Various Television Logos

Compiled by
Sean Beard, Eric Hartman, James Fabiano, Jason Jones, and Matt Williams

Blair Entertainment
(1982?-1987)

Logo: The word "BLAIR," in yellow, flies to the top of the screen with trail effects (usually over the closing scene of the show). Under that, a yellow light writes out a red, cursive "Entertainment." A pair of lines is drawn both above and below the logo, and a stylized logo of some sort appears in the middle of the bottom pair. It is a white box with what looks like a "JB" or "dB" created by green, red, and blue boxes and lines. When the logo's completed, the background turns a shaded blue.

FX: "BLAIR" flying, the rest of the logo being "drawn."

Music: Starts with a "whoosh" as "BLAIR" flies, then three light, long tones. After the first one, 3 digital-like notes are heard.

Availability: Extinct, was seen on '80s episodes of "Divorce Court", and "SCTV" respectively, and at the end of game show "Break the Bank" (1985), among other shows. But since these shows are likely to be never rerun or have been under different companies (ex. Divorce Court is owned by 20th Television), it is a safe bet we will never see this logo again outside of tapes.

Scare Factor: Low, bordering on moderate because of the word "BLAIR" coming out of nowhere during the show's parting scene.

Broadway Video
(1979-)

Nicknames: "City Disc", "Spinning City", "The SNL Logo", "The City V"

Logo: A scene of a nighttime city (colored as if green lights are shining on it) against a blue sky that reflects against a dark sea zooms back, revealing a gold circle decorated with the words "BROADWAY VIDEO" in silver. It spins once, and as the logo stops, a red "V"-shaped bolt of lightning crosses it. The bolt's left side is as high as the top of the screen, while the right stops in the circle.

FX: The zoom-out, the circle, the lightning bolt.

Music: Silent or ending of theme song

Availability: Uncommon, can still be seen on "Saturday Night Live", "Late Night with Conan O' Brien", "Kids In The Hall" reruns, and some Rankin-Bass X-mas specials.

Scare Factor: None, this logo has held up remarkably well over the past 20+ years it has been used on SNL

Carson Productions
(1980s)

Logo: We start out with a brightly-lit city skyline, then the outlined word "CARSON" zooms out from us to a comfortable distance, on a gray background. Three thick light-blue horizontal lines wipe in from right to left, filling the outlined word "CARSON" with blue and at the same time, the word "PRODUCTIONS" wipes in the same direction in sync with the horizontal lines. Sometimes, the copyright info is seen below it.

FX: The zoom-out of "CARSON", the wiping in of the horizontal lines and "PRODUCTIONS"

Cheesy Factor: The effort is there, but the quality turns out a bit poor, in both picture and sound.

Music: A loud five-note bombastic horn fanfare with a "WHOOSH" accompanying the wiping in of the horizontal lines and "PRODUCTIONS".

Availability: Still seen at the end of "Amen" episodes when reran. Also existed at the end of "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" with the outro of the show's theme music.

Scare Factor: Median, because of the music.

Fuji Television Network
(1990s)

Nicknames: "The Eye," "FCI"

Logo: A silver shape flies backwards and in a turning motion. It is revealed to be an abstract drawing of an eye that stops in the middle of the black screen and "twinkles." As the small flash from the "twinkle" shrinks away, the screen turns white and the eye changes color as well (the pupil turns red, and the rest black). Above and below the eye blocks of "snow" turn into words in purple letters. Above it is "FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK, INC." Below the eye is, "FUJI CREATIVE CORPORATION."

Notes:

  • On later seasons on "Iron Chef", this logo's text differs a bit from above. The animation is still the same, but only "FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK, INC." appears on the bottom.
  • The acronym FCI means Fujisankei Communications Inc. This company is responsible for a variety of videogame software, motion pictures, and Japanese anime. Columbia Pictures was licensed to distribute "Milo and Otis" for FCI in North America.

FX: The eye logo turning, the screen changing color and the words appearing.

Music: A dreamy, chiming sound that gives the impression of flying. Ends with a synthesized ring.

Availability: Can be seen at the end of "Iron Chef" on the Food Network. The eye logo is also associated with FCI, which made video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It also appears on Japanese morning shows seen on some cable channels.

