Iconography: Network And Production Logos

[smittykins]

I originally was going to make this a closing-logo thread, but there are some at the beginning of shows that deserve mention as well.

 

Such as:

 

 

 

 

And we can't forget the S From Hell!

 

[Bill C.]

OMFG, that Paramount jingle is just wrong.  "Closet killer" indeed.

 

That said, though, the be-all-end-all of production logo sequences (though not as much of an age check as the CBS Special Presentation jingle) needs only this introduction: bum ba ba baaaaaa.

 

[Kromm]

Geez, we could do pages JUST on the MTM Cat.

 

Here's just a few...

 

St. Elsewhere

 

 

Newhart (my favorite one--that's Bob doing that himself)

 

 

The White Shadow

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJPVNGOeQHU

[David T. Cole]

That CBS Special always meant Charlie Brown specials to me. Good times.

[Bill C.]

I know, right?  It's indelibly linked to A Charlie Brown Christmas in my head.

 

As for MTM...having missed it over the years, I'm still kind of shocked that St. Elsewhere actually killed off the MTM cat.

 

[bmasters9]

 

One of my most favorites: CPT's Sunburst/AT logo from the 70s (a faster version of the original film logo by that name, in addition to being differently colored)

[cynicat]

Another classic from my youth:

 

[bmasters9]

Another classic from my youth:

 

Oh, golly, do I remember that one! I remember it from The A-Team, Hardcastle, 21 Jump Street, and several others.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Another classic from my youth:

 

I remember that one! It used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid.

 

 

Another one that scared the crap out of me back then...

 

[bmasters9]

I remember that one! It used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid.

 

 

Another one that scared the crap out of me back then...

 

When I first saw Family Ties, I saw that UBU logo, and then there was the black IAW screen, and I expected Paramount's bombastic tall-peaked Blue Mtn. logo. Well, I was wrong on that score: Family Ties never had the tall-peaked mountain like Cheers did. It only had the standard logo (space between the mountain and Paramount) with the 1981 jingle (later, the 1982 jingle). 

[AntiBeeSpray]

Just found a Bob Newhart MTM one that's a little creepy.

 

[bmasters9]

Just found a Bob Newhart MTM one that's a little creepy.

 

I remember that one from the 80s Newhart. I think that such was the one that was in for the balance of the 80s Newhart series, outside of the first episode (standard Mimsie) and the last one (the Darryls yelling "QUIET!"). 

[AntiBeeSpray]

Just found this fan made (I think) Paramount one...

 

 

 

 

It's kinda funny.

 

Cynicat, I just refound a Youtube video of all of Stephen J. Cannell's production logos.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3sZ9qp2ew

[Moose135]

Geez, we could do pages JUST on the MTM Cat.

 

 

Someone compiled a bunch of them, but unfortunately, didn't identify the shows, they just said "see if you can guess which Mimsy belonged to which MTM show."

 

[Actionmage]

Coming to Jaws late in my life, I just learned that this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT5TAy7hJ_8

 

came from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7npJpvI6E4

[UYI]

It's all about the Viacom V of Doom, baby! Scaring fans of such shows as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners and The Andy Griffith Show since 1976.

 

 

TBH, though, even though it scared me as a kid, I just love it now. 

The Program Exchange:

 

[Guest]

R&D TV where Ron Moore and David Eick find new way to murder each other at the end of every BSG episode

 

 

 



[UYI]

I'll be honest, these two actually sent me screaming from the living room as a kid:

 

 

Another V of Doom. Not completely sure it's real, but be careful if you have earphones on:

 

[bmasters9]

That fourth-season (1982-83) Hart to Hart release from Shout! does have a CPT logo after the Rona II/Spelling-Goldberg card, but it is not the Coke Lady from the original ABC broadcasts; rather, it is the bylineless Torch Lady also seen on Mill Creek's release of the first two seasons' worth of T.J. Hooker (the bylineless Lady was on the second season, while the Sunburst/Abstract Torch was on the truncated 5-show first season). 

 

Here's how it is presented on that DVD release:

Edited February 19, 2015 by bmasters9

[Kel Varnsen]

Speaking of creepy, when I was a little girl (preschool age), I would run and hide behind the chair at the end of Dragnet, because of this:

When I was a kid in the 80's sometimes I would watch Pink Panther Cartoons. They would usually have the United Artists production logo at the beginning, and it was that slowly turning UA which I also found kind of creepy/weird:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duh29uJcnwI

[Jipijapa]

When I was a tween, I had the NBC logo taped on my bedroom wall.  (All my favorite shows at the time were on NBC.)  What a geek.

 

[bmasters9]

When I was a tween, I had the NBC logo taped on my bedroom wall.  (All my favorite shows at the time were on NBC.)  What a geek.

