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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 23 2009, 11:56 AM EST | subzero917 | 1 photo added |
| Jan 16 2009, 8:26 PM EST | ryanasaurus0077 | 23 words added |
Changes
Key: Additions Deletions
Written and Compiled by Jason Jones
Logo captures by Eric S., AsdfTheRevival, Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, and mr3urious
Editions by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, Curious George 60 and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Eric S. and others
Background: This television division was formed in 1955 by Warner Bros. Pictures founded by William T. Orr (credited as Wm. T. Orr) to produce shows and TV movies. Currently, it is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of TimeWarner.
1st Logo
(1955-1967)
Nickname: "WB Shield"
Logo: A superimposed rendition of the infamous Warner Bros. shield logo, minus the banner that usually reads "Warner Bros. Pictures". There is no company name on screen, except some cases.
Variants: This had many variants:
FX: None, it was superimposed on credits, except on the studio buildings, where the studios and shield were zooming.
Music/Sounds:
Availability: The superimposed variant can be seen on any Warner Bros. TV show on AmericanLife. The animated unsuperimposed variant, well, is extinct as this is plastered by the "Shield of Staleness", but it can be seen on the end of Lawman on AmericanLife, and the WB "Shield of Staleness" would follow, and the opening "Presents" variant of the animated logo is seen on some episodes of Cheyenne on AmericanLife.
Scare Factor: Minimal; not much to worry about here. Although low to medium for the animated variant with the fanfare, which may startle some, along with the silence at the end.
2nd Logo
(1967-1970)
Nickname: "WB-7" or "W7"
Logo: Just a superimposed stylized shield, with a combination of a W and a 7 (representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts) against the
ending titles. The company name is shown below in all caps.
FX: None; another superimposed concoction.
Music/Sounds: None or the closing theme.
Availability: Is quite rare, last seen on The F.B.I., The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Show and Looney Tunes of the time, described on a separate page. Should be seen more as WB is preserving more logos.
Scare Factor: Minimal; the W7 may have actually looked a bit tamer than it's predecessor.
3rd Logo
(1970-February 1972)
Nicknames: "The Kinney Shield", "Shield Stretch"
Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB 60s movie posters) in a golden color with a dark brownish
color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, reading "A KINNEY SERVICES COMPANY". The words "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" appear underneath the logo.
Opening Variant: The logo is the same, except "PRESENTS" appears below the logo.
FX: None.
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening/closing theme.
Availability: Rare; appeared for a short time on some shows of the era, such as The F.B.I., and on older syndie prints of The Archie Comedy Hour.
Scare Factor: None; this is actually neat to see.
4th Logo
(February-September 1972)
Nickname: "WCI Shield", "Early WCI Shield"
Logo: Standard shield logo over a navy blue background, with the word "TELEVISION", in large letters, over the banner, and "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" underneath.
Trivia: This logo looks quite similar to the 1995-2001 "Warner Bros. Animation" logo seen on Cartoon Network and Kids' WB.
FX: None, unless you like to count fade-ins from credits.
Music/Sounds: None, or the closing theme of the show.
Availability: Very hard to find as it appeared for quite a short time on TV. Was found on a tape of the pilot for Kung Fu. DVD editions of the pilot of Kung Fu have the "Shield of Staleness" instead of this one, so it's hard to say. Also appeared on The F.B.I. and a TV movie called Probe, but it's quite gone since it has been replaced by the 1984 shield.
Scare Factor: None to low, but the copy of Kung Fu that has been circulated has a somewhat creepy oriental-ish stinger to it, so it's hard to say.
5th Logo
(September 1972-September 1984)
Nicknames: The Big "W", "(\\')"
Logo: We see a white abstract W consisting of two slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle design inside a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, over a red background. The words "WARNER BROS TELEVISION" is at the top, while "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" is at the bottom. The typeface for the company name is in white Handel Gothic font.
Variants:
FX: None; I think you see where this is going.
