Throughout the more than 35 years that Days of Our Lives has been on the air, the closing and opening credits have always maintained the image of an hourglass containing the sands of time. However, some slight variations of both the audio and visual sequences have occurred.

Opening Credits

Originally, The announcer, Ed Prentiss (1965-1966), narrated these words:

• 1965-1966: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. Days of Our Lives, a new dramatic serial starring Macdonald Carey."

In April of 1966, Macdonald Carey took over the announcing duties. He then narrated these words:

• 1966-1994: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the Days of Our Lives."

Following Macdonald Carey's death in 1994, the opening bearing his voice remained, but was slightly altered to reflect his passing.

• 1994-present: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives."

From 1965-1966, during the closing credits, Ed Prentiss said, "Join us tomorrow for the next episode of Days of Our Lives."

There have been three different opening sequences. All represent the basic concept of the hourglass.

The original ran from 1965-1972. A stationary classic hourglass sat on a dark black and blue background, with the sands slowly trickling from the top to the bottom of the glass. As the announcer finished saying, "So are the days of our lives," and the music swelled, the camera would rapidly focus on the bottom half of the hourglass, emphasizing the running sand. Then in gold lettering, the words "Days of Our Lives" appeared across the center of the screen.

The next sequence ran from 1972-1993. This one remains the most familiar to most viewers. Keeping the same hourglass as the previous opening, the background changed to a much lighter blue and white tone, reflecting a sky. The only other difference this sequence beared was the positioning of the title. Instead of having the words "Days of Our Lives" across the screen in one line, it had "Days of Our" on one line, and "Lives" on the bottom line.

The final sequence made premiered on June 21, 1993. Made with computerized graphics, the hourglass now rotated slowly over a blue terrain, underneath a blue sky, with mountains in the distance. The camera initially focused on the top half of the rotating hourglass and slowly moved back to finally show the entire glass and background. As "So are the days of our lives," is said, the gold lettering bearing the title appears much like in the previous two sequences. However, the lettering in this one has an almost metallic quality, being shiny and reflecting light.

Closing Credits

The closing credits have also changed slightly over the years with each opening change. The original closing was exactly the same as its opening. This was changed in 1972, when a new closing sequence was created. Much more simple than the opening sequence, the closing showed a different hourglass over a plain white background. The hourglass was smaller; the glass itself had a conical shape instead of the more rounded shape that the classic hourglass had; the pillars sustaining the frame of the glass had small crafted bulges toward the middle. Over the entire image, the words "Days of Our Lives" appeared in its golden lettering in the same arrangement as in the opening sequence, followed by the credits. This sequence ran from 1972-1984.

In 1984, the end sequence was changed to show the exact same image as the opening sequence. This one remained until the new computerized graphics were introduced in 1993. At that time, the sequence was appropriately changed to reflect the new computerized graphics.

Primetime Special Credits