 

I made a painting of the 1979-86 Proud N in 2004, and that still hangs in my bedroom today. 

[InDueTime]

This logo bugged the crap out of me when I saw it as a kid.  It's why I didn't watch much Night Court.

 

Even though I didn't really watch the shows it was attached to, I still like this one.

[AntiBeeSpray]

This logo bugged the crap out of me when I saw it as a kid.  It's why I didn't watch much Night Court.

 

Even though I didn't really watch the shows it was attached to, I still like this one.

 

I was creeped out by both of those tbh. The Night Court one sounded kind of crazy and the latter, rings a bell. I think I saw that around every so often. Just checked... now I remember, it was from reruns of Taxi.

[bmasters9]

I was creeped out by both of those tbh. The Night Court one sounded kind of crazy and the latter, rings a bell. I think I saw that around every so often. Just checked... now I remember, it was from reruns of Taxi.

It was also on a short-lived 1979-80 ABC legal comedy called The Associates; it was bluish and in a different font there, though. 

[Jipijapa]

I wonder how many drumming careers were inspired by this?

 

[Actionmage]

For some reason, I just like kilter films logo ( Person of Interest):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFTHSocDMic

 

But I also like the K/O Paper Products logo ( I hadn't seen the longer form until I found this):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnkYVDOyScc

[bmasters9]

And here it is in panoramic picture form:

These logos are from a short-lived NBC 1978-79 detective series called David Cassidy: Man Undercover.

Edited July 16, 2016 by bmasters9
To indicate on which series this was

[Kromm]

Looking through this I can't believe we missed Universal / MCA-TV.

It had excellent music (known as "the fanfare") and a far better than average visual:

A typical version many of us may have grown up with...

But a compilation video of all of their logos/IDs (from 1951 to around 2014--there are other videos that go up to 2016 but I hated the editing on them):

Edited July 23, 2016 by Kromm

[AntiBeeSpray]

I think I remember the Universal Studios one!

[Guest]

I appreciate this one because it spells out what the network is about in its infancy and is pretty consistent with the type of movies that are on when I flip through channels.

I also appreciate it because it appreciates Bruce Campbell.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Wow. Just found another collection of the Closet Killer logos.

 

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 2/20/2015 at 1:00 PM, InDueTime said:

This logo bugged the crap out of me when I saw it as a kid.  It's why I didn't watch much Night Court.

 

 

Even though I didn't really watch the shows it was attached to, I still like this one.

 

 

OMG just realized that the later Paramount logo is a newer variant off of the Closet Killer logo.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Just double checked... and saw that the person edited in the 78' theme which was still the Closet Killer.

[bmasters9]

Bumping this up: I rediscovered a formerly long-lost childhood memory from 1988 (I was seven years old then). It was from a short-lived CBS comedy called The Cavanaughs (that CBS comedy was from Mandy Films [Leonard Goldberg's label] IAW Paramount Television), and it was all kinds of weird at the time I originally saw it in 1988.

Why was it weird? Because at the time, I thought that the Paramount logo would be the then-new CGI Mtn., but it was not to be; instead, it was the Blue Mtn. of prior. At the time, I thought it was a rerun of a first-season episode of that comedy (the Blue Mtn. instead of the CGI Mtn. led me to believe that). 30 years later, I discover that it was not a rerun, but rather a second-season original. Why was it an original? Because that CBS comedy had gone into hiatus after the first go in 1986-87, and its second and final go didn't start until late summer '88.

Even so, one would have thought that Paramount would have changed logos considering when that aired. Also, I thought that the Mandy Films logo was on a purple background, and then had the IAW text after that, which would cut directly to the Blue Mtn.; now, also 30 years later, I discover that the Mandy logo was on a white background, and the IAW text was under it, and the Blue Mtn. faded in.

Also, the Blue Mtn. was of the same form that was on the first go of O-R ABC MacGyver (1985-86): it started still, then unfroze long enough to let Television come in (the Blue Mtn. was the standard one w/the space between Paramount and the mountain), and finally became still again (all to Paramount's 1979 jingle). 

Here is that Mandy/Paramount logo setup from The Cavanaughs in 1988:

Edited April 20, 2018 by bmasters9
Forgot to mention Paramount jingle

[danderson400]

Here is one that i do remember from watching Another World...

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by danderson400

[bmasters9]

On 2/5/2019 at 3:02 PM, danderson400 said:

Here is one that i do remember from watching Another World...

I remember that one not only from the latter part of the run of AW's "ring-tunnel" graphics (starting around 1985, I believe), but also lasting for all of the run of the "cursive title" graphics, and maybe even to the end of the series and beyond.

[danderson400]

On 2/24/2019 at 4:02 AM, bmasters9 said:

I remember that one not only from the latter part of the run of AW's "ring-tunnel" graphics (starting around 1985, I believe), but also lasting for all of the run of the "cursive title" graphics, and maybe even to the end of the series and beyond.

