Corday Productions

Logo descriptions by Michael Bass and Shadeed A. Kelly

Background: Corday Productions is an independent production company that was founded in 1965 by Ted and Betty Corday, famous for producing the long-running soap operas Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless. Sony Pictures Television holds rights to these series while Corday Productions owns 1% of The Young and the Restless. The company also produced the short-lived soaps Morning Star and Paradise Bay in 1965, the same year Days of Our Lives premiered, as well as the short-lived 1994 soap Friends and Lovers. In 2009, Corday Productions produced the 90-minute documentary Lyon Heart.

1st Logo (November 8, 1965-2001)
Nickname: "The Hourglass", "Like Sands Through the Hourglass", "The In-Credit Notice"

Logo: We see this text scrolling up in the closing credits of Days of Our Lives:

A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS INC. PRESENTATION ©(year) in association with

In 1991, the words "in association with" were removed because the byline-less CPT indent was introduced and had the words "In Association With" above the torch lady, thus eliminating the need for the in-credit "in association with."

Variants:


 * From 1965 to 1974, when Screen Gems co-produced Days of our Lives, Morning Star, and Paradise Bay,one of these two in-credit texts were used:

A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS SCREEN GEMS PRESENTATION Pre-recorded

or

A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS SCREEN GEMS PRESENTATION in association with NBC

After Screen Gems changed its name to Columbia Pictures Television, this notice was seen on 1974-1982 episodes before Days of Our Lives began using the Columbia Pictures Television "Torch Lady" logo in late 1982 or early 1983. This was also used on a 1985 episode before the Torch Lady:

A CORDAY PRODUCTIONS INC. COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION PRESENTATION © Copyright (year) PRE-RECORDED

FX/SFX: The scrolling in the end credits.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of Days of Our Lives. Sometimes you would hear Ed Prentiss (announcer from 1965-1966) or MacDonald Carey (announcer from 1966-1994) say, "Be sure to join us for the next episode of Days of Our Lives."

Availability: Seen on Days of Our Lives episodes of the era. It also appeared on the 1993 DOOL TV movie Night Sins.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (March 26, 1973- )
Logo: On the closing credits of Y&R, we see the text: CPT IAW Bell Dramatic Serial Co. and Corday Productions, 1992 "Y&R"

A COLUMBIA PICTURES --TELEVISION (or SONY PICTURES TELEVISION) ---PRESENTATION -in association with BELL DRAMATIC -SERIAL COMPANY -and ---CORDAY ---PRODUCTIONS, INC. -Copyright © (year) by -CPT HOLDINGS, INC. -All Rights Reserved

FX/SFX: The scrolling of the credits.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of The Young and the Restless. We also hear an announcer (Bern Bennett, famed CBS staff announcer) saying, "Join us again for The Young and the Restless."

Availability: Currently seen on The Young and the Restless on CBS and their website CBS.com in the United States, and Global in Canada. This was also seen on CBS airings until September 20, 1999, when CBS began using generic split-screen credits on its daytime programming.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2001- )
Nickname: "The CGI Hourglass", "Like Sands Through the CGI Hourglass", "The Zooming/Shining Corday Text"

Logo: We see the hourglass used in the post-1993 Days of Our Lives opening/closing credits, on a black surface at sunset. The text:

CORDAY PRODUCTIONS, INC. ©(year)

in gold, zooms in. The text shines after it stops zooming.

Variant: When this logo was first used in 2001 or 2002, it looked slightly different (the logo was in a different font with the copyright symbol and year in a smaller font). The shining and zooming effects were different as well.

FX/SFX: The hourglass, the text zooming, and shining.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last two logos. Original airings on NBC either drown it out with network promos or generic music.

Availability: Currently seen on Days of Our Lives episodes from 2001 onwards.

Editor's Note: The text coming out of nowhere (a la the "BLAIR" in the Blair Entertainment logo) can be surprising for some, but it's otherwise harmless.