History Main / SpecialEditionTitle

* ''Anime/BNABrandNewAnimal'': The closing credits for Episode 11 are in black-and-white, to reflect the Cliffhanger ending that implied [[spoiler:Michiru was eaten alive by feral Shirou]].
* ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'': Episode 7 has a special closing featuring Ruka's history.

** ''ComicBook/{{The Transformers|Marvel}}'' #80, the last issue of the original Marvel run, [[https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/f/f7/MarvelUS-80.jpg replaced]] the usual faction leader corner box portrait with a beveled Decepticon insignia, and was billed as "'''#80''' in a 4-issue limited series."[[note]][[LampshadedTrope Lampshading]] how the book didn't reset its numbering after its original 4-issue miniseries, unlike most titles.[[/note]]

** From season 30 to 32, the intro had a shot of Big Bird walking several girls in tutus across the street. One episode had a chroma-keyed Zoe freeze the theme at that particular point to inform the viewers watching that the following episode had dancing as its focus (Zoe is a ballerina herself).

!!Other Examples:

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime]]
* The ''Manga/SoulEater'' episode where [[spoiler:Maka befriends Crona]] has credits that shows the two characters walking together hand in hand during the end credits, as opposed to Maka walking alone.
* In a special episode of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' where Arale Norimaki and Dr. Norimaki make a guest appearance, the episode's intro has the 80s ''Manga/DrSlump'' cartoon theme track play in the beginning.
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'':
** Episode 37 is a LowerDeckEpisode that focused on the military {{recurring character}}s. It thus changes the intro animation and narration: the usual changing pictures of Ed and Al are changed to a photo of the unit, and the title is given as ''Flame Alchemist'', referencing the unit's commanding officer.
** Two episodes also have special ending sequences, replacing the normal upbeat ending with somber ones fitting the events of the episodes in question.
* In the episode of ''Manga/{{Nana}}'' when Nana "Oh" first sings her hit song "Rose" over the phone to a friend, the ending credits are replaced with a shot of the friend's cell phone and computer, and the second verse of the song.
* ''Anime/GunXSword'' liked to change its closing credits sequence to reflect major events. At the end of Carmen 99's [[ADayInTheLimelight focus episode]], "Paradiso" replaces the usual closing theme ("A Rising Tide") and plays over a picture of her instead of the usual montage. "Paradiso" plays over a still shot of fallen roses after another episode. And at the end of Episode 24, [[spoiler:"Calling You" plays over the quiet beach scene that Ray fantasizes as he dies]].
* ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'':
** An episode based on the filming of a movie telling the plot of ''Anime/MacrossZero''. The closing credits were done in the style as the end credits of the ''movie'' -- even having a scene afterwards set during the premiere.
** Various other episodes of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' had special end credits, usually continuing whatever song is being sung by Ranka or Sheryl at the time.
* ''LightNovel/{{Inukami}}'''s ED is normally a cute little number about friendship among girls. In an episode where the perverts of the town save the day, the ED suddenly changes itself to be about friendship between [[HardGay manly men]]. Completely new graphics and lyrics, same tune. Ridiculous and yet, it works so well.
* ''Anime/PrettyCure'':
** The opening for some episodes of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5 [=GoGo!=]'' featured some clips from that season's [[TheMovie movie]]. Similar for ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'', which previewed the BatFamilyCrossover movie (and later, the season's actual [[TheMovie movie]]) on its opening.
** This has carried over into ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'', where previews for the BatFamilyCrossover ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars'' are shown in the opening titles early on and the previews for their movie is shown around the 30-episode mark.
** The first half of ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' has a message from a different Cure each episode congratulating the franchise for reaching 10 years. Fittingly, Cure Black does the first and Cure White does the last.
* The seventh episode of the original ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' {{OVA}} completely dropped the opening title sequence for a simple, low key, dark opening, as a reflection of the end of episode six.
* The Title sequence for ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'' usually features silhouettes of regular series stars Ryoko, Ayeka, and Tenchi. During the episode "Seina and Tenchi", which featured the original cast, they showed them completely.
* The first ending theme of ''Anime/HetaliaAxisPowers'' changed from time to time depending on who the episode mainly focused on and whether or not their version of the theme was already made.
* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': In the last episode of every season, the opening and ending themes switch places, with the new ending credits listing all cast members who have appeared in the season.
* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': The first SeasonFinale is a ColdOpen which completely omits the opening credits and theme music.
* For the GrandFinale of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', The shot of the spiral galaxies during the ending sequence speed away until you can't see then anymore.
* A minor example from ''Anime/TransformersMicronLegend''. In 51 episodes, the title is superimposed on a picture of Optimus Prime. The one exception was the episode "Cramp", where the EpisodeTitleCard was omitted and the episode title was projected directly on top of Starscream's face.
* One episode of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' had an ending celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Dog that replaced the regular imagery with Naruto in a dog costume, [[TalkingAnimal Pakkun]] and Akamaru all hopping around.
* There's an episode of ''Manga/HidamariSketch'' where Miyako draws a sketch of Yuno in the preparations for the school festival. The finished work is shown at the very end of the closing credits.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** In Episode 303, the opening theme's singers, Tackey and Tsubasa, are animated in alongside the Straw Hat crew.
** One of the ways Chapter 766 pays homage to ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', which had just entered its final chapter, is by changing its logo a bit; the "O" becomes the Konoha symbol, the "E" shows a shuriken, and the CharacterInTheLogo, which is usually a silhouette of Luffy, becomes a silhouette of Naruto.
** To celebrate the anime reaching 1000 episodes, the series used the original "We Are!" intro with visuals of the crew in their Wano designs.
* Episode 5 of ''Manga/KotouraSan'' uses ''Theme of the ESP Society'' as the ending and Episode 6 uses ''[[ACupAngst Flat as a Board]]'', for the two episodes being a bit of a breather compared to the others. The other episodes use the solemn yet heartwarming ''Flower of Hope''.
* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' had one of these for the opening to its [[TheMovie second Movie]].
* In episode 14 of ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', when Dandy accidentally pulls in several versions of the Aloha Oe crew in from other universes, his attempt to return them to their own universes results in everyone being destroyed except for a Dandy that's been driven to suicidal depression because his Meow is an [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] StepfordSmiler and his QT is a surly middle-aged man who insists he's a robot. The narrator jokes that the show will use that version of the crew from now on, then they appear in the opening introduction.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': The first episode of each season has no opening credits, [[TitleOnlyOpening just the main title]]. Later, usually the final episode, would add in sound effects to the opening. And on top of that, the main villains (and in response the heroes) [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou uses their Stand powers in the opening]] near the end of the story:
** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'':
*** Oingo and Boingo get to sing and dance in the closing credits, which are designed to look like Boingo's drawings; Later when Hol Horse teams up with Boingo, they dance as well.
*** In the last two episodes, [[spoiler:Dio Brando activates The World, punches through the glass that Jotaro's Star Platinum supposedly broke, and stops the opening credits for a short time. As time resumes, he and Jotaro yell their Stand cries as they exchange RapidFireFisticuffs.]]
*** In the final episode, [[spoiler:Dio is prominent in a few crucial scenes where he was previously unseen. And later on Jotaro is seen activating Star Platinum for a split-second, foreshadowing his Stand gaining the ability to stop time too.]]
** ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'':
*** The third opening "Great Days" has one for the episode after [[spoiler:Yoshikage Kira gets Bites the Dust, which has the ability to attach itself to a host and blows up anyone who tries to ask them about Kira before resetting time to the beginning of the day. Kira's Stand causes a [[GroundhogDayLoop time loop]] that makes the opening credits happen in reverse. It ends up acquiring psychedelic visuals, set to the second verse of "Great Days", and as time resets fully and Kira activates Killer Queen, the main cast turns and looks angrily at Kira]].
** ''Manga/GoldenWind'':
*** The second opening gets a new variation after The Boss reveals himself. [[spoiler:In the opening credits, Doppio turns into Diavolo, who activates his Stands King Crimson (which erases time) and Epitaph (which predicts the future). When he activates them, the music turns into an eerie opera and he speaks [[GratuitousItalian in Italian]] about strengthening his fate]].
*** In the last two episodes, [[spoiler:Diavolo interrupts the opening credits as above... but Giorno's evolved Stand, [[EleventhHourSuperpower Gold Experience Requiem]], nullifies Diavolo's powers.]]
** ''Manga/StoneOcean'':
*** Downplayed for the first opening sequence's second edition. Apart from changing the font for the credits for Episodes 13-23 (and again in Episode 24), the only new additions to the opening sequence for the second act, is replacing the ending with Jolyne hugging Jotaro (instead of Jolyne sadly resting her head on the prison bars), and the butterfly soaring out from Green Dolphin Street Prison is replaced with Savage Garden (the bird) flying away, while poison-dart frogs are falling from the sky. ItMakesSenseInContext.
*** The final opening sequence gets a second version (seen in the last episode) that has [[spoiler:Jotaro Kujo activating Star Platinum just before the chorus, bringing time to a halt...only for Pucci to appear and use his newly-evolved Stand (Made in Heaven) to '''bypass''' the time-stop, and reset the universe]]. The rest of the opening credits [[spoiler:is a remake of the first season's opening ("Sono Chi No Sadame"), with a different montage of comic panels (which showcases the climatic battles that each Joestar faced from Parts 1 through 5), and with Jolyne and Pucci fighting at the Joestar Mansion]].
** The anime series itself reuses the first season's ending theme ("Roundabout" by Music/{{Yes}}) for the GrandFinale. It signifies the [[spoiler:end of the original continuity that started with ''Phantom Blood'' and ended with ''Stone Ocean'', as it showcases a key scene from each Part throughout the special ending sequence.]]
* In the anime of ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'', the ending credits of episode 8 are almost normal, except that [[spoiler:Sora is missing, due to being erased from reality]], and there are some playback errors like sound scratches and discolourations, which makes it a whole lot creepier. It can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF6c1gqutjs here]]. Episode 9 follows it up with a TitleOnlyOpening.
* In episode 23 of ''Anime/KillLaKill'' [[spoiler:the second ending song is interrupted by Nui.]]
* ''Anime/LupinIIIPart5'': The SeriesFinale episode's title appears at the end: "Viva Lupin III!"
* ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'': Episode 7's closing credits feature a sweet lullaby for Goblin Slayer to rest after his massive fight.
* ''Anime/SoltyRei'': The song "Return to Me" plays in the closing credits of the episodes [[spoiler: where Roy Revant suffers the loss of his daughters, Rose Revant in episode 12 and Solty in episode 24.]]
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Fujiwara sings and dances in Episode 3's closing credits. Several episodes also skip the ending theme altogether due to them running longer than usual.
** The shoujo anime parody sketch in season 2 episode 7 also had its own unique opening to go with the shoujo aesthetic.
* ''Manga/BackStreetGirls'': Episode 7 of the anime has the opening and closing songs sung by the Gokudolls male voice actors.
* ''Anime/{{Sarazanmai}}'': The SeriesFinale episode shows the opening titles at the very end. The closing credits themselves are different, [[spoiler: showing Toi spending time in a reformatory.]]
* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': The "Pure Pure Pleaiades" specials did this for their first season finale: the episode used the main opening/closing of the main show ("Clattanoia"/"L.L.L.") and had them sung by the Pleaiades, to comic effect.
