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Lost Mini-Series Opening
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Spells & Karma
Admin
That prolonged aerial shot of the ranch is very nice indeed.
Ray_Krebbs
Telly Talk Well-Known Member
It seems to have inspired the final version of the credits from the last two seasons and films
Jock-O-Lantern
Telly Talk Dream Maker
They must have realized that they forgot to add Linda Gray and decided to produce a new opening. Lol
B.J. Ewing
Telly Talk Fan
Linda Gray still wasn’t in the opening credits. Neither were Steve Kanaly and Ken Kercheval.
Jock-O-Lantern
Telly Talk Dream Maker
I don’t think Kercheval got in the opening credits until season 2.
Guzzler’s Frightening Hair
Telly Talk Winner
to me, this shows how effective the triptych panels were in the version we all know. Did any other famous show use that? I'm kind of picturing Streets of San Francisco for some reason, but I just checked and that show most definitely didn't have the 3 panels.
Werewillie Oleson
Telly Talk Schemer
At first I thought they had used a white font, which looks so much classier than the screaming yellow imho (oops, time to change my avatar) but I guess it's just a very faded kind of yellow.
Miss Texas 1967
Telly Talk Addict
I love seeing the Box ranch from this angle, it helps put things into perspective
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Bobby Southworth
Telly Talk Fan
It also matches the closing credits to episodes 4 and 5 from the miniseries, interestingly.
Bobby Southworth
Telly Talk Fan
I also wonder if anything is missing in the video from the beginning of the intro. It starts so abruptly.
I’ve seen this intro before and it’s missing a second or two from the beginning, but nothing significant. Basically, they created a shortened intro using the closing theme. My guess is that they did this for some non-US market that didn’t want such a lengthy opening. It must have been created after the fall of 1978 because it uses the regular Dallas logo, not the miniseries one. I remember MASH had a shortened opening (using the upbeat closing theme) that was used for reruns on the CBS Late Movie. But unlike this opening, the MASH one only used footage that was seen in the regular long intro.
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Spooky Owl!
Telly Talk Supreme
No, this is the original miniseries opening. The one they use today for the miniseries was done years later before the show went into syndication in 1984 (why they didn't use the normal font for the re-done miniseries title card in '84 is anybody's guess) to match the split-screen what we were used to.
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The miniseries opening that we see now wasn’t done for syndication. When CBS reran the miniseries in late 1980 (when the new season was delayed due to a writer’s strike), they used the opening we see now.
I didn’t see the miniseries when it ran in 1978, but would be very strange for them to use a different font if it had been created after 1978.
I didn’t see the miniseries when it ran in 1978, but would be very strange for them to use a different font if it had been created after 1978.
Bobby Southworth
Telly Talk Fan
So, Chris, are you saying you're in agreement then with Snarky's ghost that the video shown here was in fact the original broadcast intro for the miniseries?
Spooky Owl!
Telly Talk Supreme
CBS reran the 1978 miniseries in late 1980 because the new season had been delayed because of a strike (the actors' strike was 1980, the writers' strike was 1981)? Interesting. I remember the fall season being delayed as that was the 'WSJR?' arc, and they reran some extra episodes, but I didn't recall it was the miniseries. So you're saying that's when they redid the miniseries credits (in 1980) that we see today instead of four years later when DALLAS went into syndication? You may be right.
But either way, it's 1980 or 1984. And they used a different font for the main title card. I just figured somebody was being lazy.
Besides, even the original miniseries opening posted here had the "normal" font.
'V'
Telly Talk Member
Here's what I know for sure - When the mini-series was repeated in the UK in 1980, it had the split-screen titles on at least three of the episodes - these were eps 1,3 and 5. I remember that the first things I noticed were the smaller logo and the different arrangement of the music to what I remembered from season 1. I can't say about ep.2 as I missed the start, and the BBC never showed ep.4. I would think that the BBC were using the same prints as they had for their first run in September 1978 and I think I vaguely remember the split-screen titles right from the start, so assuming my memory's correct, and that the BBC didn't get new prints in 1980, that means the split-screen titles were put on in 1978.
As for the titles posted here, I don't think that this is the complete sequence. What we have here was taken from an edition of Wogan, shown on Christmas Eve 1986, with Larry and Linda as guests. They wouldn't have shown the whole of the titles in a chat show. It was followed by a clip from the first episode, where the family have gathered and JR insists on going outside with Pam. You can hear the start of it at the end of the clip here. I have to disagree with Chris2 that it's the closing theme we here. It's not, it's actually the opening theme, which again makes me think that this is only part of the titles, not all of it.
I think that two complete titles were made for the mini-series to give the producers a choice of style, including the logo - the one that we have a part of here, with the familiar logo but in white/faded yellow, and the split-screen/small yellow logo. Here I agree with Chris2 in that it is unlikely that the split-screen titles were made later with its different logo to the one that we would already have been familiar with. I also think that originally the one here was put on the first three episodes, as all the other credits are white/faded yellow on those episodes (the writer and director credits over the first scene, the freeze-frame credit and the end credits). This is also in keeping with the fact that the background to the end credits also changes (still shots for eps 1 to 3, the moving aerial shot of the ranch for 4 and 5).
