When White Collar returned last month it did so with a new opening title sequence, this was met with much derision from White Collar fans who hit up the social media sites Twitter and Facebook to register their dislike for these new titles. Well, the powers that be have listened and have done the most democratic thing that they can do; they are letting the fans decide with a vote.
From today (July 8) until Wednesday, July 13 at noon ET you can head over to the USA networks secondary platform Character Chatter and watch both the new and old title sequences (the original first half of season 1 sequence will not be included- I liked the black background of this one) and then vote on which one you prefer. The title sequence that wins the poll will be air July 19, on the episode "Taking Account". This Character Chatter site will let fans know of this poll by messaging them, as well as posting on Facebook, Twitter and even this Tuesday's episode of White Collar to try and raise awareness of the poll. Alexandra Shapiro the senior vice president brand marketing and digital for USA has said of this poll:
"Our Characters Welcome brand philosophy is predicated on the inclusion of everyone – especially our audience. So when debate ensued among our core White Collar fans we decided crowdsourcing was an optimal way to involve our fans in determining the main title sequence’s fate."
Jeff Eastin, White Collar's executive producer who is a big Twitter user and who has been asking fans of their thoughts of this new title sequence has likened this poll to White Collar character Neal Caffrey:
"Where would Neal Caffrey be without a second chance? Our new main title sequence has been hotly debated with opinions covering a broad spectrum. We respect the opinions of our fans and we couldn’t think of a better way to reward their dedication than empowering them with this decision."
You can watch both opening title sequences below; first the original version which has guitar based music and quick cuts between shots and the second which uses more electronic sounds and frames the stars of the show as if they were in a gallery. Remember to head over to Character Chatter to vote for your favourite, like Neal you have to choose a side. Which is your favourite?
After watching both Title sequences again, I realized it's not necessarily the new painting concept that bothers me, it's the music. They at least need to bring the music back from the original one.
I think I'm going to stop visiting this site, and stories like this one are the reason why. This site's home page is cluttered with really trivial posts like this. A story about the credit sequence on a mediocre USA show? Who cares?!!