* ''Manga/ArakawaUnderTheBridge'': The fifth episode of the anime has Maria singing a song to Sister.
* The ''Franchise/FateSeries'' does this for episodes where significant characters have passed on.
** ''Anime/FateStayNight'' does this twice: episode 14's credits play out over a montage of [[spoiler: Archer]]'s memories (some of them drawing from Unlimited Blade Works) as he fades away, while episode 24's credits play out over a shot of a dying [[spoiler: Artoria]].
** Episode 15 of ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks'' has the ending theme played in a slower, sadder version, [[spoiler: to commemorate Illya's death. It can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBaPL0Bkf7c here]]. The closing credits play out over a snowy forest, where Illya first met Berserker, though the forest is darkened.]]
** ''LightNovel/FateZero'' does this with episodes 18 and 19, which focused on Kiritsugu's past and the loved ones he lost.
** Episode 22 of ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', which focused on a major battle and [[spoiler: ended with two allies passing on holding onto each other]], plays out over scenes of the battle's aftermath.
** Episode 16 of ''Anime/FateGrandOrderAbsoluteDemonicFrontBabylonia'', ends with a montage of [[spoiler: a passed-on]] Siduri's memories of Enkidu and Gilgamesh.
** Episode 11 of ''Anime/CarnivalPhantasm'', though an AffectionateParody nature of Fate, takes this seriously too. [[spoiler: In the aftermath of Lancer's death, the credits play over a black screen in blood red titles.]]
* ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'': Chapter 19's manga cover has Elizabeth and Diane wearing each other's clothes, preparing for the Chapter 33 where they both swap sizes after bathing in a magical spring.
* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'':
** The season 1 finale forgoes the opening credits in favour of continuing the fight between Saitama and Boros from the previous episode.
** That episode's ending features a memorial song for the City A citizens who lost their lives.
* In the final episode of ''Anime/JewelpetTwinkle'', the characters all sing the theme song and end credits song together.
* The fourth episode of ''LightNovel/TheMisfitOfDemonKingAcademy'' has Anos sing the opening song.
* ''Anime/CapRevolutionBottleman'': The opening narration, which is usually a brief description of Bottleman, is a recap of the previous episode in episode 25, which is the finale.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* For the two versions of ''Series/ThirtyRock'''s LiveEpisode, Jenna (east coast) and Danny (west coast) performed a version of the normally-instrumental ThemeTune WithLyrics at the ''[[strike:Series/SaturdayNightLive]] [[ShowWithinAShow TGS]]'' studio, with the regular opening shown on an adjacent widescreen monitor.
* The Granada TV version of ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSherlockHolmes'' episode "The Final Problem" replaced the opening violin tune with a slower, sadder version.
* A few episodes of ''Series/{{ALF}}'', which have him sing a song, have the normal ending credits replaced with a clip of Alf singing that song (notably "Looking for Lucky" and "Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue?").
* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':
** ''Series/{{Arrow}}''
*** In the episodes "Draw Back Your Bow" and "Broken Hearts", the arrow behind the title is one of Cupid's heart-shaped ones.
*** In the episodes "The Brave and the Bold" and "Legends of Yesterday" (the crossovers with ''Series/TheFlash2014''), the arrow is replaced by the lightning bolt from the ''Flash'' titles.
*** The episode "The Return" (in season 3) uses the distinctly less high-tech looking arrowhead from the season 1 titles.
*** The episodes "Al Sah-Him" and "This is Your Sword", when [[spoiler: Oliver joins the League of Assassins]] have a different "My name is Oliver Queen..." monologue from the other season 3 episodes, beginning "[[ThatManIsDead My name was Oliver Queen]]..."
*** The 100th episode cycles between every version of the logo.
*** One that's only visible in retrospect: Season 6 has a new title sequence with all of Team Arrow's logos appearing, similar to ''Legends''. After [[spoiler: Diggle becomes the new Green Arrow]], it turns out the version with [[spoiler: Spartan's helmet]] was a Special Edition Title. (It then gets used as the regular title between [[spoiler: Ollie taking the mantle back]] and [[spoiler:Ollie going solo, at which point it's back to just an arrowhead]].)
*** For the VillainEpisode "[[Recap/ArrowS6E19TheDragon The Dragon]]", the arrow is replaced by Diaz's dragon tattoo with a roar instead of the arrow sound.
*** The 150th episode replaces the title with that of the [[DocumentaryEpisode in-universe documentary]] ''The Emerald Archer: The Hood and the Rise of Vigilantism''.
*** "Lost Canary" replaces the arrow with Black Canary's logo.
*** [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot "Green Arrow and the Canaries"]] ends with what is most likely the official logo for a new spinoff series - a futuristic arrowhead flanked by two canaries.
*** The series finale, "Fadeout", shows all seven arrows from the past seasons, with seasons 1-3 being on the left, seasons 4-6 on the right, and a lighter green version for season 7 in the middle.
** ''Series/TheFlash2014''
*** In the episodes "Flash vs. Arrow" and "Legends of Today" (the crossovers with ''Arrow''), the lightning bolt running through the title is replaced by an arrow, and the one behind it is green instead of yellow.
*** In the first SeasonFinale, "Fast Enough", the lightning bolt is red and backwards, the symbol of Reverse Flash.
*** The season 2 and 3 Christmas episodes, "Running to Stand Still" and "The Present", include snowflakes behind the lightning bolt.
*** The first episode of season 5, "Nora", and the episode giving her backstory, "Godspeed", has the background as a mix of red and purple, purple being the colour of Nora's XS costume and lightning effects.
*** The end card of "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen" Part One and the opening sequence of Part Two, both show the logo being covered in Bloodwork's blood.
*** "Armageddon Part 4" has [[spoiler: Thawne-as-Flash in Barry's place during the clips of Team Flash]].
** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'':
*** The VillainEpisode "Legion of Doom" gives the title a reddish light, has cinders floating in front of it, and replaces the heroes' logos with those of Damien, Merlyn and Reverse Flash. The same title sequence is used for "Doomworld". Both episodes also have a member of the Legion give the opening monologue.
*** "Helen Hunt", set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, replaces the sequence with a {{Retraux}} title card.
*** The CrossOver episode with ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' "Daddy Darhkest", has the normal Legends intro mixed with the ''Constantine'' logo. A variant of this becomes the standard logo in season 4, when Constantine becomes a main character.
*** The RentAZilla episode "Tagumo Attacks!!!" has the title in Japanese.
*** The 100th episode, "<wvrdr_error_100_not_found>", has all the previous title logos.
*** "Paranoid Android" has an over-the-top action title sequence featuring [[spoiler: the Robot Legends]].
** ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'': The episodes "House of L" and "Red Dawn", which feature a Soviet version of Supergirl, open with a Kaznian hammer-and-sickle version of the S-shield and the title replaced with Cryllic script reading "Krasnaya Doch" (Russian for "Red Daughter").
** {{Crisis Crossover}}s:
*** All three parts of the "Invasion!" crossover arc (excluding ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'') had special title cards. ''The Flash'' and ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' combined all four series' logos, while ''Arrow'' celebrated its [[MilestoneCelebration 100th episode]] by having each season's title card blend into the next.
*** All four parts of ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'' (including ''Supergirl'') have the same title sequence, which features all the heroes, but not their own logos, treating ''Crisis on Earth-X'' as the series title. The credits are even in a uniform font not used by any of the individual series. It goes to show that they're treating it as one big miniseries special instead of each episode focusing on the cast of one series like "Invasion!" Only who's under "Starring" and who's under "Guest Starring" provides a clue as to which show is which.
*** All three parts of ''Series/Elseworlds2018'' (which ''Legends'' wasn't part of) had the standard logo appear, and then the Elseworlds logo move in to replace it. In addition, the ''Arrow'' opening narration was given by Barry-as-Oliver, and the ''Supergirl'' narration by [[spoiler:Deegan-as-Superman]].
*** All five parts of ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' had a ''Crisis'' logo, similar to ''Crisis on Earth X''. (The side story in ''Series/BlackLightning'' had the regular title.)
* For its final episode, ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'' skips Alex's narration and the opening titles, instead just showing the words "Ashes to Ashes".
* To celebrate its 50th anniversary, two 2006 episodes of ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' used the original opening, with a remake of the original opening theme.
* The ''Series/BabylonFive'' VillainEpisode "The Corps Is Mother, The Corps Is Father", centering on Bester, used a credit sequence with Psi Corps insignia in place of the usual Babylon 5 shield.
* During the "occupation" storyline, ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' replaced images of the fleet with those of New Caprica under Cylon occupation, and used a different title crawl.
* The closing credits of the last episode of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' were completely silent except for gunshots.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'',
** Jonathan, a minor recurring character, took over the credit sequence of the "Superstar" episode in which a wish he made turned him into a BlackHoleSue.
** The musical episode "Once More With Feeling" had a mellowed version of the theme song playing over a shot of the night sky, with each actor's face appearing on the moon as he or she was listed in standard credits order.
** "Seing Red" has the only opening with Creator/AmberBenson credited for Tara [[spoiler:because she gets killed]].
** Similarly, a few episodes changed the VanityPlate at the end: "Becoming, Part II" featured the little monster lamenting, "I need a hug..." in place of his normal "Grr, argh!", in "Amends" he wore a Santa hat, "Graduation Day part 2" had him in a mortarboard, and in "Hush" he was silent (not on DVD; perhaps as originally aired?). The above-mentioned OMWF had him ''sing'' his grr-argh. Likewise, in the Season 7 documentary-style episode, he sing-songs ''"We are as GOODDDDSSSS"'', a RunningGag in the preceding episode. In the series finale episode, he looks directly at the viewer.
* One episode of ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll'' has her brother Ferguson take over the role of BreakingTheFourthWall. The credits change the name of the series to Ferguson Explains It All.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' does this fairly regularly:
** HalloweenEpisode "[[Recap/CommunityS2E06Epidemiology Epidemiology]]" featured redrawn, Halloween-themed images for each of the cast and closed with a howling wolf. It's revisited in "[[Recap/CommunityS3E05HorrorFictionInSevenSpookySteps Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps]]", with an additional image for [[PromotionToOpeningTitles Jim Rash]], and again in "[[CommunityS4E02ParanormalParentage Paranormal Parentage]]" with a remixed theme song.
** StopMotion ChristmasEpisode [[Recap/CommunityS2E11AbedsUncontrollableChristmas Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas]] had the title theme integrated into the plot - Abed singing alternate lyrics while dancing from car hood to car hood.
** More thematic redrawn credits were used for "[[Recap/CommunityS2E14AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]", complete with orchestral score.
** A Western themed version of the credits was used for [[Recap/CommunityS2E23AFistfulOfPaintballs "A Fistful of Paintballs"]] and a James Bond inspired version for [[Recap/CommunityS6E11ModernEspionage "Modern Espionage"]].
** "[[Recap/CommunityS3E17BasicLupineUrology Basic Lupine Urology]]" featured a credits sequence done in the style of ''Series/LawAndOrder'', complete with a rearranged theme song.
** Similarly, "[[Recap/CommunityS3E20DigitalEstatePlanning Digital Estate Planning]]" showed the cast being rendered in an 8-/16-bit style as their faces were being digitized for a video game, set to a chiptune version of the theme song.
