Opening credits of Another World
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The opening credits of Another World
Main article: Another World (television series)
Every American soap has something unique in its opening credits that becomes synonymous with the show itself. For Another World, it was a series of interlocking rings, ostensibly to symbolize strong bonds between each member of the community and the town in which they live. The interlocking rings were first seen in the original opening sequence, in which a number of interlocking rings expand to where the viewer can see the title of the show, embroidered onto a book cover, with another subtle embroidery of two interlocking rings to the left of the title. This opening sequence lasted until 1966, when the show switched to color.
With the first color episode, the viewers were treated to a new opening sequence (and new opening music; it was no longer done by organ as it had been previously). The colorful interlocking rings slowly were twisted into focus not unlike what one would do with a kaleidoscope. With the rings in place, the words "ANOTHER WORLD" would come from all directions into the center of the interlocking rings. The words would have a "common bond" via the letter O; both of the uses of O would be linked to one another, like the rings to the left in the first sequence. This sequence would last until September 1981; the music, however, would change to a less urgent melody with the first continuous hour-long telecast on January 6, 1975.
In September 1981, the show's music and opening sequence would change again; this time the show would have computerized titles. The titles would begin, set on a night sky, with a tunnel of neon-lit interlocking rings, from which the shadows of a man and a woman kissing would appear. As they moved apart, the two visages would fade to show the words "ANOTHER WORLD" coming from different sides of the screen. As the words finally centered, they would dim and set into the sky, akin to moonlight. These titles would stay the same until March 27, 1987, when the music was changed to a melody recently played on the show, when guest stars Gary Morris and Crystal Gayle sang a song entitled "You Take Me Away (To Another World)". In this sequence, the man and woman kissing was cut, meaning the interlocking ring tunnel faded to the title of the show.
The opening titles were changed completely on October 26, 1987, when clips from the show and promotional campaigns were used to complement the title sequence. Each clip was doctored in a way that it looked as if the picture was painted in glossy tones. For the duration of this sequence, the titles began with a man grasping a woman's hand (this was a scene on the show, in which Laurence Lau's Jamie danced with Joanna Going's Lisa in a dream sequence). Throughout this title sequence's run, at least 40 different clips were used. The freeze frame which ended the opening titles, with the name of the show emblazoned across the screen, only changed three times: in early 1989, when the titles were changed from a shot of the show's title scrawled across the entire length of the screen to the title being emblazoned at the bottom right-hand corner (a shot of Mac hugging Rachel complements the title, which was always written out in a casual cursive form); in mid-1989, after Douglass Watson's death, the ending image was of Ada hugging her daughter Rachel and her granddaughter Amanda; in 1993, after Constance Ford's death, with a beauty shot of Rachel from the 1989-1993 ending freeze frame; and in 1995, with a beauty shot of Rachel sniffing a rose in the foyer of the Cory estate. The music used with this sequence was the Billboard Hot 100 hit song "You Take Me Away (To Another World)", sung by Gary Morris and Crystal Gayle. This long-running sequence was last seen on March 1, 1996 (the fate of the song was unknown).
On March 4, 1996, the show got a hipper, edgier instrumental theme, and more "nineties", MTV-style cast shots to match. The title card made a point to illustrate that the show was still known as "another world" (now in all lower-case letters), but in an effort to be hip (à la ER and Melrose Place), the show was affectionately referred to as "aw" in the title sequence. Other mentions of "another world" randomly showed up throughout cast shots. In a show of appreciation, every final shot (there were at least six different versions of the opening titles sequence throughout the last three years of the show) ended on Victoria Wyndham's Rachel. Even the interlocking rings, which had been absent since 1987, reappeared via a compass that was the main focal point of the Cory living room.
Examples of most of these opening sequences (as well as the closing sequences, which were not described here) can be viewed at this page.
