Paramount Television

Compiled by Eric Hartman, James Fabiano, James Stanley Barr and Jeffrey Gray

1st Logo
(January-September 1968)

Nicknames: "Rising Circle," "Rising Mountain" (but we don't know why; the mountain doesn't rise)

Logo: On a blue background, we see a black mountain and the words "A Gulf+Western Company" in white. Suddenly, a white filled-in circle border rises up behind the mountain.  The "Paramount" name, which is written in its majestic script font and appears in black, pops in while 22 white stars appear around the border, starting in the middle and going downward. The word "Paramount" immediately changes into "Paramount Television" in the same typeface.  Below the logo are two subtitles, both in white: "Copyright © MCMLXVIII by Paramount Pictures Corporation.  All Rights Reserved" in a more standard type, and "Paramount Pictures Corporation" in the Paramount logo font.

Variant: On Mission: Impossible, the logo also appears with the copyright, but without the Gulf+Western byline.

FX/Cheesy Factor: The "sunrise" effect, the stars, and "Paramount" changing into "Paramount Television" looks very choppy.

Music: Same as the Desilu music used from September-December 1967.

Availability: Very rare, can be seen on early 1968 episodes of Mission: Impossible when FX reruns them, and on videocassettes of Star Trek episodes aired during that time period. The last 13 episodes of The Lucy Show also had this logo, but both this and the Viacom "V of Doom," which appeared after the logo in syndication, have been edited over with the current Paramount logo by now.

Scare Factor: Since nobody remembers this logo, we don't know. The fanfare might get to some, though.

2nd Logo
(1968-1969)

Nickname: "Split Rectangle #1"

Logo: Against a yellow background is a blue rectangle which is split into two sections; the left and the larger contains the words:

PARAMOUNT

TELEVISION

A DIVISION OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION

Besides the last line, all are in a blocky font. "PARAMOUNT" has the largest typeface, and the other two lines are progressively smaller. On the smaller right side of the rectangle is a Paramount logo with a blue border and white mountain. The picture zooms up to the logo, which kind of looks like a blue and white version of the "Rising Circle" ("A Gulf+Western Company" and copyright message appears at the bottom of the white mountain) except the word "Television" is not present. Also, the copyright appears when the pic zooms up.

Variants:

  • This logo appears with the copyright only on Mission: Impossible.
  • There was a variation seen on Here's Lucy in which the word "Corporation" is missing on the rectangle, and the mountain has no bylines or copyrights.

FX: The zoom-in

Cheesy Factor: The zoom in is rough.

Music: A majestic 7-note fanfare.

Availability: May appear on some shows if a station has older prints; for example, Mission: Impossible on FX. Otherwise you'll see a newer logo.

Scare Factor: Median. Zoom-in plus fanfare may equal some scares. But was probably worse when the music got more fast-paced to go with the zooming in the next logo.

3rd Logo
(1969-1975)

Nickname: "Split Rectangle #2"
Music Nickname: "Closet Killer"

Logo: Same appearance as the 2nd logo except the main rectangle border is red, the Paramount mountain is blue, the stars around the mountain are blue, the outside border of the Paramount logo is white. (the mountain is cut off at the bottom in this version) The zoom on the square is still intact.

Variants:

  • Versions exist with either the Gulf+Western byline and/or the Paramount copyright.
  • A still "In Association With" version exists on reruns of "The Brady Kids."

FX: Zoom in.

Cheesy Factor: The zoom in is rough again.

Music: There were two themes for this logo. The first is an 8-note horn-driven jingle written by Dominic Frontiere, best known as the "Closet Killer." The other is a faster version of what will later be known as the "Blue Mountain" music by Lalo Schifrin. Both had at least two versions.

Music Variations: The Dominic Frontiere jingle is sometimes faster.  Notes 4-7 are louder.  Was later switched in 1970 to an 8-note sped-up horn fanfare composed by Schifrin. Lalo Schifrin's jingle went slower in the mid 70s, which was ALSO redone for the "Blue Mountain" logo.

Availability: Scarce. Has been seen quite a few times on cable reruns a few years back (i.e.: Mission: Impossible on FX, The Brady Bunch on TBS), but is usually replaced with the current logo.

Scare Factor: Median, this logo is generally well liked, but the fast music and scary mountain drawing may get on some nerves. Also, many can't stand the Lalo Schifrin jingle combined with the zoom in, although it's a nightmare with the Dominic Frontiere music.