** "[[Recap/CommunityS4E01History101 History 101]]" once again features Abed singing alternate lyrics, this time as the theme for the sitcom version of his life (complete with LaughTrack) that he imagines when he is in his "happy place".
* The 2012 ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' series did a special title sequence for the episode "JR's Masterpiece", in honor of both the passing of JR Ewing and his actor Larry Hagman.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The opening credits generally only change whenever there's a new Doctor or new production team — otherwise, they remain fairly consistent (theme tune, a version of the Vortex, Doctor's face (or not), logo, episode title, writer's name, episode number). In the 1960s and early 1970s, however, several stories had specially designed opening credits. Some of these included:
*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E10TheWarMachines "The War Machines"]] included the story's episode title and number done in the same font as the story's {{Big Bad}}, WOTAN.
*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet "The Tenth Planet"]] included "computer graphics" that formed the story's name and episode number.
*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E3TheIceWarriors "The Ice Warriors"]] featured a haunting soprano solo over footage of an windswept tundra.
*** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace The Wheel In Space]]", the usual time tunnel sequence gradually fades out into a shot of the Wheel, while the theme music is still playing; the story title, episode number and writer are displayed over this shot of the Wheel rather than in the time tunnel sequence.
*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E5TheSeedsOfDeath "The Seeds of Death"]] displayed the title and episode number over a specially filmed model shot of the Earth and the Moon, the two locations featured in the story.
*** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E6TheSpacePirates The Space Pirates]]", the title, writer and episode number screens appear only after the opening scene (Episode 1) or the cliffhanger reprise (Episodes 2-6), in black text over a white void, with the OneWomanWail over them.
*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames "The War Games"]] featured footage of explosions and sounds of gunfire interspersed with the story's title and episode number.
*** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E3TheAmbassadorsOfDeath The Ambassadors of Death]]", the opening titles are cut off early, before the story title appears, instead going straight into the opening scene of the episode (Part 1) or the reprise of the previous episode's cliffhanger (Parts 2-7)... then the remainder of the opening titles is shown. Uniquely, the story title does not all appear at once; first "The Ambassadors" appears at the top of the screen, followed seconds later by of "OF DEATH" in a much larger font.
*** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]" featured the name of the story and the episode number over footage of lava flows.
** Special Edition {{Cliffhanger}}s and credits appear in some Classic Series episodes:
*** The first cliffhanger of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E8TheReignOfTerror "The Reign of Terror"]] has licking flames in the end credits, after the Doctor was trapped in a burning building.
*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear "The Web of Fear"]] had footage of the web effect playing over the end credits.
*** The last part of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos "Meglos"]] had the ending theme pitched down by about a tone. Allegedly, this is because the episode was underrunning, and so the end titles were stretched out manually.
*** The last part of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock "Earthshock"]] had no ending theme tune at all: [[SilentCredits the credits scrolled past in silence]] over a still of the broken remains of Adric's star badge on the floor, given that he had just died.
*** The end credits of the 20th anniversary special, [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], features a unique arrangement of the closing theme that mashes up the incumbent 1980 version with the original 1963 one.
** An unintentional example of this trope was [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters "Carnival of Monsters"]], which accidentally aired in Australia with a new arrangement of the theme tune (commonly known as the "Delaware theme" after the synthesizer it was made with, a modified EMS Synthi 100 that the BBC Radiophonic Workshop owned). ExecutiveMeddling had rejected the new theme due to disliking it and it was edited out of the UK broadcast, but copies of the tapes had already been sent to Australia.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace "The Ark in Space"]], Tom Baker's second serial, had the normally blue title sequence coloured green-brown (having been run through a pink filter). There were plans for every story in Season 12 to feature special edition titles, but the staff hated the resulting colour palette for "The Ark in Space" and immediately dropped the idea from part 2 onwards.
** In the first half of Series 7, each episode's opening credits were done in progressively darker colors, with flashes of... well, ''something'' in the Vortex itself attacking the TARDIS, and the logo for the series itself had some design element relating to the particular episode's story (in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E5TheAngelsTakeManhattan "The Angels Take Manhattan"]], for instance, the logo was redone to look like [[spoiler:the Statue of Liberty]]). This led many to speculate that the titles were suggesting something big and bad just around the corner for the Doctor... although the switch to a new title sequence for Series 7B thoroughly {{Jossed}} this.
** 50th anniversary special [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]] goes back to the original 1963 opening. Its closing credits are also unique to this special, featuring portraits of every incarnation of the Doctor up to that point.
** The opening for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]] lists Jenna Coleman's name before Peter Capaldi's and replaces the Doctor's eyes with Clara's, to tie in with her lie to the enemy immediately beforehand of being the Doctor herself.
** The Twelfth Doctor's first two Christmas specials, [[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas "Last Christmas"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWho2015CSTheHusbandsOfRiverSong "The Husbands of River Song"]], both have special Christmassy versions of the title sequence. The practice was abandoned for the rest of his Christmas specials, because [[Recap/DoctorWho2016CSTheReturnOfDoctorMysterio "The Return of Doctor Mysterio"]] [[DidIMentionItsChristmas isn't very Christmassy]] and [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]] is a fairly serious regeneration episode.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before the Flood"]] features a unique version of the theme music featuring none other than Creator/PeterCapaldi accompanying the melody on electric guitar (to tie in with the fourth wall-breaking pre-titles sequence).
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E9SleepNoMore "Sleep No More"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWho2019NYSResolution "Resolution"]] don't have opening sequences at all. The first has a brief special TitleOnlyOpening of data at the start of its FoundFootage, and the other two employ a CloseOnTitle.
** The closing titles of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa "Rosa"]] play over "Rise Up" by Music/AndraDay.
** The closing titles of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E6DemonsOfThePunjab Demons of the Punjab]]" have an Indian arrangement of the theme.
** The closing titles of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels Village of the Angels]]" plays without the distinct four beats at the start. [[spoiler:Some fans speculate this reflects the Doctor being turned into a Weeping Angel in that episode.]]
** All of series 13 has the series title "Flux" added underneath the main title in smaller type.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'' dropped the usage of its iconic opening credits and theme after the 12th season (replacing it with a title card). However, for the show's final episode, they brought back the opening theme and credited all of the regulars appearing in the episode, including cast members who never had the chance to be credited before (Angela Bassett, John Stamos, David Lyons) and former regulars who had come back for guest appearances in the finale (Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Sherry Stringfield, Alex Kingston, and Eriq La Salle).
* When ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' filmed an episode in China, the "Cleveland Rocks" sequence was replaced with a simple TitleOnlyOpening with the show's title in English and Chinese (accompanied with the drawing of Drew from the "Moon Over Parma" sequence).
* The season 4 premiere of ''Series/{{Eureka}}'', which involves TimeTravel back to 1947, has sepia-toned visuals and replaces the whistling in the standard theme tune with a big band. The Christmas episode in the same season has everything covered in snow, with the whistling replaced by a chorus singing "fa la la".
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': The series actually uses one for its pilot episode, having a longer introduction and ending with it leading into the opening scene, as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nCqRmx3Dnw here]].
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** The "WhatIf" episode featured a TitleMontage of the "what if" versions of the characters, including [[FormerlyFat Monica still being fat]], and this also involves a new version of the classic "dancing in a fountain" opening. These clips were not seen in the episode itself.
** The first episode after Courteney Cox married David Arquette appended "Arquette" after each cast member's name.
* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' uses this whenever there's a timeshift, flashback or major alteration in reality. As well as the style and images displayed, the list of cutting-edge "Fringe concepts" is often used to suggest the nature of the world.
** The episodes "Peter" and "Subject 13" mostly take place in TheEighties, and [[{{Retraux}} looks like as an eighties science program]]; the credits are revamped with a SynthPop version of the opening theme, a more "computery" font ([[http://www.identifont.com/similar?NIT Amelia]], more specifically), and namecheck 80s "cutting-edge-at-the-times" science (indcluding "personal computing" and "stealth technology")
** In episodes set in the parallel universe starting with the season two finale "Over There Part 1 and 2", the usual blue background was now red and several of the sciences shown are different. In the eighth episode of Season 3, which is set in both universes, the title sequence goes back and forth between red and blue.
** The final episode of Season 3, which takes place in a future that probably won't occur ([[ItMakesSenseInContext it makes sense in context...mostly]]), has a gray background and yet again different "cutting-edge" sciences, such as cryptozoology, chaos structure, and (to underscore [[BadFuture how terrible the "prime" universe has become in 15 years]]) hope and water.
** The 4th season episode "Letter of Transit" takes place in a futuristic fascist dystopia. As well as images of barbed wire walls and faceless masses, the "Fringe concepts" include "Imagination", "Due Process" and "Freedom". This becomes the standard title for the 5th season, set entirely in the BadFuture.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' plays songs over its closing credits for a few specific episodes:
** "Blackwater", "The Lion and the Rose" and "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" play the main song of House Lannister, "The Rains of Castamere" in commemoration of Lannister-related events.
** "Walk of Punishment" plays the song "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" in relation to the situation Brienne and Jaime Lannister end up in.
** "Kissed by Fire" plays Shireen's song "It's Always Sunny Under the Sea". Shireen made her debut in that episode.
** "Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" plays the ballad "Jenny of Oldstones" over the closing credits. [[spoiler: The song is about a royal scion who gave up the throne for the love of his life, which reflects Jon and Dany's relationship.]]
* Occasionally done with the ''Series/{{Glee}}'' title card, depending on episodes. More complex ones appeared in season four.
** Those set on Valentine's day have the title colored pink, and the HalloweenEpisode colored it orange.
** A BatSignal version in the superhero-themed episode "Dynamic Duets".
** Wrapped in blinking Christmas lights for "[[ChristmasEpisode Glee, Actually]]".
** Projected from an old super 8 camera in "Boys (and Girls) on Film", which was movie music themed.
** Drawn in crayon and with an added "by Brittany" subtitle, referencing Brittany [[spoiler: leaving New Directions for MIT, and consequently leaving the show]].
** The season five episode "The Quarterback" replaces the L in the title with a silhouette of Finn Hudson.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'':
** In the season 3 episode ' "Smile Like You Mean It", after [[spoiler: Jerome blows up the Gotham power plant, plunging the city into darkness, the ending title card feature the usual Gotham skyline, except the buildings are completely dark. The following episode's opening title card, when Jerome's followers are spreading chaos, adds a couple of fires.]]
** In the season 4 finale "No Man's Land", [[spoiler: after Gotham loses power ''again'' and is cut off from the rest of the country, they use the dark version of the ending card, with the addition of [[BatSignal a searchlight]] shining from police headquarters.]]
* In a Volume 3 episode of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', the usual title is replaced with an evil-looking 'Villains' (also the title of the episode).
* ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' did this for the finale -- changing the title of the show itself.
* The ''Series/JustShootMe'' episode "My Dinner with Woody" had the titles done in the style of the credits of Woody Allen movies (plain white text over black).
* The ''Franchise/KamenRider'' franchise (starting in ''Series/KamenRiderDecade''), being also a Toei production like ''Anime/PrettyCure'', also promotes its movies by replacing part of its opening sequences with movie scenes. The movie footage is never the same in any two episodes, though. Its sister show ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', on the other hand, only movie-ifies end titles.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' also did special openings in a story arc centering on an ''Series/AmericanIdol''-style TV show, replacing half of the standard opening with footage of the theme song's performers (who play judges in those episodes) performing the theme on the "Idol" stage.
