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Opening Credits/Title Sequence for DVDs

Posted: May 20th 2004, 4:32 pm
by sc83x
I'm sorry if this has already been mentioned, however when I searched for it, nothing came up.. So.

Ok, I specifically remember watching my VHS tapes of the show and seeing the last several shows with a different montage of scenes for the opening credits/title sequence. You know, after shows have a few more episodes to pull images from, they change the opening montage.

However, on the DVDs, the opening credits montage is the same for every show.

Has anyone else noticed this? And what is the reasoning, if anyone knows?

As for everything else, I don't mind the minor glitches throughout the discs. I am just very pleased to have the entire series on DVD.

thanx.
carrie.

Posted: May 26th 2004, 12:03 pm
by Sascha
I've never heard of different opening credits in MSCL episodes. But I've never seen the original airing on ABC or the bugjuice/BMG VHS tapes. The german and british broadcast all had the same opening credits as far as I remember.

Do you still have the tapes? It would be interesting to know what exactly is different.

re:

Posted: May 28th 2004, 8:02 pm
by sc83x
Sascha (sab) wrote:I've never heard of different opening credits in MSCL episodes. But I've never seen the original airing on ABC or the bugjuice/BMG VHS tapes. The german and british broadcast all had the same opening credits as far as I remember.

Do you still have the tapes? It would be interesting to know what exactly is different.
No, I gave the VHS tapes to my cousin but she doesn't have them anymore.

The difference is: the first handful of episodes' opening credits are a montage of scenes from the pilot episode, and the second handful of episodes feature a montage of scenes from all the episodes prior.

Basically, after they shot more episodes, they had more episodes to pull scenes from to show during the opening credits, not just the pilot.

:-P

Posted: May 29th 2004, 2:43 am
by Natasha (candygirl)
Were these taped when the show aired on ABC or are they the Bugjuice VHS tapes? My old tapes are at my parents' house, so I'll have to check the next time I visit them. As far as I remember, they credits were all the same when the show aired. Maybe this was something they did for the VHS release?

MTV marathon

Posted: May 29th 2004, 2:06 pm
by sc83x
candygirl wrote:Were these taped when the show aired on ABC or are they the Bugjuice VHS tapes? My old tapes are at my parents' house, so I'll have to check the next time I visit them. As far as I remember, they credits were all the same when the show aired. Maybe this was something they did for the VHS release?
I actually taped them from MTV when they had the marathon.

About a year and a half ago, I saw three of the BMG VHS tapes for sale seperately at F.Y.E. I thought it was strange, so I bought them. I think I still have them at my moms, unless I sold them on eBay or something. I'll check them out.

Posted: May 31st 2004, 3:04 am
by Nostradamus
The pilot episode had a different opening, and maybe "So-Called Angels". But I didn't see the original airings either.

Posted: May 31st 2004, 9:02 am
by grim4746
I don't remember the opening montage changing at any point. I have my tapes of the original ABC airings of the final 3 episodes. I checked it out and the opening sequences for the final 3 on my tapes remain unchanged from the one used from the second episode onward. The ABC affiliate I was taping from is WOAK Rochester.

Posted: May 31st 2004, 3:01 pm
by Jody Barsch*
Yes, my tapes taken from MTV, and the tapes from BMG or whoever all have the same opening. I too do not remember there being a change on ABC or any time after.

Posted: Jun 7th 2004, 5:26 am
by Greybird
The DVDs duplicate (with one exception) the credits and structure as shown on every appearance of these shows, from the original ABC run to the current run on The N. A summary:

The pilot opens with Angela and Rayanne doing their begging routine. Episodes 2-14 and 16-19 open with exactly the same opening montage, using scenes drawn from the pilot.

Episode 15, "So-Called Angels" (the Christmas story), opens with different music. The title is followed by Rickie having an experience (no spoilers here!) and then by a scene at the Chase house, where the credits begin.

The pilot and episode 15 launch into a brief opening dramatic act, followed by four slightly shorter acts. Their opening credits only list the main cast members by name, without roles, ending with "and Tom Irwin". These are followed by major series credits, and then by major credits for that particular episode.

Episodes 2-14 and 16-19 show the main-cast and creator credits over the montage, with the cast members' names and roles, through "and Tom Irwin as Graham". A commercial break originally followed "Created by Winnie Holzman", but did not on MTV and does not on The N. Other major series credits and that episode's major credits display over the start of the first of four dramatic acts.

Episode 10, "Other People's Mothers," begins with a voiceover line from Rayanne about refrigerators, on a black screen, at the start of the first act, before any credits begin.

All episodes originally had a within-the-commercials insert at midpoint, between the second and third main acts, with a cast member (varying each week) saying "'My So-Called Life' will return on ABC." This was a voiceover with a static shot of the title logo over a Liberty High hallway. These inserts have been omitted since the original broadcasts.

All episodes have the credit "Executive Producers Marshall Herskovitz & Edward Zwick" at the end of the last act, in white on a black screen, except episode 10, where it's in black on a white screen.

Episode 5, "The Zit," has Rickie, Rayanne, and Angela playing around with cloth samples, sewing materials, and a dressmaking dummy (and with no audible dialogue) during the closing credits, which display over the scene.

Episode 18, "Weekend," has a brief coda with Graham and Patty (only their voices, over a static shot), running immediately before and with music leading into the closing credits.