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20th Century Fox Television
Logo descriptions by Matt Williams, James Stanley Barr, Nicholas Aczel, and Eric S.
Logo captures by Bob Fish, V of Doom, Eric S., mr3urious, and Mr. Logo Lord
Editions by V of Doom, mr3urious, Mr. Logo Lord, Logophile, and Shadeed A. Kelly
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Logofan2006, and mstidham
Background: 20th Century Fox Television (first known as TCF Television Productions, Inc.) was founded in 1949 as other studios were branching out into television production as well. Nowdays, it's a TV subsidiary of News Corporation.
1st Logo
(1955-1959)
Nicknames: "TCF Tower", "TCF Sunburst"
Logo: A logo similar to the 20th Century Fox logo, except instead of "20th Century Fox", it reads "TCF" and contains an explosion-like shape behind it. Underneath is "PRODUCED BY (in a small font just below the tower) TCF Television Productions, Inc. IRVING ASHER, Executive in Charge of TV Production".
Variants:
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.
Availability: Extinct; seen on Broken Arrow, How to Marry a Millionaire (the series), My Friend Flicka in color, and Man Without a Gun available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1959-September 1960)
Nickname: "Starry Sky"
Logo: We see a backdrop of a night sky covered with stars and clouds. Over this backdrop, we see the following text fade in, not similar to any of their movie logos:
This company name, in bold letters, fades in as if it were streaking from the bottom left of the screen. The "20th" seems to be more to the right of the other text, as displayed here.
Variant: On Adventures in Paradise, this appeared as an opening logo with a fanfare, coupled with the Martin Manulis Productions logo.
FX/SFX: The fading in of the company name.
Music/Sounds: A rearrangement of the Alfred Newman fanfare used on the movie variation, or the opening or closing theme of the show.
Availability: Extremely rare, although it was last seen on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis on Nick At Nite/TV Land, and on Adventures in Paradise available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
3rd Logo
(October 1960-1992)
Nicknames: "The Searchlights", "Zoom-Out", "20th Television Fox", "The Tower of Doom"
Logo: We see the usual film logo animating, then shortly after, the word "TELEVISION" in the same color as the tower, slanted at an angle, suddenly appears, filling the screen. It then rapidly zooms out, plastering itself on top of the "CENTURY" on the stack of words.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The searchlights, the zooming out of "TELEVISION".
Cheesy Factor: The "TELEVISION" appearing and zooming-out looks REALLY choppy and amateurish.
Music/Sounds: Here are the main variations of the famous Alfred Newman jingle:
Music/Sound Variants:
Availability: Fox has replaced this with a newer logo (most likely the 20th Television one), but can still be seen on older prints of a few shows. A few episodes on The Simpsons season 1 and season 3 DVD sets still have it, and has been spotted on Comedy Central's print of Office Space (which is a 1999 movie, so this is really messed up). A similar situation happened on a few episodes of The Pretender when reran on TNT. On VHS, it can also be seen on the Simpsons Christmas special. More recently, the logo has been sighted on several 1970s-'80s made-for-TV movies on Fox Movie Channel. The 1965-1990 and 1988-1992 variants can be found on the Alien Nation series DVD set.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant and familiarity:
Final Note: From 1992-1995, 20th Century Fox Television did not use a proper logo. Instead, the standard 20th Television logo of these years was used. See 20th Television for details on that logo.
4th Logo
(1983-1987)
Nicknames: "The Chryon Searchlights", "Print Searchlights", "Still Searchlights"
Logo: On a black background, we see the '80s TCF print logo. Under it is the word "TELEVISION" and a copyright info.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Probably the ending theme of the show.
Availability: Extinct; was only seen on Dance Fever.
Scare Factor: None to minimal; this logo may surprise some, but there's nothing to worry about.
5th Logo
(March 1995- )
Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights", "Zooming Tower"
Logo: It's exactly the same as the standard 20th Television logo, but now the stack of words has been modified to resemble the standard Fox stack, with "TELEVISION" added to the bottom and the whole thing looking rather taller.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The logo zooming out.
Music/Sounds: Here are the four main variants:
Music/Sound Variants:
Availability: Typically found on network programming provided by Fox. May or may not be present in syndicated repeats of network programs, as the 20th TV logo may cover it up. The alternate variant is seen intact on 1995-1997 episodes of The Simpsons. The still shot version of this logo can be found on Soul Food: The Series on BETJ (whenever the network decides to rebroadcast it). The edited 1997 jingle can be seen on reruns of American Dad and Family Guy reruns on Adult Swim.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
Logo captures by Bob Fish, V of Doom, Eric S., mr3urious, and Mr. Logo Lord
Editions by V of Doom, mr3urious, Mr. Logo Lord, Logophile, and Shadeed A. Kelly
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Logofan2006, and mstidham
Background: 20th Century Fox Television (first known as TCF Television Productions, Inc.) was founded in 1949 as other studios were branching out into television production as well. Nowdays, it's a TV subsidiary of News Corporation.
