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Comedy Central
Compiled by James Fabiano and Matt Williams
Logo captures by WyraachUr
Editions by mr3urious and WyraachUr
Video capture courtesy of WyraachUr
Background: This channel was owned by an outfit called "Comedy Partners". Who are they? None other than Viacom and Time Warner. How did this take place? Time Warner's HBO unit had expanded into basic cable with a channel called "Comedy Channel". Similarly, Viacom was operating "HA! The Comedy Network". After both channels took a hit, the two compromised and created a jointly-owned company, Comedy Partners, and HA! The Comedy Channel were merged into Comedy Central. But in late 2003, Time Warner sold their half of Comedy Partners, resulting in Viacom owning 100% of Comedy Central.
1st Logo
(1992-1996)
Nickname: "The Tire"
Logo: The Comedy Central globe of the era (which does not tilt to a side, has yellow text, and a purplish top) is posed on the
background of a tire in extreme close-up. The "Comedy Central" marquee spins around from time to time.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The animated CC logo plastered on a "real" background.
Music/Sounds: None; just Penn Jillette saying, "This has been a presentation from Comedy Central!".
Availability: Seen on the CC-era of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) up to the sixth season.
Scare Factor: Low; Penn's loud, bombastic voice might startle some.
2nd Logo
(1996-1997)
Nickname: "The ATM"
Logo: It begins with a shot of a credit card being inserted into what is presumably an ATM machine. It then switches to a shot of an ATM screen, whose text, in green, is being "drawn" down from top to bottom and in a computer-type font. The text reads "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF", followed by the Comedy Central logo (in green, and with the logo tilted to its side with the name written in a different font), and then "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE". The last line "blinks" a few times, becoming highlighted in green with the text in black.
Variants:
Music/Sounds: The whirring of the credit card being inserted and the "beeping" sounds, like a real ATM.
Availability: Rare; was seen on Comedy Central shows of the period. Also originally on the first episodes of South Park, but this was covered up with logo 3 (and soon after, logo 4). The credit card animation is still retained on some early episodes of Win Ben Stein's Money, but then shifts to the '00 logo. Video tapes of South Park can still contain this logo. The South Park Season 1 episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" retains the full animation when it airs on the British Sky Satellite channel Paramount Comedy 2, and the episode "Starvin' Marvin" has the full animation on the South Park Studios website.
Scare Factor: Minimal; not too scary, aside from the jarring cut from the Braniff logo. This logo is very creative and memorable.
3rd Logo
(1997-1998)
Nickname: "The Transmitter"
Logo: On a background with wavy blue and gray lines, the Comedy Central logo appears at the bottom (in blue and yellow), at first distorted, but quickly sharpening up. The transmitter on the top of the logo "activates" and then many yellow "this has been a presentation of" rings begin to emerge from the transmitter. White copyright information is shown below, along with the "comedycentral.com" URL.
Variant: Sometimes the logo has no copyright information; only the URL (in black). South Park episodes that did not have it were later added below on the southparkstudios.com versions.
FX: The "transmitter".
Music/Sounds: An "interference" sound followed by loud "bong" sounds as the "rings" come out from the transmitter.
Availability: Preserved on recent showing of early episodes of South Park on Comedy Central. Unfortunately, compressed credits prevent it from being seen the way it was meant to be.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; those loud "bong" sounds may get to some.
4th Logo
(1998-2000)
Logo: On a red screen with what looks like bubbles floating around, the Comedy Central logo, now in white, zooms in from the
center of the screen, glowing. Above it is "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF", and below it is the copyright information for the show (usually ©(year) Comedy Partners, Inc. All Rights Reserved).
Variants:
FX: Well, the zoom-in looks lame, as does the logo.
Music/Sounds: A low "WHOOSH" as the logo zooms in.
Availability: Rare; was spotted on The Friar's Club Roast Of Jerry Stiller in May 2002. A few airings of early South Park episodes may retain this logo (those that are seen on southparkstudios.com have them preserved). It also appeared on Craig Kilborn/early Jon Stewart-era The Daily Show episodes.
Scare Factor: Low; lame, but harmless.
5th Logo
(2000-2004)
Logo: Over a shaded orange background, we see lots of yellow circles zooming toward the viewer. The circles have zooms-up bits of the latest Comedy Central logo (much like the original, but looking more abstract, with different buildings and a different font) and other text to be seen at the end product. When the circles are done, we are treated with the end product, the updated Comedy
Central logo in the center with "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF" above in black, and "comedycentral.com" below, in white. There is a backdrop of circles zooming behind the logo. There are also versions using blue and green backgrounds.
Variant: On later seasons of South Park, this logo starts with the finished product on many episodes, bypassing the circles. A copyright notice for Comedy Partners is included. A few episodes keep the animation as usual, but still have the copyright notice plastered over all the animation.
FX: Pretty inspired animation; nothing cheesy, but can make the viewer a bit dizzy.
Music/Sounds: A bass sounder that loops itself, not unlike music heard on Comedy Central's commercial tags.
Availability: No longer in use, but is still seen on all original Comedy Central programming at the time.
Scare Factor: None; it can get a bit tiresome, but the colors are too bright to scare anyone.
6th Logo
(2002?- )
Logo: TBA
FX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Can be seen at the end of many South Park DVDs.
Scare Factor: None.
7th Logo
(2005- )
Logo: TBA
FX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Plasters the Braniff logo on syndicated reruns of South Park.
Scare Factor: None.
