

Star Trek

Rod Serling spoke the words, "You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind," during the intro of what television series?

The Night Shift

Nightrider
The Twilight Zone

Beverly Hillbillies

"That's when I realized that I had to change, so I made a list of everything bad I've ever done and one by one I'm gonna make up for all my mistakes" was spoken at the beginning of what television series?

My Name Is Earl

How I Met Your Mother
Soap

The Odd Couple

"And now, when David Banner grows angry or outraged, a startling metamorphosis occurs" was the intro to what television series?

Nightrider

The Twilight Zone
The Incredible Hulk

My Name Is Earl

"A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist" was in the intro for what television series?

How I Met Your Mother

Soap
The Twilight Zone

Knight Rider

"Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths" was featured at the beginning of what television series?

The Twilight Zone

Firefly
Knight Rider

How I Met Your Mother

Which television show began each episode with "My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole"?

The Twilight Zone

The Odd Couple
How I Met Your Mother

Farscape

"Once upon a time there were three very different little girls who grew up to be three very different women with three things in common: they're brilliant, they're beautiful, and they work for me" was the intro to what TV series?

The Odd Couple

Charlie's Angels
Knight Rider

How I Met Your Mother

The words "My name is Barry Allen. And I am the fastest man alive" began episodes of what show?

Star Trek

How I Met Your Mother
The Flash

The Incredible Hulk

"This is Mrs. H – she’s gorgeous. What a terrific lady" could be heard at the beginning of each episode of what show?

Hart to Hart

Desperate Housewives
How I Met Your Mother

Charlie's Angels

"My name is Mary Alice Young..." was the intro to what television series?

Hart to Hart

Charlie's Angels
Desperate Housewives

The Odd Couple

"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But... there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit..." was the intro to what show?

Tales From the Darkside

Star Trek
Star Wars

The Twilight Zone

"Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men. And men are imperfect" began each episode of what show?

The Twilight Zone

Tales From the Crypt
The Fugitive

The Dark Side

Which television show was "the story of two sisters – Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell"?

How I Met Your Mother

Mary
Soap

Nightrider

What show began with "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture"?

The Outer Limits

The Night Shift
The Twilight Zone

Tales From the Crypt

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" appeared at the beginning of what TV series?

The Shadow

The Hulk
The Flash

The Man

"My name is Victoria Winters" started out what TV show?

The Twilight Zone

Charlie's Angels
Dark Shadows

Tales from the Crypt

What TV show began with the words "Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last battlestar... leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest... a shining planet known as Earth"?

Star Trek

Star Wars
Battlestar Galactica

The Darkside

What show began with "My name is Sydney Bristow. Seven years ago I was recruited by a secret branch of the CIA called SD-6"?

Charlie's Angels

How I Met Your Mother
Soap

Alias

The words, "He was a cop, and good at his job. But he committed the ultimate sin—and testified against other cops gone bad" were spoken at the beginning of what show?

The Farside

How I Met Your Mother
Renegade

Charlie's Angels

The words "Their ends are just, but their means are ruthless. If I don’t play by their rules… I die" were spoken in the intro of what TV series?

La Femme Nikita

Charlie's Angels
Soap

How I Met Your Mother

What show began with "... the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent"?

Dragnet

Soap
The Dark Side

Nikita

"At the dawn of the 20th century, a band of adventurers set out to prove the impossible..." heralded in what show?

The Lost World

Battlestar Galactica
Star Trek

Star Wars

What television show told us, "We all use math every day, to predict weather, to tell time, to handle money"?

Charlie's Angels

Numb3rs
Soap

The Farside

What television show began with "... Captain Nelson landed on an island in the South Pacific where he found a bottle. At least it looked like a bottle. But it didn't act like a bottle... because in it was a genie. Oh, not your average, everyday genie. But a beautiful genie... who could grant any wish"?

Charlie's Angels

The Twilight Zone
I Dream of Jeannie

Soap

What television show occasionally began with these words "Hi, I'm Ray, and I live here in Long Island with my wife Debra. She's great with the kids, the house, everything. I don't know how she does it"?

Charlie's Angels

The Odd Couple
Everybody Loves Raymond

Soap

"Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything..." began each episode of what show?

How I Met Your Mother

Arrested Development
Soap

Dark Shadows

6 Minute Quiz 6 Min

About HowStuffWorks Play

How much do you know about dinosaurs? What is an octane rating? And how do you use a proper noun? Lucky for you, HowStuffWorks Play is here to help. Our award-winning website offers reliable, easy-to-understand explanations about how the world works. From fun quizzes that bring joy to your day, to compelling photography and fascinating lists, HowStuffWorks Play offers something for everyone. Sometimes we explain how stuff works, other times, we ask you, but we’re always exploring in the name of fun! Because learning is fun, so stick with us!