CBS News Sunday Morning

Background

CBS Sunday Morning (originally CBS News Sunday Morning) is a news-magazine created by CBS News, which debuted on January 28, 1979 with Charles Kuralt as the anchor; he remained as anchor until April 3, 1994, with Charles Osgood becoming anchor on April 10, 1994. Osgood remained as anchor until September 25, 2016, with Jane Pauley becoming anchor two weeks later. Sunday Morning is known for its iconic sun logo and its theme, which is the fanfare "Abblasen," composed by 18th century composer Gottfried Reiche.

Contents

1st Intro (January 28, 1979-1993)	2nd Intro (1993-2003)	3rd Intro (2003-May 28, 2023)

1st Intro (January 28, 1979-1993)

Visuals: A light yellow sun rise on a black background is seen. When the sun reaches the middle, it zooms backwards and then an orange CBS eye logo zooms forward with a trail following it. Then, the days "SUNDAY", "MONDAY", "TUESDAY", "WEDNESDAY", "THURSDAY" and "FRIDAY" (in a blocky font) scroll in from top to bottom. The days move forward towards the viewer. Then a orange trail is seen and "SUNDAY" follows the orange trail backwards. When it reaches the end of the trail, there's a flash that reveals the text "CBS News" on the top of "SUNDAY" and the word "MORNING" below "SUNDAY". The background fades to the set afterward.

Variants: Starting in 1986, the day "SATURDAY" is added to the intro, the CBS eye is red and the sun is orange. Also, "SUNDAY", "MONDAY", ""TUESDAY", "WEDNESDAY", "THURSDAY" and "FRIDAY" are in yellow and "SATURDAY" is in purple when the days scroll and when the days move forward towards the viewer.

Technique: Scanimate.

Audio: Gottfried Reiche's "Abblasen" performed by Don Smithers on a baroque trumpet.

2nd Intro (1993-2003)

Visuals: We see a light orange sun rise. Before the sun reaches the center, a yellow CBS eye flies forward from the sun and turns white as it approaches the viewer. As the eye is moving, the background begins to zoom out to reveal a sun. As the background finishes zooming out, a box made up of the text "DANCE", "LIFESTYLES", "MUSIC", "MEDIA", "NATURE", "MOVIES", "EDUCATION", "WEATHER", "ART", "SPORTS" and "POLITICS", all in different fonts, move downward together as a bar made of multiple interlocking layers of the text "MONDAY", "TUESDAY", "WEDNESDAY", "THURSDAY", "FRIDAY", "SATURDAY" and "SUNDAY" move from the right in the background. Then, "MONDAY", "TUESDAY", "WEDNESDAY", "THURSDAY", "FRIDAY", "SATURDAY" and "SUNDAY" move forward one at a time from the first column of the bar in the background. A silver 3D CBS eye moves backwards and rotates while the right eye of the sun in the background starts glowing. "SUNDAY" flies in from the top and moves backwards, and "MORNING" does the same from the bottom. As the CBS eye approaches its final stop, the text "CBS NEWS" (in an outlined form) fades in. After "SUNDAY" and "MORNING" come to a rest, the right eye of the sun stops glowing. As the camera moves in on the right eye, the CBS eye and "CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING" turn white. As the camera begins to go into the right eye, the black background in the eye fades away to reveal the set.

Technique: CGI.

Audio:

1993-1998: The same recording of "Abblasen" from before.
1998-2003: A clearer recording of "Abblasen" performed by Doc Severinsen on a piccolo trumpet.

3rd Intro (2003-May 28, 2023)

Visuals A golden-yellow sun rise is seen. As the sun approaches the center, a rotating CBS eye appears, surrounded by a ring rotating outwards consisting of the words "movies", "theater", "television", "personalities", "art", "books", "music", and "opinion" (in a Frutiger typeface). As the ring of text continues to rotate, the sun from the last intro forms with its rays rotating around the middle of the sun. The CBS eye moves forward and fades out, and then the box from the last intro, this time with "ART", "MOVIES", "THEATER", "DESIGN", "MUSIC" and animated words representing the stories featured in the episode scroll downwards as the camera begins moving towards the right eye of the sun. "S U N D A Y M O R N I N G", with the letters spaced apart, flies in as the letters move back together. As the camera move through the eye, "CHARLES OSGOOD" wipes in from the left below "SUNDAY MORNING".

Variants/Variations

2003-2008: The background and sun are yellow and "S U N D A Y M O R N I N G" is gold.
2008-2014: The background is a dark honey color.
May 17, 2009-May 28, 2023: The intro is in HD.
2014-September 25, 2016: The ring of text is absent.
October 9, 2016-2018: Starting on October 9, 2016, the name "CHARLES OSGOOD" is replaced with "JANE PAULEY".
2018-May 28, 2023: A shortened version of the Jane Pauley variant.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry: The ring of text is replaced with food related objects.
The Death of Walter Cronkite: The only element forming is "S U N D A Y M O R N I N G".

Technique CGI.

Audio

2003-2004: The 1998 recording of "Abblasen".
2004-May 28, 2023: A new recording of "Abblasen" performed by Wynton Marsalis

Audio Variants

The Death of Walter Cronkite: The last few notes of the Doc Severinsen recording of "Abblasen" is heard
2018-May 28, 2023: A shortened version of the Wynton Marsalis recording of "Abblasen" is used.