Columbia TriStar TelevisionThis is a featured page

Logo descriptions by Jason Jones, James Fabiano, Matt Williams, Ryan Mead, and Michael Bode
Logo captures and editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile, and others
Video captures courtesy of lukej0268, lexingtonboy, JohnnyL80, mcydodge919, and timduncan21spursfan


Background: Columbia TriStar Television was a merger of Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television (after branding Columbia TriStar Home Video). It was founded in 1994 after taking over Merv Griffin Enterprises, and used a logo since the inception, being renamed and rebranded as Sony Pictures Television in 2002.


1st Logo
(1994-2000)
Columbia TriStar Television (1994)

Nicknames: "CT Boxes", "CGI Boxes"

Logo: On a solid blue background, we see two boxes, the left one contains the Columbia Torch Lady (90s version), and the right one contains the TriStar Pegasus (again, 90s version over Columbia cloud BG). Above the logo, "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" is seen, with the words positioned over their respective logos, and on the bottom is the word "TELEVISION" and the standard Sony Pictures Entertainment byline.

Variant: A rare variant just like the 1996 logo. Charlie O'Donnell says "Columbia TriStar Television" over the fanfare. This is also presumably done to blend in with the spiel at the end of the program and cover up the end reference to King World.

Announcer Variants: From 1994-1996, there were different announcements over the logo and fanfare.
  • Wheel of Fortune (Charile O'Donnell) (1994-1995) (on the Wheel of Fortune/Califon card with the drumroll) Wheeeeel of Fortune is produced by (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television! (on the King World logo) Distributed by King World!; (Early to summer 1995) Created by Merv Griffin. (On the Wheel of Fortune/Califon card with the drumroll) Wheel of Fortune is produced by (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television! (on the King World logo) Distributed by King World. (Fall 1995-1996) This is Charile O'Donnell speaking. Wheel of Fortune was created by Merv Griffin. (Later turns to the Wheel of Fortune/Califon card with drumroll by a page flipping effect. O'Donnell would sometimes announce on this card) (On CTT logo) Produced by, Columbia TriStar Television. (On the 1990 King World logo with the theme) Distributed by King World. (Johnny Gilbert) (November 1995) (on the Wheel of Fortune/Califon card with the drumroll) Wheeeeel of Fortune was created by Merv Griffin! (on the CTT logo) Produced by Columbia TriStar Television! (on the 1990 King World logo) Distributed by King World!
  • Jeopardy! (Johnny Gilbert) (1994-1995): (On the credits) This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. (Later turns to the Jeopardy! title card) (on the CTT logo) Jeopardy! is a production of Columbia TriStar Television. (on the 1990 King World logo) Distributed by King World; (1995-1996): (On the credits) This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Jeopardy! was created by Merv Griffin. (on the Jeopardy! title card) Produced by (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television. (on the 1990 King World logo) Distributed by King World.
This was the time when both game shows were taken over by Columbia TriStar Television.

Trivia: This is basically Columbia TriStar's home video logo, but "HOME VIDEO" is edited out to put "TELEVISION" in, the background is solid blue, both boxes have a black boarder instead of a gold boarder, and a Sony byline is added.

FX/SFX: None. Other times, just a simple fade in and fade out.

Music/Sounds: A re-arranged version of the infamous CPT '93 theme done by Steven Kaplan. On the VHS promo for Godzilla: The Series, it's silent, except for non-U.S. releases that carries the logo theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: Starting in the 1997-1998 season, the logo would fade off when the last note is playing.

Availability: Actually quite rare; appeared on GSN up until their infamous "Dark Period", then was replaced with the current logo. It was spotted on Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune (both until 1997), Men in Black: The Series (until 2000), Channel Umptee-3, Jumanji: The Series, several S1 episodes of Godzilla: The Series, and some network shows. Generally during this time, however, whatever logos the shows were always using were used; C-Tmania did not start until 1997. Was last seen back in 2002 on reruns of Men in Black: The Series on Nickelodeon's short-lived "SLAM!" block. It can also be found on VHS releases of the 1998 movie Godzilla on a Godzilla: The Series promo. Was also last seen on several season 4 of Early Edition on FamilyNet and Malcolm & Eddie from 1999-2000. When GSN reran the 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 seasons of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune over a decade ago, this logo was plastered by the 1996 CTT logo and keeping the voiceovers intact.

Scare Factor: None; you either love it or hate it.



2nd Logo
(1996-2003)
Columbia-TriStar Television - CLG WikiCTTD: 1996 (B&W)CTTD: 1996-bCTTD: 1996-2001
Columbia TriStar Television (2001) (Full Screen)CTT: 2001-2002CTDT: 2001 (B&W)CTDT: 2001-2002
CTDT: 2001-bCTDT: 2001-2003



Nicknames: "CT Boxes II", "The Sliding Boxes", "The Boxes of Boredom"

Logo: We start out with a background of clouds (which happens to be a lighter conception of the 1993 CTHV logo intro). A square with the Columbia Torch Lady in it fades in, and slides to the left, revealing a box with the TriStar Pegasus, which slides to the right. The words "COLUMBIA TRISTAR" appear above the boxes and "TELEVISION", "TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION", or "DOMESTIC TELEVISION" on the bottom with "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" below everything else.

