Talk:cold open

RFV discussion: September–October 2021

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cold open

New #2: "An opening segment that is unrelated to the main plot of the episode." Equinox ◑ 02:25, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

Is this not subsumed by sense 1: “A teaser segment shown before the opening credits” (which may or may not be related to the main plot)? Or is the implied claim that the term can also be applied to an opening segment that follows the credits?  --Lambiam 07:34, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

(e/c) Even if a particular episode's cold open were unrelated to the main plot, I would question whether "cold open" meant "an opening segment that is unrelated to the main plot" as a definition, as opposed to that just being one of many possible kinds of cold open. I wonder if the addition was because our definition #1 is quite ... well, lacking in details on what it means, so perhaps someone didn't realize it covered the usage they were familiar with / basing #2 on. - -sche (discuss) 07:46, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

I agree with the skepticism here. I've only heard "cold open" used for sense 1. Such a cold open may or may not be related to the main plot of the episode (it usually is), but I don't think a short unrelated bit at the start of the episode would be called a "cold open" if it came after the title sequence. —Kodiologist (t) 11:35, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

Based on the relevant definition at teaser, the two senses are mutually exclusive. If it is a teaser segment it is meant to introduce the story (i.e. related to the plot). I am not confident that the definition of teaser is correct, but if it is the second sense at cold open has merit. I suspect that one sense is enough and that we have just unnecessarily defined it with too narrow a scope. - TheDaveRoss 12:39, 23 September 2021 (UTC)

The famous cold opens of SNL – invariably concluding with the players jointly looking straight into the camera and shouting, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” – are not teasers as defined (“meant to introduce the story”). There is no plot or story; the show is a sequence of typically unrelated skits. So taking the two defs literally, neither one fits – if there is no plot, a segment cannot be unrelated to it. We should simply define it as any opening segment shown before the opening credits.  --Lambiam 22:43, 26 September 2021 (UTC)

I've combined the senses, changing "teaser segment" to "opening segment". The wording could probably be improved further. - -sche (discuss) 06:48, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

RFV-resolved AG202 (talk) 20:47, 5 October 2021 (UTC)