Best Soap Opera Opening

[Khan]

 

I interpreted the font change as their attempt at being more traditional, or conservative.

 

But, you're right, it IS ugly (and, if I might add, amateurish-looking, too).

[DaytimeFan]

 

Like the Melrose Place, Savannah, Pacific Palisades variety. The quintessential Aaron Spelling 90s primetime soap. 

 

 

I think you're right that it's an attempt to be more traditional, but ugly it is and, indeed, amateurish. It looks like a PowerPoint slide.

 

 

Certainly - but if Welch wanted that billing then she should have actually gotten the "And" billing...which means she should have been last. Just a bizarre choice on the producer's part. 

[j swift]

I find it odd that Raquel Welch was thought to have the kind of fame that would still pull in an audience in 1996 so that she could negotiate such a credit. 

[DaytimeFan]

 

This is 22 years ago and back then there was still the movie vs television dynamic so that if a movie star (like Welch had been) went to work in television, it was a “big deal” of sorts. Welch’s movie career hadn’t really existed since the early 1980s when she sued (and won) a lawsuit against one of the studios for firing her and replacing her with Debra Winger...but it was still a novelty in the 1990s. Plus, CPW was trying to capture the Krystle vs Alexis dynamic between her and Lauren Hutton. 

 

It all failed and we are left with only the opening credits to remember it by. 

[titan1978]

Heather Locklear wasn’t that big a draw by the time she landed on Melrose Place either.  Dallas was cancelled and she was mostly in TV Films.  But she got her special guest star credit and really ended up adding a lot to the show.

 

All his 90’s shows had promise, but they didn’t get there like Melros or 90210. There is a reason why those shows really took off.

[carolineg]

 

I always crack up at the last few seasons of MP because is Heather really still a special guest star?   Like they couldn't change it to And Starring or something?  Girl wasn't a special guest after season 2.

[SteelCity]

Especially when she got a producer credit by the end anyway.

[carolineg]

 

I might be crazy but I think Luke Perry got a special credit when he returned to 90210.  He wasn't special.  He just returned with his tail between his legs because he needed money.  Love you on Rivedale, Luke though!!!

[vetsoapfan]

 

 Actually, Luke Perry was enormously popular on that show, and 90210 definitely benefited from his returning, particularly with Jason Priestley gone. He did get a "Special Guest Star: Luke Perry as Dylan" credit when he came back, but for a star/character of his importance and popularity in the 90210 universe, that is not surprising. I'm sure TPTB wanted to cash in on his presence to help the sagging series.

 

He has always been a working actor, steadily employed and doing many different things, including during his break from playing Dylan. What makes you think he needed cash and had his tail between his legs for finally accepting Aaron Spelling's persistent offer to return? I'm curious. Spelling reportedly paid Perry big buck$ to reprise the role. I wouldn't say no either!

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[carolineg]

 

By the time he came back Dylan's story was pretty lame, but I seriously hate Kelly/Dylan together.  I don't remember him doing much of anything besides doing heroin, dating Gina, and trying to get Kelly back.  Although him almost killing Donna being high on heroin and knocking her in the pool is pretty funny.

There was an interview that I might have read in the 90210 thread on this board with a writer or producer that said Luke came back for the cash.  Reluctantly, after most the og cast/crew was gone.  I will try to find it.  I mean, I am not sure how Luke Perry ranks higher than Jennie Garth who was on the show the entire 10 year run and the show was basically all about her towards the end.  I mean most people do their jobs for money so no harm there, but he didn't warrant special billing, imo.  He just re-joined a dying show.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I agree that the writing for Dylan was weak upon Perry's return. When an enormously popular star returns to his former show and the writing is subpar, it is so disappointing. Such a waste. I wouldn't say Perry was considered higher ranked than Garth, who was listed first in the credits, and deservedly so. I think TPTB gave him the special credit and the end just to make him stand out and capitalize on his presence, since by then, the show needed all the help it could get, with Vincent Young and Daniel Cosgrove being such bland leading men, and with Priestly gone.