I remember that when i was little- the late Bill Wolff would always say "Join us each weekday at this time for the continuing story of Another World" before the PGP logo. That along with the late Jay Stewart saying "Sale of The Century is a Reg Grundy Production" over the gold "RG" logo were two of my favorite signatures of daytime TV.

[danderson400]

I don't think AW had copyright till sometime in the 80s.

[danderson400]

18 minutes ago, danderson400 said:

I remember that when i was little- the late Bill Wolff would always say "Join us each weekday at this time for the continuing story of Another World" before the PGP logo. That along with the late Jay Stewart saying "Sale of The Century is a Reg Grundy Production" over the gold "RG" logo were two of my favorite signatures of daytime TV.

To add to my own post, Bill Wolff retired before the  "cursive title" graphics were introduced.

[ABay]

This is the logo for Mark VII, producers of 60s and 70s TV staples like Dragnet, Emergency, and Adam-12:

My friend's father used to call it the Grimy Paw.

Edited March 9, 2019 by ABay

[bmasters9]

1 hour ago, danderson400 said:

I don't think AW had copyright till sometime in the 80s.

To be honest, the copyright on AW started in 1980, in the last year of the kaleidoscope graphics, and continued into the run of the ring-tunnel graphics (as captured from these episodes from YouTube user munecojim [starting in 1983, the P&G name would come before the copyright year, whereas before that, the copyright year would come first, then the P&G name]).

Before AW had a copyright though, there would simply be a card that used the wreath of interlocking rings, and in the middle would be the credit "A Presentation of Procter & Gamble Productions" (this also captured from an episode from munecojim, this one from 1979).

Edited March 9, 2019 by bmasters9

[danderson400]

Another one, which i remember from watching On Scene: Emergency Response (with the late Dave Forman) on WYFF on Saturdays between 1990 and 1994(Ben, note that WYFF is n Greenville SC, but their coverage area goes into Asheville NC) 

Of course, i can't leave out this one, from the original American Gladiators(with Mike Adamle). Actually 2 of them from AG

Edited March 11, 2019 by danderson400

[danderson400]

The Doctors, to my knowledge, dint have copyright on the logo either

[danderson400]

On 3/9/2019 at 9:30 AM, bmasters9 said:

To be honest, the copyright on AW started in 1980, in the last year of the kaleidoscope graphics, and continued into the run of the ring-tunnel graphics (as captured from these episodes from YouTube user munecojim [starting in 1983, the P&G name would come before the copyright year, whereas before that, the copyright year would come first, then the P&G name]).

Before AW had a copyright though, there would simply be a card that used the wreath of interlocking rings, and in the middle would be the credit "A Presentation of Procter & Gamble Productions" (this also captured from an episode from munecojim, this one from 1979).

I'm pretty sure that Sale of the Century showed the copyright at the start of the credits, which was unusual in that era- in 88-89, they would they would show the $otC
logo w/copyright, then the  "following companies have furnished prizes" then credits would start.  I'm assuming that Don Morrow would say "this is Don Morrow speaking" over the "Videotaped at NBC Studios, Burbank California" part, then Don would say "Sale of the Century is a Reg Grundy Production!" over the RG logo.

[SVNBob]

Since this thread is about network logos as well, here's a video I found a while ago about the USA logo.  I saved it because of something @David T. Cole once said in a similar thread somewhere.

 

[danderson400]

I remember this logo, form watching Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters as a child.

 

 

[danderson400]

On 3/10/2019 at 4:13 AM, danderson400 said:

Another one, which i remember from watching On Scene: Emergency Response (with the late Dave Forman) on WYFF on Saturdays between 1990 and 1994(Ben, note that WYFF is n Greenville SC, but their coverage area goes into Asheville NC) 

Of course, i can't leave out this one, from the original American Gladiators(with Mike Adamle). Actually 2 of them from AG

Another one, which i remember from watching Missing Reward(with Stacy Keach)

 

 

[smittykins]

I just bought The Brady Bunch 50th Anniversary Collection DVD set, and although I’ve only watched the pilot(“The Honeymoon”)so far, I’m glad that they kept the Paramount “Closet Killer” logo instead of plastering the newest one over it.

Edited January 15, 2021 by smittykins

[danderson400]

On the Samuel Goldwyn logo, the earliest episodes of American Gladiators has the American Gladiators logo on top and below it says "HAS BEEN PRESENTED BY" with Samuel Goldwyn Jr.'s signature and line and below and below it says "THE SAMUEL GOLDWYN COMPANY".  It was the only season to have this logo, so it's a very rare logo.  Of course, I'm more familiar with the "other" SG logo.

Edited November 3, 2021 by danderson400