Maybe if we post our favorite Soap Opening Credits

[ranger1rg]

Does anyone remember HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE? It ran for only about 15 months, replacing RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE in 1974 and was set up as sort of a "women's lib" soap about divorce and infidelity, etc.  I think their open was the first to use an actor's name in the open credits of a soap opera.

 

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TEXAS premiered in 1980 when ANOTHER WORLD was cut from 90 to 60 minutes. It lasted only about  2 1/2 years and was daytime's response to DALLAS. 

 

 

 

Just a year into the show, TEXAS ran with this theme, still making Beverlee McKinsey the big draw. Ratings were never great, and when BM left, it was all over.

 

 

[All My Shadows]

That HTSAM opening is actually fan-created using an audio clip from the actual show. I don't think we've seen any clips of the actual HTSAM opening (or RTPP, either).

There were a few soaps throughout the 50s-70s that featured a cast member's name. In the 50s, Love of Life credited maybe two or three performers in its opening each day along with acknowledgements for hair, makeup, and wardrobe. The short-lived 1965 soap Paradise Bay credited actor Keith Andes (and maybe Marion Ross, too?). Bright Promise credited Dana Andrews in the opening, and AMC credited Rosemary Prinz for her six-month stint at the beginning of the show's run.

[ranger1rg]

 

Thanks for the corrections, Shadows. I should know better than to repeat information I find on You Tube LOL.

 

I remember Bright Promise from when I was a kid -- I loved it and was upset when it was canceled. It was set in a college town, and the main story was about a professor cheating on his wife with a student. Tony Geary is always mentioned as Luke on GH, but I remember him vividly on BP, and he even sang and played the guitar on the show. I recall the theme very well, but can't find it anywhere.

[soapfan770]

Same here, although for years I’ve there was nagging about why hourglass was spinning for some strange reason. Quite frankly when JER came back in 2003 with his big fancy deal he got I was almost expecting him to insert narration at where Carey use to have and say “This is James E. Reilly and these are the Days of our Lived!”

Edited April 22, 2020 by soapfan770

[All My Shadows]

No problem. My early soap education was provided by WoST, so knowledge of these things is second nature for me

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Here's Bright Promise's opening and closing credits. The GH connections are definitely strong.

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[Gray Bunny]

"Texas: The NEW Generation!" 

 

New generation after one year? They must've done some crazy SORASing! J/K  But seriously, that was dumb. 

[SFK]

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but back in the day I imagined an updated opening where we super zoomed in on the hourglass, and Truman Show-style, scenes from the past and actors' images were reflected on grains of sand slo-mo falling through time.

[Planet Soap]

Someone posted this before. I love how Erica gets this biggest picture in all the openers from this point on LOL!

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Have we forgotten this beautiful opener from OLTL in the early eighties. I like how it's an evern better version of it's late 70s rising sun predecessor. The black serif font against the blue sky is also a really beautiful title card. 

 

[j swift]

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I know its cheesy, but there's something about all of that spinning that seemed so glamorous and exciting, even when they were trying to sell peanut butter and vegetable lard. 

 

 

I've also always appreciated the Emmerdale revamp, it somehow reminded me of Falcon Crest with its rural setting with rich and poor families living side by side

Edited April 24, 2020 by j swift

[Faulkner]

The Emmerdale opening has great visuals, but I was like, “What is this car commercial?” And the remixed theme is so bizarre.

 

Of all the soaps that constantly updated their titles and themes, GL and maybe OLTL had far more hits than misses. Well until the 2000s...

[I Am A Swede]

 

 

This is how it should be!  *traditional*

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[Faulkner]

I like how the British shows have mostly maintained their themes, even as they’ve changed their visuals, some more drastically than others. EastEnders is still the same after 35 years, with just little tweaks to that vertiginous aerial rise over London.

 

 

[j swift]

@I Am A SwedeWhile I can appreciate a devotion to the classics, I am a sucker for a disco remix with the characters dancing to the theme song - exhibit B - this cheeseball intro to SFT

 

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[Faulkner]

Some of those ‘80s intros seem like vintage adult video openings.

[j swift]

Also, how many hairdos and don'ts could Matthew Ashford rock in one year?