Whether the first three episodes were actually ever shown with these credits or they were changed before broadcast to the split-screen, I can't say.
As for the titles posted here, I don't think that this is the complete sequence. What we have here was taken from an edition of Wogan, shown on Christmas Eve 1986, with Larry and Linda as guests. They wouldn't have shown the whole of the titles in a chat show. It was followed by a clip from the first episode, where the family have gathered and JR insists on going outside with Pam. You can hear the start of it at the end of the clip here. I have to disagree with Chris2 that it's the closing theme we here. It's not, it's actually the opening theme, which again makes me think that this is only part of the titles, not all of it.
I think that two complete titles were made for the mini-series to give the producers a choice of style, including the logo - the one that we have a part of here, with the familiar logo but in white/faded yellow, and the split-screen/small yellow logo. Here I agree with Chris2 in that it is unlikely that the split-screen titles were made later with its different logo to the one that we would already have been familiar with. I also think that originally the one here was put on the first three episodes, as all the other credits are white/faded yellow on those episodes (the writer and director credits over the first scene, the freeze-frame credit and the end credits). This is also in keeping with the fact that the background to the end credits also changes (still shots for eps 1 to 3, the moving aerial shot of the ranch for 4 and 5).
Whether the first three episodes were actually ever shown with these credits or they were changed before broadcast to the split-screen, I can't say.
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Spooky Owl!
Telly Talk Supreme
Many people who saw the 1978 mini-series when it originally aired say that this was the first version used. And that it was changed later to line up with the style used for Season 2 (DVD count) that fall.
The only thing I myself remember about seeing the miniseries in April 1978 was, for some weird reason, the closing credits for the first two episodes. (The first thing I recall seeing within the body of an episode was Bobby coming up the steps of Fairchild-Jenna's apartment he'd just bought her that fall).
I really resisted DALLAS for a while.
The only thing I myself remember about seeing the miniseries in April 1978 was, for some weird reason, the closing credits for the first two episodes. (The first thing I recall seeing within the body of an episode was Bobby coming up the steps of Fairchild-Jenna's apartment he'd just bought her that fall).
I really resisted DALLAS for a while.
This was in fact the original title sequence designed for the PILOT (ie episode one of the miniseries) - as opposed to a later revision of the titles, this is the earliest version -and may or may not have been broadcast on episode 1 on CBS; it was definitely on the PAL print of episode one which was broadcast in the UK and Australia, which is where I saw it.
'V' is right in his comments above in that there IS footage missing from this clip - it began with a series of establishing shots showing the Dallas courthouse, Dealey Plaza etc (some of which were later used as establishing shots in the series) before segueing to what is on the Youtube clip. It was the same running time and used the same version of the opening theme (not a shortened version) as was used for the remaining episodes of the miniseries. The original DALLAS logo, as used for this sequence - and clearly inspired by the opening credits for the movie GIANT - was indeed the one which returned with episode six (ie after the conclusion of the miniseries) but was not used for the remaining episodes of the miniseries (the font they used instead was chosen to evoke the DALLAS COWBOYS logo font). The writing is not "faded yellow" but white, and matches the white used on episode 4 and 5 of the miniseries writer/director credits and, if I recall correctly, the closing credits.
It's a similar situation to the Knots Landing pilot episode which also had a different title sequence from the remainder of season1 and again used white instead of yellow for the font.
These title sequences were designed to accompany the pilot for internal viewing by the Lorimar and CBS execs, they can be thought of as 'rough cuts' for the eventual titles - but they may have indeed made it to the air for the US broadcast, who can remember?
'V' is right in his comments above in that there IS footage missing from this clip - it began with a series of establishing shots showing the Dallas courthouse, Dealey Plaza etc (some of which were later used as establishing shots in the series) before segueing to what is on the Youtube clip. It was the same running time and used the same version of the opening theme (not a shortened version) as was used for the remaining episodes of the miniseries. The original DALLAS logo, as used for this sequence - and clearly inspired by the opening credits for the movie GIANT - was indeed the one which returned with episode six (ie after the conclusion of the miniseries) but was not used for the remaining episodes of the miniseries (the font they used instead was chosen to evoke the DALLAS COWBOYS logo font). The writing is not "faded yellow" but white, and matches the white used on episode 4 and 5 of the miniseries writer/director credits and, if I recall correctly, the closing credits.
It's a similar situation to the Knots Landing pilot episode which also had a different title sequence from the remainder of season1 and again used white instead of yellow for the font.
These title sequences were designed to accompany the pilot for internal viewing by the Lorimar and CBS execs, they can be thought of as 'rough cuts' for the eventual titles - but they may have indeed made it to the air for the US broadcast, who can remember?
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