Universal Television Entertainment
Written and Complied by Jason Jones, Matt Williams & Eric Hartman
REVUE STUDIOS
1st Logo
(Early 1950s)
Logo: We zoom in on a shot of a TV camera, which turns sideways, revealing the word REVUE inscribed onto the camera base.
FX: Rotation of the TV camera.
Music: A generic sounder, consisted of horns and stuff.
Availability: Extremely Rare. Has appeared for a short time on some episodes of "The Adventures of Kit Carson" among a few others.
Scare Factor: None
2nd Logo
(Mid 1950s)
Logo: Over a light shaded BG, we see the phrase "Produced by REVUE In Hollywood". The word Revue is taller than the rest of the words, and appears in a very slim, 3-dimensional state. The angle is on the right, looking downward, with a bit of a shadow behind the letters. The remainder of the logo features the other words in a fancy cursive font.
FX: None, it's a still logo
Music: None
Availability: Rare. Although, a variant of sorts can be found on first season episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"
Scare Factor: None
3rd Logo
(1956-1963)
Nickname: "The Filmstrips"
Logo: Two lines of letters rotate in opposite directions of each other. The top line going left, the bottom line going right. To the tune of their 5-note fanfare, five letters stack horizontally together, unevenly, spelling the name "REVUE". Then the rest of the letters are moved away, bringing in a white-outline transparent shape of a rectangle (kind of similar to the Warner Bros. \\' logo). Then the inside turns into a dark gray color under the black and light gray blocks of letters. Then the phrase appears as being "Filmed in Hollywood at Revue Studios. MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor". The MCA byline, which was actually underneath the logo, was usually accompanied by it's own union bug, which was a small globe with the words MCA over it.
For those who are curious, here is the line-up of letters that were featured on this logo. The ones used for the logo appear in bold type. And they are...
Right
zcnaqurpemscvxuozserncv
Left
azcvrzsnoxureaocvucxozr
This logo also appears in series credits. Sometimes, just the name appears just as it's predecessor logo has done before.
Variations: This logo appeared in quite a few lengths. There is a long version, that features the full-length version of the fanfare. Some shows, such as those produced in association with Kayro-vue, feature an abridged version of the logo that starts with the TV tube zooming out and as hortened fanfare. There are also several versions of this logo used for co-productions, such as for Kayro-Vue shows and Shamley Productions; those feature the company name alongside a smaller version of the Revue logo.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The building block-type animation.
Music: A loud but majestic horn fanfare; this has appeared in quite a few lengths, corresponding with the logo.
Availability: Rare. Can be found in a few shows on TV Land, and was seen in living color on 'The Virginian' (last aired on Encore's Westerns Channel) and Laramie.
Scare Factor: Median, mainly because of that infamous jingle that has scared more than a few.
UNIVERSAL
TELEVISION
1st Logo
(1963-1964)
Nickname: "Blinking Negatives"
Logo: It looks just like the Revue logo, without the additional animation. The company name flickered 6 times, during the 5-bar fanfare and made a stop during the rest of the jingle. The phrase appears as being "Filmed at UNIVERSAL City. MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor" with a small MCA logo bug next to the distributor's byline (which was outside the logo as always). The color version had a wallflower-type background in red with white 60s-type star designs over it. The filmstrip blocks were red and blue, the background of the tubular border was light blue, and all the block colors revert to black and white over and over. The B&W variation of the logo was the same as the B&W version of the Revue logo, but the only block colors that flicker are the black and white ones.
On some shows, the logo sometimes appears without the MCA byline, and then fades to the co-producer's card.
FX/Cheesy Factor: Those blinking blocks were fairly simple.
Music: An abridged version of the Revue jingle.
Availability: Extremely Rare, it can be found on very few shows aired occasionally on cable TV.
Scare Factor: By having the Revue theme, probably somewhere between high and median, leaning towards the former since many didn't like that song.
2nd Logo
(1964-1969)
Nickname: "Zooming Globe 1"
Logo: Like its then current movie logo, the rotating globe zooms in on us. The phrase
FILMED AT THE STUDIOS OF
UNIVERSAL
CITY
MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor
is superimposed simultaneously. The text will usually appear in the normal near-yellow font, but a bronze/brown color appears someimtes. The MCA union bug appears with the byline.
Variations: On some shows, the MCA byline is not present below the Universal City name. This happens on most co-productions, notably Mark VII shows. Other shows (mainly those produced by Jack Webb's Mark VII, like Dragnet) would have a shot over the globe saying "IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSAL TELEVISION" centered in the same font used in the closing credits. This text would then fade out, the globe would zoom and appear as usual. On Dragnet '67, the "Universal Television" text was not shown.
FX: The zooming in of the globe.
Music: A slightly abridged version of the Revue jingle. There are several orchestrations of this theme. A list is hopefully coming soon.
Availability: Can be found in shows like Dragnet, Adam 12, The Munsters, and McHale's Navy, as Universal's past logos are kept quite well.
Scare Factor: Median, mainly based on what you think of that somewhat scary Revue theme.
3rd Logo
(1969-1971)
Nickname: "Zooming Globe 2"
Logo: Same as above, but the phrase now appears as being
FILMED IN UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. AT
UNIVERSAL
STUDIOS
MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor
The MCA union bug appears with the byline.