1st Logo
(1955-1959)
Nicknames: "TCF Tower", "TCF Sunburst"
Logo: A logo similar to the 20th Century Fox logo, except instead of "20th Century Fox", it reads "TCF" and contains an explosion-like shape behind it. Underneath is "PRODUCED BY (in a small font just below the tower) TCF Television Productions, Inc. IRVING ASHER, Executive in Charge of TV Production".
Variants:
- An in-credit text for TCF in association with CBS was seen on early episodes of Perry Mason.
- Sometimes, "PRODUCED BY" would be replaced by "FILMED AT THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS OF".
- In some cases, this logo is superimposed.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.
Availability: Extinct; seen on Broken Arrow, How to Marry a Millionaire (the series), My Friend Flicka in color, and Man Without a Gun available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1959-September 1960)
Nickname: "Starry Sky"
Logo: We see a backdrop of a night sky covered with stars and clouds. Over this backdrop, we see the following text fade in, not similar to any of their movie logos:
20TH
CENTURY-
FOX--------------------------
CENTURY-
FOX--------------------------
This company name, in bold letters, fades in as if it were streaking from the bottom left of the screen. The "20th" seems to be more to the right of the other text, as displayed here.
Variant: On Adventures in Paradise, this appeared as an opening logo with a fanfare, coupled with the Martin Manulis Productions logo.
FX/SFX: The fading in of the company name.
Music/Sounds: A rearrangement of the Alfred Newman fanfare used on the movie variation, or the opening or closing theme of the show.
Availability: Extremely rare, although it was last seen on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis on Nick At Nite/TV Land, and on Adventures in Paradise available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
3rd Logo
(October 1960-1992)
Nicknames: "The Searchlights", "Zoom-Out", "20th Television Fox", "The Tower of Doom"
Logo: We see the usual film logo animating, then shortly after, the word "TELEVISION" in the same color as the tower, slanted at an angle, suddenly appears, filling the screen. It then rapidly zooms out, plastering itself on top of the "CENTURY" on the stack of words.
Variants:
- There are the three main versions of this logo: one based on the earlier searchlight logo, one based on the 1953 searchlight logo, and one based on the 1981 searchlight logo.
- The logo is either in color, B&W, or sepia-toned.
- From 1960-1987, this logo is filmed; from 1987-1992, it's videotaped.
- In the late '70s, the "®" symbol was added to the 1965 logo. On this variant, the image is shifted to the left, but "TELEVISION" remains centered; consequently, the "C" in "CENTURY" can still be seen. It can be found on the first two episodes of The Fall Guy.
FX/SFX: The searchlights, the zooming out of "TELEVISION".
Cheesy Factor: The "TELEVISION" appearing and zooming-out looks REALLY choppy and amateurish.
Music/Sounds: Here are the main variations of the famous Alfred Newman jingle:
- 1960-1964: A shortened variant of the rearranged Alfred Newman fanfare used on the 2nd logo.
- 1961-1969: A short tune played on muted trumpets and strings that is a variation of the jingle, but does not sound exactly like a Fox jingle.
- 1965-1990: Sped-up version of the above.
- 1965-1990: An abridged and slowed-down version of the film jingle.
- 1988-1992: Extremely short version of the 1981 Fox jingle, later used for the standard 20th Television logo.
Music/Sound Variants:
- In some cases, it used only the closing theme of the show, or none.
- On some co-produced shows of the era, a generic theme was used.
Availability: Fox has replaced this with a newer logo (most likely the 20th Television one), but can still be seen on older prints of a few shows. A few episodes on The Simpsons season 1 and season 3 DVD sets still have it, and has been spotted on Comedy Central's print of Office Space (which is a 1999 movie, so this is really messed up). A similar situation happened on a few episodes of The Pretender when reran on TNT. On VHS, it can also be seen on the Simpsons Christmas special. More recently, the logo has been sighted on several 1970s-'80s made-for-TV movies on Fox Movie Channel. The 1965-1990 and 1988-1992 variants can be found on the Alien Nation series DVD set.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant and familiarity:
- 1960-1964: Medium, due to the zooming-out effect and the fanfare.
- 1961-1982: High to nightmare for those unfamiliar with it; the scary jingle combined with the sudden zoom-out of the "TELEVISION" and scary searchlight drawing may cause more than a few scares. The sped-up version made this nightmare.
- 1982-1990: Medium to high; the jingle and the zoom-out may cause some scares but the drawing is now tamer and slightly less scary.
- 1988-1992: Low to medium, thanks to the 1988 jingle, being it less scary than the original counterpart.
- Low to medium with the closing and generic themes, depending on the theme.
- Low bordering on medium for the silent variant.
Final Note: From 1992-1995, 20th Century Fox Television did not use a proper logo. Instead, the standard 20th Television logo of these years was used. See 20th Television for details on that logo.
