KingWorld
Compiled by Jason Jones, Kris Starring and Jeffrey Gray
1st (known) logo
(1977-1983)
Nickname: "KWP"
Logo: We see an abstract crown motif zooming in. Then two letters, a K and a P, lock in between the crown from left and right of the screen. The crown evolves into a W, as the company name "King World Productions" fades in.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The joining of the three initials.
Music: None, although some shows might end with their own music outro.
Availability: Is hard to find, as was mostly seen on "The Little Rascals" and other programs from the early '80s.
Scare Factor: Minimal
2nd Logo
(1983-1989)
Nickname: "Stars and Stripes"
Logo: Over a purplish background with lots of stars, we see tons of skinny light rays in shades of blue and green coming from a source of light in the center. All at the same time, a blue star zooms up while "KINGWORLD" (in a similar color to the star) zooms out. The star moves inside with the "W" and a set of 3 similarly-colored bars form under "KINGWORLD", positioned prefectly with the ends of text.
FX: The star joining the King World name, then the bars going into place.
Music: A generic orchestrated fanfare sounding almost similar to the Ruby-Spears jingle.
Availability: Near Extinction. Could be found on some local TV broadcasts of classic TV shows.
Scare Factor: Minimal
3rd Logo
(1989-1998)
Nickname:
"Spotlights"
Logo: On a backdrop of vertical bars that resemble a
doorway (the bars are in this order, for each side, 4 brown, one
red, and gradiants of blue resembling the "door") we
see "KINGWORLD" in silver, on the center of the screen.
Below the "KINGWORLD" text are 2 sets of 3 silver bars
that switch sides and at the same time, a silver triangle rotates
itself from the bottom and fits between the 2 sets of lines.
Between the 2 lines are a space formed with help from the
"W" and triangle that resembles a star. Then, quickly,
a white star flashes in this space, and fades out.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The spotlights.
Music: A synth fanfare
Availability: It appeared on "Jeopardy!" and
"Wheel of Fortune," but the Game Show Network replaces
the logo with the Columbia TriStar logo.
Scare Factor: None
4th Logo
(1998-)
Nickname: "Star-Shooter"
Logo: A modified rendition of logos 2 and 3. Over a golden sunset backdrop of clouds, the King World name, in blue letters, scans through the sky. As it pans backward, a shooting star glides by the logo, revealing a paintbrushed mark and a star shape in the center. The sun shines from behind the logo. Either "Distributed By", "Produced By", or "Distributed and Produced By" appears above KingWorld.
FX: The shooting star.
Music: A thunder-clasping sound.
Availability: Fairly common, can be seen on lots of syndicated shows, including "Jeopardy", "Wheel of Fortune", "Oprah", and most CBS-produced shows in syndication.
Scare Factor: None.
Camelot
Entertainment Sales
(1989?-1990s)
Background: Camelot Entertainment Sales was the short-lived sales division of KingWorld.
Logo: We see a city skyline at dusk. The giant pink word "CAMELOT" zooms up from behind the buildings, followed by the words "ENTERTAINMENT SALES" in a smaller typeface.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The zooming words, which are simple 2D animation.
Music: The same synth fanfare used in KingWorld's "Spotlights" logo.
Availability: Extinct, this logo wasn't widely seen to begin with. So far, the only known appearance of this logo was on Claster's short-lived New Pink Panther series (the one where he could talk) from the mid-90's.
Scare Factor: Low. Some could be put off by the logo's cheapness though.