Which series starts with "so no one told you life was going to be this way?". Without even answering, a young woman claps her hands, mimicking the introduction of "Friends".

She participates in a quiz of the exhibition "Don't skip", organized in Lille as part of the Séries Mania festival to retrace the history of generics, "art within art" with which the public has "an intimate relationship", according to Olivier Joyard, her artistic advisor and author of a documentary on the subject.

"At the end of the 1940s, many of them served as a presentation by the sponsor of the upcoming episode," recalls the journalist of Inrocks, citing "soap manufacturers" who gave their name to "soap operas".

Ten years later, the series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Twilight Zone" revolutionized the genre, paving the way for the mythical credits of the 1960s, characteristic of the explosion of pop culture such as "Mission Impossible" and "Bowler Hat and Leather Boots".

Then in the 2010s comes the reign of specialized agencies like the elastic studio, at the origin of the credits of "Game of thrones" and "The Crown".

Viral

"We are at a paradoxical moment: generics are both sophisticated and highlighted," explains Olivier Joyard. "On the other hand", they tend to shorten or disappear, thanks in particular to the button introduced by Netflix ten years ago, to skip the introduction.

"One of the first functions of the credits was to recall appointments" by acting "almost like an alarm clock that starts to ring in our body, our head" with the "joyousness of the reunion".

But it is undermined with "binge-watching", which consists of watching series for hours.

The Iraqi Symphony Orchestra performs excerpts from the soundtrack of the series "Game of Thrones" during a concert in Baghdad at the Iraqi National Theatre, January 29, 2022 © AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP/Archives

"No one can whistle the credits composed by Danny Elfman ("The Simpsons", "Desperate Housewives") for the latest Netflix hit, +Wednesday+", from the universe of the Addams family, says series critic Benoit Lagane.

On the other hand, "if I do three snaps of my fingers, we know, we sing the credits of the old sitcom of the 60s".

The genre is not buried, especially as production increases and broadcasters tend to understand the importance of the credits for the identity of a series, according to Olivier Joyard.

Electro

In France, a country that invented a sung theme for "Dallas", musicians, especially electro, are increasingly solicited, like Thylacine, author of the soundtrack of "Ovnis" (Canal +), or Rebeka Warrior, recruited for "Split" (Slash).

"I'm offered four series for a film right now," Yuksek, composer of the success of Arte "In therapy" and "Irresistible" (Disney+), told AFP.

French musician William Rezé aka Thylacine, author of the soundtrack of the series "Ovnis" on Canal+, February 1, 2021 in Paris © JOEL SAGET / AFP/Archives

"It's always very good news for creators when a new mode of expression arrives" such as platforms, abounds Thibaud Fouet, director of members at Sacem (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers). Especially since their global strike force "can make it possible to be noticed overnight".

"We embark on these projects for several reasons, not necessarily financial", the budgets are "not very high", says Olivia Merilahti, former member of the group The Dø, delighted to have reconnected with "rather punk references Riot Grrrl" at the request of the director of "Aspergirl" (OCS).

Proof of the intimate springs at work, Yuksek received a lot of messages after the broadcast of "In therapy", which he watched himself and whose credits "did a thing" to him: "It's borderline what I'm talking about the most at the moment so".

© 2023 AFP