FX: The zooming in of the globe.
Music: Very short rendition of the jingle.
Availability: Should be saved on any Universal show of the era, although because of the short run of this logo, it may be a bit harder to find.
Scare Factor: Again, it depends on what you think of the Revue jingle.
4th Logo
(1971-1973)
Logo: This time, the globe is just a still picture. The shortened phrase fades in, in the same yellow bold font from the logo above.
From Universal City, California,
UNIVERSAL
STUDIOS
MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor
This one has two other variations... "In Association With UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, Universal City, California. MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor" "And UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, Universal City, California. MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor"...all sporting the MCA union bug alongside the said company byline.
Was only referred to as during the "In Association With UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. MCA-TV Exclusive Distributor" 1971-72 season.
FX: None, it's a still logo
Music: Same as the 3rd logo.
Availability: Still saved on any Universal show from the era, as Universal is outstanding when it comes to logo preservation. However, their shows are not reran on a constant basis, so I would call it rare.
Scare Factor: Median
5th Logo
(January 1974-1975)
Logo: Same backdrop as above, but the phrase was shortened again to...
FROM
UNIVERSAL
AN MCA COMPANY
"UNIVERSAL" is in the same font as used in that era's movie logo (in fact, this looks like a still of the 1963-1990 movie logo, with MCA information added in afterwards). The MCA byline is also the same, although the position is a bit shifted to the left due to the MCA union bug's appearance with the byline. The MCA globe bug is seen to the left of it's respective byline. The top text line sometimes reads "AND" & "IN ASSOCIATION WITH"
FX: Only the text fading in.
Music: The same as the 3rd logo.
Availability: Pretty rare, consideirng the limited time range of this logo. It was seen on early Columbo repeats and the 1st 2 seasons of The Rockford Files, to name a few recent occurances.
Scare Factor: Again, it depends on what you think of that Revue theme.
6th Logo
(1975-1991)
Logo: Quite similar to the 5th logo, but with a few differences:
1) The font color seems to
be mainly white, while still a bit planetary.
2) The "UNIVERSAL" font is different from the movie
version, and is much skinnier and streched out.
3) The MCA globe bug common with previous logos is not included
with the logo (as it was moved to the copyright notice on the
ending credits.)
4) In the "AN MCA
COMPANY" byline, MCA is in a somewhat larger font than the
rest of the other letters.
The top text line had the same "FROM," "AND," and "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" lines centered in from previous logos.
On "The A-Team," it used the "FROM" top line and added a green "AND" below the MCA byline. This was done to present the Stephen J. Cannell logo that followed it.
FX: Not really anything, except......
Cheesy Factor: On the first 2 seasons of The A-Team, there is a very sorry looking "wipe" effect that brings forth the Cannell logo. It would get better in later seasons, as it was replace with a straight fade.
Music: A new jingle that retains elements of the classic Revue theme, but does not feature the trademark fanfare used since the Revue days. There are many versions of this jingle, with the orchestration changing with each rendition. In the early 70s, it was more of an orchestral arrangement, but this seemed to get a little more electronic as the years went by. The 1980s version of this jingle has an electronic "warbling" under the main jingle.
Availability: Pretty common, considering the long timeframe of this logo and Universal's pleasing policy of keeping nearly all dated logos on their shows.
Scare Factor: High, many have had nightmares about this logo, and while it uses a similar Revue theme, it still sounds much more dramatic. The typeface for "UNIVERSAL" wasn't the most modern either.
7th Logo
(1991-1997)
Nickname: "CGI Globe"
Logo: Nearly the same as it's motion picture counterpart, but with a few differences.
Variants:
FX: CG of rotating globe and Universal name.
Cheesy Factor: See Above
Music: Majestic french horn fanfare, based on Universal's long version of its 1990 jingle.
Availability: Fairly common, as with most Universal logos, they are usually retained on any repeat broadcasts.
Scare Factor: Minimum.
8th Logo
(1997-2004)
Nickname: "Glittering Planet TV"
Logo: A near-still shot of the current Universal logo used in motion pictures. It looks nearly the same, and you can still see a glow from behind it. A byline will appear below the logo, as listed below.
Variations: For a very short time in late 2001 and early 2002, Universal's TV and movie departments were celebrating the 20th Anniversary of "ET", with a special logo featuring E.T. and Elliot flying across the globe. The TV version's logo is similar to the normal version, except that ET and Elliot are flying behind the bold "UNIVERSAL" text, and the words "E.T. 20TH ANNIVERSARY" are featured under the globe.
FX: The "fire" behind the globe.
Music: A short version of the movie counterpart's theme.
Availability: This logo isn't very widespread, for a very good reason. In 1998, Universal sold off its USA Networks cable stations and its television division to Barry Diller. Diller renamed his new acquisitions "Studios USA", and all shows in production by Universal TV changed to the Studios USA logo. However, after the purchase of Polygram, Universal quickly adopted and renamed that company's TV division. In 2002, Universal bought back USA, with Barry Diller taking on a CEO role at Vivendi Universal Entertainment, Universal's new parent company. Studios USA was merged back into Universal, and the globe is once again prominent.
Scare Factor: Minimum.