Warner Bros. Television

Written and Compiled by Jason Jones

1st Logo
(1955-1967)

Nickname: "WB Shield"

Logo: A superimposed rendition of the infamous Warner Bros. shield logo, minus the banner that usually reads "Warner Bros. Pictures". There is no company name on screen.

FX: None, it was superimposed on credits

Music: None, unless you want to count the show's closing theme

Availability: Most classic shows should have this logo, as it was superimposed.

Scare Factor: Minimum, not much to worry about here

2nd Logo
(1967-1969)

Nickname: "WB-7" or "W7"

Logo: A superimposed stylized-shield, with a combination of a W and a 7, representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

FX: None, another superimposed concoction

Music: None or closing theme

Availability: Is quite rare, last seen on "The FBI," "The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Show" and various Black and White Looney Tunes color remakes. Should be seen more as WB is preserving more logos

Scare Factor: Minimum, the W7 may have actually looked a bit tamer than it's predecessor.

3rd Logo
(1970-1971)

Nicknames: "The Kinney Shield", "Shield Stretch"

Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB 60s movie posters) in a golden color with a dark brownish color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, reading "A Kinney Services Company". The words "Warner Bros. Television Presents" appears underneath the logo.

FX: Again, no animation present

Music: None or closing theme

Availability: Rare; appeared for a short time on TV. "The F.B.I" is one of the few shows that had this logo.

Scare Factor: Some may be a bit started by the strange-looking shield, but is pretty harmless.

4th Logo
(Spring 1972)

Nickname: "Early WCI Shield"

Logo: Standard shield logo over a navy blue background, with the word "TELEVISION" over the banner, and "A Warner Communications Company" underneath.

Resemblence?: This logo looks quite similar to the current "Warner Bros. Television Animation" logo seen on Cartoon Network and Kids' WB.

FX: None, unless you like to count fade-ins from credits

Music: None, as we are expecting

Availability: Very hard to find as it appeared for quite a short time on TV. Was found on a tape of the pilot for "Kung Fu"

Scare Factor: Low, but the copy of "Kung Fu" that has been circulated has a somewhat creepy oriental-ish stinger to it, so it's hard to say.

5th Logo
(September 1972-1984)

Nicknames: The Big "W", (\\')

Logo: A white abstract W consisting of two slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle design inside a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, over a red background. The words "Warner Bros. Television" is at the top, while "A Warner Communications Company" is at the bottom. The typeface for the company name is in white Handel Gothic font.

Variants/Distribution:

  • The syndication logo originally had the words "Distributed by" over the byline "Warner Bros. Television" in the early years.
  • The syndication logo was later referred to as "Warner Bros. Television Distribution."
  • The bylines appear in shadow mode during the 1980s.
  • There is a television version resembling the opening movie logo. It was recently seen on the original 1974 Wonder Woman TV Movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby on Sci-Fi Channel.

FX: None, I think you see where this is going

Music: Usually shown with music from the show fading out.

Availability: Can be seen on shows currently on the Sci-Fi Channel and Pax TV.

Scare Factor: None

6th Logo
(1984-2005)

Nicknames: "The WB Shield", "Shield of Staleness"

Logo: Over a set of clouds, the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" above the shield, and the owner byline at the bottom.

Variations:

First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:

  • 1984-1990: Referred to as "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY"
  • 1990-1992: Referred to as "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
  • 1992-2001: Referred to as "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
  • February 2001: Referred to as "An AOL Time Warner Company", with most letters in lower case.
  • Fall 2003: Coinciding with the renaming of "AOL Time Warner" back to "Time Warner," this logo appears without any byline whatsoever.  This is done as all of the WB divisions are organized as "Warner Bros. Entertainment" under Time Warner.

Next, we have a few general logo variations. First, the network variations, along with dates in which they were used:

  • 1984-1995: The WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" on top, the owner byline at the bottom.
  • 1994-1997, 1999-January 2001: The words "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" is removed from above the shield and now appears inside the shield banner, and the company byline appears under another typeface.
  • January-December 1998: Same as the standard movie logo at the time, with the words "75 Years Entertaining the World" across both sides of the WB Shield (reading simply "WARNER BROS." or "WARNER BROS. PICTURES") and a darker background. A wind blowing type of sound was also used for this logo.
  • Fall 2000-January 2001: The logo has a slightly different cloud background, a bit better defined. The shield logo has an up to date banner inscription, still reading "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" across. The byline (reverted back to its first typeface) is higher now, to make room for a small www.warnerbros.com below.
  • February 2001: The logo is now a TV rendition of their current movie logo. The background is darker, the shield logo still reads "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" across and the small www.warnerbros.com below the byline remains intact.

