Soaps Original Openings

[dm.]

I'd appreciate even a tiny little change.... at least something! It's a disgrace not to update their opening.

[Sapounopera]

Newspapers don't change their logos every few years. They are supposed to be classic. Same goes for soaps.

When I was a (Dynasty-obsessed) child I hated openings that didn't include cast members. Now I have a completely different opinion.

AMC should never have changed their first opening. Same goes for GH and the ambulance. ATWT should have kept the globe that was around up to the early nineties. Every opening they did after that was a disaster. However I prefered the opening music prior to 1981. I always thought that P&G had created the early eighties theme for TEON and later changed their mind.

I feel like B&B lost a part of it's old self when they changed to the new one. Too boring and too "normal" for that show.

In the mid-nineties I was impressed by the OLTL champagne opening. I always thought Rick Hearst and Melissa Reeves were the couple in it The music was GREAT, but if I had to choose, I would pick the late 90's "urban" opening with some changes. The clouds reminded me of SEARCH and I didn't care for the mid-80's theme either; it seemed like a sitcom.

As for GL, the late 70's opening worked for me, but I also loved THE MUSIC from the eighties theme. Too bad that the longest program on TV didn't have a signature opening.

Y&R should have kept the drawings opening. I remember whe Y&R first aired here in Greece I was SHOCKED by how classy and sophisticated the opening and the logo were. BTW I hate the fact that the actors names are included these days

[MarkH]

I liked your whole post, but I disagree with you on this last point. I so like that the actors are shown on the Bell soaps. B&B is best, because it is a "lesson" to new viewers every time....character names are there too.

There are two reasons why I like it. First, it connotes a level of respect on par with primetime, etc. Second, it helps those of us who are more "meta" oriented to be able to identify and track actors.

[All My Shadows]

I agree, except that I don't think B&B does it best. My God, it's horrid! The names fly by too quickly, and having actor and character names makes it too much to read in such little time. Home and Away does both (or used to do both), but they actually took the time so that people could read the text.

Y&R does it fine, IMO. I think it'd be cool if all soaps just went the Dark Shadows route and credited each day's cast in the closing creds.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

That would be cool, but I guess most soaps would say it's too "expensive" to do that.

[CSF]

Although AMC's opening could be considered "timeless," the update made in 1990 was perfect and so fitting for the show. I wish FMB never changed it in 1995. Their fourth opening which made its debut in 2002, the scrapbook opening was also very nice. Out of the 4 openings AMC has had after it's original opening, the 1990-1995 and 2002-2003 were the two best. That includes the 2 best in daytime as well.

ATWT's first three openings, 1956-1981, 1981-1993 and 1993-1999 were all great. 1981 and 1993 were perfect updates. Not to mention, the 1993 opening which featured the changing of the seasons paid homage to Irna Phillips who once said "As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn- the cycle of life is complete. What is true of the world, nature is true of man, he too has his cycle. I think when they retired the 1993 theme, they should have featured their contract payers in the letters.

B&B really could have done something different when they changed their original opening. It's original opening was ultra camp, and totally B&B.

GH's original opening lasted less than a year until it was replaced with just the main title over a black background. Faces of the Heart was the best opening and just could have been updated using less red/orange coloring.

Y&R's original opening and the current one (which needs to be updated) are the best two openings the show has had. I never liked the 1987 and 1999 openings.

[quartermainefan]

YT used to have a clip of the craziest soap opening ever. It was either AW or GL or something, and it was this bizarre montage of stuff including someone dancing in a disco. Does anyone remember what that was? I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Are you referring to the 1981 GL opening?

[quartermainefan]

yes! I love the guy who puts his hand to the camera as if to say "no pictures please!". This cracks me up, I think GL should bring it back for their final weeks!. Whoever designed this had to be on drugs, and whatever they took, I'll take two!

[bellcurve]

LOL. I totally forgot OLTL revamped their titles November 1995(if I remember correctly). That makes it even worse.

As boring as the Seasons ATWT open is, it was still infinitely more modern than AW's paintbox.

[MarkH]

Joshua was GORGEOUS!

[CSF]

I know a lot of people thought it was boring and I remember someone once said it looked like it was something from off the bible channel, I always thought it was a beautiful opening that fit the theme of the show perfectly. IMO, it was better than every ATWT opening that followed it.

[jfung79]

I don't think soaps should have kept their original openings, but changes to the theme songs should incorporate elements of what they are replacing. Some shows have done that, I think particularly AMC, while others have not.

Doctor Who has had the same basic theme tune, just different arrangements and openings, since 1963, so something from the 1960s doesn't *have* to be dated. And this is for a sci-fi show where change would supposedly be more needed.

About openings people have been discussing --

I loved ATWT's 1993-1999 opening, which I caught at the end when I started watching after AW. It felt timeless. Everything about it, the music, the font, the birds, the letters, the globe, the announcer. The theme worked great as a closing too. This is still *the* ATWT opening for me. What replaced it, with the white background and the "DUN-dun-dun-dun" like they were announcing the emperor coming to visit, was absolutlely horrible and was typical Chris Goutman splashiness to me at the time (I had not been impressed by him at AW).

GL's openings have all been great despite changing so much (except maybe for the one with just the letters and the newsreader sound in the middle of this decade), contradicting my position earlier in the post. My favorite is probably the 2005-2006 one, firmly in the 21st century, which also coincided with the last renaissance period of the show in terms of critical and Emmy recognition.

I thought AW's early 90s opening was good because when I was channel-surfing, I loved to hear "when I'm with you, you take me away ... to Another World." However, I absolutely loved AW's final theme song, particularly as a closing -- so moody, melancholy, and haunting, particularly when played in full -- and the exciting opening pictures shot at Stuyvesant.

Wow, I don't even care to discuss other shows' openings. I am really P&G-centric these days, talk about brand loyalty, lol.

[MichaelGL]

Aw, I'm the only one who liked ATWT's 1999 opening.

[CSF]

I liked the globe that featured all of those clips, but other than that, it was poorly put together. Plus, I don't like alternating themes where one day it features 5 actors, the next it features 25, the next it features 10. If you're going to show the cast, show everyone.