* The season 2 episode of ''Series/{{Legacies}}'' called "[[Recap/LegaciesS2E5ScrewEndgame Screw Endgame]]" has two characters trapped in a labyrinth themed like a videogame from TheEighties. As such, the show's title is pixelated and features 80's videogame animation.
* One of the later episodes in Season 5 of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' had, rather than its normal opening sequence with the "LOST" logo flying at the camera, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ycTH92whao a similar sequence on a starfield]], and then the Enterprise flew by to promote the 2009 ''Film/{{Star Trek|2009}}'' film, also released that year.
* The opening to the SoapOpera series ''Loving'' had a different, haunting opening during its final major storyline, "The Loving Murders", asking viewers to piece together the clues and figure out who the murderer was.
* ''Series/MadAboutYou'' once eschewed the cold open-title structure to instead have opening credits where the names passed by action movie-style - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZzeiXJ24cE reminiscent of]] ''Film/{{Speed}}'', as the episode's name is "Speed Baby", and there's a shared plot element (bus has to keep moving = Mabel stops crying when in movement, whether in a vehicle or an elevator).
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse TV series have done this on a few occasions:
** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
*** At the end of the episode "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E17TurnTurnTurn Turn, Turn, Turn]]" [[spoiler: after [[EvilAllAlong Ward]] kills Victoria Hand and the guards to release the Clairvoyant, the HYDRA logo appears instead of the SHIELD logo before TheStinger]].
*** "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E54722Hours 4,722 Hours]]", a WholeEpisodeFlashback to Jemma Simmons' marooning on an alien planet, forgoes the usual logo to show a wide shot of the planet instead, with the title in a different (and more space-y) font.
*** Season 4 was split into three distinct story "pods", each featuring distinct opening sequences representing the ComicBook/GhostRider, the [=LMDs=] and the Framework respectively.
*** Season 5 continued with special opening for story arcs, opening on a shot of EarthThatWas. Once they return to the present, this is replaced by Earth That Is. Several late-Season 5 episodes overlay the show title over the closing moments of the teaser, a change from the usual format.
*** For the 100th episode MilestoneCelebration, ''every'' custom logo listed above was used in quick succession.
*** Season 7 is full of TimeTravel and intentional GenreThrowback, so each episode imitates the style of opening TV credits for its respective year.
** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'':
*** The closing credits for episode 4, "The Whole World Is Watching", ditch the jaunty "Louisiana Hero" by Henry Jackman, in favor of a haunting, somber theme tune [[spoiler:reflecting the ramifications of Walker murdering a Flag Smasher with his shield in cold blood]].
*** The closing credits for episode 5, "Truth" modulate "Louisiana Hero" in the closing credits up a half-key as Sam [[spoiler:looks at his Wakandan-made Captain America gear for the first time]].
*** The final episode changes the title to "Captain America and the Winter Soldier", reflecting [[spoiler: Sam Wilson finally embracing and accepting his role as Steve Rogers's successor.]].
** ''Series/MsMarvel2022'':
*** Episodes 4 and 5 both relocate the "animated grafitti of Kamala" closing credits from Jersey to Karachi. The SeasonFinale alternates between the two.
*** Episode 5 has the title card in Urdu, and with the changing graphic design having a more forties look. It's [[CouchGag different every episode]] anyway, but this one is ''more'' different.
** ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'':
*** The second episode "Superhuman Law" changes the subtitle to "Attorny for Hire", as Jennifer was briefly unemployed in that episode.
*** The fifth episode, "Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans", turns the title pink and changes the subtitle to "By Titania" to reflect the fact that Titania copyrighted the She-Hulk name and is suing Jennifer over it.
*** The sixth episode, "Just Jen", changes the title to ''Just Jen: Attorney at Law''.
* For its 100th episode, the 1989 revival of ''Series/TheMickeyMouseClub'' did a reunion special with the original '50s version. They mixed footage of the old theme/intro into the newer theme/intro and added the "WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck!" and "High, high, high!" bits from the '50s theme that weren't in the new version. You can watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzEBhSZIUV0&t=33s here]].
* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had a miniseries known as ''Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers'' that acted as the last 10 episodes of season 3 of MMPR, wherein the the entire world was age-reversed by 10 years, Rangers included, leaving them as kids without their powers, so reinforcements in the form of the titular Alien Rangers stood in for them until the [[IncrediblyLamePun Power-less Rangers]] managed to find the ResetButton that could turn everyone back to normal (and [[Series/PowerRangersZeo give them new, stronger powers]].) Because of this, the miniseries had a special intro featuring the kid Rangers as well as a modified theme song; "Go, Go, Alien Rangers!"
* Episode 26 of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' has a DoubleSubversion of this: an announcer says that TheQueenWillBeWatching, but the opening titles will proceed as usual; instead, a uniquely styled "royal" title sequence is shown, with the music changed to "Pomp and Circumstance #1."
** Episode 22 replaced the title with a banner reading, "How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body". An announcer reads this in a non-TitleScream tone, beginning a FramingDevice that recurs intermittently throughout the episode. The banner is, however, squashed by the GiantFootOfStomping as usual ("Number one: the foot").
** Episode 30 replaced the show's title with Tony M. Nyphot's Flying Risccu, an anagram of the show's title (the opening sketch involved a man who spoke only in anagrams).
** In a WhatCouldHaveBeen example, when ExecutiveMeddling threatened to change the show's title, the Pythons threatened that ''every week'' they would rename the show to a different WordSaladTitle. (A number of these, such as "Owl-Stretching Time" and "Whither Canada?", were retained for use as individual episode titles, though they were only shown on screen during the end credits of the first season.)
* ''Series/MrBean'' had a few episodes include a post-credits scene where Mr. Bean is beamed up, to serve as a BookEnd to the opening credits where he was beamed down.
* A variation: ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' sometimes had special commercial bumpers and/or ending credits, when prompted by the movie or one of the host segments. The typical version was to put different music over it, especially "[[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate the haunting Torgo theme]]", but other examples exist.
* At the end of the opening credits for the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode [[BigBlackout "Power Down"]], the lights in DC all go off, and then the video cuts out.
* Done in the two {{Formula Breaking Episode}}s of ''Series/NewsRadio''. The one set [[RecycledINSPACE in space]] had StandardizedSpaceViews instead of the usual {{Establishing Shot}}s of New York City. The ''Titanic'' parody had an Irish folk version of the theme over sepia-tone shots of people salvaging artifacts with the actor's pictures on them.
* ''Series/NoelsHouseParty''
** Their first instance of this trope was the 15 March 1997 special ''Noel's New York House Party'' - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqS8piirvTE with]] the crescendo of the music featuring a view of the [[BigApplesauce Statue of Liberty]], and also the guests' names on-screen - Tyne Daly, Creator/WilliamShatner, Creator/DavidHasselhoff, Creator/JoanRivers and Music/BarryManilow. Also the words "New York" were in [[IncrediblyLamePun "Broadway" font]], a font considered naff by some nowadays.
** The second time was when they did a special from Ride/UniversalStudios in 1998, ''Noel's House Party at the Movies'', and featured similar titles.[[note]]the Universal episode is considered FanonDiscontinuity, if not CanonDiscontinuity. However, WordOfGod is that the man himself would have preferred to have stayed in the UK to develop fresh ideas -- mentioned on Website/YouTube.[[/note]]
* ''Series/OddSquad'':
** The opening theme for the Season 2 premiere, "First Day", has Oprah handling the narration in place of Olive, with the CharacterInTheLogo shot featuring both of them, along with Otto and Oscar, absent. The question of "Who do we work for?" is also removed and is instead replaced with Oprah simply saying "We are Odd Squad."
** For the Season 3 premiere, "Odd Beginnings", Oprah -- now the Big O -- once again handles narration duties. This time, it's in place of Olympia, who took over her role for the duration of Season 2. Unlike the aforementioned example, however, there's no CouchGag, and instead, Oprah describes her role in Odd Squad as the Big O.
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' episode ''"The Michael Scott Paper Company"'', has all other characters removed except for Michael, Pam, and Ryan -- the only employees of the Michael Scott Paper Company, filmed in their office only. The post-Super Bowl episode added specific shots of secondary characters in groups of two or three rather than the usual text only credit.
** In the first episode after Michael Scott's departure, the last shot of the opening montage (Michael adjusting the Dundee Award on his desk) is replaced with a similar shot with his replacement, Deangelo, adjusting one of his kachina dolls.
* The second season premiere of ''Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse'' starts out normally, but when we actually get to the playhouse, it looks all messy. After the theme song suddenly stops (by LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand), Pee-Wee then remembers something important:
-->'''Pee-Wee''': Oh, I totally forgot! We're redecorating the Playhouse![[note]]This episode was done in order to explain the show's move from New York to Hollywood.[[/note]] (gives wink; the show then goes to commercial)
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' is fond of these, usually in conjunction with a {{Wham Episode}}. In order:
** Season 2, episode 16, ''Relevance'': [[spoiler:Finch's opening narration crashes with a blue screen of death, and lands at a command line.]]
--->[[spoiler:[!]:./condition.ANOMALY.DETECTED]]\\
[[spoiler:[!]:./action.SWITCH.HEURISTIC]]\\
[[spoiler:deprecate.process.irrelevant]]\\
[[spoiler:source.RELEVANT]]\\
[[spoiler:execute...]]
** Season 2, episode 21, ''Zero Day'': the opening narration [[spoiler:crashes and reboots, then crashes again, complete with {{Ominous Visual Glitch}}es and THREAT TO SYSTEM dialog box spam.]]
** Season 3, episode 16, ''RAM'': a whole flashback episode, it begins with the opening sequence from season 1, which freezes and rewinds to the beginning halfway through.
** Season 3, episode 17, ''/'': [[spoiler:Root co-opts the opening narration from Harold, signifying that she is the character of focus in this episode.]]
-->[[spoiler:[!]:./switching.TERTIARY_OPERATIONS]]
** Season 4, episode 12, "Control-Alt-Delete": It begins with Finch's usual introduction, but then the screen glitches and Control's voice takes over the narration, and the episode proceeds to follow her [[ADayInTheLimelight viewpoint]].
* ''Series/PoliceCameraAction'':
** The 1996 TwoPartEpisode The Man Who Shot OJ skips the usual opening titles for a {{Montage}} of footage in Los Angeles shot by Zoey Tur (then Bob Tur) and in Arial font, "THE MAN WHO SHOT OJ PROGRAMME 1", "THE MAN WHO SHOT OJ PROGRAMME 2", and the lower-thirds (names on-screen) are in ITC Franklin Gothic Demi instead of the show's usual Futura Condensed Bold Italic font.
** The 1998 episode "Coat Hanger Man" has occasionally had its title sequence cut off in EditedForSyndication versions aired 2006-2009, [[InconsistentEpisodeLengths making the runtime 23 minutes instead of the usual 24 minutes]]. However, these are rarely aired, and the TitleSequence is restored.
** The 2000 specials "Crash Test Racers" and "Highway of Tomorrow" have the usual 1999-2000 title sequence, but the episode names are not on the EpisodeTitleCard, with the words "SPECIAL" in Charles Wright font. In the 2005 ReCut versions, the EpisodeTitleCard is skipped over, and OCR-8 font with the episode title on-screen is used.
* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'':
** The episode "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE14LivingInHarmony Living In Harmony]]", a {{Western}} {{Elseworld}}, replaces the opening with an equivalent sequence in which the character rides into town and turns in his sheriff's badge. The actual title ''The Prisoner'' isn't shown on screen (at least in the unaltered version of the episode; some UK broadcasters insisted on adding it to the opening anyway). Creator/PatrickMcGoohan does not receive his starring credit as a result of this change, though he is credited for playing Number 6 in the slightly revised closing credits sequence (unlike "Fall Out", see below, for which he receives no actor credit).
** The final episode, "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]", has (mostly) the normal end credits, but the opening credits replace the famous normal opening with a recap of the preceding episode with the series title overlaid, then a long helicopter shot over the Village, accompanied by a different arrangement of the theme music (only broadcast once before, as part of the incidental music in "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling"). This was probably because it was the second half of the show's only two-part story. It was also the first time that it was publicly revealed that the show was filmed at Portmeirion, which had previously been kept secret to heighten the in-show mystery of the Village's location - although ironically the Portmeirion location was not featured in the last four episodes except for minor shots. The closing credits are changed slightly to eliminate the iconic animated sequence of bars closing across Number 6's face, and the closing image of Rover emerging from the water. As a result of the changes to the opening, star Creator/PatrickMcGoohan does not actually receive screen credit for playing Number 6 in this episode (though he is credited for producing, writing and directing it).
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'':
** The series is fond of doing this in "theme" episodes, usually remixing or completely changing the theme tune as well. The Christmas special featured the same lyrics and melody as the normal song, but with sleighbells and over-the-top "Christmas-y" instrumentation, while in episode 213, "Lights, Camera...Homicidio", the credits are sung in Spanish.
** Also, in Season 4's "Bollywood Homicide", the song picks up a distinctly Eastern sound; most of the theme song was sung in Hindi, and the actors' names appeared in Hindi text which then switched to English letters.
** The sixth season episode "The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap Man, Issue #2" is done with the theme redone in a heroic orchestral style and the opening sequence in comic-book panels, specifically an homage to the opening sequence of ''Series/TheCape''.
* While ''Series/{{QI}}'' doesn't change its title graphics, it does occasionally alter its theme music. Their annual ChristmasEpisode incorporates "Jingle Bells" with its regular theme. Episodes 4.5 ("Death") and 7.13 ("Gothic") had moans and other morbid sounds in the background. And episode 6.5 ("France") had an accordion playing the theme tune. The Christmas 2019 episode ''did'' change the graphics, adding snow, holly around the handle of the magnifying glass, and replacing some of the images with a snowflake, a reindeer, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Christmas trees, a medieval Father Christmas, Christmas pudding, mince pies and sprouts.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'' sometimes changed the end credit music, for instance the first appearance of Ace Rimmer had the normal Rimmer play out the theme on a Hammond organ, whilst Gunmen of the Apocalypse had a wild-west version of the music, and "Waxworld" ended with an Elvis impersonator singing it.
* Done in a minor way in the India-themed episodes of ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}''. While the normal title sequence remained unchanged, an Eastern-sounding song was added instead of the usual tune.
* The ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' movies have a re-orchestrated version of the theme music.
* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' ParodyEpisode "200" abandons the concept of a minute-long TitleMontage used for most of the series' run. When discussing TheMovie of the ShowWithinAShow ''Wormhole X-Treme!'', Cameron Mitchell insists on a "strong opening title sequence", while Martin Lloyd says, "No one does that anymore. You just throw up the title and get on with it." This is immediately followed by a TitleOnlyOpening for ''Stargate SG-1''.
** Though this is only borderline "special"; during this part of the show's run, the shorter form was always used when the show was first aired, to leave more time for commercials. However, the full opening had been back for a few episodes.
*** If anything, it was more of a TakeThat at the Sci-Fi Channel's much-maligned decision to remove the full-length TitleSequence.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' replaced its usual titles, showing a history of exploration, with a version showing a history of conquest for the MirrorUniverse episode "In A Mirror, Darkly". It even went far enough to change the music from a hopeful pop song to an ominous, militaristic theme.
* The season 1 finale of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' ends with the titular starship rendezvousing with the USS ''Enterprise''. The musical fanfare of the event and the end credits are an updated version of the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' theme.
* One episode of ''Series/TheState'' began with David Wain explaining that all of the group's members have different specialties. His is editing, and though he gets less recognition for it, it is surprisingly good at letting you express yourself. Cut to a version of the opening titles in which Wain's credit is repeated over and over and the other cast members are only featured for a fraction of a second.
* The ''Series/SupermanAndLois'' episode "Bizarros in a Bizarro World" inverts the S shield and title.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has made special opening credit for several episodes:
** 3.08, 'A Very Supernatural Christmas' Instead of the normal opening (which featured an exploding Devil's Trap), this christmas special had an exploding ornament and a Santa hat over the A.
** 4.05 'Monster Movie' was a parody of classic black and white monster movies, with a black and white opening
** 4.18 'The Monster At The End of This Book' showed cover art from the series of ''Supernatural'' [[ShowWithinAShow books within a show]] written by Chuck Shurley as Carver Edlund.
** 5.08 'Changing Channels' also contained parodies of several stock television shows, and replaced the opening titles with a sitcom-style montage, complete with appropriately-styled theme song and credits (in the ''Series/FullHouse'' font, no less).
** 6.09 'Clap Your Hands if You Believe' paid homage to ''Series/TheXFiles'' and redid the opening to play the X-Files theme and show footage of the brothers in the same sort of poses as the original X-Files opening did.
** 6.18 'Frontierland' copied the burning map credits from ''Series/{{Bonanza}}''
** 7.08 'Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!' had an exploding wedding cake with Music/RichardWagner's Bridal Chorus for music.
** 7.14 'Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie' added an explosion of rainbow sparkles.
** 9.18 'Meta Fiction' start normally, before abruptly switching the show's name to that of the BigBad which [[VillainEpisode the episode focuses on]].
** 13.16 'Scoobynatural' has a unique opening that begins with a version of the opening moments of the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' credit sequence (bats flying past a spooky-looking house) followed by a unique series logo replacing the show's title with ''Scoobynatural''. (In fact, the title ''Supernatural'' is never actually shown on screen in this episode.)
* ''Series/TeenWolf'', "Illuminated" primely taking place at a club, replaces the usual theme with a remix.
* In the run-up to a general election, the BBC current affairs / politics series ''This Week'' replaces its usual credits with the cast performing a spoof of a well-known song ("Is this the way to Amarillo?" for the 2005 election, and "We're off to see the Wizard" for 2010).
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': [[Recap/TorchwoodS2E5Adam "Adam"]], in which a memory-altering entity infiltrated the usual team, added shots of the interloper to the usual opening sequence.
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtqgJ3bHEfY got one]] for a "crossover" with, of all series, ''Series/{{CSI}}'', when the writers from the latter show decided to swap shows with the "Men" writers for a week.
* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' did this with the end titles in the episodes "Trial of [=LaRue=]" ("Tonight, I'll See You In My Dreams" performed by Geoff Koch) and "Lucas" ("[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naf7scl_AL8 A Rose in December]]" performed by Gino Vannelli and Anton Vannelli), replacing the usual [[DoItYourselfThemeTune action-packed end titles performed by]] Creator/ChuckNorris.
* ''Series/Warehouse13''
** The first ChristmasEpisode makes numerous changes to the title sequence (the longer one from the first two seasons).
*** The titles open with a quick burst of "Joy to the World", before moving into the main theme, which now has a sleigh-bell refrain.
*** The crate in the Sphinx picture is giftwrapped.
*** The scarab sheds red-and-gold sparks
*** The next crate is labelled "Fruitcake".
*** The map is of the North Pole.
*** The EstablishingShot of the warehouse is a snow scene in a pop-up book.
*** Toys, cookies and candy canes are propped up on the Farnsworths the cast appears on.
*** The Tesla is replaced by the snowglobe from the episode "Breakdown".
*** It's snowing over the title.
** The NoirEpisode in Season 4 replaces the usual logo with a flickering neon one.
** They also sometimes have fun with the IdiosyncraticWipes to the commercials, which normally feature the scenes disappearing into slamming crates or flickering Farnsworths, the Warehouse airlock closing, or occasionally characters being [[HumanPopsicle bronzed]]. The episode "Endless Terror", for example, in which Paracleus goes back to the 15th century to MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight, featured one based on the high-tech doors of the alternate Warehouse 13 in the new timeline, and a slamming crate against the Renaissance Muslim background of Warehouse 9 when Pete and Myka went back to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.
** "Savage Seduction", a TrappedInTVLand episode about a {{Telenovela}}, has a Spanish guitar version of the theme, and uses the ShowWithinAShow's IdiosyncraticWipes (a burst of flame).
* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
** The "X-Cops" episode used a modified version of the title sequence from ''Series/{{Cops}}''.
** Used during the end credits of [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E05ThePostModernPrometheus "The Post-Modern Prometheus"]] when the traditional [[FadeToBlack fade to black]] is passed over in favor of the final shot of Mulder and Scully captured like a comic book frame, followed by a deformed hand closing the "comic book" to reveal Chris Carter's producer credit on the back cover.
* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' did this two weeks on the trot with Nasty - done in the style of a Hammer-Horror film - and Time - the first five minutes, including the titles sequence, parodies ''Dallas''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ing1lOzmGA quite a few variations]] on its opening sequence:
** The GenderFlip AU episodes starring Fionna and Cake have every character who in the opening sequence replaced by their gender-swapped counterparts. This extends to the singer of the theme song, which has creator Pen Ward replaced by character designer [[WebAnimation/BeeAndPuppycat Natasha Allegri]].
** The [[GuestStrip guest animator]] episodes "[[AllCGICartoon A Glitch Is a Glitch]]", "[[Creator/MasaakiYuasa Food Chain]]" and "[[StopMotion Bad Jubies]]" also have the opening redone by the guest animator.
** The miniseries ''Stakes'', ''Islands'', and ''Elements'' each have special versions of the opening that feature that story arc's most relevant characters and a variant of the theme tune [[DoItYourselfThemeTune sung by the central character of the plotline]] (Marceline, Finn, and Princess Bubblegum, respectively).
** The BonusEpisode "Diamonds And Lemons" has an 8-bit version of the opening sequence.
** The GrandFinale "Come Along with Me" has a special opening featuring [[spoiler:Shermy and Beth having fun [[DistantFinale 1,000 years in the future]]]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
** "Office Spaceman" ends the opening sequence early to have Stan see a picture of Roger on the front page of the paper, followed by Stan going inside and scolding him. A similar thing happens in a later episode with the new title sequence; Roger appears in Stan's car without an outfit, causing Stan to turn the car back around and question him about it.
** "Bullocks to Stan", "Stan of Arabia", "Haylias", "Tearjerker", "100 A.D.", "Hot Water", "Hurricane!", "For Black Eyes Only" and "Blood Crieth Unto Heaven" don't have the standard opening.
** "Flirting With Disaster" has the opening replaced by a parody of the opening to ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]''.
** "A Pinata Named Desire" and "Lost in Space" have the opening shortened.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'':
** Certain episodes such as "Reunion" and "True Colors" have no introduction and only the show's title with a variation of the main theme.
