15 Best Cold Opens In TV Show History, Ranked

The cold open has been around since the very beginning of television, slowly becoming a surefire way to grab an audience’s attention at the very start of a program. What better way to get audiences to stay through the opening credits (and possibly a commercial break) than with a quick scene that gets them to lean forward, laugh, or wonder what could happen next?

Since the cold open became a staple of formulaic television structure, it’s survived the medium’s transition to streaming. Depending on the type of show you’re watching, what makes or breaks a cold open can also vary. Some sitcoms employ a funny character moment unrelated to the rest of the episode, while some of the best TV episodes of all time feature jaw-dropping reveals right at the start of the episode. These 15 cold opens span a wide variety of shows and do the same thing extremely well: Have us clamoring to watch more.

Even though it aired over 40 years ago, there really hasn’t been a show like “Moonlighting” ever since. Bruce Willis’ canceled ’80s series co-starred Cybill Shepherd as a pair of private detectives, but more notably, “Moonlighting” eschewed TV procedural tropes to indulge in elaborate episode-long fantasy sequences and meta commentary on the state of television. The show ended up with a peculiar cold open for Season 2’s “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice,” which features a cameo from “Citizen Kane” director Orson Welles.

Because “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice” pays homage in both premise and filmmaking style to 1940s noir, a genre Welles was known for, the iconic actor-director opens the episode by warning audiences about the impending shift to black-and-white as a stylistic choice, not an error in their TV sets. The cold open is an apt way to kick off an ambitious “Moonlighting” episode like this, but the cameo holds even more meaning for fans of Welles — the episode aired a few days after he died in 1985.

“Doctor Who” is somewhat notorious for its use of cold opens, often teasing the monster-of-the-week that the Doctor is encountering, but for the climax of series-long character arcs, things get a little more, as the Doctor would call it, “wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.” In the specific case of the fifth series finale, “The Big Bang,” its cold open ties back to the introduction of Amy Pond at the beginning of the season, replaying the events if the Doctor had never shown up for Amy.

After following instructions to visit the National Museum, Amy comes across the Pandorica in an exhibit and, staying behind after closing, opens it to reveal Amy’s older self, who promises to explain everything. Most of the cold open is a cute, intriguing look at the “what if” of Amy’s life without the Doctor, but the twist reveal right before the opening credits roll is a mind-blowing turn of events in just the way we expect from “Doctor Who.”

“Parks and Recreation” is one of the best sitcoms ever made, and its best cold opens are the ones that utilize its incredible cast of characters, mainly Nick Offerman’s iconic Ron Swanson. For Season 4’s “The Trial of Leslie Knope,” this cold open is not only a perfect, bite-sized moment of Ron’s personality, but it’s been etched into meme history as one of the most recognizable GIFs from the entire series.

In the cold open, Ron questions April Ludgate about how a pop-up ad on his computer knows his name. April explains to Ron the concept of “cookies” and remarks that even his address can be found online if he searches for it. Disgusted, there’s a hard cut to Ron throwing his computer in the dumpster, which is just the kind of callous, overdramatic behavior we love from Ron. Not only is the clip of Ron throwing away his computer an endlessly reusable meme, but this entire exchange occurs in about 60 seconds of screentime.

“The Last of Us” features plenty of changes and differences from the video game it’s based on, including cold opens that flashback not just to the beginning of the Cordyceps virus outbreak, but decades earlier, tying the events of the series to real-life politics. The very first scene of the series premiere, “When You’re Lost in the Darkness,” rewinds to the taping of a late ’60s talk show hosted by Murray (Josh Brener), who interviews two epidemiologists about the potential for a worldwide pandemic.

Namely, John Hannah’s Neuman is the standout of this scene, posing a theory that the Cordyceps fungi could be a major threat, given the zombification it causes in prey and the lack of a reliable cure. The scene becomes even more chilling when Neuman points out, while it’s currently unlikely for Cordyceps to survive bodily heat, that could change if they evolved due to climate change. Though it features none of the main cast and is essentially completely separate from the rest of the series’ plot, establishing this fantastical outbreak as something seriously possible in our current world firmly sets up the grim tone of “The Last of Us.”

TV shows like “Community” rely on cold opens to not only set up an episode’s numerous plotlines, but to quickly reintroduce potential new viewers to characters in the matter of minutes, if not seconds. Few episodes of “Community” do this as well as “Intro to Political Science,” a Season 2 episode that kicks off when Dean Pelton tells the study group that then-Vice President Joe Biden is visiting Greendale, and the school needs to quickly elect a campus president to greet him, prompting mixed reactions from the group.

