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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, Mr. Logo Lord, WizardDuck, and EnormousRat
Editions by V of Doom, mr3urious, Mr. Logo Lord, Logophile, Shadeed A. Kelly and Donny Pearson
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Logofan2006, and Mike Stidham
Background: 20th Century Fox Television (first known as TCF Television Productions, Inc.) was originally founded in 1949 as other studios were branching out into television production as well. In 1955, the company officially began television production. Currently, it's a TV subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation Company.
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: Extremely rare; 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, and the Perry Mason variant can be seen on DVD releases of the said show.
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, it was last seen on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis on Nick At Nite/TV Land, and it is also seen on Adventures in Paradise available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
3rd Logo
(October 1960-1992, 1999)
Nicknames: "The Searchlights", "Zoom-Out", "20th Television Fox", "The Tower of Doom"
Logo: We see the usual film logo animating, then later, the word "TELEVISION" in the same color as the tower slanted at an angle suddenly appears, filling the whole 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/Sounds Variants:
Availability: The 60s and 70s versions are rare and the 1980s versions are uncommon; 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. The Simpsons episodes: "There's No Disgrace Like Home", "Krusty Gets Busted", and "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" have this logo preserved on their DVD releases, and has strangely been spotted on Comedy Central's print of Office Space, but has been plastered over with the 20th Television logo in recent airings due to split screen credits. 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 TV movies on Fox Movie Channel. It is also seen on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978. The 1978 variant is available on the first two episodes of The Fall Guy on the recent season 1 DVD set, while the 1981-92 variant is intact on the remainder of the season. The Magnetic Video print of The Making of Star Wars from 1979 also has this logo. It can also be seen on early season one episodes of In Living Color on DVD. The 1965-1990 and 1988-1992 variants can be found on the Alien Nation series DVD set along with original airings of Capitol Critters on ABC. Check those old tapes!
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"
Logo: On a black background, we see the '80s TCF print logo. Under it is the word "TELEVISION" and a copyright stamp.
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 with the scratchy prints may surprise some, but there's nothing to worry about.
5th Logo
(March 1995- )
Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights", "Zooming Tower", "The Tower of Tepidity"
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. When the logo is finished zooming out, the Registered trademark "®" symbol and the News Corporation byline fades in at the same time.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The logo zooming out.
Music/Sounds: Here are the main variants:
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Very common. Typically found on network programming provided by Fox. Also seen on some CBS (Yes, Dear, Martial Law, Still Standing), NBC (The Pretender, 1997-2000 seasons and the two TV movies) or ABC (The Practice, Boston Legal) shows. May or may not be present in syndicated repeats of network programs, as the 20th TV logo may follow it or plaster it. The still shot version of this logo can be found on Soul Food: The Series on BETJ (whenever Centric or another decides to rebroadcast it). The edited 1997 jingle can be seen on reruns of American Dad and Family Guy reruns on Adult Swim, among others.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
Logo captures by Bob Fish, V of Doom, Eric S., mr3urious, Mr. Logo Lord, WizardDuck, and EnormousRat
Editions by V of Doom, mr3urious, Mr. Logo Lord, Logophile, Shadeed A. Kelly and Donny Pearson
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Logofan2006, and Mike Stidham
Background: 20th Century Fox Television (first known as TCF Television Productions, Inc.) was originally founded in 1949 as other studios were branching out into television production as well. In 1955, the company officially began television production. Currently, it's a TV subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation Company.
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 TCFTV in association with CBS Productions 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: Extremely rare; 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, and the Perry Mason variant can be seen on DVD releases of the said show.
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, it was last seen on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis on Nick At Nite/TV Land, and it is also seen on Adventures in Paradise available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications Archives website.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
3rd Logo
(October 1960-1992, 1999)
Nicknames: "The Searchlights", "Zoom-Out", "20th Television Fox", "The Tower of Doom"
Logo: We see the usual film logo animating, then later, the word "TELEVISION" in the same color as the tower slanted at an angle suddenly appears, filling the whole 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 1935 searchlight logo, the other based on the 1953 searchlight logo, and the later one based on the 1981 searchlight logo.
- 1960-1965: The logo is either in B&W or sepia-toned. We start off with the logo close-up. The camera would back away to make room for the world "TELEVISION" to appear and overlap the world "CENTURY".
- Starting in 1965, the logo would appear in color. The camera doesn't back away from the tower structure. Another version is in B&W.
- From 1960-1987, this logo is filmed; from 1987-1992, it's videotaped.
- In 1978, the Registered trademark "®" 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 early variant of the standard 20th Television logo.
