Texas
Texas was one of two official spin-offs from the
long running NBC soap Another World. The show wasn't originally
conceived as an Another World spin-off, however. Creators Joyce and John
William Corrington, who achieved success as head writers of Search for
Tomorrow in 1979, wanted to do a period costume drama set in post-Civil War
New Orleans. AW executive producer Paul Rauch and NBC wanted something more
closely resembling the hit CBS series Dallas. Beverly McKinsey, who was a
standout on AW as Iris during the 1970s, was made the lead player in the new
series.
Year One
The basic format of Texas's
opening sequence remained unchanged throughout the show's two-plus year run.
The main title begins with a series of aerial shots of the city of Houston and
its environs: the downtown skyscrapers, the sprawling ranches, the oil
refineries, etc. Then there would be a series of video clips of all the main
cast members, all taken from actual episodes of the show. The last clip, of
Beverly McKinsey as Iris, would dissolve to the Lone Star of the Texas flag.
The camera then pulls back from the star to reveal the whole flag, and the
title of the show appears in neon-futuristic metallic lettering. The basic logo
of the show is shown as follows:
It should be pointed out, however,
that the very first episode of Texas (at least) used an entirely
different logo image. While the Houston panorama and cast clips montage was
used as in the more familiar opening, there was an entirely different Texas
flag image. Plus the clip of Iris at the end of the opening montage is framed
differently--by a white star outline instead of the actual state of Texas flag
lone star. That star outline dissolves to a shot of a flat Texas flag that is partly
flipped over as the camera pulls away. The title of the show, possibly set in
the Olive Antique Black Extended font in red letters outlined in white, does a
multiple image zoom out from the star and appears above the flag. Below
the flag in white letters are the words, "Starring Beverlee
McKinsey."
The original theme song of the show
was a bright and lively piece in G major composed by Bob Israel for Score
Productions, and this theme would only last just less than fourteen months.
Texas the New Generation
Texas did not fare well in the ratings early on,
so Procter and Gamble hired Gail Kobe as the new executive producer in March
1981, replacing co-creator and original executive producer Paul Rauch. Ms. Kobe
made a number of changes designed to distance Texas from its mother
show, Another World. Her changes were also designed to give the show a
more distinctly Texas look and sound.
One of Ms. Kobe's biggest cosmetic
changes went into effect starting with the September 28, 1981 episode. Along
with updated cast member headshots came a new, bolder theme song composed by
Rob Mounsey for Elliot Lawrence Productions. Also, following the departure of
Beverly McKinsey's Iris at the end of November 1981, announcer Ken Roberts
began introducing the show as "Texas, the New Generation!"
End Credits
For most of its run, Texas's
end credits ran in yellow Helvetica lettering over the close-up shot of the
white star on the Texas flag. During the first year, however, cast credits
sometimes had a series of pictures of each major cast member accompanied by the
actor's name and the character name. Until the summer of 1982, the credits were
set in a cheap-looking early computer-generated graphic style and presented in
a separate card format; then they changed to a more presentable Italic
typeface.
The very first episodes of Texas
used an entirely different long crawl end credit backdrop from the familiar
tight close-up of the lone star on the Texas flag. There is a videotaped
outdoor shot of the flag of Texas waving against the sky as the end credits run
in the same cheap-looking computer-generated Helvetica font used for most of
the show's run, however the letters are light blue instead of yellow. These end
credits were done in a long crawl.
In the final episode on December 31,
1982, the end credits rolled over the New Year's party scene at KVIK, complete
with Justin Marshall's toast "To Texas!" This very last end credit
crawl played before the final commercial break.