Logo captures by WyraachUr
Editions by mr3urious and WyraachUr
Video capture courtesy of WyraachUr
Background: This channel was owned by an outfit called "Comedy Partners". Who are they? None other than Viacom and Time Warner. How did this take place? Time Warner's HBO unit had expanded into basic cable with a channel called "Comedy Channel". Similarly, Viacom was operating "HA! The Comedy Network". After both channels took a hit, the two compromised and created a jointly-owned company, Comedy Partners, and HA! The Comedy Channel were merged into Comedy Central. But in late 2003, Time Warner sold their half of Comedy Partners, resulting in Viacom owning 100% of Comedy Central.
1st Logo
(1992-1996)
Nickname: "The Tire"
Logo: The Comedy Central globe of the era (which does not tilt to a side, has yellow text, and a purplish top) is posed on the
background of a tire in extreme close-up. The "Comedy Central" marquee spins around from time to time.FX/Cheesy Factor: The animated CC logo plastered on a "real" background.
Music/Sounds: None; just Penn Jillette saying, "This has been a presentation from Comedy Central!".
Availability: Seen on the CC-era of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) up to the sixth season.
Scare Factor: Low; Penn's loud, bombastic voice might startle some.
2nd Logo
(1996-1997)
Nickname: "The ATM"
Logo: It begins with a shot of a credit card being inserted into what is presumably an ATM machine. It then switches to a shot of an ATM screen, whose text, in green, is being "drawn" down from top to bottom and in a computer-type font. The text reads "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF", followed by the Comedy Central logo (in green, and with the logo tilted to its side with the name written in a different font), and then "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE". The last line "blinks" a few times, becoming highlighted in green with the text in black.
Variants:
- An interesting edit exists on South Park episodes 2 and 3 where the "credit card" animation was kept in, but then abruptly switched to logo 3!
- Copyright info and the URL www.comedycentral.com are chyroned in below on the version of the South Park episode "Starvin' Marvin" on southparkstudios.com.
Music/Sounds: The whirring of the credit card being inserted and the "beeping" sounds, like a real ATM.
Availability: Rare; was seen on Comedy Central shows of the period. Also originally on the first episodes of South Park, but this was covered up with logo 3 (and soon after, logo 4). The credit card animation is still retained on some early episodes of Win Ben Stein's Money, but then shifts to the '00 logo. Video tapes of South Park can still contain this logo. The South Park Season 1 episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" retains the full animation when it airs on the British Sky Satellite channel Paramount Comedy 2, and the episode "Starvin' Marvin" has the full animation on the South Park Studios website.
Scare Factor: Minimal; not too scary, aside from the jarring cut from the Braniff logo. This logo is very creative and memorable.
3rd Logo
(1997-1998)
Logo: On a background with wavy blue and gray lines, the Comedy Central logo appears at the bottom (in blue and yellow), at first distorted, but quickly sharpening up. The transmitter on the top of the logo "activates" and then many yellow "this has been a presentation of" rings begin to emerge from the transmitter. White copyright information is shown below, along with the "comedycentral.com" URL.
Variant: Sometimes the logo has no copyright information; only the URL (in black). South Park episodes that did not have it were later added below on the southparkstudios.com versions.
FX: The "transmitter".
Music/Sounds: An "interference" sound followed by loud "bong" sounds as the "rings" come out from the transmitter.
Availability: Preserved on recent showing of early episodes of South Park on Comedy Central. Unfortunately, compressed credits prevent it from being seen the way it was meant to be.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; those loud "bong" sounds may get to some.
4th Logo
(1998-2000)
Logo: On a red screen with what looks like bubbles floating around, the Comedy Central logo, now in white, zooms in from the
center of the screen, glowing. Above it is "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF", and below it is the copyright information for the show (usually ©(year) Comedy Partners, Inc. All Rights Reserved).Variants:
- The screen has also been seen in blue and green.
- In later years, www.comedycentral.com was seen at the bottom.
- Copyright info was added on the South Park episodes shown at southparkstudios.com.
FX: Well, the zoom-in looks lame, as does the logo.
Music/Sounds: A low "WHOOSH" as the logo zooms in.
Availability: Rare; was spotted on The Friar's Club Roast Of Jerry Stiller in May 2002. A few airings of early South Park episodes may retain this logo (those that are seen on southparkstudios.com have them preserved). It also appeared on Craig Kilborn/early Jon Stewart-era The Daily Show episodes.
Scare Factor: Low; lame, but harmless.
5th Logo
(2000-2004)
Central logo in the center with "THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF" above in black, and "comedycentral.com" below, in white. There is a backdrop of circles zooming behind the logo. There are also versions using blue and green backgrounds. Variant: On later seasons of South Park, this logo starts with the finished product on many episodes, bypassing the circles. A copyright notice for Comedy Partners is included. A few episodes keep the animation as usual, but still have the copyright notice plastered over all the animation.
FX: Pretty inspired animation; nothing cheesy, but can make the viewer a bit dizzy.
Music/Sounds: A bass sounder that loops itself, not unlike music heard on Comedy Central's commercial tags.
Availability: No longer in use, but is still seen on all original Comedy Central programming at the time.
Scare Factor: None; it can get a bit tiresome, but the colors are too bright to scare anyone.
6th Logo
(2002?- )
Logo: TBA
FX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Can be seen at the end of many South Park DVDs.
Scare Factor: None.
7th Logo
(2005- )
Logo: TBA
FX: TBA
Music/Sounds: TBA
Availability: Plasters the Braniff logo on syndicated reruns of South Park.
Scare Factor: None.
mr3urious |
Latest page update: made by mr3urious
, Oct 28 2008, 1:31 PM EDT
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