Music/Sounds 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: The 60s and 70s versions are rare and the 1980s versions are uncommon; 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. The Simpsons episodes: "There's No Disgrace Like Home", "Krusty Gets Busted", and "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" have this logo preserved on their DVD releases, and has strangely been spotted on Comedy Central's print of Office Space, but has been plastered over with the 20th Television logo in recent airings due to split screen credits. 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 TV movies on Fox Movie Channel. It is also seen on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978. The 1978 variant is available on the first two episodes of The Fall Guy on the recent season 1 DVD set, while the 1981-92 variant is intact on the remainder of the season. The Magnetic Video print of The Making of Star Wars from 1979 also has this logo. It can also be seen on early season one episodes of In Living Color on DVD. The 1965-1990 and 1988-1992 variants can be found on the Alien Nation series DVD set along with original airings of Capitol Critters on ABC. Check those old tapes!
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", the scary searchlight drawing, and the creepy colors of the sky may cause more than a few scares. The sped-up version made this even worse.
- 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"
Logo: On a black background, we see the '80s TCF print logo. Under it is the word "TELEVISION" and a copyright stamp.
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 with the scratchy prints may surprise some, but there's nothing to worry about.
5th Logo
(March 1995- )
Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights", "Zooming Tower", "The Tower of Tepidity"
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. When the logo is finished zooming out, the Registered trademark "®" symbol and the News Corporation byline fades in at the same time.
Variants:
- An early variant from 1995-1997 featured a slightly darker tower.
- 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. This began in 1997 or so.
- On later seasons of 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. the Registered trademark "®" symbol is already there. The News Corp. byline fades in later. However, some shows still used the 1995 variant until 2009, such as The Simpsons (until February) and Family Guy (until May).
- On the very short-lived 2009 animated sitcom Sit Down, Shut Up, there was a shortened version of the 2007 logo.
FX/SFX: The logo zooming out.
Music/Sounds: Here are the main variants:
- 1995-1997: A re-arranged and re-recorded variant of the 1988 jingle by Bruce Broughton. This one is revamped than the original.
- 1997-: A re-arranged and a re-recorded warp speed variant of the 1961 jingle.
- 2007-: An truncated/altered version of the 1997 film jingle; albeit edited to resemble the 1995-1997 jingle.
- 2009?-: Another truncated variant of the 1997 film jingle, much shorter than the above.
Music/Sounds 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 drum roll 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 is completely and utterly silent.
- A warp speed version of the 1995-1997 theme exists, which is still used on 24.
- Sometimes, only the second half of the theme will play.
- There are many abridged variations of the 1997 jingle.
- There is also a long version of the theme.
- On 1995-1997 episodes of The Simpsons, the 1988 TCFTV logo theme is played.
- On The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XX (2009)," it has the 2007 logo with the 1988 fanfare.
- Same as before, on some co-produced shows, as well as CBS, ABC or NBC shows, a generic theme was used.
Availability: Very common. Typically found on network programming provided by Fox. Also seen on some CBS (Yes, Dear, Martial Law, Still Standing), NBC (The Pretender, 1997-2000 seasons and the two TV movies) or ABC (The Practice, Boston Legal) shows. May or may not be present in syndicated repeats of network programs, as the 20th TV logo may follow it or plaster it. The still shot version of this logo can be found on Soul Food: The Series on BETJ (whenever Centric or another decides to rebroadcast it). The edited 1997 jingle can be seen on reruns of American Dad and Family Guy reruns on Adult Swim, among others.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
- 1995-1997: Low.
- 1997-: Low to medium.
- 2007-: None.
- 2009?-: Minimal.
- None with the 1988 TCFTV logo theme.
- None with the closing and generic themes, depending on the theme.
- None for the silent variant.
Shadeed329 |
Latest page update: made by Shadeed329
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Keyword tags:
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Television
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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. | 1 | Feb 18 2010, 2:03 PM EST 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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| logos2010 | One Of The Most Dangerous Logos I've Ever Seen | 3 | Monday, 10:13 PM EDT by Logophile | ||
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Thread started: Mar 9 2010, 7:47 AM EST
Watch
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.
Only See The Logo If You Like Very Fast Zoom Outs Rank 3/10 |
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| thomasislandthomo | The Current 20th Century Fox Television Logo | 0 | Jul 6 2010, 5:48 AM EDT by thomasislandthomo | ||
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Thread started: Jul 6 2010, 5:48 AM EDT
Watch
Have you seen this logo before, logo fans?
I'm sure i have seen this logo online, when i watched King of the Hill. In Season 9 of the Simpsons, while Krusty the Clown was driving Bart. This logo popped up and kind of surprised me, funny. One more question, have any of you guys watched The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and Futurama before, four american television shows have this logo that says "20th" on there. In Futurama, the logo says "30th" because it takes place in the year 3000. This is thomasislandthomo and i say "good luck on finding more logos on tv" |
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| THELOGOfactory1.12 | Skipped part | 2 | Jul 3 2010, 11:22 AM EDT by Anonymous43 | ||
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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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