Group W Productions
Written and Complied by James Westerfield, Alex P. and Sean Beard
(Note 1: Group W was a company of Westinghouse
Broadcasting, a division of Westinghouse Electric Company. The
parent company was also in fact named after its founder, George
Westinghouse. Westinghouse Broadcasting was established in 1920
with the introduction of the world's first commercially licensed
radio station, KDKA Pittsburgh)
(Note: this company did not have a standard animated logo until
1980)
Logo 1 (1963-1980)
Logo: A chyroned in-credit phrase "Produced by WESTINGHOUSE BROADCASTING COMPANY" (in Anklepants font, a common typeface used on most Group W Westinghouse logos and Group W television station logos) with the abstract Westinghouse W logo, consisting of two slanted wedges and a small triangle design, positioned either above or below the company name after 1967 (the Group W print logo with "GROUP" on the side of the W turning up by 1970).
FX: None. This was a superimposed logo.
Music: The outro of a show's theme music.
Availability: Near Extinction. The standard Group W print logo was used as an in-credit ID on programs such as "The Steve Allen Show", "The David Frost Show" and "The Mike Douglas Show" to name a few. It is retained on Rhino Home Video's VHS set of the infamous run of 1971 episodes co-hosted by John Lennon.
Logo 2 (1980-1984)
Logo: On a plain black background, we see the red abstract W zooming in, similar to Warner Bros.' "The Big W" logo from the 1970s. As the logo stops into place, yellow text that says "Group W Productions" appears underneath the design.
Bylines:
FX: None. This was a still logo.
Music: None
Availability: Extinct. As far as I know, it's replaced with other logos. Most commonly the King World or CBS Broadcast International logos. Some Filmation programs would currently have a Hallmark Entertainment logo, which is the current licensee of that company.
Scare Factor: Minimal (the darkness of the logo may scare a few)
Logo 3 (1984-1987)
Nickname: "The Grid"
Logo: On a black background, three rows of about 20 blue-silver lasers come from three sides of the screen (the top, left, and right sides), which come together to form the red abstract W, which now sparkels and shines. The words "GROUP W PRODUCTIONS" appear underneath.
FX: The scanning lines, the shimmering W.
Music: (to be announced)
Availability: Extinct
Scare Factor: None
Logo 4 (1986-1992)
Logo: on a blue background we see red-orange laser lights forming a red-orange W and below that the text Group W Productions.
FX: The lasers forming the W.
Music: a 80s synth tune (i thought the tune was a little scary although some compared it to the 80s ITC Entertainment Group logo music) or in some cases silent (like on Bob Vila's Home Again).
Availability: Very Rare. Group W logos were often deleted from home video masters of TMNT episodes. Filmation had no dealings with Group W apart from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra and the syndicated run of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids... more than likely off-the-air copies dating from 1982-90 (also covering USA Network reruns) are what's been uploaded onto those services...
Scare Factor: Min-Median. This logo may not be scary to most but this logo may scare people by the synth music ("like yours truly").
Logo 5 (1992-1995)
Logo: On a black background we see CGI red-orange wedges that merge together to form the abstract red-orange Group W logo and the text that follows it is Group W Productions
(Note: two other names used on this logo include Westinghouse Productions, and Westinghouse Broadcasting International)
FX: The merging wedges.
Bylines: The WBI variation pratically gives away the byline on the title. So, there is no byline in this one.
Music: this logo contains two very good variations of music, one variation is a chime tune (Group W version), or an excellent majestic orchestral/synth tune, which was similar to the now defunct USA Broadcasting music used on its owned television stations (WP and WBI versions)
Availability: Rare; near Extinction. There is hope of finding this logo somewhere in this time mainly because it is more recent but it may be ruled out as extinct.
Scare Factor: Minimal. The WP/WBI music may unnerve some people, but not me. Although I think the music is cool.