** The finales for Seasons 1 & 2 replace the normal credits sequence with a series of drawings depicting key moments from the respective seasons, while a wistful, orchestral version of the end theme plays.
** In "Little Frogtown / Hopping Mall", to reflect the latter's TearJerker ending, has the credits taking place over a shot of the night sky above Newtopia, with a sad piano version of the end theme playing.
** [[HalloweenEpisode "The Shut-In!"]] has the opening being shown with an scratched-up film filter tinted purple, among other edits, with a "spooky" remix of the theme song. The credits sequence is based on the Season 1 closing, with Anne and Sprig replaced with skeletons.
** In "Spider-Sprig / Olivia & Yunan", to reflect [[spoiler: [[PainfulTransformation Marcy's transformation]] [[DemonicPossession into Darcy]]]], has the credits taking place on a black background with glowing text, [[NothingIsScarier accompanied by hushed atmospheric moans.]]
** In "The Root off Evil / The Core & The King", the credits run [[SilentCredits silently]] over footage of [[spoiler: King Andreas' portrait of his former friends, Leif and Barrel, [[BurnBabyBurn burning in his fireplace]], symbolizing his desire to put his past behind him.]]
* The "international" episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' has the theme song and opening entirely in French. Most of the rest of the episode is in English (albeit with internationally-themed segments), except for the short "Les Boutons et le Ballon" (which is presented in French with English subtitles, which are unfortunately missing from the [=DVD=] release).
** The Christmas episode of the series has the regular credits, with snow laid over the top.
** The reboot, ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'', features a special intro for its Halloween special; as seen through a haunted TV (a nice nod to ''[[Film/Poltergeist1982 Poltergeist]]''), the footage is darkly tinted except for the Warners themselves, and the Couch Gag at the end involves the Warners as zombies.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'':
** The intro to the episode "New Avengers" starts out like that used during the rest of the second season, until the time comes for all the Avengers to pose together. Instead, we see Captain America's shield fly across the screen, cutting to the ''New'' Avengers posing together.
** "The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill" does not include any Avengers, except for Thor. When the time comes in this episode's title sequence for the team to gather, lightning strikes, revealing a scene of Thor by himself.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' had these for both two-parters. For the first one, ''"International Super Spy"'' (parodying the ''Film/JamesBond'' movies), there was an opening in the style of the episode rather than the regular one. For the second, ''"Tale of the Mighty Knights"'', the theme song is done in the style of '70s hard rock.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has title cards for all of its episodes except for four--"The Laughing Fish", "Heart of Ice" and "The Demon's Quest" two-parter open with still-shots (or a pan) of the episode title and writer/director credits in the episode itself.
* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Joker: The Vile and The Villainous" has ComicBook/TheJoker as the main character, and told about his team-up with another supervillain to fight Franchise/{{Batman}}. Hence, the opening animation was changed to depict the Joker doing things that Batman usually does in the opening, with "HA HA HA" graffiti liberally applied to the usual text walls, seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJeCTBfWWY here]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'':
** "Steve the Virgin" has Coach Steve walking through and commenting on the title sequence, since the episode is ADayInTheLimelight for him.
** "Florida" has Marty Glouberman complain throughout the title sequence, including [[SelfDeprecation calling the show disgusting.]]
** "Duke" has the title sequence in sepia tone, with the song remixed to sound like an old jazz recording.
* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'':
** "Blood Moon" gives the theme song a more spooky vibe, adding a therimin to the score, a RedFilterOfDoom, and scary and haunting assets.
** "Chipwrecked" does not play the jovial ending theme "Do It All Again" along with scenes of the Greens' house and city areas; instead it plays a more ominious theme over a shot of the now-closed Big Coffee at night.
** "Chipocalypse Now" changes the melody to a depressing minor key and has Chip hog some of the Greens' shots, and altered scenes of the Greens in horror at his CommunityThreateningConstruction going on without a hitch.
* ''WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill'': So as not to immediately [[SpoilerOpening spoil]] the {{story arc}} of season 3, the first two episodes of the season use an alternate intro, featuring clips from throughout the season [[note]]mostly ones from the few episodes set in Australia, although there are a few exceptions, such as Blinky running across the African plains[[/note]], and set to a modified version of season 2's theme song.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'': 'Bingo' changes the standard opening sequence, so that Bluey takes Bingo's place in ending up out of the dancing game, and as such, Bingo ends up winning, much to Bandit and Chilli's surprise. The theme song is modified to suit this, and when Bluey gets out, the background changes from blue to orange.
* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'':
** In "Escape from LA", when Bojack's old flame Charlotte tells him casually that she's married with a family, an 80's sitcom theme about it plays instead of the show's normal opening.
** In "Int. Sub", a therapist who changes her clients' names when she talks about them refers to Bojack as "Bobo the Angry Zebra". The opening plays as normal, but Bojack is now redesigned as a zebra and the show's title is changed accordingly as well.
** "The Showstopper" replaced the show's theme song with that of Bojack's new ShowWithinAShow ''Philbert'', complete with "A Netflix Original Series" replaced with "A What Time Is It Right Now Original Series".
** "A Horse Walks Into Rehab" has the title sequence start as normal, but then [[BornInTheTheater "burns out"]] as the episode begins.
* The ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' TV movie ''The Great Parent Mystery'' has special lyrics for the theme song as well as lyrics for the credits.
-->''One fine day with a question on their mind,''
-->''[=CatDog=] left old Nearburg behind.''
-->''Tired of wondering, tired of feelin' bad,''
-->''Set off searchin' for their mom and dad.''
-->''[=CatDog=] ([=CatDog=]), [=CatDog=] ([=CatDog=]),''
-->''Out on the road went the little [=CatDog=].''
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'' episode "Goldfish Follies" has the theme song appear sepia-toned with an old-timey film effect, and has the theme song sung to a ragtime beat.
** For the six-part "Clarence's Stormy Sleepover" special, the opening sequence is cut short by the title card, a shot of Jeff's kite caught in power lines during a rainstorm.
* Another show with a special title for Christmas was ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'''s "Operation N.A.U.G.H.T.Y.", with the normally-white background turned green, snow falling over the titles, and the title decorated by Christmas lights [[http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/Numbuh4fan/Naughty/OperationNAUGHTY005_0039.jpg (see here)]]. That episode also had a [[TheTeaser teaser]]. Only "Operation E.N.D." and "Operation K.N.O.T." had a ColdOpening before this, and those were much shorter than the one in "N.A.U.G.H.T.Y.".
* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse''
** The MusicalEpisode, "Melted" replaces the ending theme with a reprise of the final song.
** "The Last Giraffe Warrior", a parody of ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'' with the gag that Giraffe Warrior Planet really does act like a video game, ends with pixellated images and a {{Chiptune}} version of the theme.
* Both ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' [[TheMovie made-for-TV movies]] featured special titles.
** And in the MusicalEpisode, the theme song was altered to sound more like it belonged in a musical production.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'':
** "Woo-oo!", "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!", and "Astro B.O.Y.D.!" don't have the standard opening, instead having the show's logo appear over the opening scene. In "Astro B.O.Y.D.!", the logo is even written out in katakana, as the episode is set in Japan.
** Some episodes, mainly those that are more serious or story-driven, have the opening shortened.
** "Last Christmas!" also has a shorter opening, along with snow falling throughout, the ''[=DuckTales=]'' logo strung with Christmas lights, and the theme song rewritten and sung 1950s style to fit the episode's holiday theme.
** "The Duck Knight Returns!" shortens the opening to a mere five seconds, in addition to the show's logo sporting the purple/yellow color scheme of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''.
** "[=GlomTales!=]" features a special HostileShowTakeover version of the title theme sung by Flintheart Glomgold.
** "Quack Pack!", being a SitcomHomageEpisode, had one that was stylized to feel like it came from a 90s DomCom.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' was originally going to have one of these for ''every'' episode, but the plans fell through. However, there were some special openings.
** The "Road to..." episodes have the opening replaced by 1940s style title cards.
** "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High" has a parody of the opening to ''Series/LawAndOrder''.
** "PTV" has a parody of the opening credits to ''Film/TheNakedGun'', with Stewie beating up UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden and driving his tricycle through different environments, including scenes from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' and ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', before running over [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] in the driveway.
-->'''Peter:''' Hey, Stewie. ''(looks down)'' Who the hell is that?
** "Whistle While Your Wife Works" had the theme song interrupted when Peter falls and crushes one of the dancers.
** "Brian Griffin's House of Payne" opens with a ''Franchise/StarWars'' parody.
** The three ''Star Wars'' parodies, "And Then There Were Fewer" and "Brian and Stewie" don't have any opening.
** "Family Goy" opens with a parody of the opening to ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''.
** "Livin' on a Prayer" has a parody of the opening to ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie''.
** "Lottery Fever" has one of the dancers coming to Peter announcing she's pregnant, but Peter orders security to throw her out.
** "Space Cadet" has a parody of the opening to ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.
** "Bigfat" parodies the opening to ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''.
** "Total Recall" parodies the opening to ''Series/ModernFamily''.
** "He's Bla-ack", which commemorated Cleveland's return to the show, had the opening titles interrupted by Cleveland showing up in the middle to take Mort's place in the chorus line.
** "A Lot Going On Upstairs" had Stewie, traumatized by a monster in his nightmare, having his dancing and singing thrown off, culminating with him singing, "Pumpkin pie!" instead of "Laugh and cry!" He ends up being benched with the show's ChuckCunninghamSyndrome characters, with Peter's Arab co-worker Fouad taunting Stewie that he won't be back in the show.
** "Inside Family Guy", an episode portraying the characters as AnimatedActors, displayed production photos of the show while an instrumental version of the theme song plays.
* The ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'' episode "Pool Party Panic" features a special opening depicting the characters as humans, with the title changed to ''Friend Hooks''.
* To commemorate the 30th anniversary of WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones, a special Hanna-Barbara logo premiered on its shows in 1990 that featured Fred Flintstone dancing in a top hat and tails. It can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcC_hMxEMAI here]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episodes "Mars University", "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television", and "Spanish Fry" all have different versions of the ThemeTune playing.
** "Viva Mars Vegas" has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg9WC_6Jb9w the intro entirely in live-action.]]
* The first part of the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', "Weirdmageddon", starts with [[BigBad Bill Cipher]] entering physical space and unleashing a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "weirdmageddon"]] upon the town. This is complete with a warped, demented version of the theme song where Bill is inserted into many of the familiar scenes, and the roll call scenes of Dipper, Mabel, and Stan are replaced with parodies of them with his minions 8 Ball, Teeth, Keyhole and Hectorgon take the place of Dipper, Mabel and Stan. To make matters worse, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the show is credited]] as being "[[HostileShowTakeover Created by Bill Cipher]]". The Dipper, Mabel, and Stan scenes only return in the final part, when they've been reunited.
* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'':
** The first season's penultimate episode "Devil's Snare" plays a slower sadder version of the theme music over the closing credits, to commemorate [[spoiler: Ivy's death]].
** The second season's penultimate episode "Lovers' Quarrel" repeats this for [[spoiler: Kite Man finding out Ivy cuckolded him with Harley.]]
** The third season episode "Joker: The Killing Vote" features a title sequence centred on the Joker.
** The third season episode "Batman Begins Forever" has a title card in the form of ''Series/Frasier'', which the episode homages.
* ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' - The episode "The Dabba Don", wherein Fred Flintstone is accused of racketeering, has a title sequence that combines the famous ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' title with a black and white montage and a theme song parody of ''Series/TheSopranos'' opening.
* A few episodes of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' do not play out their regular title sequence. Namely, "Arnold's Christmas", "Arnold's Thanksgiving", "Parents Day", "Dino Checks Out" and "The Journal."
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' had a few episodes with unique opening sequences used just for that episode.
** ''Histeria!'' probably had more opening sequences than any other show at the time.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode "The Day the Music Died" starts out normally at first, but then Kimber interrupts accompanied by "film breaking" scenes before appearing and [[BreakingTheFourthWall telling the viewers]] that "there won't be a story today", going on to explain that Jerrica/Jem has disappeared, after which the episode begins.
* Minor example: In the ColdOpening of a ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode called "The Ron Factor", the Global Justice network tells Kim that they want to study her sidekick, Ron. Kim expresses extreme disbelief (as she strongly believes herself, as opposed to Ron, to be the main success of their missions), then interrupts the title sequence to express it again. "No seriously, you want ''Ron?''" At the interruption, the ThemeTune is slightly faded down, and Kim actually [[BreakingTheFourthWall pushes the normal montage out of the way]] to lodge her complaint.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Lizzie}}'' episode "Beyond the Beat" eschews the usual title sequence in exchange for a mock rock documentary intro.
* The 1962 ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Now Hear This" replaced the usual WB shield in concentric circles with abstract spinning lines and a jarring "modern" version of the theme song, a fittingly unnerving opening for a [[DerangedAnimation truly deranged cartoon]]. A couple of years later, when WB shut down their animation studio and started farming Looney Tunes out to other studios, this became the standard opening for what is generally acknowledged as WB's AudienceAlienatingEra.
** These titles got their own Special Edition on 1968's "WesternAnimation/{{Norman Normal|1968}}". Instead of using the then-standard theme music and ''Looney Tunes'' or ''Merrie Melodies'' branding, it was dubbed a "Cartoon Special" and had its own theme song playing over the opening and closing animation.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
** In the ChristmasEpisode "11 Louds a Leapin'", the title sequence ends with a cut to the show's logo in the middle of a snowy field instead of a black background, with Lily wearing her winter parka. The end credits also take place on a snowy background, with the normal end theme replaced by an instrumental of "That's' What Christmas is All About".
** In the HalloweenEpisode "Tricked!", Lily is dressed as a BedsheetGhost when the title screen appears, and eerily wails instead of saying, "Poo-poo!" The normal end theme is replaced by a spooky version of the opening theme.
** The "With the Casagrandes" episodes of Season 4 shorten the title sequence to 15 seconds while Ronnie Anne takes the time to introduce her extended family.
* A few of the Paul Rudish ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickey Mouse|2013}}'' shorts have the title read "Minnie Mouse" instead of "Mickey Mouse", as "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E3EauDeMinnie Eau de Minnie]]", "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E12Clogged Clogged]]", and "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E14DoggoneBiscuits Doggone Biscuits]]", among others. They have Minnie as the main character, with Mickey DemotedToExtra in some of them, and even nowhere to be seen in others. In a different example, "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E5DownTheHatch Down the Hatch]]" has the normal end credits theme replaced by singing "Miracles from Molecules" from the old Disneyland attraction ''Adventure Thru Inner Space''.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': In NoirEpisode "[[Recap/NinjagoS12E141NinjagoConfidential Ninjago Confidential]]", the intro is given a monochrome style, like films in the 1930s and 1940s, along with an instrumental jazz remix of the theme song.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': The first and last episodes of the first season do not use the usual opening sequence. Several episodes in the second half of the second season also use a TitleOnlyOpening, with the final two episodes also omitting the music to set the more serious tone, and one episode uses a slightly shorter opening sequence.
** The end credits of "Agony of a Witch" after [[DownerEnding the whole ordeal]] just shows Belos' castle, with no sound except that of the giant beating heart within.
** "Clouds on the Horizon" ends with a shot of the upper half of the Boiling Isles with [[BadMoonRising the full moon shown with a red tinge]] in the background, again with no music.
** The end credits of "King's Tide" show a shot of [[spoiler:the inside of the abandoned house that the portal door connects to]], with only the sound of rain in the background. [[spoiler:And then a piece of Belos' remains drips down and closes the door at the very end]].
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbChristmasVacation'' had the ExpositoryThemeTune [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q47T9XmpX4I retooled for winter break]], with Phineas and Ferb now accompanied by Christmas carolers.
--->'''Carolers''': As you can see, there's a whole lot of stuff to do before school starts next year,\\
So stick with us 'cause Phineas and Ferb are gonna spread some Christmas cheer!\\
'''Candace''': Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a Christmas special!
** Yet another [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li7uQ2IiOPk winter-themed title sequence]] was done for the Season Four episodes "For Your Ice Only" and "Happy New Year".
** The 2011 {{Halloween Episode}}s, "That's the Spirit" and "The Curse of Candace", the title sequence is basically unchanged until the very end, as the boys dance in a spooky forest with a gravestone in the left corner of the screen as screenshots from their earlier Halloween specials race by.
** More changes were made for the 2012 and 2013 Halloween episodes ("Drusselsteinoween", "Face Your Fear", and "Terrifying Tristate Trilogy of Terror"): Spooky backup vocals and darkened lighting throughout the song, plus a couple of visual replacements, like skeletons popping up throughout and the "something that doesn't exist" -> goblin in a party hat next to the tombstone.
** In 2011, Disney did a cross-promotion in which Phineas and Ferb "hosted" the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVoVbyT8uQQ Little League World Series on ESPN.]]
** The hour-long specials abandon the usual theme song completely in order to better match the tone. Examples include a comic-book style title reveal in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbMissionMarvel'' (with ComicBook/SpiderMan delivering Candace's usual line to Aunt May), the requisite OpeningCrawl for ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbStarWars'', and a ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''-style opening credits to set the mood for "Night of the Living Pharmacists".
* The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZSFvntwgEQ Pinky and the Brain and Larry]]" episode of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' opened with Creator/RobPaulsen squeezing in "And Larry" or similar after every line of the theme song, as in "One is a genius; the other's insane (The other one's Larry!)"
** Also the ChristmasSpecial had snow like the Animaniacs example above, but also changed the lyrics so that they were Christmas related.
--->''By the dawn of Christmas day, their plot shall be unfurled\\
They'll control the Earth, and bring JOY TO THE WORLD!''
* Not ''that'' noticeable, but the [[MilestoneCelebration 10th anniversary special]] of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' had the entire intro remade in Flash animation (which was used to make the special).
** Also, the MusicalEpisode didn't have any opening but the show's title and "Documentary" began with the title of said in-universe documentary.
* The early full-CGI series ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' had special titles for several episodes.
* A ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' two-parter has Lawson form his own group who manage to outsmart T.J.'s good deeds in every way possible, to the extent they end up being forgotten by the playground and are driven into obscurity. The second part opens with a cut-down version for the opening titles, only for Lawson to yell "Hold it!" A modified version of the titles then plays out, with Lawson's group replacing T.J,'s (plus, Miss Finster ends up standing without Randall and the clock numbers are all jumbled up for whatever reason).
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' changes their opening in every half-hour special. Examples are:
** ''Exit 9B'': a Main/DarkReprise of the regular opening, featuring dramatic music and the words over a reddish-violet background.
** ''The Christmas Special'': an ominous choir/bells theme plays over the intro on a red/green background.
** ''The Thanksgiving Special'': The title cards play regularly (no pun intended), but over a quite relaxing version of the show's theme.
** ''Skips' Story'': same as ''The Thanksgiving Special'', but with a dramatic orchestral version of the theme playing instead.
** ''The Real Thomas'': The show title and "Created by JG Quintel" credit play normally, but the rest contains an ominous spy movie-esque theme over a purple/red background. Not to mention the credits switch from English to Russian.
** ''Brilliant Century Duck Crisis Special'': a fully decked out Animesque opening.
** Oddly, in ''The Dome Experiment'', there is no special title sequence, it plays normally.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'':
** "Total Rickall" from Season 2 adds Mr. Poopybutthole to the TitleMontage, including Rick and Summer's pillow fight with Mr. Beauregard (ironically, this episode featured that very scene, and Mr. Poopybutthole wasn't actually in it).
** In Season 5's finale, rather than the usual intro, "Rickmurai Jack" features an {{animesque}} intro sequence (complete with Japanese vocals) for "Rick and Two Crows", carrying over from the previous episode.
** "Full Meta Jackrick" has Previous Leon flying through the title sequence, with Rick and Morty themselves clinging onto him.
* The original ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' Christmas episode used a Christmas-based remix of the title theme.
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': The fifth season uses a new intro, until the final episode, which goes back to the original series title.
* ''WesternAnimation/SanjayAndCraig''
** The episode "A Tail of Two Slithers" features Craig and his long-lost brother Ronny lying in the pen in the pet store rather than just Craig alone.
** The EpisodeTitleCard for "Huggle Day" is different than the others, because it has animated snow and has the caption "Nickelodeon Presents a Sanjay and Craig Production".
* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'':
** ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated''
*** "Beware the Beasts from Below", "The Night the Clown Cried" and "The House of the Nightmare Witch" don't have the standard opening title.
*** The SeriesFinale "Come Undone" has the normal end credits background replaced by one based on the Mystery Machine's paint job.
** The Halloween Special of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' cut the opening credits altogether and instead showed the words ''A Scooby Doo Halloween'' in large letters over the opening scene as a TitleOnlyOpening.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' replaces its title sequence for every "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror" Halloween episode.
** Also, they had Grampa rambling over the credits (until the Gracie Films logo at the end says "shh", to which Grampa responds with "Oh, I'm sorry!") and Homer moaning about being poor, complaining about the rich people in the credits as they went on (unfortunately, the latter is [[EditedForSyndication replaced with the standard credits audio in syndication]]).
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' has Ralph Wiggum pop up on the Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox logo and sing (rather badly) along with the music.
*** "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs", the first episode that aired after the release of the movie, featured the town still cleaning up after the various disasters from the movie.
** The recent Christmas episodes had the entire opening Christmas-themed. The odd thing is, they removed Bleeding Gums Murphy in this version, but kept the equally-deceased Maude Flanders.
** The episode "24 Minutes" had the opening parody that of ''Series/TwentyFour''.
** The episode "You [[KentBrockmanNews Kent]] Always Say What You Want" just ran a Simpsons short from ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' era in place of the opening.
** The episode "To Surveil with Love" replaced the opening with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7xyusCJvYE a remix]] of part of Ke$ha's [="TiK ToK"=].
** "Dad Behavior" (which marked the beginning of Season 28's WABFXX production episodes, which were produced by Fox Television Animation rather than Creator/FilmRoman) had Barney destroy Bart's skateboard (which leaves Bart to walk home), followed by Homer choking to death on the carbon rod that usually falls into the back of his shirt, Lisa tripping and getting killed by her saxaphone, and Maggie driving Marge's car off the road, through a farmyard, and into a lake where they drown. The entire sequence, including its CouchGag, can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h365_F5BzDg here]].
