Compiled by Jason Jones, James Fabiano, Matt Williams, Ryan Mead, and Michael Bode
Images by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S. and others
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of ChadODell and Eric S.


Background: Columbia Pictures Television (CPT) was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems (SG), being changed on September 4, 1974. On June 29, 2001, Columbia Pictures Television was folded into Columbia TriStar Television. Currently the division is known as Sony Pictures Television.


1st Logo
(1974-1976)

Nicknames: "CPT Pretzel", "CPT", "The Pretzel"

Logo: Against a red background, the letters "C-P-T" appear one by one. They are all yellow, and as the picture moves outward, each initial appears on screen. The "T" is in the middle of and on a higher plane than the "C" and "P," which slide upwards diagonally to merge with the "T" to form a stylized logo, which looks like a pretzel. On either side of the logo's stem are the words "COLUMBIA" and "PICTURES," and below that "TELEVISION." Under all that is the message, "A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES INC."

FX: The letters appearing, screen backing away, the letters "combining."

Cheesy Factor: Animation that looks about as rough as its predecessor, the S From Hell. The design also looks somewhat rushed, leading many to believe that this may be a placeholder logo.

Music/Sounds: For the first year, it used an abridged version of the Screen Gems '65-'74 theme. The three opening notes bring forth the three initials in the logo, and appear to be played faster than on the SG version. For the second year, the same music was heard being played on an organ.

Availability: Extinct, the only recent sighting of this logo was on an airing of Police Story on Black Starz! years ago. The second version has only appeared on the TV movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case.

Scare Factor: Medium; if it was as well known as SG '65-'74, it would probably not be well liked because of the presence of that music. Low for the second version, the organ music used sounds less scarier. Both are otherwise tame compared to the "S from Hell" logo.



2nd Logo
(1976-1982)

Nickname: "Sunburst"

Logo: We see a bright torch light, as if in sunburst, appear against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch light: an orange or red half circle, or a semicircle, with thirteen white rays in the center and the words "Columbia Pictures Television" under it. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out. This logo is actually the second half of the 1975-1981 Columbia Pictures movie logo, and aside from a different color for the abstract torch, the footage also seems to be played faster than it is in the movies.
Variants:

• There is a weird "glowing" version of the logo.
• It is rumored that "A Unit of the Coca-Cola Company" was seen at some point on the Sunburst logo. Many members of the CLG have thought they saw the Coca-Cola info at some point, but no video evidence has been found yet. The dates are quite questionable, and Coca-Cola may have used the Sunburst for distribution only. It is said that this was used on What's Happening!! reruns in 1985 and spring 1982 episodes of The Young and the Restless.

FX: The sunburst shrinking and turning into the abstract torch. Nice effects, but are even better when combined with the Torch Lady in the movies.

Music/Sounds: The television theme is a variation of the theatrical inspirational music. Was also written by Suzanne Ciani. Some people find it appropriate for the company that would be owned by Coca-Cola, as the effects in the song resemble the sound of pouring and fizzing soda.

Music/Sound Variants:

• Some syndicated showings of this logo have a shorter version of the music, only playing the second half.
• In exceptional cases, it used the closing theme of the show.

Availability: Near extinction. As with other Columbia logos, it will be hard to find because of the editing habits of Sony. It did turn up at the end of the TV movie A Killing Affair on Encore back in 2006, but has not been shown since then.

Scare Factor: Low; this was/is a favorite of many.



3rd Logo
(1982-1993)

Nicknames: "'80s Torch Lady", "Coke Bottle Torch Lady"

Logo: We see the then-current Columbia Pictures logo, the lady holding a light torch on top of a pedestal, in her 1981-1993 incarnation, almost resembling Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The words "Columbia Pictures" appear on either side of the torch lady, the word "Television" underneath, and underneath that, either "A UNIT OF THE Coca-Cola COMPANY" (with "Coca-Cola" in their logo font) or sometimes nothing at all. The woman's torch "shines" after the music ends. Many shows stopped using this logo in 1992, although The Young and the Restless continued to use the blue/ivory logo until 1993.

Variants: There are several versions of this logo, namely in bylines, company name, and animation:

• 1982-1987: Gold company name, byline is "A UNIT OF THE Coca-Cola COMPANY" with "Coca-Cola" in its familiar logo font.
• 1982-1987: Gold company name (alternate with no byline).
• 1985: Gray alternate 1982 logo.
• 1986-1987: Gold company name, smaller Coca-Cola byline with "Coca-Cola" in its familiar logo font.
• 1986-1987: Gold company name, normal Coca-Cola byline, dark and muddy Torch Lady, little shining animation.
• 1987-1991: Blue/ivory company name as seen in the movies, byline is changed to "A Unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc." (network version, 1987; syndication prints have "Distributed by" on top in 1988).
• 1987-1991: Blue/gold company name, Columbia Pictures Entertainment byline, animated.
• 1988-1991: Purple/gold (alternate 1988 network logo).
• 1991-1992: Blue/gold and purple/gold company name, no byline, animated.
• 1991-1993: Blue/ivory company name, no byline (network version; syndication prints have "Distributed by" on top from 1991-1992). On Days of our Lives, there was a phrase "In Association With" above the logo used from 1991-1992.
• There is also a B&W Rendition of this logo to plaster Screen Gems logo on classic shows.
  

Bylines:

• 1982-1987: "A UNIT OF THE Coca-Cola COMPANY".
• 1987-1991: "A Unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.".
• For television distribution, the logo had the words "Distributed by" over the Torch Lady.
• "In Association With" was also seen over the Torch Lady on some shows produced in association with other companies.
  