4th Logo
(1975-1987)

Nicknames: "Early 80s", "Blue Mountain"

Logo: Practically the same mountain design as before, but more defined this time. On a sky blue background, we see a near-circle made by 22 white stars. The near-circle contains a navy blue backdrop and a flat mountain in another shade of blue with the word "Paramount" in white above it. Below the mountain are the words:

         A
Gulf+Western
   Company

The word "Television" comes from the right and slides in below "Paramount".  Same alignment as the first logo.

Variants/Recent Sightings:

  • In one variation of this logo, the mountain is drawn such that the word "Television" overlaps the tip.)
  • Toward the end of the run of "The Brady Brides" on Fox Family in 1999, a still shot of this logo was shown before the compressed credits.
  • In the final years of this logo, Paramount uses some video trickery. Instead of letting the film clip roll as usual, what they do is show the still of the logo with just Paramount showing. Then they allow "Television" to slide on in, and the it reverts back to a still image. This can be seen on the first two seasons of "MacGuyver"

FX: The word "television" sliding in like a piece of construction paper.

Cheesy Factor: The "Television" sliding in looks REALLY choppy and amateurish.

Music: A slower version of the Lalo Schifrin jingle first heard with Split 2. There were many variations throughout the '70s and '80s. There is also one completely different theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith used in 1977.

Music Variations: SEVERAL music variations on this logo.  This is going to get complicated, so let's explain this simply.

  • 1975-76: Marching Band rendition of the Lalo Schifrin jingle
  • 1976-77: An 8-note horn fanfare composed by Jerry Goldsmith.
  • 1977-78: Redone version of Jerry Goldsmith's jingle
  • 1978-79: Slowed down version of the Schifrin jingle.

Availability: Scarce. Can still be found on several shows, like Happy Days on The Hallmark Channel. Paramount (Viacom) is starting to update this logo with their newest, even syndie reruns of Cheers (once known as the best source of the logo), have been replace with the current.

Scare Factor: High. Many cannot stand the music or hate the way television slides in. This logo was also seen after many of those scary "In Association With" screens to make this logo a NIGHTMARE.

5th Logo
(1987-2001)

Nicknames: "CGI Mountain", "Mountain of Montonity"

Logo: We see a still picture of a computer generated mountain, which is redone in a shiny blue color with canyon-style scenery, a lake and a light blue/red/yellow gradient sky. "Paramount," in silver and in its familiar script logo font, is seen on the mountain's peak, with 22 silver stars encircling the mountain. On the bottom, the following bylines were used:

  • 1987-1989: A Gulf + Western Company (looks the same as it did in the previous logo, font and alignment)
  • 1989-1995: A Paramount Communications Company with a line above the byline (an early variant of such appeared in their first year, as it appears in gold rather than white)
  • 1995-2001: A Viacom Company (in the \/|/\CO/\/\ "Wigga-Wigga" font), with a line above the byline

Sightings/Variants:

  • An early variant of this logo with a "75th Anniversary" disclaimer appeared on early 1987 episodes of Entertainment Tonight.
  • On some shows such as "Taxi" on TNN, the logo [with a Paramount Communications byline] was plastered over the Blue Mountain's music. This also happened when Fox (now ABC) Family showed episodes of Mork & Mindy and The Brady Brides a few years back, but used the Viacom mountain. If you haven't seen already, this run of The Brady Brides also had another unique occurrence.
  • When Nicktoons were syndicated to some local stations around 1994, the current logo was seen, but like "Taxi", had the old music.

FX: None, it's a still logo

Music: Has a 6-note orchestrated fanfare similar to the famous Star Wars theme. Many of these logos are plastered on to old shows with no music.

Availability: Common, The Gulf+Western variation was once found on later "Family Ties" eps, and 1987-89 "Cheers" eps on syndication, but the 95-01 logo usually plasters over now. On current series (syndie and network) the '02 logo shows up.

Scare Factor: Low, the fanfare might unnerve some, but it's pretty harmless.

6th Logo
(January 2002-)

Logo: The 90th Anniversary Paramount Motion Picture Logo minus effects..

FX: None, it's a still logo.

Music: The 1987 Music appears on Entertainment Tonight, and other programs. NBC omits the music on "Frasier".

Variant: The version on "Enterprise" is in letterboxed format.

Availability: Only seen on Network Television shows and Entertainment Tonight beginning in 2002. New Paramount programs that begin syndication in 2002 will feature this logo. The 90th Anniversary logo will be removed beginning in 2003.

Scare Factor: Same as Paramount TV #5

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