Scare Factor: Not very scary

Joe Hamilton Productions
(1982-1990)

Nickname: "JHP"

Logo: On a black background, we see a red "J". Then, a short, red line comes out of the middle of the "J" from the right, and then a vertical line is drawn with the end of the "short line" as the midpoint, forming an "H". A red "P" then forms on the "H" with only the "hump" of the "P" being drawn out. Then, "A Joe Hamilton Production" appears below.

FX: The animation of the letters

Cheesy Factor: The animation looks way too simple, they don't even animated the "P" correctly, it just appears.

Music: None, has the Mama's Family theme over it.

Availability: Can still be seen on reruns of Mama's Family when reran.

Scare Factor: Median, very few are big fans of "connecting letters" on black backgrounds (ala 2nd Lorimar logo)

Michael Mann Productions
(1980s)

Logo: On a black background, a row of lines arranged like a rectangle and a weird "splotch" thing continually switch places, with the splotch ending up on the left and the line thing ending up on the right. Over this image, the huge words "MICHAEL MANN" are seen in a very weird font, with "a" above and "production" below, all in lower-case letters.

FX: The "flipping" animation

Cheesy Factor: Ugly, UGLY logo . The animation is quick and badly done, and the font is really cheesy.

Music: No music, but the end of the Miami Vice seems to fit the logo here.

Availability: It and the 80s Universal logo are still preserved on "Miami Vice " on TNN.

Scare Factor: Median, the ugliness is going to put off some people

Reg Grundy Productions
(1980s U.S. logo)

Nickname: "RG Zoom Out"

Logo: Over the parting scene of the show, a gold "RG" (which is in a fancy font and joined such that they have a vertical alignment) turns around. Underneath in gold are the words "REG GRUNDY PRODUCTION."

Variants: Two variations of this exists.

  • The first one was more mediocre, as the logo appears to be on a revolving pedestal and ends at the near left facing downward.
  • The second variation has the logo rotating less quickly than the first one, and appears to move upward as it faces to the near left looking upward as well.

FX: The turning logo

Music: A jazzy, triumphant horn march. Accompanied by an announcer saying, "(SHOW) is a Reg Grundy Production!"

Availability: Seen at the end of Reg Grundy produced game shows of the '80s such as "Scrabble" and "Sale of the Century." But seeing as no one is rerunning these shows, it's not very likely that you'll see this logo much outside of tapes. If the shows are reran in the future, this logo should remain intact.

Scare Factor: Bold theme music might catch some off guard.

Renaissance Pictures
(1982-)

Background: Renaissance Pictures is the production company founded by film director Sam Raimi (the "Evil Dead" series, "Darkman", "Spider-man"). Although the company started up in 1982, Raimi didn't use an animated logo until 1993. Renaissance Pictures' offices have been housed on the Universal Studios backlot since 1987 (with most of their productions, beginning with "Darkman", having gone through Universal for release).

Nicknames: "The Herc and Xena Logo","AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Logo: We see an engraving-like portrait (on what appears to be a piece of aging parchment at first glance) of a man in 16th century dress (though the head is about all that's seen). The portraiture then zooms in toward the viewer, ripping apart in the process. As the ripped portrait's two pieces pull away, some lightning flashes are seen. When the portrait's sections clear the screen, one more lightning flash occurs (and a thunderclap is overheard)--this time revealing the company's name.

FX: The zoom-in of the portrait, the portrait ripping in two, the lightning flashes, loud thunderclap and the company name flashing onto the screen at the end of the sequence.

Cheesy Factor: This one, above all 1990s-vintage logos, has something to unnerve nearly everyone:an extreme zoom-in, lightning, unholy-sounding music...

Music: A sound bite of a Tibetian chant. [Note:Tibetian monks are known for singing in a very low vocal register-sometimes as much a 9 octaves below normal.]

Avaliability: Can be found on any show produced by this company (usually followed by the 1990s MCA-TV, Universal Television Enterprises or Studios USA IDs) such as Hercules:The Legendary Journeys, Xena:Warrior Princess (currently on Oxygen), Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of All Trades.

Scare Factor: Nightmare-provoking levels for those put off by thunder, lightning, ripping/tearing animation EFX and the Tibetian monk chant soundbite; otherwise neglible for most viewers.

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