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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 13 2009, 12:02 AM EDT | WizardDuck | 16 words added, 9 words deleted |
| Oct 8 2009, 11:15 PM EDT | WizardDuck | 30 words added, 36 words deleted |
Changes
Key: Additions Deletions
Logo descriptions by James Fabiano and Eric S.
Logo captures by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., and snelfu
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly and Logophile
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80
Background: In September 2002, Sony Pictures Entertainment decided to retire the Columbia TriStar name and logo from its television division, renaming it "Sony Pictures Television". For the first time since 1974, the Torch Lady or anything resembling Columbia's symbol is nowhere to be seen; instead, the corporate logo for Sony Pictures was introduced to television viewers for the first time.
(2002- )
Nicknames: "The Shining Bars", "The Bars of Boredom", "The Bars of Annoyance"
Logo: Against a lined background, the words "SONY PICTURES TELEVISION" (all in the Sony typeface and stacked word-by-word with "SONY" being largest) emerge and downardly zoom away from the screen. The three words aren't directly stacked at first, but as the animation progresses, they slide into place. a horizontal line is drawn between the "PICTURES" and "TELEVISION". While this happens, a flash of light appears on the left side of the screen., and the lines in the background themselves back away as well, eventually moving back to the upper part of the screenand into a diagonal pattern to form the logo. The flash dissipates and we see a oblong orange-white glare surrounding the logo and words, which shrinks into the bars to give it a shine. The finished logo appears against a shaded blue background.
Variants:
FX/SFX: Words flying down, bars zooming back and tilting, the white flash and glare shrinking into the bars.
Music/Sounds: A majestic, five note synthesized orchestral theme composed by Mike Jones (who also did the theme song for Penn & Teller: B.S.!). This logo is silent sometimes on movie networks like Starz and Encore.
Music/Sound Variants:
Availability: Very common. Seen on new series and a tremendous amount of new prints of classic shows, off-net syndication series, TV movies, and theatrical films on television, such as The Shield, The King of Queens, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and 'Til Death. It can be annoying when it removes and replaces old logos on many pre-2002 Sony TV programmes such as Mad About You, 227, Sanford and Son, and Married with Children, among others. The only three pre-2002 shows do not have this logo are Walker Texas Ranger (the Sleuth Network reruns), All in the Family, and The Jeffersons (on TV Land). The long version is not as common as the standard version, but it was seen on EVERY episode of Jeopardy! from 2002-2007, but it may appear on some classic and off-network shows. The low tone theme is uncommon and still appears on early episodes of Stuart Little: The Animated Series on HBO Family and the 1976 TV movie Banjo Hackett on DVD, while the high one shows up on The Boondocks on Adult Swim among other shows and certain films on television. As for the short version, it's fairly common and it appears on The Shield on local syndication and Spike TV, the very short-lived series Sit Down, Shut Up on FOX, and reruns of Joan of Arcadia on Syfy including Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. The version with the SPTI theme was spotted on the 1971 film The Anderson Tapes on TCM.
Scare Factor: None for the long, standard, or short versions. Either you love it or hate it, though it's not a favorite of most logo fans (though when it first appeared in 2002, it was celebratednot as hated as it is now, because it washad yet to replacebecome theas then-dreadedcommon Columbia-TriStaras "Boxesit ofis Boredom").now).
Logo captures by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., and snelfu
Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly and Logophile
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80
Background: In September 2002, Sony Pictures Entertainment decided to retire the Columbia TriStar name and logo from its television division, renaming it "Sony Pictures Television". For the first time since 1974, the Torch Lady or anything resembling Columbia's symbol is nowhere to be seen; instead, the corporate logo for Sony Pictures was introduced to television viewers for the first time.
(2002- )
Nicknames: "The Shining Bars", "The Bars of Boredom", "The Bars of Annoyance"
Logo: Against a lined background, the words "SONY PICTURES TELEVISION" (all in the Sony typeface and stacked word-by-word with "SONY" being largest) emerge and downardly zoom away from the screen. The three words aren't directly stacked at first, but as the animation progresses, they slide into place. a horizontal line is drawn between the "PICTURES" and "TELEVISION". While this happens, a flash of light appears on the left side of the screen., and the lines in the background themselves back away as well, eventually moving back to the upper part of the screenand into a diagonal pattern to form the logo. The flash dissipates and we see a oblong orange-white glare surrounding the logo and words, which shrinks into the bars to give it a shine. The finished logo appears against a shaded blue background.
