cold open

noun

variants or less commonly cold opening

plural cold opens also cold openings

: a scene of a film or television episode that precedes the title sequence or opening credits and that typically takes place in medias res

Cold opens are a bold move in any medium. When a movie or TV show drops the audience into its world without so much as a "here's the title," it speaks to a confidence that whatever's about to happen on screen is sufficient enough to immerse, intrigue, and otherwise hook them.

—Alexis Nedd

For fans of NBC's "The Office," the cold open from season five's "Casual Friday"—where Kevin spills his famous chili—is one of the show's most beloved scenes.

—Addy Bink

The film lost me right from the overacted cold opening …

—Alexa Chipman

Examples of cold open in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Founding Fathers cold open in January was set up like this, too. —Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 13 Apr. 2025

The 40th-anniversary special in 2015 featured a cold open with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, a monologue from Steve Martin with a bevy of celebrity cameos, and sketches with more of the show's all-timers. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 17 Feb. 2025

Saturday Night Live centered its cold open segment on a comparison between Donald Trump and Jesus Christ ahead of Palm Sunday. —Jenny Goldsberry, The Washington Examiner, 13 Apr. 2025

While the potential bomb threat against the SNL studio earlier this week by an apparent Scarlett Johansson thankfully didn’t make the cut, another cold open topic could have been Saturday’s well attended anti-MAGA Hands Off marches and protest all across the nation and the globe. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 5 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cold open

• reopen