On White Collar's Opening Credits Sequence...

I'm a big fan of USA's 'White Collar.'

I'm not quite on the level of those who follow show creator Jeff Eastin on Twitter (although I have shot him a tweet or two before), but I definitely look forward to 9:00pm (I live on the east coast) on Tuesday nights.

The show's currently in the midst of its third season, and while it took a few episodes to find its legs, the bigger issue at hand was the sudden, unexpected, and, frankly, unneeded change to its opening title sequence.

While the first few episodes of the first season used a sequence that is now extinct, the majority of season one and all of season two utilized the following intro:

The intro fits the tone of the show, plain and simple. Despite it being a breezy, blue sky show on USA, thanks to its very appealing and likable central character, Neal Caffrey, 'White Collar' still has a certain attitude and style to it that the 11-second introduction reflected.

Early into season three, though, it was replaced, by this unwanted impostor:

In a word, I would describe it as silly. The light, almost bouncy tone of the music undermines what seriousness does exist within the show itself. That jingle, in my mind at least, is best reserved for some sort of children's show, particularly the final few seconds when the painting is lifted off the wall, revealing the title of the show.

Fortunately, Eastin finally woke up (most likely due to fan outcry) and reverted back to the old title sequence, which once again ran as a part of this week's episode. Title sequences shouldn't be enough to make or break a show for anyone (at least I hope not), but audiences do become accustomed and comfortable with them, and come to expect them as a part of the episode they're taking in. It's a classic example of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Fortunately this minor speed bump has been cleared without any dire consequences and we can now get back to worrying about more important matters, like what Sara will do now that she knows Neal (not yet Mozzie) is in possession of the treasure that was retrieved from the German U-boat at the end of season two.

We should be in store for a very interesting episode next Tuesday...