Variants:
- There is a longer version of this logo featuring an extreme close-up of the "stacked" letters at the beginning of the animation, and a longer shot of the finished logo.
- There is an even shorter version of this logo that starts from where the 3rd-to-last note of the theme plays.
- In 2004, the phrase "DISTRIBUTED BY" appeared above the logo, it was still until it faded in above the logo on the 2006 version of Chain Reaction on GSN, but the font is in Times New Roman on that said show. Early shorts on Crackle's C-Spot has the phrase above the name rather than the logo. for the rest, the phrase was placed on a black screen, which later fades to the SPT logo.
- In 2005, an updated version was introduced. It consists of just a solid blue lighting effect in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, where the reflection of the Bars would usually be. This can be seen moreso in the letterboxed variation of the SPT logo, of which an anamorphic narrow variant was created. The narrow version has been featured on several movies and classic series on television and video.
- There is also a black & white variant for classic shows by Screen Gems.
FX/SFX: Words flying down, bars zooming back and tilting, the white flash and glare shrinking into the bars.
Music/Sounds: A majestic, five note synthesized orchestral theme composed by Mike Jones (who also did the theme song for Penn & Teller: B.S.!). This logo is silent sometimes on movie networks like Starz and Encore.
Music/Sound Variants:
- The long version has a descending piano tune before the main fanfare, and the last note is held much longer.
- Another music variation has only the last three notes of the theme re-arranged. This version began in 2003.
- In 2005, there is another short version with the last half of the animation of the standard animation of the logo. Used on the ultra short-lived series Sit Down, Shut Up and several final season episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures.
- Sometimes, when used along a co-production or co-distributor ID, the first few notes of the music for this logo will play over the last few seconds of said ID before going into this visual logo. This has happened on such syndicated shows as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, back when King World Productions (now CBS Television Distribution) was still in operation. But now until October 2007, the CTD music plays on the CTD logo, and the SPT theme plays on the SPT logo.
- Sometimes the logo uses the Columbia TriStar Television theme.
- Two more versions exist by having a high and low tone starting in 2003.
- Another version exists having a bell-type twinkle mixed into the standard theme.
- On some shows like The King of Queens (2004-2007 episodes) and other shows, the end theme plays over this logo.
- Middle season local reruns of Good Times and Sanford and Son would have the first four notes of the standard theme playing first, followed by the finishing of the final notes from the SPT long version theme.
- The Sony Pictures Television International sounder is sometimes used, particularly on DVD releases of shows like Married... With Children.
- There is also a silent version.
- Another variation would have the 1993 CPT theme. This happened on several reruns of Just Shoot Me! on TV Land.
- In 2008, there is a black screen that reads "DISTRIBUTED BY" before the SPT logo. This only appears on webshows on websites like Crackle, MySpace, YouTube, and Hulu, among others such as C-Spot or Penn Says.
- Another variant has "DISTRIBUTED BY" in a small font above the SPT name rather than above the SPT logo. Again, this only appears on shows on Crackle.
- A few episodes of The Jeffersons from the 1980-1981 season on TV One has the SPT and short CTTD themes playing at the same time.
Availability: Very common. Seen on new series and a tremendous amount of new prints of classic shows, off-net syndication series, TV movies, and theatrical films on television, such as The Shield, The King of Queens, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and 'Til Death. It can be annoying when it removes and replaces old logos on many pre-2002 Sony TV programmes such as Mad About You, 227, Sanford and Son, and Married with Children, among others. The only three pre-2002 shows do not have this logo are Walker Texas Ranger (the Sleuth Network reruns), All in the Family, and The Jeffersons (on TV Land). The long version is not as common as the standard version, but it was seen on EVERY episode of Jeopardy! from 2002-2007, but it may appear on some classic and off-network shows. The low tone theme is uncommon and still appears on early episodes of Stuart Little: The Animated Series on HBO Family and the 1976 TV movie Banjo Hackett on DVD, while the high one shows up on The Boondocks on Adult Swim among other shows and certain films on television. As for the short version, it's fairly common and it appears on The Shield on local syndication and Spike TV, the very short-lived series Sit Down, Shut Up on FOX, and reruns of Joan of Arcadia on Syfy including Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. The version with the SPTI theme was spotted on the 1971 film The Anderson Tapes on TCM.
Scare Factor: None for the long, standard, or short versions. Either you love it or hate it, though it's not a favorite of most logo fans (though when it first appeared in 2002, it was celebratednot as hated as it is now, because it washad yet to replacebecome theas then-dreadedcommon Columbia-TriStaras "Boxesit ofis Boredom").now).
