Fall 1978 Daytime Soap Opera Title Sequences

Here is the full lineup of American daytime television soap operas on the air in fall 1978. If you were a housewife taking care of the daily chores, a school kid home sick in bed (or at grandma's house), a college student cutting class, or a working man or woman taking an extended lunch break, these are the thirteen(!) drama series you might've seen - presented in the order they aired "over most of these TV stations" from Monday, October 2, 1978, to Friday, March 2, 1979.

CBS's "Love of Life" began the day in its traditional late-morning slot, and it was followed by the second-newest soap on the air, the still-running "Young and the Restless." ABC then began its lineup with "Ryan's Hope," which aired opposite CBS's "Search for Tomorrow," before the most-watched soap of the year, "All My Children" aired for a full hour. Its first half competed against local programming from CBS and NBC before they turned over to drama with "As the World Turns" and "Days of Our Lives," respectively. "One Life to Live" followed AMC, and "Guiding Light" and "The Doctors" followed ATWT and DAYS. With CBS's soap lineup done for the day, ABC and NBC kept the suds going with "General Hospital" and "Another World," and ABC ended the day with the aptly titled "The Edge of Night."

One of the interesting things about looking at this part of soap history is seeing the stylistic differences that existed from show to show, network to network, producer to producer, etc. Y&R and RH were the newest soaps on the air (only "Lovers and Friends"/"For Richer, For Poorer" was newer, but it wrapped its run at the end of September 1978), and you could tell. Soft, gentle pop instrumentals with smooth, flowy visuals of key cast members. Meanwhile, Proctor and Gamble produced most of the older soaps, and they were still rolling with super simple title cards, announcers, and product plugs. ATWT was still using its original theme after 22 years, albeit in an orchestrated arrangement rather than organ. But then you have "Love of Life," which was the second-oldest TV soap but not produced by Proctor and Gamble. It had a much more contemporary look and sound, no doubt inspired by Y&R. It's definitely easy to see how certain soaps picked up identities during this era that they were never quite able to shake.

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of compilations of soap opera titles sequences representing various eras of daytime television. These are meant to evoke the moods and memories so many of us associate with this genre, often times centered around the iconic sights and sounds that opened and closed each episode.