Music/Sounds: A dramatic 7-note horn fanfare. Usually shown with music from the show fading out or silent. There is also a variant with a ascending space-like sound.
Availability: More common than the movie logo; still saved on most 1972-1984 shows, including reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT, Alice on ION, Challenge of the Super Friends, The World's Greatest Super Friends on Boomerang, The F.B.I., the first season of Night Court and earlier episodes of Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show. Surprisingly, the later version of the syndication logo appears on the 1979 WCI Home Video 1st print of Dirty Harry starring Clint Eastwood.
Scare Factor: None to minimal.
6th Logo
(1984- )
Nicknames: "The WB Shield", "Shield of Staleness", "The Shield Returns"
Logo: Over a set of clouds, the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" above the shield, and the owner byline at the bottom.
Byline Variants: First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
Network Variants: Next, we have a few general logo variations. First, the network variations, along with dates in which they were used:
Syndication Variants: Now here are the syndication variations of the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
Other Variants:
Syndie Voiceovers: Here is a list of the stars that did the voiceover and the production company stated for early-mid '90s shows that were syndicated by Warner Bros. Basically, the spiels are what we have listed here, but also add ".....and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" (although "The People's Court" lacked the word "Distribution") to each of these parts so you can get the full experience.
FX: None in particular, as the logo was still; very, very few WBTV logos had any sort of animation. The 2005 version has the entire logo zooming out to the center and the clouds are flying. Sometimes the shield remains still while the clouds are animating.
Cheesy Factor: The Cable-Pay TV logo had a bad fade-in compared to other logos added more smoothly.
Music/Sounds: Usually silent, or shown with the outro of any theme music from its respective TV show. In other cases, it has the Rankin/Bass music. Starting in 1994, there was music added:
Music/Sounds Variants: The 1994 theme exists having a high and a low toned variant.
Availability: Common, depending on the logo timeframe. Still appears on various WBTV shows on TNT, TBS, Spike TV, TVOne, ABC Family, Nick-At-Nite, and in syndication, among others with original (at the time) company info. The 1998 logo is uncommon, and survives on 1998 episodes of Friends in local syndication and The Drew Carey Show on ION. The 2000 WB logo is considered rare, as it has appeared for a short time before Time Warner's merger with America Online. The AOL Time Warner logo is somewhat hard to find as it appeared for quite a short time on TV's Extra and Access Hollywood. The current logo is common. The "50 Years" version is uncommon and can be seen on any WB shows from that year, such as ER, The War at Home, Two and a Half Men, Supernatural, Smallville, Nip/Tuck, and Without a Trace. It also plasters over the Rankin/Bass logo on the DVD release of The Year Without a Santa Claus, but due to its sloppy editing, the logo gets accompanied by the music that played with the Rankin/Bass logo. The variation with the hip-hop theme still appears on reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on ABC Family and TBS and on non-cable stations, like KTLA in Los Angeles, also that market's CW affilate. The 2001 logo with the words "Produced and Distributed by" on top of the shield was seen on reruns of Friends and it is unknown for the 2000 logo with those words.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
Logo captures by Eric S., AsdfTheRevival, Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, and mr3urious
Editions by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, Curious George 60 and V of Doom
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, Eric S. and others
Background: This television division was formed in 1955 by Warner Bros. Pictures founded by William T. Orr (credited as Wm. T. Orr) to produce shows and TV movies. Currently, it is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of TimeWarner.
1st Logo
(1955-1967)
Nickname: "WB Shield"
Logo: A superimposed rendition of the infamous Warner Bros. shield logo, minus the banner that usually reads "Warner Bros. Pictures". There is no company name on screen, except some cases.
Variants: This had many variants:
- There was an opening logo, which appears a shot of the Warner Bros. Studios (like the current Warner Bros. logo) and the Famous shield zooms. The word "presents", in script, may or may not appear over it.
- Also, there were different variants of the shield with text over it like "Filmed at WARNER BROS. STUDIOS in Burbank, California".
