1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

P

AMC had a picture of Rosemary Prinz in the photo album for her 6 month stint 'with guest star' billing.

There's an ep of Road of Life from the mid 50's where the actors posed in picture frames for the intro (live!). Maybe Never Too Young showed the actors in the opening with kids romping around (or were they just random teens?)

So unless I've missed something Y&R with the character sketches was the first long running show to use images.

Ryan's Hope followed their lead and then The Doctors and Love of Life when they revamped openings in the late 70's.

Then Texas, Guiding Light and One Life to Live.

Interesting that it took until the early ‘90s for GH or AMC to make that shift, ATWT until 1999, and DAYS has held out completely. No attempt to, like, embed photos of the actors in the falling grains of sand LOL.

And for a relatively brief period, both GH and B&B put actor names (plus character names) in the intro. Both have returned to only showing images (in GH’s case, due to obvious time restraints, and B&B did it for the 30th anniversary). Y&R has maintained using only actor names since the red “porn” opening, but a rotating selection of cast for each episode. 

@Paul Raven Thanks for the great info on intros.

I wonder if TEON (June 1980) was ahead of Texas and GL for P&G soaps. Of course, TEON always had a skyline in its intro. Maybe that's why I like it a little more than some.

Going to sound dramatic but the current intro has to be in the top 10 worst since 2000.  This is what I imagine the intro would look like if Restless went to streaming only. skyline in the back is too General Hospital.

Edited March 27, 20232 yr by ironlion

2 hours ago, edgeofnik said:

@Paul Raven Thanks for the great info on intros.

I wonder if TEON (June 1980) was ahead of Texas and GL for P&G soaps. Of course, TEON always had a skyline in its intro. Maybe that's why I like it a little more than some.

I never watched Texas, but EON was ahead of Guiding Light.  When EON debuted its "faces" in June of 1980, Guiding Light was still using the "sunshine through the leaves".  

38 minutes ago, Broderick said:

I never watched Texas, but EON was ahead of Guiding Light.  When EON debuted its "faces" in June of 1980, Guiding Light was still using the "sunshine through the leaves".  

Of course, I forgot EON. Of the newer shows Santa Barbara and Passions didn't use cast pics.

So far, Melody Thomas and Lauralee Bell are both wearing dresses different from their cast photo looks. 
Let’s see who else diverted from them. 

Is anyone screencaping these new headshots by chance?

On 3/24/2023 at 5:05 PM, ranger1rg said:

The new open is fine, and I'd even call it good. It's not great, although like most of those commenting here, I don't know if it's possible to come up with an open that pleases viewers to the point of "greatness."

I've now seen it multiple times on two U.S. episodes, and it looks better every time. Every actor looks great, hair and wardrobe. The font is getting heavy criticism, but I like it; a size smaller might be better. I think they went for a red font to match the lipstick color on the Y&R.

The deep, dark background is a big contrast from the last open, so I think that was intentional. The skyline is being called "cheap," but I don't get that criticism at all. They're obviously going for some noir look with that and the font. If you don't like it, fine, but throwing out "It's cheap" doesn't work for me.

Regardless of how poorly the business stories are today, Newman and Jabot are still at the center of Y&R. I don't know what else viewers would want as a background, other than generics.

Importantly, they kept the actors' names on the screen. I love that. I also love it that they did not mess with the theme. I did like the jazz/porn theme, but not as a replacement for the classic. I'd use it today, but as the end credits music.

One more thing I like that's continuing: that the music cue leads into the open theme and becomes a part of it. I'd say that works almost all of the time, and it's an example of extra work being done.

 

I don’t have a problem with it at all. I actually think a lot of the cast looks are better to me here than the last one.

16 hours ago, Antoyne said:

I don’t have a problem with it at all. I actually think a lot of the cast looks are better to me here than the last one.

I agree that the cast shots and lighting are so much better this time around. I just don’t love the visuals around them - the more I look at them, the more Windows movie maker it looks. 

There is no rhyme of reason to which cast members they are featuring the opening this go around. Who do you think we have left to see premier in the opening?

Contract:

Chance

Mariah

 

Recurring:

Kevin

Gloria

Noah

Allie

Tessa

Amanda

Imani

Moses

Faith

…I never quite know which recurring cast members make the cut and which do not. I love that Jess Walton, Eileen Davidson, Trac[e]y Bergman, Christian LeBlanc, and Beth Maithland get their due after decades on the cast, contract or not. They are familiar and mainstay characters.

But how do they make the call between recurring cast members like Cait Fairbanks and Rory Gibson?

5 hours ago, AMCHistory said:

Imani

Moses

Faith

Wouldn't regard them as recurring. They were written out, never to be seen for now.

If and when Faith returns, it maybe Reylynn.

To all the naysayers, what would you do to fix the current Y&R opening visuals? I remember in the old days of this board there were so many talented artists. I would love to see someone conceptualize a better/modern opening concept..

Now that some time has passed, I feel the intro looks good...at least on my flat tv screen vs on clips. 

That said...I get the vibe that as the year goes on...if it is continuing...that they will adjust it as needed to make it look better. 

On 3/27/2023 at 1:56 PM, AMCHistory said:

So far, Melody Thomas and Lauralee Bell are both wearing dresses different from their cast photo looks. 
Let’s see who else diverted from them. 

Elizabeth Hendrickson.  

 

Cast photo and Gala:

 

 

 

new opening

Edited March 30, 20232 yr by janea4old

13 minutes ago, janea4old said:

Elizabeth Hendrickson.  

 

Cast photo and Gala:

 

 

 

new opening

Yeah, I just finished playing catch up and EH was rocking that dress.

 

Such a throwback to her beginnings and I loved it. 

Elizabeth Hendrickson in the new opening titles - a clearer view than the twitter video had..