 

I hope that writer or producer wasn't criticizing Perry doing the job for money, unless he, himself, worked on 90210 for free, LOL! Throughout my life, I have done the jobs I love for cash, and the jobs I did not love for cash. It's all about the money...for everyone.

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I'd love to know what they paid Perry to come back.

[carolineg]

https://teendramawhore.com/2010/01/17/beverly-hills-90210-producer-talks-college-years-slams-new-90210/

I found the interview I was looking for...has a lot of juicy stuff about 90210 behind the scenes.

 

This is the relevant Luke stuff if you don't want to read the lengthy interview:

 

 

TDW: Well, let’s now go to Luke, because he left in season 6.

Mollin: Luke, he was tired of it. All the kids hated the show by season 5, other than Tori. They all just hated it. Every day they would come in was just torture for them. We were making them do things, making them play these characters. Luke is a wonderful man and a good professional but he just wanted to go. We tried to really stack it up, and thank god we cast Rebecca Gayheart [Toni], who was just such a dear and so wonderful in that part.

TDW: I have a question about that storyline. Chuck told me they had purposefully filmed Jack’s death in season 3 [Episode 3.21, Dead End] in such a way that it could turn out he was really alive. In season 10 we saw that happen [Episodes 10.18-20] but I’ve heard that it was supposed to happen in season 6 until Luke revealed he was leaving. So instead in season 6 we find out that there’s this guy Tony Marchette [Stanley Kamel] behind Jack’s death and Dylan sets off seeking vengeance.

Mollin: I don’t remember the exact sequence of it. Josh Taylor [Jack] never came back when I was there but there was talk of that. Chuck had that FBI agent [Christine Pettit, played by Valerie Wildman] who he always liked. She was a friend of his and he liked to try and throw her work. So we always teased with that. We talked about that but we didn’t really know where to go with it at that point and Chuck was gone at that point. So once Luke was leaving, we wanted to have a big story and there’s nothing bigger than avenging the death of your father and we kind of went that way. That was a very good storyline in the sense that it was a good way to get to Dylan to leave [Episode 6.10, One Wedding And A Funeral]. It was really powerful. It was huge ratings for us. It might’ve been the biggest rating for a non-season finale show. It was big and we did it right. Everything went pretty well with that one.

TDW: It was a phenomenal storyline and it still stands out today to fans as one of the saddest ones.

Mollin: Yeah, it was great. The leading up to it was good. I was able to bring in a lot of my cop show background. We had a lot of tense stuff, stuff we had never done before so that was fun. And we had good actors. That gentleman who played Tony just died recently.

TDW: Yes. He died in 2008.

Mollin: He was excellent in that. But, yeah, that was fun. Luke left and we knew we were certainly going to miss him. We were floundering for guys after that a little bit and went through a bunch of different ones but I guess he came back [in Episode 9.08, You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello] and needed the money or whatever. He would’ve been too embarrassed to come back when I was there or any of the regular [writer-producers] from his time because we knew him so well and we’d know why he was coming back. He was just too proud a guy to come back when Chuck or me or the Wassermans were there. He wouldn’t have done it.

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2018 by carolineg

[vetsoapfan]

 

The backstage drama sounds more interesting than what we saw on screen, LOL.

[Gray Bunny]

 

Agreed with both assessments. I actually like the first. Built up sexual tension that's so mid-90's at height of Melrose mania

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Yeah, it would've made more sense to drop the "Starring in alphabetical order" indication at the beginning and listed Heather at the end as "and Heather Locklear as Amanda."  There were no egos that would've been salty over it.  But in the end, it's a funny little note in the history of primetime sudsers. 

 

P.S. Models Inc gave the same credit for Emma Samms, as their cast was listed alphabetically, too. ALTHOUGH, Linda Gray was given top billing at the beginning. 

 

With Emma Samms included:

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The original:

 

Edited August 10, 2018 by Gray Bunny

[Khan]

All these years later, "Models, Inc." still gives me heartburn.