- Some shows had the Warner Bros logo over a grainy background, a la DuMont Television Network.
- Later, there would be a color version of this logo, with a red background and the usual colors of the shield, and for the superimposed variant, only the shield and the letters would appear in yellow.
- On some shows, in the opening variant, there would be a "presents" banner.
FX: None, it was superimposed on credits, except on the studio buildings, where the studios and shield were zooming.
Music/Sounds:
- Opening: A drumroll followed by majestic fanfare with an announcer saying "A Warner Bros. Television Production" for the intro on some shows like Colt 55.
- Closing: None, unless you want to count the show's closing theme. But, on the animated unsuperimposed variant without "Presents", this had a 17-note trumpet and would be followed by an announcer saying "This program has been produced by the Entertainment Capital of the World. Produced for television by Warner Bros." as the fanfare ended.
Availability: The superimposed variant can be seen on any Warner Bros. TV show on AmericanLife. The animated unsuperimposed variant, well, is extinct as this is plastered by the "Shield of Staleness", but it can be seen on the end of Lawman on AmericanLife, and the WB "Shield of Staleness" would follow, and the opening "Presents" variant of the animated logo is seen on some episodes of Cheyenne on AmericanLife.
Scare Factor: Minimal; not much to worry about here. Although low to medium for the animated variant with the fanfare, which may startle some, along with the silence at the end.
2nd Logo
(1967-1970)
Nickname: "WB-7" or "W7"
Logo: Just a superimposed stylized shield, with a combination of a W and a 7 (representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts) against the
ending titles. The company name is shown below in all caps.FX: None; another superimposed concoction.
Music/Sounds: None or the closing theme.
Availability: Is quite rare, last seen on The F.B.I., The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Show and Looney Tunes of the time, described on a separate page. Should be seen more as WB is preserving more logos.
Scare Factor: Minimal; the W7 may have actually looked a bit tamer than it's predecessor.
3rd Logo
(1970-February 1972)
Nicknames: "The Kinney Shield", "Shield Stretch"
Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB 60s movie posters) in a golden color with a dark brownish
color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, reading "A KINNEY SERVICES COMPANY". The words "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" appear underneath the logo.Opening Variant: The logo is the same, except "PRESENTS" appears below the logo.
FX: None.
Music/Sounds: None, or the opening/closing theme.
Availability: Rare; appeared for a short time on some shows of the era, such as The F.B.I., and on older syndie prints of The Archie Comedy Hour.
Scare Factor: None; this is actually neat to see.
4th Logo
(February-September 1972)
Nickname: "WCI Shield", "Early WCI Shield"
Logo: Standard shield logo over a navy blue background, with the word "TELEVISION", in large letters, over the banner, and "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" underneath.
Trivia: This logo looks quite similar to the 1995-2001 "Warner Bros. Animation" logo seen on Cartoon Network and Kids' WB.
FX: None, unless you like to count fade-ins from credits.
Music/Sounds: None, or the closing theme of the show.
Availability: Very hard to find as it appeared for quite a short time on TV. Was found on a tape of the pilot for Kung Fu. DVD editions of the pilot of Kung Fu have the "Shield of Staleness" instead of this one, so it's hard to say. Also appeared on The F.B.I. and a TV movie called Probe, but it's quite gone since it has been replaced by the 1984 shield.
Scare Factor: None to low, but the copy of Kung Fu that has been circulated has a somewhat creepy oriental-ish stinger to it, so it's hard to say.
5th Logo
(September 1972-September 1984)
Nicknames: The Big "W", "(\\')"
Logo: We see a white abstract W consisting of two slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle design inside a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, over a red background. The words "WARNER BROS TELEVISION" is at the top, while "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" is at the bottom. The typeface for the company name is in white Handel Gothic font.
Variants:
- The syndication logo originally had the words "DISTRIBUTED BY" over "WARNER BROS TELEVISION" in the early years.
