Roundelay-MF
Written and Complied by Ben Masters
Roundelay-MF
(1979-1997)
Note: Roundelay was
the vanity card of “Knots Landing” creator David
Jacobs. In the mid-80s, Michael Filerman joined up and the
company became Roundelay-MF Productions.
Logo: Simply the word "Roundelay" in a blue semicircle,
with the text "A Roundelay Production In Association
With" under it. When Filerman joined in the mid-80s, a white
"MF" was added to the logo, centered under the
semicircle; and the text below was amended to read "A
Roundelay-MF Production In Association With…,” and this
is usually followed by the then-current Lorimar logo or a Warner
Bros. logo.
Cheesy Factor: The
blue lettering and semicircle setup of "Roundelay," and
the white "MF" added later when Mike Filerman joined.
Music: Simply the last
notes of Knots Landing's closing theme.
Availability: Both logos (Roundelay and Roundelay-MF) appear on “Knots Landing” reruns on Soapnet.
Scare factor: High,
because the Roundelay logo was set against a black background,
and had an “in association with” disclaimer that
preceded a scary Lorimar logo. Usually logos that preceded a
black IAW screen garnered a high scare factor.
Charles-Burrows-Charles (Cheers), UBU (Family Ties), and JCW
(Taxi) were three examples of this kind of logo; they all
led up to the Paramount Television "blue-mountain"
logo. This garnered a high scare factor because, in the early
years, when it was just Roundelay, it usually led up to Lorimar's
"Line of Doom". It mellowed out some towards the end of
Knots' run, when it started preceding Lorimar
Television's
"gray marble" logo.