Written and compiled by Kris Starring and Jason Wuthrich
FremantleMedia, the former Pearson Television, is the British-based media congolmerate which currently owns the All-American, Goodson-Todman, and Reg Grundy libraries, among other formats.
1st (known) logo
(1970's)
Nickname: "Glitter"
Logo: We zoom out on a black background with glittering lights, as two copies of the word "FREMANTLE" (one yellow and the other red) fly from the right and left sides of the screen. As we stop zooming, the copies converge forming an orange "FREMANTLE", and the yellow word "International" fades in at the bottom and flashes. Finally, the word "presents" fades in at the bottom.
Variation: There is a variant of this logo that appears at the end of programs. It features the words:
A
FREMANTLE
International
presentation
on a plain black background. Several "stars" rotate on the words.
FX/Cheesy Factor: This logo has 70's written all over it, with the glittering lights and synth tune.
Music: A synth tune that begins with a descending "space" sound, followed by this weird fanfare at the end. The closing variation features only the second half of this jingle.
Availability: Extinct, this appeared on a few Fremantle-produced shows during the '70's in Canada.
Scare Factor: High, the creepy synth tune, sudden zoom, and outdated SFX can scare more than a few.
2nd (known) Logo
(2002-)
Nickname: "The Splotch"
Logo: On a royalish-blue background, a splash of white paint flies through the air, going from left to right. Then, another splash is seen going the other direction, and then a third flying down from left to right. Then, white paint "bubbles" out in the center, then pulls back and to the right as the paint circles around to form the splotchy globe logo. The words "FremantleMedia", in condensed Futurist font, fade in to the left of the globe, as four white paint drops appear around the globe to complete the logo.
Variations:
- Usually, the words "North America", in non-bold
Futurist type, appear with "FremantleMedia".
- A shorter version starts at the paint bubble.
Cheesy Factor: Flying and bubbling paint; the text fading in; the design of the globe logo.
Music: A gentle sounder with a guitar strum, bongos, and woodwinds.
Availabilty:
- The short version with sounder is seen on the current version
of Family Feud, the second season of Game Show Network's Whammy!
The All-New Press Your Luck, and live editions of Fox's American
Idol.
- The long version appears on Whammy!'s first season with
the show's theme playing over it.
- The Price is Right shows a still of the finished logo
with a generic CBS theme over it. Also, prerecorded editions of American
Idol (i.e. preliminary auditions and second-round performance
shows) have the generic Fox theme over the short version.
- As of this writing, the only confirmed existence of the long
version with sounder is the American Idol
first-season video/DVD.
Scare Factor: Low, the sounder is actually relaxing, although some may be put off by the initial size of the paint bubble.