Members George008 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 19, 2010 Darn! I got my hopes up too. I wish AMC had an exec producer that would break the show from the Frons cookie cutter mode and get the show back to a unique identity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jack Posted January 19, 2010 Members Share Posted January 19, 2010 While the way the ABC soaps have their openings may save them money (same shots are used for promos, bumpers, opening, etc instead of shooting different footage for each thing) it completely diluted the identity of the shows. GH has completely lost its identity, could you even imagine the faces of the heart opening leading into a shoot out or explosion nearly every day? OLTL has had trouble establishing an identity under Frons' reign, the show is great but there is no real feeling to it. GH is hospital, AMC is family, OLTL is ______. AMC's opening fits with the show but being so visually similar to the other two just takes away from it. If AMC's opening was the only one on the network that looked this way I would have a totally different view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 I'd worry that any new opening we got would be far worse... I like the 2002 one best too (even when they had ther harcter names which I know some fans hated) but I read that for some reason it proved VERY hard to replace pics with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 I think the character names in all of the ABC daytime openings was Angela Shapiro's idea (?), but it worked best for AMC having the actors write out their own character signatures, just went perfectly with the scrapbook motif. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members R Sinclair Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 Ugh! Again with this opening crap. I say FIFTEEN SECOND TITLE CARD, that's that. These openings are nothing but a popularity contest and a waste of money since ABC has to pay each edited update over and over again since each show doesn't do their own in house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 I used to have a huge thing for opening credits (was bowled over to find such a niche site like WoST), but not so much anymore. The thing is, the shows have introduced montages that are worse instead of better than their predecessors, they have become so lax with the updates, and frankly, they have SO many bigger fish that need frying instead of spending energy and money on splashy new credits. I too would be fine with a simple title card, and would be more impressed with/excited by new openings if I was really feeling that my show was on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members George008 Posted January 20, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 Opening credits and theme songs when done right can add much to the success of a show. They set the theme and tone. Soaps should take example from primetime and have openings that do not require constant updating. IMO opening credits should focus more on what the shows about rather than just the cast, which on soaps is large and has a high turnover. Themes and credits that come to mind that added to a shows appeal and attracted viewers are ones like Cheers, CSI, The Golden Girls....etc.. Those themes/openings stick in the viewers mind and provide a comfy familiarity that keeps viewers coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bellcurve Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 I liked the theme song for that one. I hated when they revamped the credits and added that trashy rock guitar and wind chimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members R Sinclair Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 I totally agree. Even though when the 2002 version initially debuted, I hated how synthesized it was in comparison to the 1990-1995 original version. But I hate that trashy guitar addition even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jack Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I think the opening sequence and theme is important to a soap. Openings and theme songs were staples of television shows until the 2000's when it went to title cards and generic music. Soaps are a classic medium and they should keep with tradition by having a traditional opening and theme. I know I know AMC started with a title card but historically openings and theme songs are memorable and iconic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jonathan Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I wouldn't classify their first opening as a title card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 Welle except that's a primetime tradition, not daytime. As you kinda point out in the 60s most soap openings were basically 15 seconds long--whereas primetime ones were often 90 seconds. It did. While it's a minor thing, I didn't get why some hated it so much. I know when I was a newbie to AMC around 1991, and had no internet to find out the history of the show, for AGES I wondered who some of the people in the opening were. (at that time--Ruth and Joe hadn't been on for at least several months when I started watching, and they were the closing picture frame so I always wondered if they were some characters who died, or what) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 That's kinda funny how you thought Joe and Ruth were being "memorialized" in that first framed shot. Tad and Joey, then later just Joey, used to be in that picture standing behind them. I loved that opening, still do, and I always thought folks like Mona, Palmer, and Myrtle deserved frames too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I wish all soaps had a basic opening like DAYS. I love Days' short opening so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I think it was with Joey (who had already left the show it seems to me when I started watching) and not Tad when i started watching it--though Tad was off the show too (cuz I remember being confused about all the hype when he was coming back--the Ted thing). But I loved that opening too, how it went so well with the music, and I admit as a kid I found it fun when I would see a character I had wondered about for a few months from the opening, for the first time--like when I finally saw Phoebe, LOL. Jack as you know, all soaps DID use to have a basic opening like DAYS. It's just that pretty much all of the shows that did, except Days, changed theirs (I guess Y&R's opening was always a bit longer--as was of course B&Bs since that was already the 80s). It is interesting to me how older soap themes seemed to be more... hrmm slower, sometimes moody but often kinda "warm and family/homely" feeling IMHO--hard to describe but the old AMC (and OLTL and even original Loving) openings all fit that--as does the primetime theme for peyton Place. Then, it seems, Dallas came along and suddenly a lot of daytime soaps wanted to have themes similar to it that promised "excitement"--Santa Barbara's whole opening in fact seemed directly inspired by Dallas/Knots/Dynasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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