** "Moho House" and "Dogtown" both put their Couch Gags before their actual {{Title Sequence}}s. In the case of "Moho House", it uses a TitleOnlyOpening in which the episode begins with a tracking shot across Springfield as Moe narrates, with the title showing up as the camera approaches the Simpsons' house. "Dogtown", meanwhile, uses the usual opening, but after Bart leaves the school, it segues into the episode proper, with Homer getting stuck in traffic while driving home from work.
** "Lisa Gets the Blues" opens with the first two parts of "The Aquarium" short from ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'', followed by the actual title sequence having to restart two times due to the wrong title showing up (the first time, it was ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', and the second time, it was "The Simpstones"). Instead of shaking fists with Maggie, Gerald holds up a "Happy 635th" banner (acknowledging that the series is now tied with ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'' with the most number of episodes). Lisa's usual scene continues with her outside the school playing the saxophone. The Mr. Largo comes out and tells Lisa that she should quit playing her saxophone. Finally, a Lisa-less CouchGag is shown in the middle of Lisa and Mr. Largo's subsequent conversation.
** "Forgive and Regret" replaced the entire opening with a ShowdownAtHighNoon between Maggie and ''Gunsmoke''[='=]s Matt Dillon in commemoration of ''The Simpsons'' breaking the show's record for most episodes.
** "Bart's Not Dead" [[MilestoneCelebration celebrates the show's 30 years]] with a clip montage of one episode per season, from the 29th to the first.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''
** "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers" has the standard opening replaced by a gloomier version starring the Goth Kids, seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bK963ZjlyE here]].
** "Spookyfish" opens with an announcer saying the episode will be presented in "Spooky Vision", followed by a special Halloween version of the theme song.
** "Starvin' Marvin in Space" and "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" don't have the theme song.
** "A Song of Ass and Fire" has the theme song replaced by an epic ''Series/GameOfThrones''-esque theme, with the kids dressed in their medieval outfits, seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw2dOM9IvVc here]]. The following episode "Titties and Dragons" has the same opening, but with the "wiener" song from the previous episode.
** The HD version of "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" has the opening tinted to better match the paper animation.
** Season 23 is noted for having many of these:
*** The debut episode "Mexican Joker" has the intro set in Tegridy Farms, featuring only the Marsh family sung only by Randy, seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDTGI3nQ7Mc here]]. This continues throughout the first few episodes of season 23.
*** After the Tegridy Farms arc ends with 6 episodes, the following episode "Board Girls" has the "PC Babies" intro from Season 22's "Buddha Box".
*** "Turd Burglars" has the intro sung by the female citizens of the town and features scenes of them throughout various seasons, showing that this is a female-focused episode, or in other words, "One for the Ladies".
*** "Basic Cable" has a custom intro which features Scott Malkinson as the main character of "The Scott Malkinson Show".
* The {{Christmas Episode}}s of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' had the normal theme, but sung in high, angelic voices with jingle bells, and the usual title logo replaced with a title card showing [=SpongeBob=] decorating a Christmas tree.
** The episode "What Ever Happened to [=SpongeBob=]?" replaced "[=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]" in the theme with "[=WhoBob=] [=WhatPants=]".
** "Truth or Square" has a special stop-motion opening, with the theme song performed by Cee-Lo Green.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': To emphasize what a WhamEpisode it is, the season 2 finale "Starcrushed" replaces the bouncy end credits sequence with [[spoiler: a quiet shot of the exterior of Marco's house, but with a hole where Star's addition to the guest room used to be.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': The opening title is usually golden yellow, except in these cases:
** It was changed to red for [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E21Brothers "Brothers"]] and [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E22Revenge "Revenge"]] to mark Maul's return.
** Season 5's D-Squad arc — [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E10SecretWeapons "Secret Weapons"]], [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E11ASunnyDayInTheVoid "A Sunny Day in the Void"]], [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E12MissingInAction "Missing in Action"]] and [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E13PointOfNoReturn "Point of No Return"]] — has the logo in light blue.
** During the final 4 episodes of [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWarsSeasonSeven Season 7]] (and the series as whole), it starts with a Lucasfilm Limited Production logo from the initial run of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, and the Clone Wars logo is red, there's no newsreel (except for [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E9OldFriendsNotForgotten "Old Friends not Forgotten"]]) and moral.
*** "Old Friends Not Forgotten" has The ''Skywalker Saga'' films' opening theme plays instead of the series' own variant on it (and it's preceded by a brief rendition of Ahsoka's {{leitmotif}}). Each of the remaining episodes has its own theme playing during the intro -- "Shattered" uses a variant of the Clone Troopers' theme while "Victory and Death" uses a funereal track similar to that from [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Qui-Gon's funeral]] and [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Padmé's death[=/=]Vader's reconstruction]].
* The premiere of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheBadBatch'' is the only one that opens with a ''Clone Wars''-style newsreel, as it's the only one that takes place during the final arc of ''The Clone Wars''. The rest of the episodes have only a brief (as in, roughly five seconds) theme before jumping right into things.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'':
** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E04TheLastBattle "The Last Battle"]] is to a large degree a FullyAbsorbedFinale for ''The Clone Wars'', which was CutShort. Thus, the closing title is done in the style of the former show's logo, and the music playing over the credits is replaced with the former show's opening theme.
** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E18TwinSuns "Twin Suns"]] ends with the "Binary Sunset" Force Theme. Appropriate, as the final scene is Obi-Wan watching over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine.
** The closing title of [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E08JediNight "Jedi Night"]] and opening title of [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E09DUME "DUME"]] are black on a white background with falling ashes (and in the case of the former, complete with SilentCredits), marking [[spoiler:Kanan's HeroicSacrifice at the end of the former episode (he died holding back an explosion so the others could escape).]]
* Most ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episodes use a standard title card differentiated only by text, showing the beach near the Gem Temple with one of the temple's hands in the foreground, holding a washing machine and a clothesline with some of Steven's clothing on it. The end credits usually use an alternate portrayal of the same view. There are a variety of exceptions:
** The standard card has minor variations for weather, time of day, and other conditions around the temple. [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E26OceanGem "Ocean Gem"]] has all the water missing because the episode is about Lapis Lazuli having stolen Earth's oceans. [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E1FullDisclosure "Full Disclosure"]] and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E3JoyRide "Joy Ride"]] have the beach covered with debris from the spaceship that crashed there in the season one finale. [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E24LegsFromHereToHomeworld "Legs From Here to Homeworld"]] likewise has the ground covered with debris of the two ''other'' ships that crashed on the beach one episode previous.
** If one episode ends with a {{Cliffhanger}} outside of Beach City, the next one will have a title card that reflects the location where the next episode begins. [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E21Beta "Beta"]]/[[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E22Earthlings "Earthlings"]] and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E23BackToTheMoon "Back to the Moon"]]/[[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E24Bubbled "Bubbled"]] extend this to the ''ending'' credits of each first part using the same image as the title card for the second.
** The season one finale is two episodes that premiered simultaneously ([[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E48TheReturn "The Return"]] and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E49JailBreak "Jail Break"]]) with no credits in-between. Instead, the credits at the end of the second part are double-length, which allowed for a longer version of the ending theme WithLyrics.
** During a series of episodes where the Crystal Gems are working out of and staying in a barn, the title card and credits both change to match the barn. The opening card also has variants for day and night. The ending music is also replaced with ambient sounds.
** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E20Bismuth "Bismuth"]], the [[MilestoneCelebration 100th episode]], goes straight from the opening sequence into the episode itself; the title screen doesn't appear until Bismuth herself does, with the episode title and storyboard/writing credits fading in onscreen instead of being on a separate card.
** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E6LastOneOutOfBeachCity "Last One Out of Beach City"]] replaces the usual [[EvolvingCredits variable ending themes]] with "Fifteen Minutes", a licensed song by the episode's SpecialGuest, Mike Krol.
** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E23Reunited "Reunited"]], another [[ExtraLongEpisode double-length episode]], has the title card over a black screen that precedes the opening musical number.
* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'':
** The Season 1 special "Queen For a Day" does not feature the EndingTheme "More of Me"; instead it features an ominous orchestral piece, befitting Varian's StartOfDarkness in the last scene.
** The Season 1 finale "Secret of the Sundrop" does the same, by having an instrumental version of Rapunzel's GainingConfidenceSong "Set Yourself Free".
** Ditto for "Destinies Collide", which feature a much more ominous orchestra to reflect Cassandra's betrayal. "Cassandra's Revenge" and "Once a Handmaiden..." do the same with even more ominous themes than the previous, to reflect the release of Zhan Tiri in the former, and Cass's takeover of Corona in the latter.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' uses a Japanese version of its theme songs as cue for its especially bizarre {{filler}} episodes. In Episode 24, "Fractured", the opening sequence is sung in Japanese by Larry, the tiny version of Robin from another dimension, and features Larry in the sequence. Later, in ADayInTheLimelight episode for the Hive 5, Jinx interrupts the song to tag the screen with a honeycomb and say, "We're the Hive 5, and [[HostileShowTakeover this is our show now!]]"
* The Christmas episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had bells in the background and some of the opening lyrics changed to fit the Christmas theme. They also had lyrics fitting the themes for the openings of their Halloween and Spring Break Episodes, and the same was for ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventuresHowISpentMyVacation'', including one at the end about summer vacation being over and school back in session.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' Season 3 Episodes "Five Faces of Darkness" parts 3 and 5[[labelnote:*]]Originally applied to all five parts, though only the masters for 3 and 5 survived[[/labelnote]]have completely different opening animations than all the rest of Season 3, including the other parts of Five Faces of Darkness, though all versions use the same theme music. Instead of starting off with a green laser grid forming Unicron's disembodied head, it starts with a visual on the Skuxxoid's rockaroid ship that Springer and Arcee commandeer in Part 1, includes the con and bot symbols chasing each other around remeniscent of the Season 2 opener, has Decepticons dogpiling on a single energon cube, the Autobots firing on them and Rodimus Prime standing up in time for the Transformers graphic, Galvatron crawling out of the Lava Pit on Thrull and then transforming and blasting a small planetoid, Daniel Witwicky running away from Trypticon as Metroplex transforms to engage, Ultra Magnus, Kup and Spike being dropped into the Sharkticon pit on Quintessa, some more flying insignia and then a shot of the planet Goo, Springer transforming and dragging the other Autobots away from the garbage scow on Goo while Rodimus gets sucked in, then Rodimus escaping from it with the sound of Optimus Prime's laser rifle, then the end Transformers title graphic.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' MusicalEpisode "I Have Heard the Robots Singing" has FollowTheBouncingBall lyrics below with Blades' head in place of the ball.
* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' episode "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment!" had different opening dialogue with Larry telling Bob he's not doing the theme song. He then tells Bob because "It's time to wake up! And smell the future!".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':
** The first season finale ends with the two title characters seemingly killed. The next season premier goes with this by showing a new opening where they've been replaced by Rusty and Jonas Jr. (who could ''also'' be called "Venture Bros"), only for Hank and Dean to be [[BackFromTheDead revived]] via cloning.
** The first episode of the third season was all about the villains, and thus the credits featured their silhouettes in place of the expected titular brothers.
* The MusicalEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' excluded the theme song altogether and instead begins with the show's logo on a curtain which opens and cuts immediately to the actual show.
** The show doesn't really have title cards as much as the title appearing a few minutes into the episode with a short musical piece. However, sometimes the title's font and/or music is different.
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