- The syndication logo was later referred to as "WARNER BROS TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION."
- The bylines appear in shadow mode starting in 1977.
- There is a television version resembling the opening movie logo. It was seen on the original 1974 Wonder Woman TV movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby when it aired on the Sci-Fi Channel years ago.
- Also there is a widescreen version of this logo, seen on some TV movies.
- There is a superimposed variant of this logo that appeared on some episodes of Alice from the third season.
- There is a black and white version of the logo with a black abstract "W" on a white square field.
FX: None; I think you see where this is going.
Music/Sounds: A dramatic 7-note horn fanfare. Usually shown with music from the show fading out or silent. There is also a variant with a ascending space-like sound.
Availability: More common than the movie logo; still saved on most 1972-1984 shows, including reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT, Alice on ION, Challenge of the Super Friends, The World's Greatest Super Friends on Boomerang, The F.B.I., the first season of Night Court and earlier episodes of Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show. Surprisingly, the later version of the syndication logo appears on the 1979 WCI Home Video 1st print of Dirty Harry starring Clint Eastwood.
Scare Factor: None to minimal.
6th Logo
(1984- )
Nicknames: "The WB Shield", "Shield of Staleness", "The Shield Returns"
Logo: Over a set of clouds, the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" above the shield, and the owner byline at the bottom.
Byline Variants: First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
- 1984-1990: Referred to as "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY"
- 1990-1992: Referred to as "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
- 1992-2001: Referred to as "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
- February 2001-July 2003: Referred to as "An AOL Time Warner Company", with most letters in lower case.
- July 2003-: Coinciding with the renaming of "AOL Time Warner" back as "TimeWarner", this logo appears without any byline whatsoever for the first time in 36 years. This is done as all of the WB divisions are organized as "Warner Bros. Entertainment" under TimeWarner.
Network Variants: Next, we have a few general logo variations. First, the network variations, along with dates in which they were used:
- 1984-1995: The WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" on top, the owner byline at the bottom.
- 1994-1997, 1999-January 2001: The words "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" is removed from above the shield and now appears inside the shield banner, and the company byline appears under another typeface.
- January-December 1998: Same as the standard movie logo at the time, with the words "75 Years Entertaining the World" across both sides of the WB Shield (reading simply "WARNER BROS." or "WARNER BROS. PICTURES") and a darker background. A wind blowing type of sound was also used for this logo.
- Fall 2000-January 2001: The logo has a slightly different cloud background, a bit better defined. The shield logo has an up to date banner inscription, still reading "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" across. The byline (reverted back to its first typeface) is higher now, to make room for a small www.warnerbros.com below.
- February 2001: The logo is now a TV rendition of their current movie logo. The background is darker, the shield logo still reads "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" across and the small www.warnerbros.com below the byline remains intact.
Syndication Variants: Now here are the syndication variations of the logo, along with dates in which they were used:
- 1984-2000: The WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" on top, and the word "DISTRIBUTION" below that.
- 1993-2001: The same as the previous variation, but this time, the words appear as "WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION", the first three words overlapping the other two.
- 1994-1997, 1999-2000: Most cable TV shows will have "WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC PAY TV, CABLE & NETWORK FEATURES" on top (some without music).
- 1994-1996: Some off-network shows would have a combo of the logo bylines. It appears as "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" at first, then fades to "WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION" soon afterward. This logo variant still had the words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" in the shield banner.
- 1984-1996: The banner reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES".
- 1994-2001: The banner reads "WARNER BROS." on most first-run and non-WB shows.
- 1996-2000: The banner reads "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" on most off-network WB shows.
- 1998: Same as the standard movie logo at the time, with the words "75 Years Entertaining the World" across both sides of the WB Shield (reading simply "WARNER BROS." or "WARNER BROS. PICTURES") and a darker background. A wind blowing type of sound was also used for this logo.
