Y&R: Week of March 23, 2009

[JackPeyton]

I would MUCH prefer a short opening, much like B&B has.

[Manny]

Nooo! I love soap openings!! With cast and all... Love them! And Y&R really needs a new one........

[NYC123]

Here's to another GREAT week.

[Taiah]

I want a new opening too, this one is just too outdated now with all the new characters on.

[YRBB]

I actually think those 30 seconds are a part of the whole Y&R experience... whether the original one, or the porn theme remix, whatever, I just would never want it to be changed!

[brimike]

I agree. The shows that go right to commercial from the main credits are the credits I usually fast forward. But since Y&R goes right into the show, I always let it play. I do the same thing with The Office and 30 Rock as well, since they also go right into the show.

The best example of a show using their credits as part of the whole experience is Battlestar Galactica though. In the middle of their opening credits, they will show quick flash-cuts of scenes you're ABOUT TO SEE in that episode - set against battle drums. They go by so quickly, they don't spoil anything story-wise in the show - but WOW, did it whet your appetite.

[MarkH]

I am all about credits. Beverly Hillbillies, Davy Crockett, Hawaii Five O, All in the Family, Family Ties...I can hum 'em all, and tell you what each scene cut in the openings looked like.

I agree that soap credits USED TO be part of the experience (all credits were part of the experience). As they have gone away, of course, it has strangely diminished the shows. For example, I still love ER...and I really miss those innervating operning credits.

What I meant to say is this: Obviously some kind of financial or temporal or creative constraint exists regarding the Y&R opening credits. And the dated nature of the credits is a distraction. If the show cannot come up with new ones (even just updated versions of the current ones)...and an algorithm for better periodic updating...then I think the show should just go to a title card and make an extra 30 seconds of money.

But I'll also confess that I am very, very tired of Nadia's Theme/Cotton's Theme/Theme from Y&R. I'm sure I'd miss it if it went away...but I really loved and now miss the red porn opening. That much better matched the feel of the show, IMO. Sumptuous, highly produced, lush, beautiful, romantic (not melancholy).

So, maybe I care less because I really would like a reworking of the theme.

[Dan]

Completely off-topic, but Mark I agree. By the way, if you saw the March 12th episode with Clooney, they played Doug and Carol's theme, one of my favorites, at the very end of the episode. A perfect end to a perfect episode.

[brimike]

I miss people using cool words like "innervating"!

[MarkH]

yeah, but now that I read the definition I am questioning my word choice...it could be taken in so many ways....

[MarkH]

Jana has ANOTHER terrible headache.

"It's just stress," says Gloria, "But we can call a doctor, just to be safe".

While stress-related headaches are plausible...this is a SOAP, and Jana has 1% of a brain tumor left in her noggin.

The next beat of this story, or the one after that, is the return of Jana's tumor. What I wonder is: (a) will it be malignant this time, so we'll see Kevin mourning the loss of his love?, or ( will it make her crazy and homicidal again?

Either way, I don't see a bad direction...except I'd hate to lose Emily O'Brien at this point.

What I want to know is whether Kevin and Amber's romance -- which I am sure is on deck -- will happen BEFORE or AFTER Jana's tumor comes to fruition. If before, then Amber would be the victim in Jana's sights, methinks. I am also wondering how

Such a fully enjoyable show...

[dm.]

Nothing is set in stone on that exit yet.

I would hate to lose Emily too, it's weird how yet now we are able to see her qualities.

[Cat]

Another person bemoaning the passing of ER's great opening credits? Thank you!

I used to tape my favorite opening credits from the TV using this dinky casette player when I was little. That casette must be gathering dust in an attic somewhere. Santa Barbara. OldOldOld book-turning AMC. OldOld Ambulance zooming past the gates of GH. Dynasty. The Colbys. Dallas. Family Ties. The Golden Girls. Twin Peaks. Early 90210. They're all there.

As for Y&R's opening theme -- any other show and I would be all for Porny Sax's re-emergence. But Nadia's Theme is my favorite theme of any show I have ever watched. It has haunted me since I first started watching. I couldn't bear it if it was consigned to the YouTube rubbish heap.

I missed Y&R a lot these past five days -- I even got withdrawl symptoms.

[dm.]

I've been missing the show too.

Funny thing about the opening credits---I swear I've got over 50 different TV show openings on VHS somewhere. Ah, those old days...

I also don't want the credits to be cut down, just changed, and what better chance than the anniversary episode... But I don't want to get my hopes up.

[MarkH]

OMG OMG OMG. Sorry to go OT in this thread....

But I thought I was the only geek!

In 1982, I think, Carol Burnett was supposed to be on AMC as the mother of the new character, Melanie. (She later went on to marry Chuck). I floved Carol Burnett (just went to see her stage show, recently), so the marriage of two faves was unmissable.

But I had school.

I had one of those clunky old "portable" cassette players. I convinced my stay-at-home mom to turn on the cassette at 1 pm and audio-record.

Imagine my shock when I got home and it was some other voice! (Dancer Gwen Verdon. Carol's husband at the time, Joe Hamilton, had just had a serious heart attack...so she skipped the AMC gig to tend to him. Shortly after, he divorced her and married a Price is Right model).

I first played with the audiotape and soaps in the summer of 1981 or 1982. I -- you guessed it -- made a compendium of ALL the soap themes. The Doctors. Edge of Night. Search for Tomorrow. The Guiding Light had that tinkly theme through leaves. One Life to Live still had that sunrise theme. General Hospital, of course, had the ambulance, and AMC had the bible. I even got the theme of Another Life...that Christian soap.

You would be embarrassed for me to know how often, and how long, I listened to that distorted thing. (My cassette recorder was positioned at the end of the tinny TV speaker...no high quality audio here).

What a blessing to see that all these themes are mostly on Youtube now (since WOST is all but gone, sob). It instantly evokes a pleasant feeling in me. If I'm down or distracted, a little "classic theme hit" on Youtube instantly straightens me out.

I wish I could tie this back to Y&R...but I can't. Apologies...