Favorite Daytime Soap Intros

[Carrie Fairchild]

I've liked all B&B's openings. But the current one that is almost like the original isn't as good as the original.

https://youtu.be/-LIhiX8e-LY

I liked that mid-00’s magazine cover, intro although there were times that you’d nearly have whiplash trying to read the names of everyone in the intro as they flashed by so quickly. I really didn’t like the fashion show intro though. I thought it looked too CGI’d and the music had lost the energy of the previous versions.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Probably the most glamorous daytime intro before B&B arrived on the scene.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I've liked all B&B's openings. But the current one that is almost like the original isn't as good as the original.

https://youtu.be/-LIhiX8e-LY

I really like all of these! B&B has always been so innovative with those intros over the years in my opinion.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Plus in the late 90s, all different versions of the Y&R opening when you never knew which version you'd get that day.

I used to love how Y&R would rotate the openings every day. I would never miss the beginning of the show just for this reason, and it seemed like they always did a great job of getting everyone on the show in there.

I really didn’t like the fashion show intro though. I thought it looked too CGI’d and the music had lost the energy of the previous versions.

I actually liked it, not as much of most of the other ones but it was something different. On its own it’s not bad, but definitely not as good as what we were used to.

Probably the most glamorous daytime intro before B&B arrived on the scene.

I had forgotten all about this one. I can’t even recall ever seeing it even back then to be honest but I’m sure I did. It definitely fit the show.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I remember how Capitol started off with high production values (John Conboy was good at that on all his soaps) but over time, they lost those distinctive touches, perhaps because CBS was no longer seeing a return on that investment. I recall the show looked so dark toward the end, as if they were using dim lighting to hide issues with the sets.

 

[ClassyCo]

I remember this B&B intro:

I used to sometimes catch the second-half of AS THE WORLD TURNS and seeing this intro:

 

[DallasFanForever]

I used to sometimes catch the second-half of AS THE WORLD TURNS and seeing this intro:

Wow!! That one definitely resonates with me. This thread is actually making me sad in a way. Hard to believe that so many of these shows we’re discussing are gone now.

 

[ClassyCo]

Wow!! That one definitely resonates with me. This thread is actually making me sad in a way. Hard to believe that so many of these shows we’re discussing are gone now.

Yes. It does bring up a lot of memories of shows that have since been cancelled. I was actually a little shocked to learn that DAYS OF OUR LIVES had went to streaming only. That leaves just three soap operas on the air.

It's sad, but the genre is dying out.

I really like this B&B intro, and I know what I'm about to say is petty, but.... It bugs me how they fabric doesn't roll enough out of the way on the last freeze frame of the title. I mean the "L" in "Beautiful" is on the edge of the fabric roll. Call me crazy, call me nit-picky. But it bugs me.

 

[Daniel Avery]

ATWT produced several versions of that opening to allow most (if not all) of the cast to get their faces into at least one version. Prior to that one was this:

It was nice, but someone online referred to it as "the flushing toilet tune" and once heard, could not be unheard.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I was actually a little shocked to learn that DAYS OF OUR LIVES had went to streaming only

Makes you wonder if they will all go the streaming route eventually. But in Days’s case I honestly won’t miss them. Perhaps the return of all the devil possession stuff last year turned me off.

I really like this B&B intro, and I know what I'm about to say is petty, but.... It bugs me how they fabric doesn't roll enough out of the way on the last freeze frame of the title. I mean the "L" in "Beautiful" is on the edge of the fabric roll. Call me crazy, call me nit-picky. But it bugs me.

Honestly, I never noticed this before. I can’t say it bothers me though. What always bothered me more about B&B’s opening was the pacing. Everything always moved so quickly that it was hard to see everything. I always felt like I was missing something. Small complaint though. I loved most of their openings regardless.

 

[ClassyCo]

Honestly, I never noticed this before. I can’t say it bothers me though. What always bothered me more about B&B’s opening was the pacing. Everything always moved so quickly that it was hard to see everything. I always felt like I was missing something. Small complaint though. I loved most of their openings regardless.

I'm sure a lot of people haven't noticed it. I'm also sure a lot of people that may have noticed couldn't careless about it. But my semi-OCD can't take it.

