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Soap Openings: Past and Present


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SOOO good. I love andmiss how the vamp would start in the last scene of the prologue and then fade into the opening with the little chime happening justas the light turned on. A few times in the past few years they have vamped the opening theme but it's random--I wish they'd do it again.

The white AMC opening wasn't bad, but was a step down.

The GL theme in the first post is a classic, I agree and should have been updated not replaced (I feel the same way about ATWT's oh so dramatic and 80s synth opening).

And I know I'm in the SHARP minority but I vastly prefered Sunset Beach's first opening even if it was very Melrose (which was the point afterall, to do a Melrose type show in the afternoon)

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I always thought the original Port Charles opening was kind of nice.

Sunset Beach's was great, too.

DAYs is so historic though, that I think everyone loves it.

GH's faces of the heart is one of my favorite tunes of all time...I dont mind the new one, but the original tune will always be one of my faves.

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I get the sharp nostalgia for the 80s OLTL theme, but I think it's too cheezy to work now... Still, it sticks in your head so much, maybe it could be updated so much. I admit I LOVE the Gottlieb 90s theme--it's SOOO over the top soapy/romance novel even that when I got into OLTL in 92, even though I was 11, it slightly embarassed me. LOL but I love it, I admit.

Of course it was obviously based on the shortlived Loving opening from before that:

I actually love the very simple original Loving opening (this was after they added a pointless chime sound effect)

It's reminiscent of the original AMC theme and I think that was on purpose since early Loving seemed to be trying to emulate the 70s AMC before it went to an hour, in tone.

Not sure about either vocal opening--of course when I watched as an avid fan the L O V I N G vocal was used and I liked it--the 80s brief vocal opening is so bombastic, I think it's a bit much (with ridiculous vocals by Johnny Mathis--the non vocal works better).

Oh and I loved their mystery opening:

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Y&R's is by far, though, my fave soap theme tune (ironic it was taken from a movie). It's just a gorgeous piece of music, though I think I liked the early openings best--the 70s pencil drawing ones and the 80s photos-done-to-look-like-those-drawings ones ;)

I like OLTL's early 80s one too--that used their 70s theme but had the more elgant shot of the bird flying past the sun.

I never watched the show (wish I had), but I LOVE Santa Barbara's whole opening credit. I don't think it could be argued by anyone that it wasn't obviously trying to emulate the opening of Dallas, Knots, Dynasty--all those popular primetime shows at the time, both in music (though this was scored for synth of course not a high cost orchestra) and montage.

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The OLTL opening from 1980-1984. I love the music and the images. For some reason I find them extremely moving. (sorry about the tinniness)

GL's disco opening. I love the music, I love Tony's karate kick, Katie Parker dancing (my other favorite GL opening had Harley dancing).

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The ATWT opening which ran from the mid-80s to early 1993. That opening chord just draws you in. "My" ATWT started to fade away soon after the opening changed to the depressing seasons version.

The Santa Barbara theme. The music is not great but the doorway style images glued me when I was a kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-53s_1bdC5k

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I used to get into this debate with one-time poster David eons ago... I don't see the cheese. Maybe the whimsical lyrics is where you're finding it. But to anyone who says it's too cheesey to work with a contemporary update, I say "awww... lighten up!!!" This is soap opera. This is about dramatic escape, anyway. ;)

At least, Eric, you are considering that it could be updated. I think it's EASILY the most memorable of OLTL's opening themes... Then there are ones I like to forget:

Yeah, I appreciate that it's an interesting piece of music. But it wasn't appropriate for OLTL. And that visual "story" telling itself OVER and OVER every day: Woman falls for a rough-trade guy with white teeth and a nice ass. Guy walks out on her (from the looks of him, most likely leaving her for another man). Woman SAAAAD... Later, Woman meets more conservative looking guy. Woman ballroom dances with guy while drinking champagne which OBVIOUSLY conceives a baby. Woman HAPPY!

It got real old, real fast. But I did like their update of the show's logo at that time.

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Knots Landing. The iconic theme, for me. This is one of the seasons that kept the GORGEOUS shot of Abby looking out at the view of her beautiful beach house (I was so upset when she got rid of that place) in one of my favorite episodes, when Abby had to decide whether or not to donate a kidney to Diana.

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I agree, it doesn't seem that dated to me. I think it's just unique.

I think the dated theme was the one with the drumbeats, and the blue images, where quite a few cast members looked stoned or confused. It was so mid-90s, I kept expecting the cast to just start banging trash can lids together.

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HAHA you couldn't handle seeing that in 30 seconds? :P (And yeah the guy did always seem slightly menacingly "rough trade" as you say--maybe another reason I like it :P Still, I think the music did suit Gottlieb's show.

I suppose it's largely down to the synths--on new instruments maybe I'd not think so. But it screams 80s.

Knots Landing doesn't count--it's unfair to compare with the big budget primetime themes ;) (But I love it, though my fave is still the first one with the cul de sac showing their photos, etc...

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Yes. I think if we're talking about dated that's what I call dated. I did like some of it (the Nora shot is so very Nora), but Antonio's later shot and Viki's shot sometimes gave the impression they were lit.

Eric, I just wanted to post that once, I won't do any more primetime. :P I was tempted to post the pretentious watercolors one because I have a love/hate relationship with that theme. Everyone has to look so sad, and somber, because that's the point, then you have beautiful Constance McCashin, who has just been fired, saying, "F*ck it, I don't care!!!" and she has this sly smile on her face, and she does that Susan Sullivan turn.

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