While Annie is excited to bring positive change to the school, Jeff scoffs at the idea of getting into politics, and Britta protests the idea of student government at all. However, the real gem of this cold open isn’t just the episode set-up, but the joke of Abed noting Jeff’s “Classic Wingers” by making a notch in the study desk. It heightens when it’s revealed that Jeff is keeping his own tally of “Ab mentions,” and finally, Troy is revealed to be tallying random notches with no clear direction. It’s one of the funniest sequences in the entire series, perfectly representing all of their characters’ deals in one fell swoop.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” usually features its central gang coming up with idiotic schemes to make money, but no episode sees them get as ambitious as “Paddy’s Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens,” which kicks off with a memorable self-produced commercial from Charlie Kelly promoting his own business idea: mittens for cats that make too much noise when they walk. Like the best “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” episodes, Charlie’s ineptitude shines in his amateur attempt to produce a real commercial without any on-camera presence.

“Paddy’s Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens” doesn’t really need anything other than this quick, hilarious cold open to be effective in setting up that this episode is all about the gang’s attempts at being entrepreneurs. The brief silence of the other members of the gang having just watched it on a TV is icing on the cake. Few visual gags in “Always Sunny” history are as laugh-out-loud funny as watching a real cat patter around in mittens before falling off Charlie’s coffee table.

Unlike other shows on this list, the cold opens to “Stranger Things” episodes tend to run long and cover a lot of ground, starting with the very first episode’s eight-minute sequence that preludes the opening credits and iconic theme song. After an attention-grabbing scene that takes place in Hawkins Lab, where an unseen monster chases a scientist, the action moves to the basement of Mike Wheeler’s house, where he’s finishing up a climactic Dungeons & Dragons game with his friends.

In addition to quickly establishing the archetypes of six principal characters in the series, there’s so much tone-setting from this one scene that’s carried through future seasons and even the final moments of the “Stranger Things” series finale. It all builds up to Will getting chased home by the same unseen monster from before, then disappearing in his shed. The inciting incident to the entire first season of Netflix’s biggest hit is funny, suspenseful, mysterious, and, most of all, it’s classic “Stranger Things” from the get-go.

Like many sitcoms on this list, we could spend every entry talking about the most memorable and hilarious cold opens on the American version of “The Office.” However, the one we think about the most (and has the most relevance in the world of memes) is from Season 5’s “Stress Relief,” easily among the best episodes of “The Office.” The two-part episode kicks off with a cold open in which Dwight, arrogantly believing the workers didn’t pay attention to his fire safety demonstration the week prior, seals the office shut and starts a fire, only for pandemonium to ensue thanks to Michael Scott’s panicking.

The rest of the episode sees the Dunder Mifflin employees facing the consequences of Dwight’s dangerous stunt, undergoing CPR training and office-wide stress-relieving techniques, including a roast of Michael, spurred by the boss himself. Though there are too many iconic moments to name, the sheer timelessness and chaos of the cold open remains not just the episode’s highlight, but a highlight of the entire NBC series.

There were a lot of celebrity cameos on “Friends,” but one pair, perhaps the show’s best, wasn’t even planned. Though many “Friends” moments were improvised, a spur-of-the-moment visit to the set from Billy Crystal and Robin Williams resulted in a cold open for Season 3’s “The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion.” The two comedians completely made up the cold open on the spot, sharing the couch with the main cast at Central Perk and loudly discussing private matters.

It’s a testament, obviously, to Crystal and Williams’ on-screen chemistry and improvisational genius that they could quickly craft the hilariously tragic story of Tim and Tomas, two friends having a falling-out over one’s affair with the other’s wife, but it also speaks to the cast of “Friends” and their ability to play along with two comedic titans. Though it has pretty much nothing to do with the episode to come after, it’s a cold open that serves as a reminder of why shows like “Friends” succeed: People just love to watch these characters be friends, even when they’re just eavesdropping on two peculiar strangers in their favorite coffee shop.

The recent death of the brilliant Catherine O’Hara reminded a lot of “Schitt’s Creek” fans about one particularly bittersweet cold open from the series’ fourth season. The episode, “RIP Moira Rose,” begins with a cold open where the Rose family learns that an Internet hoax has alleged that O’Hara’s Moira has died, resulting in them receiving flowers at their motel home, to Moira’s narcissistic shock. When Stevie arrives with another flower delivery, Moira’s incensed reaction to someone sending pink carnations is, unsurprisingly, a pitch-perfect moment from the comedy legend.

