Vanity Logos (Part 2)
Next To Last/Baby Way
Productions
(1995-1999)
Logo: In a still picture, we see a black and white picture of Shawn and Marlon Wayans as youngsters. Marlon is looking downward. On top of Shawn are the words Next to Last Productions and on top of Marlon were the words Baby Way Productions. An offscreen voice (supposedly that of Shawn Wayans, of course) says, "Look up Marlon, say cheese!" As he says this, the words In Association With appear at the bottom of the picture
FX: None, this is almost a still logo.
Music: None, just Shawn's soundbyte.
Availability: Was seen on "The Wayans Bros." and should be kept on reruns of the show, which at this point, are only available in syndication in limited markets.
Scare Factor: TBA
NIKNDAPH PRODUCTIONS
(1989-91)
Nickname: "Way to go, Dad!"
Logo: On a white background, we see a pastel drawing of a boy in a blue suit and gray pants, and he has his left arm around a little girl (probably his little sister). In front of the drawing are the words "NiKNDAPH PRODUCTIONS". "NiKNDAPH" is in large, colorful crayon lettering (and the "i" is intentionally lower-cased), while "PRODUCTIONS" is underneath in a small white font.
FX: None, it's a still picture.
Music/Sound: A little boy saying "Way to go, Dad!", followed by a man saying "Okay, thank you", with some clapping and cheering in the background.
Availability: Last seen when USA reran "Doctor, Doctor".
Scare Factor: Low because the voiceovers can catch you off-guard.
Peter Engel Productions
(1989-)
Logo: We see a small, crudely drawn heart on a white background. Below the heart are the words "PETER ENGEL PRODUCTIONS" in a blue Times New Roman font. Both the heart outline and company name are in blue. The heart is colored red, but in a really sloppy way (as if it was done by a little kid). The words "in association with" appear under the logo in a smaller font.
FX: None.
Music: None.
Availability: Appears on "Saved By the Bell" reruns on TBS, "City Guys" and "Last Comic Standing" on NBC, among other teen shows.
Scare Factor: None.
Shady Acres Entertainment
1st Logo
(2002-2004)
Logo: On a white background, we see a picture of a mountain valley landscape with tall grass at sunrise. There is a wooden chair under an oak tree. Under the picture we see the words:
SHADY ACRES
ENTERTAINMENT
in a black Times New Roman font.
FX: None, it's a still logo.
Music: The closing theme of the show.
Availability: Can be seen on "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter" on ABC.
Scare Factor: None
2nd Logo
(2004-)
Nickname: "The Snow Globe"
Logo: On a white shaded background, we see a wooden chair facing a snow globe with a green landscape and a flowing creek inside of it. Underneath the snow globe, and are the words:
SHADY ACRES
in a black Times New Roman font. The chair is in between the two words. Under the words "ACRES" is the small word "ENTERTAINMENT"
FX: There are some clouds in the sky that move inside the globe, and the creek flows. All nice CGI effects.
Music: The closing theme of the show.
Availability: Can be seen on "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter" on ABC.
Scare Factor: None
Starry Night
Productions
(1984-1989)
Nicknames: "GOOM!", "The reason I hate Night Court"
Logo: We start off with a animated
skyline of Chicago, USA, over Lake Michigan, in the night. In the
center, a large, white flash slowly rises. When the flash is near
the top, it explodes and gives way to increasing amounts of stars
in the sky. Shortly after the explosion, the following text
appears:
STARRY NIGHT PRODUCTIONS
In Association With
A laugh is heard at the end, that goes over the WB Shield.
Background: This is the vanity logo of Night Court producer Reinhold Weege, which was dropped in 1989 when he left the series.
FX/Cheesy Factor: Somewhat cheap, undetailed animation and an errie synth chord.
Music/Sound: After the "GOOM!" explosion (which is really more of a a clap-like sound) is heard and everything lights up, an errie electric piano chord is played and we hear evil laughing. The laugh is rumored to be supplied by Mel Blanc, legendary voice actor. The laugh was not used in the 1st season of Night Court.
Availability: Can be seen on Night Court reruns on The Biography Channel.
Scare Factor: High, This logo has scared off nearly everyone who was viewed it, the dark colors, the "GOOM!", errie electric piano chord, and especially the laugh contribute.
Ten Thirteen Productions
(1993-)
Nickname: "I Made This"
Logo: In a blurred, typewriter font, the text "Ten Thirteen Productions" is seen on a black background with "Productions" below "Ten Thirteen". A small child's voice proclaims, "I made this", in which "In Association With" appears below.
Trivia:
FX/Cheesy Factor: The recording quality is a little off, but probably was done purposely.
Music/Sounds: A running filmreel in the background.
Availability: Can be seen on "The X-Files" and "Millennium" reruns.
Scare Factor: Minimal, can be a little creepy, but probably won't kill you.
Tracy Gamble Productions
(January-May 2004)
Note: This is the vanity card for Tracy Gamble, the creator of 8 Simple Rules.
Logo: On a white screen, we see a four-leaf clover with the words "TRACY GAMBLE PRODUCTIONS" underneath.