Now here are the syndication variations of the logo, along with dates in which they were used:

  • 1984-2000: The WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" on top, and the word "DISTRIBUTION" below that byline.
  • 1993-2001: The same as the previous variation, but this time, the words appear as "WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION", the the first three words overlapping the other two.
  • 1994-1997, 1999-2000: Most cable TV shows will have "WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC PAY TV, CABLE & NETWORK FEATURES" on top (some without music).
  • 1994-1996: Some off-network shows would have a combo of the logo bylines. It appears as "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" at first, then fades to "WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" soon afterward. This logo variant still had the words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" in the shield banner.
  • 1984-1996: The banner reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES".
  • 1994-2001: The banner reads "WARNER BROS." on most first-run and non-WB shows.
  • 1996-2000: The banner reads "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" on most off-network WB shows.
  • 1998: Same as the standard movie logo at the time, with the words "75 Years Entertaining the World" across both sides of the WB Shield (reading simply "WARNER BROS." or "WARNER BROS. PICTURES") and a darker background. A wind blowing type of sound was also used for this logo.
  • 2000-2001: This logo is much like its network TV counterpart, and includes either "DISTRIBUTED BY" or "PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY" above the shield logo and a small www.warnerbros.com below the byline appears.
  • January 29, 2001-March 2001: This shortest new logo has yet another different cloud background. It has a bit better defined WB shield logo with an updated banner inscription, like that of the Warner Bros. Classic/Television Animation version. The words "Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" reappear above the shield logo with the new byline below it. The company URL is temporarily removed.
  • February 16, 2001 (approx.)-: The logo is now a TV rendition of their current movie logo. The background is darker, and once again the shield logo reads "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" across. Like the Fall 2000 logo, this one includes either "Distributed by" or "Produced and Distributed by" above the shield logo and the small www.warnerbros.com below the byline reappears.

Syndie Voiceovers: Here is a list of the stars that did the voiceover and the production company stated for early-mid 90s shows that were syndicated by Warner Bros. Basically, the spiels are what we have listed here, but also add ".....and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" to each of these parts so you can get the full experience.

  • Full House, Dave Couiler (as Joey Gladstone): Full House is produced by Jeff Franklin Productions with Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar Television (1987-1993 episodes), Warner Bros. Television (1993-94 eps)
  • Family Matters, Reginald VelJohnson (as Carl Winslow): Family Matters is a Miller Boyett Production in association with Lorimar Television (1989-1993 eps), Warner Bros. Television (1993-94 eps)
  • Head of the Class, Leslie Bega (Maria Borges): Head of the Class is a Eustis-Elias Production in association with Warner Bros. Television
  • Perfect Strangers, Mark Linn-Baker (Larry Appleton): Perfect Strangers is a Miller-Boyett Production in association with Lorimar Television
  • Growing Pains, Kirk Cameron (Mike Seaver): Growing Pains is a Guntzelman-Sullivan-Marshall Production in association with Warner Bros. Television
  • Murphy Brown, Charles Kimbrough (Jim Dial): Murphy Brown is a Shukovsky-English Production in association with Warner Bros. Television
  • Fun House, announcer John "Tiny" Hurley: Fun House is a Stone Television Production in association with and is distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures! Ooh.
  • Alf, Brian Cummings (not on the show, an announcer): Alf is an Alien Production

FX: None in particular, as the logo was still, very very few WB TV logos had any sort of animation

Cheesy Factor: The Cable-Pay TV logo has a bad fade-in compared to other logos added more smoothly. Also, the design of the first AOL Time Warner logo has been considered quite ugly and can be an eyesore to look at, says viewers.

Music: Usually shown with the outro of any theme music from its respective TV show. A 7-note loud horn theme with a drum cresendoing throughout was added in 1994. This was replaced in 2003 with a short version of the 1998 WB theme, an abridged version of "As Time Goes By" from the classic WB film Casablanca.

Availability: Still appears on various WB TV shows on TNT, TBS, TNN with original (at the time) company info. The 1998 logo is uncommon, and can be found on syndicated episodes of "Friends" and "Two of A Kind" on Fox Family. The 2000 WB logo is considered rare, as it has appeared for a short time before Time Warner's merger with America Online. The first AOL Time Warner logo is somewhat hard to find as it appeared for quite a short time on TV's "Extra" and "Access Hollywood." The current logo is brand new, so be on the lookout for it on TV.

Scare Factor: None, unless an uncommon glitch with music or placement shows up.

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