WGBH Boston
Written & Complied by Kris Starring and Chad Thomas
1st (known) Logo
(1974-1978)
Nicknames: "Zooming WGBH"
Logo: Against a white background, the letters WGBH in
black zoom back, away from the viewer to the vanishing point.
Then the word "Boston" zooms forward, taking up the
whole screen and creating a black background. And finally, the
word "Presents" slowly zooms forward, in white.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The zooming of the words.
Music: The long, full version of the jingle, with a
choppy, futuristic synth, followed by a rising synth violin
stinger. Most likely produced on a Moog synthesizer.
Availability: Extinct, will probably never be seen again.
Scare Factor: Very high, bordering on nightmare. The
high-contrast colors and the eerie synth music would have been
sure to unnerve many people.
2nd Logo
(1978-)
Nicknames: "Flash of Doom," "Circle
Outline"
Logo: On a black background, two orange lines of
"electricity" form an outline of "WGBH" in
the center of the screen. The lines stop, and an orange flash
starts behind the outline to form two, orange, 2D
"shadows," one behind, and one in front of the black
"WGBH" in the center. After this is done, one of two
things happens, the word "B O S T O N" appears below
the logo in an orange Art Deco font, or "WGBH" clears
out and "Boston Presents" appears in an orange Arial
font. The "Boston Presents" logo was a bumper used at
the beginning of the show.
FX: The lines of electricity, the flash.
Cheesy Factor: The flash, and light effects are typical of
CGI in the Scanimate era of the 70's and 80's.
Music: There are two versions of the music, a long version
and a short version. The long version features the same music as
the '74 logo. The short version features only the rising synth
chord, and is much more common nowadays. Sometimes, an announcer
will say "A production of WGBH Boston."
Variations: There are many variations in terms of the
music and the announcer:
------- (1978-93) Long music, no announcer, has
"Boston Presents"
------- (1993-) Short music, no announcer
------- (1993-) Short music, with announcer.
------- (1998-) On Mystery! and Masterpiece Theatre, the
announcer has a British accent.
------- (1999-) On the new Zoom, a kid on the show voices
over, w/ short music.
------- Sometimes, the closing theme of the show will play
over this logo.
Availability: Common, can be seen in its various versions
on many PBS shows. The "Boston Presents" version may
show up on WGBH shows produced from 1978-93 if your station has
older prints.
Scare Factor: Nightmare for the "Boston
Presents" version, and high for the 1993 version. This logo
has scared many with its dark colors, and that dated synth music.