FX: The Lady's torch "shining".

Music/Sounds:

• From 1982-1987, a shortened, slightly higher pitched version of the Sunburst music was used by Suzanne Ciani. The 1976 version was also used on this logo for a long version.
• Around November/December 1987, when the byline changed from Coca-Cola to CPE, the music was changed to a 6-note horn-driven jingle mixed with twinkles composed by Tim Thompson. Also consider that Columbia's logo editing habits were so sloppy during this era that sometimes this logo was plastered over a Screen Gems or Embassy Television logo with the original logo's music still intact.

Music/Sound Variants: On Married... with Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes: Volume 2, at the end of the episode "A Man's Castle", the 1993 music from the fifth logo (see below) is heard. On the season 4 DVD set of Punky Brewster, at the end of the episode, "The Nun's Story", the short Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme is used in the 1982 CPT logo.

Availability: Near extinction. Most of these logos have been plastered by the Columbia TriStar and/or Sony Pictures Television logos, but it just might pop up on some older prints of shows. It can still be found on some episodes of Designing Women on TV Land (followed by SPT). It was also recently spotted when Chiller aired reruns of the short-lived series Werewolf. When USA reran My Two Dads years ago, this logo was intact on most episodes. Comedy Central's print of the movie Hairspray used the 7th variation listed in the opening (w/the 87-93 jingle). Local reruns would have the 1988 Distributor logo on several Good Times episodes. This can also been seen at the beginning of Village of the Giants when it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as Mike, Crow and Tom Servo were entering the theater. The 1982 logo can be seen on most episodes on the season 4 DVD release of Punky Brewster from Shout! Factory while the1987 and 1991 logos can be found on Married... with Children: The Most Outragous Episodes Volumes 1 & 2.

Scare Factor: It depended on the music used:

• 1982-1987: Low with the "sunburst" music; the music and the Mona Lisa torch lady don't mix, but most will not mind.
• 1987-1993: Low to medium; the loud music/dark background combination might startle some people.

4th Logo
(1992-1998)

Logo: It's a custom in-credit CPT logo only used for Beakman's World. We have the Torch Lady in white with the words "Columbia Pictures Television Distribution" in Souvenir font (later Bank Gothic MD BT font in 1993) under the Torch Lady. Underneath that is the phrase "In Association With".

Variants:

• 1992-1993: The 1981 Torch Lady with the sunburst behind her.
• 1993-1998: The 1992 Torch Lady with a cloud BG placed inside a box.

FX: None; it's a superimposed in-credit logo.

Music/Sounds: The end title theme of Beakman's World.

Availability: Only commonplace on Beakman's World on syndicated and international prints, and on Univision. The first variant is also seen on The Best of Beakman's World on VHS and DVD.

Scare Factor: None whatsoever.



5th Logo
(1992-2001)
Nicknames: "'90s Torch Lady", "Majestic Torch Lady"

Logo: We see a still picture of the standard Columbia Pictures logo, a lady (Columbia, a representation of the USA, modeled by actress Jenny Joseph; some think it looks like Annette Benning) holding a light torch on top of a pedestal. The word "COLUMBIA" appears in giant chiseled silver letters behind her at the very top, similar to the classic Columbia Pictures logo from 1936-1975. Underneath the lady are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION," or, until 1998, "COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" and underneath that, the byline "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company." The Young and the Restless did not begin using this logo until 1993.

Variants:

• On Beakman's World there is a yellow-orange CGI rocket which flies clockwise around the Torch Lady and makes its way to the center of the Torch Lady.
• There is a black & white variation that was used to plaster Screen Gems logos on classic shows.

FX: None; it's a still logo. Except when it fades out, the name along with the byline below dims out and later fades out completely.

Music/Sounds: Depending on the variant:

• From 1992-1993, the 1987 music from logo 3 was used.
• Starting in 1993, a 6-note majestic tune is heard; full of brass instruments compsed by Dave Grusin. For the black & white and color versions of CPTD, they sometimes used a warped version of the 1993 theme.
• In other cases, the ending theme of the show plays over it.
• There is a silent version of the logo.

Music/Sound Variants: On The Greatest '70s Cop Shows, the short Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme was heard on the pilot of Police Woman and the long Columbia TriStar Television Distribution theme on the pilot of Starsky & Hutch. The short-lived series Ivanhoe, used the second half of this logo.

Availability: Uncommon. Available on DVD releases of All in the Family, Good Times, and Sanford and Son complete first seasons. Also on Married... with Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes and The Greatest '70s Cop Shows. On television, it appears on several final season episodes of Designing Women and several 1998 episodes of Just Shoot Me! both on TV Land. Also on local stations, it's spotted on a majority of Good Times reruns. The CPTD logo can also be found on the 1987 movie Withnail & I on the Showtime Networks. As for the Beakman's World variation, it survives in reruns on Univision (followed by SPT) and The Best of Beakman's World on VHS and DVD, but the SPT logo plasters it over on local TV airings. The black & white version appeared on I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched, but is now extinct.

Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:

• 1992-1993: Minimal because the 1987 theme is still there, but a bit tamer.
• 1993-2001: None.

Final Note: Columbia TriStar Television took over for then-current shows formerly ending with this logo by 2001, though the copyright holder at the end of each show would credit "Columbia Pictures Television, Inc." or "CPT Holdings, Inc." until 2002, shortly after the release of the Sony Pictures Television logo. However, "CPT Holdings, Inc." is still being used today as the copyright holder of TheYoung and the Restless and old incarnations from their television library such as What's Happening!!, The New $100,000 Pyramid, and others.