The cold open also contains an all-time great moment for Alexis Rose, who is accused of tweeting “Goodbye to a great actress” with a sunglasses emoji in reaction to the death of her mother, despite her mother’s status as alive. It’s a funny moment as it is, but the fact that Annie Murphy actually posted it on Instagram when O’Hara died redefines this cold open as one of the most unexpectedly beautiful scenes in all of “Schitt’s Creek.”

Even in a series of visually stunning, emotional, and intriguing cold opens, “Better Call Saul” has one that stands out. The Season 4 episode “Something Stupid” depicts the divide between Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler growing over time, with Kim becoming increasingly devoted to her partnership at Schweikart & Cokely while Jimmy’s side hustle as “Saul Goodman,” selling prepaid phones, continues to thrive.

With the two characters’ paths literally and figuratively divided, even when they’re sitting or sleeping inches apart from one another, the cold open foreshadows a doomed end to this romance, only for expectations to continue to be subverted in the next few episodes. It’s also soundtracked by the band Lola Marsh, covering the titular Frank and Nancy Sinatra song, which is the perfect underscore for this melancholic montage. Compared to “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul” showcases many unique cold opens that, unlike its predecessor, feature more transfixing visual storytelling.

With a show like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” the best cold opens are the ones that blur the already-blurry line between Jake Peralta and Andy Samberg. Season 5’s “DFW” is among its most iconic examples, featuring an unrelated scene to the rest of the episode where Peralta helps a victim identify a criminal in a line-up, asking them to each sing a line from the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” which quickly, for Peralta, devolves into making them harmonize during the chorus together.

Though the scene ends with the button of Peralta being reminded that the criminal they’re looking for murdered the victim’s brother, the catharsis of hearing Peralta conduct these perps into singing together makes it easily one of the best cold opens not just in the series, but in sitcom history. Simply put, if you wanted someone to understand the entire vibe of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” from one scene alone, this would be the scene you’d show them.

It’s no hot take at this point that “Fleabag” is one of the most perfect television shows ever created, but even with having one of the best final seasons of TV, it’s hard not to nominate the very first scene from the very first episode as one of the best cold opens in TV. Our first introduction to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s enigmatically-named “Fleabag” sees her standing in her doorway wearing a jacket, breaking the fourth wall to tell us about a hookup she’s about to have.

The events of the hookup play out as Fleabag tells us about it, expertly weaving in the series’ one-woman monologue origins. After a peculiar encounter the morning after, Fleabag is left pondering the experience with a rather crude curiosity of her own body, perfectly setting the tone for this show that’s all at once relatable, self-deprecating, and vulnerable. Though future cold opens in “Fleabag” practice brevity, this extended scene is like the perfect distillation of what seeing the world from Fleabag’s point-of-view looks like.

There are dozens upon dozens of “Breaking Bad” cold opens that could belong on this list, but we’d be remiss not to mention the one that started it all. Vince Gilligan’s pilot episode of “Breaking Bad” sets up a lot in its first four minutes, which in and of itself is a masterclass of television teaser writing. We first meet Walter White at the height of the episode’s climax, racing through the New Mexico desert in an RV in his underwear, several bodies sliding around a makeshift laboratory, already establishing some of the most poignant and iconic images of the entire franchise.

If the action isn’t enough to grab your attention, like any good cold open, it also tells you everything you need to know about Walter’s character, down to his full government name: He’s in trouble with the law, he’s facing death, he’s desperate, and whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it for his family. Though the best episodes of “Breaking Bad” later complicate these basic facts, you really don’t need to know more about the series going in than what this pilot gives you right up top.

“Saturday Night Live” has, for over 50 years, begun every episode with a cold open, often commenting via sketch comedy on the latest news in pop culture or politics. However, in a few instances, these cold opens have transcended “SNL” itself and changed not only TV history, but how we perceive certain popular figures. This is especially evident in Tina Fey’s first appearance as Sarah Palin on “SNL,” which surprisingly came after she had already departed the show’s cast for “30 Rock.”

It was a wise move to pair Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin with Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton in a bipartisan address sketch that kicked off the show’s 34th season, hosted by Michael Phelps. Obviously, comparisons had been drawn between Fey and Palin, but lines like “I can see Russia from my house!” not only perfectly captured Palin’s vibe but also became more recognizable than Palin herself. There are plenty of awful SNL sketches we wish we could forget that spoof the modern political landscape, but with her impression of Sarah Palin, chemistry with Poehler, and strong satirical writing, Fey proved that a perfect TV cold open isn’t just funny, it’s unforgettable.