FX: None, it's still.
Music: Closing theme of the show.
Availability: Rare, only appeared on "8 Simple Rules" for the second half of the 2003-04 season, replacing Flody Suarez's "Flody Co." after he left, up until Tracy Gamble herself left after the end of the season.
Scare Factor: None
UBU Productions
(1982-)
Nicknames: "Sit, Ubu, Sit", "UBU"
Logo: We see a still picture of a black dog (a Black Labrador retriever) holding a frisbee in its mouth, facing to its right. A college dormitory is seen in the background. In a very odd "horseshoe" font, the words "UBU Productions" are seen on the lower left-hand side. An off-screen man (believed to be Gary David Goldberg) says "Sit Ubu sit, good dog". A dog bark is then heard.
Background:
FX/Cheesy Factor: While a still picture, it has grainy picture quality, the "UBU Productions" font on the still looks cheap and ugly, and the sound quality is cassette-like.
Music: None, just Goldberg talking and the dog bark.
Availability: Can still be found on reruns of UBU shows (such Family Ties, Day by Day, Brooklyn Bridge).
Scare Factor: Median, the low-budget picture and sound quality can startle some, the dog looks kinda freaky, considering his eyes do not appear to be open (or they match its skin too well) and Goldberg's voice can be a bit suprising after a jazzy theme song (like that of Family Ties), but it is quite popular and one of the most well-known vanity logos.
View Askew Productions
1st Logo
(1994)
View Askew is Kevin Smith's independent production company.
Logo: On a black background, we see the Miramax Films logo, and then we fade to a grayish-white background. We see a crudely drawn, very fat, and very ugly clown walk across the screen, encounter a small boy playing with a ball, pats him on his head, and then enters one of those cartoon dressing curtain thingies. After a second in there, he steps out-- clad in only pantyhose and a black thong. His body, of course, is not a good sight to behold. He turns around (still has the clown hat and makeup on), and is holding a clapperboard, and is standing next to the boy, perhaps too close (the boy is looking at him strangely). The dressing thingie abruptly tears itself down to reveal "View Askew Productions", arranged quite weirdly.
Trivia: The clown in the logo is still used as a trademark for Kevin Smith's business at viewaskew.com and the clown is named Vulgar.
FX: The animation in the logo.
Cheesy Factor: Really BAD animation, the whole thing is black and white, animated crudely, and the music is low-budget.
Music: Low-budget music that ranges from happy-go-lucky, to vaguely sexy (when we see Thong--clad Clown), to this weird fanfare at the end.
Availability: It's only on one film, and only one film, thank god, "Clerks". Later films favor an in-credit "A View Askew Production". Despite it's subject matter, it was still kept (suprisingly) on FX's print of "Clerks."
Scare Factor: Nightmare. The bad animation, scratchy film, weird fanfare, and generally bizarre and very, very weird subject matter may very well make this one of the scariest recent logos. It's not S From Hell-level, but it WILL definitely scare many people. Thank god this was used on only one film.
2nd Logo
(2000)
Logo: This one's a still black-and-white head shot of the clown from logo 1; this one is less repulsive as a result. Around the clown is a white circle with black outlines; this has "VIEW ASKEW" in it.
FX: None, it's a still logo
Music: No music, the "Clerks" animated series theme plays over this one.
Availability: Seen only on the very, very, VERY short-lived Clerks animated series. However, it is available to buy on video and DVD, so it won't be too hard to snatch up.
Scare Factor: None, it's a neat still logo.
Wass-Stein
(2000s)
Logo: We see a screen with the top half of the screen white, and the bottom half teal. The words "WASS-STEIN" appear at the top right. Vertically aligned at the right of the screen, the years of the TV season (e.g. 2004 2005) are placed at the border of the colors. The earlier year appears on the top in teal, and the latter one appears at the bottom in white.
FX: None, it's a still logo.
Music: A short piano tune combined with some chimes.
Availability: Appears on "Less Than Perfect" on ABC.
Scare Factor: None, the music in this logo goes great with that of the Touchstone Television logo that follows on "Less Than Perfect."
Woltz International Pictures
Corporation
(2000)
Nickname: "Thanks for watchin'!"
Logo: Live action animation; letterboxed on a black bg, we see a rather obese man holding a pineapple (with straws in it and the like), in sunglasses and relaxing poolside. Flanking him are two gorgeous blonde women in bikinis. The man looks at us and says, "Thanks for watchin'!" The girls also look towards the camera and smile. Below the picture are the words "WOLTZ INTERNATIONAL PICTURES CORPORATION", in a white plain font.
Who's That?: The man here is David Mandel, a writer of "Seinfeld" as well as one of the executive producers of "Clerks"
FX: Not much; it's a live-action logo, ala the Cannell logo.
Music: No music, just Mandel uttering his phrase.
Availability: Sadly, it was only on the Clerks animated show; and that lasted for two episodes on ABC. It's on the Clerks:Uncensored DVD though.
Scare Factor: It may unnerve some people, but it's pretty minimal. Definitely will be a favorite of any young male. ;)