Lorimar (Television)
Written and Compiled by Matt A. And Eric Hartman
1st Logo
(1972-1978)
Nickname: "LP"
Logo: On a blank red screen, we see the words "A Lorimar Production" ("Presentation" for movies). A thick white line starts to draw out the letter "L" as the music began to play. Then it turns and goes straight, then wraps around and forms the letter "P", using the bottom of the "L" above to serve as the bottom of the "P". It then stopped at the bottom of, and between the words "Lorimar Production" as the music hit its highest note.
FX/Cheesy Factor: Very simple, rough, 2D animation
Music: An electric piano-type scale is played as the "LP" is formed... going up this scale:
Low C, A, E, F, A, Mid C, E, F, A, High C (hold and fade, leaving an echo)
This ditty was composed by the team of Jack Elliot and Allyn Ferguson. Most ad agencies who arranged and composed jingles for advertisements, also wrote up little jingles for company logos.
Availability: Was seen recently on "Apple's Way" reruns on TV Land, and should be retained on most Lorimar reruns of the era when shown. Recent Waltons reruns shown on TNN, among others, have had either no logo or in a case on the Family Channel, the Lorimar-Telepictures logo. So it's a hard call.
Scare Factor: Minimal, it's doubtful that many were freaked out by this logo.
2nd Logo
(1978-January 1986)
Nicknames: "The Yellow/Orange Line of Doom", "Script", "The Line of Doom"
Logo: Had a black background, with yellowish-orange letter/logo color. This logo was run to the same music as stated below, but the company name was totally animated out this time by a thin line. At the end of "Dallas" or "Knots", the credits fade to black, a few film dust specks and as the music starts to play, the yellow-orange line begins its trip at left center screen. Going down and turning it forms the "L", then makes a loop to form the "O", turns again and goes up, around and diagonally to form the "R" and then back up to form the "I". Another section starts, goes up, diagonally down, diagonally up, then down again to form the "M", then up and down again at angles to form the "A", then finally, up, around, and down diagonally to form the second "R".
Variations: This logo had a couple of variations.
FX: Superb animation/timing
Music: Same, but the scare factor rose anyway
Availability: Rare, was kept when TNN reran "Dallas" a few years back, but isn't reran anymore. Should be seen on most Lorimar shows of the era when reran, as WB is better when preserving logos now.
Scare Factor: High, because this logo was shown on a black background, the space between the end credits and the logo morphed quite well. This gap would last a few sections, and that creepy electric piano chord all adds up to a very dark nature, including that perfect timing.
Lorimar-Telepictures
(January 1986-September 1989)
Early Variant: L-T merged in January of 1986, but because there was no logo made yet, both the Lorimar and Telepictures logos played onscreen, Lorimar above, and Telepictures below that.
Nickname: "L-T"
Logo: Two comet-like streaks with a blueish glow swerve toward each other. As the lines get closer, the ends of each start to gain a red glow. When the lines connect, a red fireworks-type effect flashes/explodes in the background, and the Lorimar-Telepictures logo zooms up rapidly in the center. This logo has both company names in their usual fonts, in white, with a hyphen between them. When the logo has finished zooming out, the red "fireworks" fade into a black background, which yet again, starts to fade to blue.
FX: Swerving lines, the "L-T" logo popping out
Music: The fanfare was arranged and composed by "X-Files" composer, Mark Snow, along with John Parker. This logo was also played with the (then) current Rankin-Bass logo at that time for animated shows, which made it a tad bit scary, but nothing traumatizing.
Music Variant: Very rarely, the original Lorimar music was played with this logo. This was spotted on a recent rerun of Perfect Strangers.
Availability: With WB's saving of old logos, this is becoming more common.
Scare Factor: Pretty low, This was a great logo.
4th Logo
(September 1989-September 1991)
Nicknames: "Marble Background", "CGI", "White Marble", "Marble"
Logo: We start with a white marble background. At about the same time, wave ripples zoom out fomr the center. This causes "LORIMAR" (in black, and familiar design used in previous logos) to be written out, not unlike the 2nd logo. At about the same time the "A" in Lorimar is finished, a shadowed red bar with "TELEVISION" in white, etched in, rotates in below LORIMAR.
Byline: In the later days of this logo, the text "A Time Warner (Entertainment) Company" is seen below, right after the bar zooms out.
FX: The CGI bar rotation, ripple, pretty neat stuff
Music: A relaxing synth driven track with a horn that plays a few notes. There's also some type of wind FX behind the music.
Availability: Uncommon, can still be seen on re-issues of Lorimar shows from the era
Scare Factor: None whatsoever. An excellent logo. A favorite among myself and the CLG members.
5th Logo
(September 1991-September 1994)
Logo: We go back to the yellow-orange "LORIMAR" logo for this, but with the word "Television" below and no animation whatsoever. Seen onscreen with the credits. "A Time Warner Company" is seen below everything else.
FX: None really, seen on end credits
Music: None. The show's end theme played as an announcer said "(Show title) is a (show creator...usually Miller-Boyett Prod) in association with Lorimar Television" (in syndication, the WB Distribution logo followed with the announcer mentioning that as well)
Availability: On this logo can get cut off after the "Miller Boyett" line often, meaning they skip to the "WB Distribution" logo. Full House reruns are pretty decent at keeping this logo.
Scare Factor: None. Unless you play the second logo's animation in your head. :P