13 minutes ago, Cruising Soaps said:

gosh that ATWT opening reminds me of the bad times on the show and I stopped watching.  It was such a contrast from the opening before.  But I see we have 2 in common at least!

 

5 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Oy. The “flushing toilet” opening. Whenever they’d have a new cast member, they’d stitch in their shot in most budget-looking way possible. 

 

The flushing toilet opening was pretty cheesy, but then it got worse with the 2002-03 gold opening and 2007-2008 opening. 

I didn't mind the flushing opening because we got to see the characters for once.  

 

 

 

Some of my favorites-

 

Edge of Night- love that last shot.

 

AMC- The only good thing that happened to this show during Frons was bringing back this theme music.  This is my favorite version though.

 

GH- I didn’t think anything could replace the sirens and ambulance, but this is my favorite soap open.

 

I’m also really partial to this version of the song used in the 1990’s Guiding Light theme, but I loved the images and cast best from the first version with Beverlee, Sherry, and Harley dancing at the end.

 

Favorite prime time soap open is Knots Landing.

 

Slickest:

 

 

Sentimental:

 

 

Timeless:

 

 

90s Nostalgia:

 

 

Most Original/In Sync:

 

 

And an honourable mention to what I'll call 'The Most Desperate To Be Hip':

 

 

3 minutes ago, DaytimeFan said:

 

 

 

 

 

And an honourable mention to what I'll call 'The Most Desperate To Be Hip':

 

 

Haha...I agree...nice try but it failed IMO.

Best Theme Matching the Theme of a Soap- the mysterious Edge of Night

 

 

 

 

Themes That Best Used the Available Technology Available at that Time- AW and ATWT -1981 - a variation on their pervious themes that utilized computer technology - they may looked dated today, but were technological marvels for their time

 

 

 

My Nominees for the Most Desperate to be Hip- Guiding Light 1981 and Search for Tomorrow 1986

 

 

 

My choices: 

 

The ATWT '81-93 theme, AKA my formative years, AKA the last ATWT theme song I will acknowledge as I'm not into funeral music or flushing toilets.

 

 

The Ryan's Hope 1983 opening. It was a lovely window into what the show could have been and should have been.

 

 

Until we got to Paul Rauch gutting the opening in 1997, I think GL had many, many good openings. Beyond those already mentioned, I also like the "pop" version of the longtime theme. So, so late '80s, but so good. I especially like the little Johnny/Chelsea bit at the end.

 

 

 

I've always thought this OLTL opening was so underrated. Gorgeous. This is so precious to me. A "generic" opening done right, rather than like a failed USA network crime show from 1993 (looking at you Linda Gottlieb...)

 

 

This is just a stunning, stunning theme. It's a shame we never got to see more of it.

 

 

And of course:

 

 

GL really did have amazing themes. That theme you posted was the right way of doing a cheesy ‘80s update while that SFT theme sounded like a garish porn intro. 

 

I actually like the 2002 GL opening a lot and was sad they ditched it so quickly.

 

 

 

My favorite part of the 1990s "Hold on to Love" theme was its use as incidental music on the show. I don't think anyone used their theme music quite as effectively as GL. You already knew you were watching an important or sentimental scene when it came on. 

 

This one is my favorite, starting about 1:37. 

 

 

 

That conversation between Ross and David was pretty great too! 

 

I love it when soaps include subtle variations of their theme song within a scene.  ATWT used to do a light and sexy one during the mid to late 80s. 

 

@Faulkner I'm not sure about that 2002 GL theme though, it sounds perilously close to that "toilet flush" theme that ATWT had in the late 90s/2000s that @DRW50 mentioned.

4 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

@Faulkner I'm not sure about that 2002 GL theme though, it sounds perilously close to that "toilet flush" theme that ATWT had in the late 90s/2000s that @DRW50 mentioned.

Ha! We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one. 😂