Cold open

A cold open (also referred to as a teaser) in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. Shows which air some form of titles before jumping in to the story and then running a formal opening sequence are also considered cold opens.

Cinematically, the cold open can last anywhere from less than a minute up to ten minutes (or more in rare circumstances). Perhaps the best known example is the pre-title "teaser" which occurs in all James Bond films since From Russia with Love. An extreme case happens in The Last Action Hero and The Mummy Returns, two films in which the whole movie could be considered the cold opening, with the usual "opening titles" appearing at the beginning of the end credits.

Well known TV shows that begin with a "cold open" are The West Wing, Xena: Warrior Princess, Star Trek and its spinoffs, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Saturday Night Live (with a few episodes from 1981 to 1984 as exceptions), House, The Wire, Lost, Teen Titans,Nip/Tuck, and many soap operas (see below). Halloween episodes of The Simpsons often begin with a cold open as well.

History

Cold opens were not widespread on television until the 1990s, despite having been around on television since The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968). Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974) played around with the concept of cold opens, sometimes having an entire episode before the starting credits, while in one instance (the first episode of series four), having no opening credits at all (Terry Gilliam had not finished the new opening sequence).

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, daytime soap operas became the main user of cold opens, with virtually every soap employing the format. While several soaps experimented with regular opens in the early 2000s, all are currently using cold opens. Typically, a soap opera cold open begins where the last scene of the previous episode ended, sometimes replaying the entire last scene. After several scenes, usually to set up which storylines will be featured in the episode, the opening credits are shown.

Presently, virtually all US live-action TV shows do cold opens, while in Britain the practice is fairly atypical and many programs begin with opening titles. Among the last such shows without a cold open was UPN's Seven Days (1997). Also, the practice of cold opens is becoming more widespread in animation, with the likes of Kim Possible and The Proud Family doing cold opens (incidentally, Beep Prepared used a brief one in 1961). Cold opens are also fairly common in Japanese animation (anime). Even television's longest running cartoon series Scooby-Doo has taken up the cold open in the series' latest installment, What's New, Scooby-Doo?.

Nomenclature

Cold opens were previously known as "teasers". The following memorandum was written on 2 May 1966 as a supplement to the Writer-Director Information Guide for Star Trek, and was authored by Gene Roddenberry, describing the format of a typical episode. This quotation refers to what is now known as a cold open:

a. Teaser, preferably three pages or less. Captain Kirk's Voice Over opens the show, briefly setting where we are and what's going on. This is usually followed by a short playing scene which ends with the Teaser "hook."

The "hook" of the teaser was some unexplained plot element that was alluded to in the teaser, or cold open, which was intended to keep audiences interested enough in the show to dissuade them from changing stations. In hour-long dramas, a similar hook was often placed at the end of the first half hour. On Law & Order, this second hook is often the arrest of the suspected perpetrator of the crime committed in the cold open.