Makes you wonder if they will all go the streaming route eventually. But in Days’s case I honestly won’t miss them. Perhaps the return of all the devil possession stuff last year turned me off.

You know, it wouldn't surprise me if the networks continued to slice the budgets and push the other three remaining daytime soaps to streaming as well.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I'm sure a lot of people haven't noticed it. I'm also sure a lot of people that may have noticed couldn't careless about it.

Well, I guess most of them are too busy hating Brooke to really have time to notice anything else.

You know, it wouldn't surprise me if the networks continued to slice the budgets and push the other three remaining daytime soaps to streaming as well.

It really wouldn’t surprise me either. I guess what it ultimately boils down to is what makes them the most money and what allows them to stay competitive ratings wise.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I think "remaining competitive" is being kind. If the other networks opt to ditch their daytime soaps, it's a decision to give up on daytime programming altogether. It's pretty obvious that was the case with NBC. Though CBS still produces other shows to air in their daytime schedule (game show, talk show) they do not "enforce" the shows being aired. They don't even require them to be aired. ABC has a few news-ish shows, but again they don't require them to be aired at any certain time. Though I could imagine a scenario where CBS opts to move their soaps to a different place, I don't see them going the online/streaming route since those shows skew so old in their demographics. They'd probably strike up a deal with a basic cable network that the parent company Viacom already owns. Unfortunately I don't think ABC or Disney cares enough about GH to even try that---I think they would simply cancel it outright.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Based on some of the posts that I’ve seen here, would I be right in thinking that the US daytime soaps were a lot less sentimental about retaining their original musical intros / closing credits compared to their British and Aussie counterparts? In the UK soaps, the theme tunes are such an integral part of the show’s identities that they are sometimes tweaked but never changed wholesale whereas US soaps like As The World Turns, Another World and General Hospital seem to have chopped and changed when it came to musical intros (Y&R, B&B and Santa Barbara being notable exceptions that kept their themes mostly the same).

 

[Daniel Avery]

Some soaps do make the effort to retain their original themes, or at least tweak the same music rather than just toss it out and find something else. Y&R has held onto "Nadia's Theme" all this time, and DOOL still uses their old theme tune. Earlier in this thread I referred to the early-1980s revamp of all the Procter and Gamble-produced soap openings. These were obviously an effort to change with the times, since the P&G soaps had, up to then, had very staid, old-fashioned themes with little to no fanfare. Many soaps felt a new theme tune (or at least a new opening sequence) was a chance to "turn a page" and perhaps generate excitement. Sometimes a new producer would come in with dreams of re-inventing the wheel. Typically it was not the music that was the issue...

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I’m throwing this one in as it stands out for me from others at the time (or since). It’s format is simple enough but it’s unique in that it uses imagery from real life as opposed to the standard cast head shots / scenery pans that other intros rely on.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’m throwing this one in as it stands out for me from others at the time (or since). It’s format is simple enough but it’s unique in that it uses imagery from real life as opposed to the standard cast head shots / scenery pans that other intros rely on.

I like this one a lot. Don’t think I’ve seen it before but it’s very unique. Using the real life images was a nice touch.

 

[tommie]

I think "remaining competitive" is being kind. If the other networks opt to ditch their daytime soaps, it's a decision to give up on daytime programming altogether.

Daytime is just like prime time - dying. Judge Mathis and People's Court were recently cancelled because they weren't profitable anymore - I expect less original syndicated programming in the future and more local newscasts. Linear television will likely end up being a showcase for streaming plus live events.

 

[Daniel Avery]

One of my local channels has slowly increased the amount of local/national news programming to a point that they have very little "entertainment" content outside of the 8-11pm primetime block. Various forms of The Today Show airs from 4:30am until 10am. A news show replaced Days at 1pm, and the local news that used to be a half-hour at 6pm now is from 3:30 to 7:30pm. All the rest is syndicated talk (mostly news) and one fluffy talk show (I guess Live with Kelly and Ryan would marginally be called entertainment). There was brief chatter that NBC was going to give the 10pm primetime hour back to affiliates and my first thought was "Ooh, goody---another hour of news!"

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Went down a rabbit hole and came across this. It’s beautiful in it’s simplicity.