The Leftovers Season 3 opening theme song to change each episode

The Leftovers will follow up its use of the “Perfect Strangers” theme song in episode 2 with different music for its opening credits in each Season 3 episode.

HBO’s The Leftovers abandoned its ominous title theme after season 1 in favor of Iris DeMent’s sunnier “Let the Mystery Be” as it shifted its setting from suburban New York to Texas.

The opening title sequence featured a photo montage of people in various joyous settings with one person replaced by a blank silhouette to symbolize the Sudden Departure. That itself was a departure from the first season’s baroque-style paintings depicting people ascending upwards towards heaven as their loved ones watched from below with despair.

More from Show Snob

In the second episode of Season 3, the series opened with the same title sequence as Season 2, but replaced the song with the theme music from the 80’s sitcom Perfect Strangers, entitled “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now.” It had been a running gag since the first season that three-fourths of the Perfect Strangers main cast had departed with the exception of Mark Linn-Baker, who had reportedly fled to Mexico after it was discovered that he had faked his departure.

To the surprise of most viewers, the creators of the show cast the actor in the episode in an earnest role where he contacted Nora to pitch her the idea of using a machine that was created to blast people to wherever the departed went using the same type of radiation that was reportedly found at departure sites.

Watch all three versions of the opening credits here:

The catchphrase of Linn-Baker’s onscreen cousin, Balki Bartokomous, even lends the episode its title, “Don’t Be Ridiculous.” But TV Line’s Michael Ausiello has revealed that the Perfect Strangers theme will not be used for the rest of the season. Instead, completely different music will be used as a way to introduce each episode. Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof explains:

"“Because we changed the title sequence between Seasons 1 and Seasons 2, we wanted to do something different [in Season 3]. So we said, ‘What if we treated the opening title sequence like an overture?’ There’s a way to thematically introduce the episode to come just by changing the title music every week.”"

According to SpoilerTV, this will be immediately evident in this week’s episode, “Crazy Whitefella Thinking,” where the title music used “tells a lot about what will be happening later in the season.” The third installment will revolve around Kevin Garvey Sr.’s life in Australia and his efforts to prevent the apocalypse.

Next: The Leftovers Recap Season 3 Episode 2: ‘Don’t Be Ridiculous’

Lindelof went on to say that the technique is also a way to prevent people from fast-forwarding through the opening credits. “I love the title sequence for The Americans, but when I watch the show I fast-forward over it because it’s been the same for five years now. So we were like, ‘How do we stop people from fast-forwarding over our opening titles?’” he explained.

The Leftovers Season 3, episode 3 “Crazy Whitefella Thinking” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Home/HBO