Variants:
  • On some Game Show Network reruns (mostly old episodes of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune), Charlie O'Donnell says "Columbia TriStar Television" over the fanfare. This is presumably done to blend in with the spiel at the end of the program and cover up the end reference to King World.
  • There is another version where a darker box zooms back and then splits to form the logo. This version was seen on Walker, Texas Ranger and Seinfeld.
  • A silent version existed for the short version of CTTD.
  • A strange variant was featured on Spain on a television broadcast of the theatrical film Torrente: El Brazo Tonto de la Ley, on which this logo was silent, and said "DISTRIBUIDO POR COLUMBIA TRISTAR FILMS DE ESPAÑA, S.A"., with the Sony byline also in spanish. The DVD version doesn't retain this version, so it's a hard call.
  • The company name was changed entirely to Columbia TriStar Domestic Television in 2001. The logo was also expanded in ratio size in observance to High Definition programming. This version has been nicknamed "Enhanced Boxes of Boredom". An early variant of this doesn't feature "DOMESTIC" underneath.
  • There also was a variant featuring an "in association with" on the top left corner of the logo on CTTD.
  • There's also a black & white variant.

FX/SFX: The boxes sliding.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Music/Sound Variants:
  • Sometimes a shorter version of the jingle is used, only about the second half of the long version. This version of the music sounds like a reorchestration and not a truncation of the regular logo. This is mostly seen on the "TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" variation of the logo.
  • On some TriStar produced shows (especially Mad About You and Early Edition) the ending of the original TriStar movie theme from 1992-1993 or even TriStar's '93-'99 television theme was played. This was started in 1997.
  • The 1987 CPT theme was also heard on this logo on several Three Stooges shorts part of Stooge TV on The Family Channel. Short version of CTTD only.
  • The 1993 CPT theme was also heard on the 2001 CTT logo only on Phantom Investigators.
  • On several 2001-2002 episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures, there was a high and a low tone included based on the theme song.
  • On Married... with Children: The Most Outrageous Episodes: Volume 2, at the end of the episode If Al Had a Hammer, the Sony Pictures Television music is heard.
  • In other cases, the ending theme of the show plays over it.

Availability: Common, but not very common as in years past. With this outfit being changed to the Sony name, it will no longer appear on new prints of classic Sony-owned shows or those in production. However, this logo is still not hard to spot, although it's mainly on near-recent prints of shows reran on cable, like All in the Family, The Jeffersons, several Sanford and Son episodes and majority Just Shoot Me! episodes on TV Land including Walker Texas Ranger on Sleuth, the first season of The Guardian on Sleuth, 1998-2002 episodes of Dawson's Creek on The N, 1999-2001 eps. of Dragon Tales on PBS Kids and PBS Kids Sprout, occasionally on Sony owned programs on GSN like Russian Roulette and seasons 1-5 of Hollywood Squares. However, the CTDT logos can also be seen on season 2 DVD releases of All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Good Times, and The Jeffersons and a couple episodes on the season 4 DVD release of Punky Brewster among others. CTTD or CTDT can also be spotted on several Sony classic movies on TCM occasionally. As for the high and low tones, they're extinct and were last seen on most season 2 episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures when it was reran on Cartoon Network. CTTD can be found on Sleepless in Seattle and The Quick and the Dead on TBS and TNT. CTDT was found (followed by SPT) on the Married... with Children episode Have You Driven a Ford Lately on TBS. The short version was commonly seen on the animated version of Dilbert.

Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
  • None with the standard, long, short version, and high tone themes; this is a good logo, but it was also wildly hated by many people for several years due to its over-common presence and use of plastering old logos, until the Sony Pictures Television logo came around in 2002, and that's when things went from tolerable, to bad, to worse, MUCH WORSE.
  • Minimal with the 1987 and 1993 TriStar Television themes.
  • Low with the 1987 CPT theme. Some may still have bad memories with the 1987 CPT logo and fanfare.
Final Notes: In 2002, CTT became Sony Pictures Television. Plus, when CTT became SPT in 2002, the third CTDT logo also known as the "Open Matte" boxes was used until 2003 on the 5th season of The New Hollywood Squares in syndication. The first two ended in 2002. However, Sony kept using the Columbia Tristar name for their home video division until late 2004.


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Keyword tags: Columbia TriStar Television Sony Corporation Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Television
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Mariofan88 I wish they kept this logo. 0 Aug 19 2009, 5:04 PM EDT by Mariofan88
Thread started: Aug 19 2009, 5:04 PM EDT  Watch
Sony should have kept the Columbia Tristar name for television. I like this logo's music.
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20thCenturyFoxLover WTF? 0 Jul 4 2009, 6:30 PM EDT by 20thCenturyFoxLover
Thread started: Jul 4 2009, 6:30 PM EDT  Watch
I can't believe I saw the 1996 Columbia TriStar Television Distribution logo on television airings of "Madeline" (1998) after the credits!
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andor29 CTT announcer variants (1994-early 1995) 0 Jan 7 2009, 12:15 PM EST by andor29
Thread started: Jan 7 2009, 12:15 PM EST  Watch
From 1994-early 1995, there were different announcements over the logo and fanfare.

Wheel of Fortune (Charile O'Donnell): (On the Wheel of Fortune/Califon card with the drumroll) Wheeeeel of Fortune... is produced by (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television! (on the King World logo) Distributed by King World.
Jeopardy! (Johnny Gilbert) This is Johnny Gilbert speaking...(on the Jeopardy! title card) Jeopardy! is a production of (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television (on the King World logo) Distributed by KingWorld.

From early 1995-1996, there were different announcements over the logo and fanfare.

Wheel of Fortune (Charile O'Donnell) Created by Merv Griffin. (On the Wheel of Fortune/Califon card with the drumroll) Wheel of Fortune is produced by (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television! (on the King World logo) Distributed by King World.
Jeopardy! (Johnny Gilbert) This is Johnny Gilbert speaking...Jeopardy! was created by Merv Griffin. (on the Jeopardy! title card) Produced by (on the CTT logo) Columbia TriStar Television (on the King World logo) Distributed by King World.
2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
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