LBS Communications, Inc.This is a featured page

Logo descriptions by Juniorfan88 and Logoboy95
Logo captures by Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, Wisp2007, Logoboy95, V of Doom, and others
Editions by Juniorfan88, Shadeed A. Kelly, and Brendan Richards
Video captures courtesy of Bigrene2 and JohnnyL80


Background: 1976 was the year that Henry Siegel created Lexington Broadcast Services. In 1984, Mr. Siegel changed the name of Lexington Broadcasting Services to LBS Communications. Over the years, the company would produce/distribute miscellanious television shows such as Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff, What's Happening!!, What's Happening Now!!, Baywatch, Family Feud, and World of Wrestling. The company started losing money in the late 1980s and went bankrupt in the early 1990s leaving LBS to give 80 to 85% of the assets to All American Television in March 1992. Despite all the adversity, LBS would still live on in the 1990s as an in-name-only unit of All American Television, merging later to Pearson Television in 1998, but the production company would close in 2001. All LBS shows, with some exceptions, are owned mainly by FremantleMedia.


1st Logo
(1976-1984/March 1986)
Lexington Broadcast Services Company (1976)Lexington Broadcast Services Company (1983)LBS Movies logo

Nickname: "The Pan-Out"

Logo:
On a black background, a white beam of light with several twinkles on it "scans" across the screen, leaving a large blue fused "LBS," consisting of an L and an S fused together and a B in the gap between them, in its trail, in the center of the screen, then the Blue LBS logo slides back a little. After the LBS text slides, a small white flash appears, and leaving behind the words "LEXINGTON BROADCAST SERVICES COMPANY" in white.

Variants:
  • In 1983, the text is in the Helvetica white font with "INC." at the end.
  • There is also a still variant of this logo with the texts "AN" and "COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTATION" above and below the logo respectively.

FX/SFX: The beam of light, and the flash revealing the company name. Scanimate effects.

Cheesy Factor: Of course, the music and SFX seems pretty cheesy at this point right now, and the animation seems fairly primitive. Of course at the time, this was at least a decent logo.

Music/Sounds: A rising synth sound, a bizarre synth tune which accompanies the rising synth sound, and a synthesized "zap" accompanying the flash. All three elements of the soundtrack sound like they were made on a Moog synthesizer. None for the still variant.

Availability: The early version is no longer seen on TV, but can be found on the Inspector Gadget: The Original Series DVD set. The variation with "INC." is rare, but can be seen on some early episodes of Tales from the Darkside on Syfy. The still variant can be seen on Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; generally depends on whether you think this logo's synthesizer score is grading, great, or in between. The animations not that bad on the logo per-say but maybe some people don't like where the logo flashes at the very end.



2nd Logo
(1984-1987)
LBS: 1984 (Filmed)LBS: 1984 (Videotaped)LBS Communications Inc. - CLG WikiLBS (1984-1987, IAW)


Nickname: "The Unfolding Letters"

Logo:
On a background consisting of a light-to-dark violet gradient, a light blue, curved "LBS" (exactly like the "LBS" in logo 1, but a darker shade of blue) zooms out while "unfolding." It stops in the center of the screen. "LBS COMMUNICATIONS, INC." "shines" in under the logo.

Variants:
  • There are also two main sets of this version; a filmed version and a videotaped version.
  • A still variant with magenta letters can be seen on 21 Jump Street.
  • There is a more recent variant seen on What's Happening Now!! in which the words "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" fade in at the bottom. This is then followed by the SPT logo.

FX/SFX: The Scanimated "LBS" unfolding, the company name "shining" in.

Cheesy Factor: Well, the background is primitive because you hardly see a background scheme like that on any logos anymore, and the animation is pretty good but cheesy because of the way the letter shine the same way the bottom text does.

Music/Sounds: A pretty dramatic synthesizer score.

Availability: Uncommon; the videotaped version still survives on Tales from the Darkside on Chiller and Syfy and on a DVD of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin. It was also seen on season two of Inspector Gadget and was on most of the seasons of Heathcliff and the Cadillac Cats. The filmed version is hardly seen on television again, but was seen on Rainbow Brite which does not reair on TV anymore, along with other DiC shows from this era. As for the magenta version, it's near extinction.

Scare Factor: Low, unless you're not a big fan of overly dramatic synthesizer music.



3rd Logo
(1987-1992)
LBS Communications Inc. - CLG WikiLBS Communications Inc. - CLG Wiki

Nicknames: "CGI Space and Dots", "Comets and Dots",
"Slide-In"

Logo:
A group of round balls pan to the left of the screen. The "LBS" slides in from the right of the screen, during which two groups of lights streak through. The logo makes a stop at the front of the screen, the company name fades in.

FX/SFX: The panning out and sliding in of the logo and background.

Cheesy Factor: None, unless you count the '89 version with the musical selection it chose.

Music/Sounds: The '87 version of the logo plays first an ascending/descending jingle with several bird sounds (notably a seagull) followed by a synthesized remix of the '84 version. The '89 version plays a rather eerie synth jingle. There is also a 3rd logo theme that came out in 1990.

Availability: Extremely rare for the '87 version, but was spotted on a repeat of Hazel on TV Land and the very last season of Inspector Gadget. It was also on the final season of Tales from the Darkside (that would feature the 2nd Tribune logo), but Syfy's prints feature the previous Tribune and LBS logos. You can still find the '89 version on some shows currently like What's Happening Now!! (Whenever TV Land decides to re-broadcast it) and the first season of Baywatch. As for the 1990 variant, it's extinct and was seen on a few syndie episodes of Family Feud.

Scare Factor: None on the '87 version, low to medium on the '89 version because of the almost ghostly music associated with the logo, and low for the 1990.



4th Logo
(1991)

Nicknames: "15th Year Anniversary Logo", "The LBS Egg Logo", "Happy Birthday LBS!"

Logo: It starts out with a yellow/white oval coming out first. Then, it has an unusual red LBS logo going down from the top of the screen, andLBS Communications Inc. - CLG Wiki afterward, it displays a purple banner which reads "15th ANNIVERSARY". After the logo is completed, the entire logo shines near the dates.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The CGI animation is not as good as the previous logo, and it is pretty cheap.

Music/Sounds: A mellow, synthesizer score with a nice "ching" sound to indicate the sheen. Short versions have a three note tune.

Availability: Extinct. Appeared on season one of Baywatch as well as on Family Feud. Currently, the logo can not be seen on TV; the short version is intact on all Baywatch episodes from the era on its DVD box sets, surprisingly.

Scare Factor: None.

Final Note: LBS then folded in 1992, and these days FremantleMedia owns the rights to most LBS shows.


VofDoom
VofDoom
Latest page update: made by VofDoom , Oct 25 2009, 2:11 AM EDT (about this update About This Update VofDoom Edited by VofDoom

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AsdfTheRevival Awesome 2 Oct 8 2007, 12:39 PM EDT by Silversword55
Thread started: Oct 8 2007, 11:54 AM EDT  Watch
Even better than the TriStar article so far!
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