4th Logo
(1983-1987)
Nicknames: "The Chryon Searchlights", "Print Searchlights", "Still Searchlights"
Logo: On a black background, we see the '80s TCF print logo. Under it is the word "TELEVISION" and a copyright info.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Probably the ending theme of the show.
Availability: Extinct; was only seen on Dance Fever.
Scare Factor: None to minimal; this logo may surprise some, but there's nothing to worry about.
5th Logo
(March 1995- )
Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights", "Zooming Tower"
Logo: It's exactly the same as the standard 20th Television logo, but now the stack of words has been modified to resemble the standard Fox stack, with "TELEVISION" added to the bottom and the whole thing looking rather taller.
Variants:
- On Futurama, the logo is altered to read "30th Century Fox Television", as that show is set in the 31st Century.
- On the short-lived sitcom Andy Richter Controls the Universe, the words "In Association With" below the News Corporation byline fade in at the same time as the News Corporation byline.
- On shows featured in widescreen/high definition, the sky background is more blue, with the searchlights looking less realistic than those in the standard version.
- On Soul Food, there is a still version of this logo.
- In 2007, starting with Drive, the logo was given a more "enhanced" look, with the effects looking more realistic.
- Most shows switched to the enhanced version, though The Simpsons used the 1995 version until February 2009, and Family Guy still uses the 1995 version.
- On the very short-lived 2009 animated sitcom Sit Down, Shut Up, there was a shortened version of the 2007 logo. This version is silent.
FX/SFX: The logo zooming out.
Music/Sounds: Here are the four main variants:
- 1995-1997: A re-arranged and re-recorded variant of the 1988 jingle by Bruce Broughton.
- 1995-1997 (Alternate): The remastered 1988 jingle.
- 1997-: A re-arranged and a re-recorded warp speed variant of the 1961 jingle.
- 2007-: The current jingle that is edited from 1997 recording of the studio fanfare, with 0:07-0:09 of the fanfare leading into 0:12 of the fanfare.
Music/Sound Variants:
- Fox network commonly uses their own fanfare over logos, due to generic credits; due to the fact that much Fox programming is produced by Fox, these fanfares go well with this logo. From 1997-2001, a simple Fox drumroll was used; the 2001-2002 season introduced different "remixes" of the Fox fanfare, usually only using the final four notes. Many of them were done by a California-based company named Groove Addicts.
- In exceptional cases, it used only the closing theme of the show, or none.
- A warp speed version of the 1995 theme exists.
- Sometimes, only the second half of the theme will play.
- There is also a long version of the theme.
- Same as before, on some co-produced shows, a generic theme was used.
Availability: Typically found on network programming provided by Fox. May or may not be present in syndicated repeats of network programs, as the 20th TV logo may cover it up. The alternate variant is seen intact on 1995-1997 episodes of The Simpsons. The still shot version of this logo can be found on Soul Food: The Series on BETJ (whenever the network decides to rebroadcast it). The edited 1997 jingle can be seen on reruns of American Dad and Family Guy reruns on Adult Swim.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
- 1995-1997: Low.
- 1995-1997 (Alternate): None.
- 1997-: Low to medium.
- 2007-: None.
- None with the closing and generic themes, depending on the theme.
- None for the silent variant.
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Keyword tags:
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Television
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TCF Television Productions Inc
More Info: links to this page
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| Shadeed329 | About the 1982 TCFTV animation and theme. | 0 | Jun 18 2009, 1:05 AM EDT by Shadeed329 | ||
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Thread started: Jun 18 2009, 1:05 AM EDT
Watch
Okay, I already know how the 1988 version works, but I need to know the year variants of which the logo theme plays on the animation
For example: I know when the last 4 notes plays when the word "TELEVISION" appears and zooms out. But I don't know the year variant. Another one is: The 5th note of the theme is when "TELEVISION" appears and zooms out, but I don't know the year of that variant. |
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| THELOGOfactory1.12 | What about the remixfanfare? | 0 | Aug 5 2009, 4:16 PM EDT by THELOGOfactory1.12 | ||
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Thread started: Aug 5 2009, 4:16 PM EDT
Watch
Was'nt there a remix of the TCFTV Fanfare? It was used on an "American Dad" episode.
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| THELOGOfactory1.12 | Skipped part | 0 | Jul 6 2009, 7:44 PM EDT by THELOGOfactory1.12 | ||
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Thread started: Jul 6 2009, 7:44 PM EDT
Watch
On "The Simpsons" episode "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe", we started at the beginning (in fullscreen), but abrubtly skipped to the end (In widescreen.)
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| Logophile | 80s FOX TV LOGO ON MR. BELVEDERE | 3 | Apr 10 2009, 10:21 PM EDT by vnisanian2001 | ||
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Thread started: Apr 9 2009, 11:10 AM EDT
Watch
I'm not sure, but I heard somewhere that the 1980s Fox TV logo is on Mr. Belvedere DVD set. I don't know who released it, but it's not Fox's standard home entertainment division. If someone finds the DVD set, please, confirm it!
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