- 2000-2001: This logo is much like its network TV counterpart, and includes either "DISTRIBUTED BY" or "PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY" above the shield logo and a small www.warnerbros.com below the byline appears.
- January 29, 2001-March 2001: This shortest new logo has yet another different cloud background. It has a bit better defined WB shield logo with a updated banner inscription, like that of the Warner Bros. Classic/Television Animation version. The words "Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" reappear above the shield logo with the new byline below it. The company URL is temporarily removed.
- February 16, 2001 (approx.)-: The logo is now a TV rendition of their current movie logo. The background is darker, and once again the shield logo reads "WARNER BROS. TELEVISION" across. Like the Fall 2000 logo, this one includes either "Distributed by" or "Produced and Distributed by" above the shield logo and the small www.warnerbros.com below the byline reappears.
- 2005: A CGI-rendered WB zooms out into it's usual place. Also, a banner reading "50 Years of Quality" surrounds the shield, sometimes with a "Distributed by" text over the logo.
Other Variants:
- For the 2003 logo of Warner Bros. Television Distribution, when the logo is further back, it's by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. If it's closer up, it's by Warner Bros. Television Distribution.
- On The Perils of Penelope Pitstop on Boomerang, there is a short version of the 2003 Warner Bros. Pictures logo that is used for Warner Bros. Television.
- On the Family Matters holiday episode Fa La La La Laagghh! , there is snow falling in front of the 1992 WBTV logo.
Syndie Voiceovers: Here is a list of the stars that did the voiceover and the production company stated for early-mid '90s shows that were syndicated by Warner Bros. Basically, the spiels are what we have listed here, but also add ".....and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" (although "The People's Court" lacked the word "Distribution") to each of these parts so you can get the full experience.
- Full House, Dave Couiler (as Joey Gladstone): Full House is produced by Jeff Franklin Productions with Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar Television (1987-1993 episodes), Warner Bros. Television (1993-94 eps).
- Family Matters, Reginald VelJohnson (as Carl Winslow): Family Matters is a Miller Boyett Production in association with Lorimar Television (1989-1993 eps), Warner Bros. Television (rest of run until cancellation).
- Head of the Class, Leslie Bega (Maria Borges): Head of the Class is a Eustis-Elias Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.
- Perfect Strangers, Mark Linn-Baker (Larry Appleton): Perfect Strangers is a Miller-Boyett Production in association with Lorimar Television.
- Growing Pains, Kirk Cameron (Mike Seaver): Growing Pains is a Guntzelman-Sullivan-Marshall Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.
- Murphy Brown, Charles Kimbrough (Jim Dial): Murphy Brown is a Shukovsky-English Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.
- Fun House, announcer John "Tiny" Hurley: Fun House is a Stone Television Production in association with and is distributed by Lorimaaaaaaar-Telepictures! Cool! (first season only, later replaced with mentions to Lorimar Television and Warner Bros. Television Distrbution)
- Alf, Brian Cummings (not on the show, an announcer): Alf is an Alien Production.
- The Hogan Family, Jason Bateman (David Hogan): The Hogan Family is a Miller-Boyett Production in association with Lorimar Television.
- The People's Court (Announcer TBA): The People's Court is produced by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billet Productions.
- Time Trax (Announcer TBA): Time Trax is a Gary Nardino Production in association with Lorimar Television (early 1993 episodes), Warner Bros. Television (1993-1994 eps).
- Step by Step, Patrick Duffy (Frank Lambert): Step by Step is a Miller-Boyett Production in association with Lorimar Television (1991-1993 episodes), Warner Bros. Television (1994-1998 episodes)
FX: None in particular, as the logo was still; very, very few WBTV logos had any sort of animation. The 2005 version has the entire logo zooming out to the center and the clouds are flying. Sometimes the shield remains still while the clouds are animating.
Cheesy Factor: The Cable-Pay TV logo had a bad fade-in compared to other logos added more smoothly.
Music/Sounds: Usually silent, or shown with the outro of any theme music from its respective TV show. In other cases, it has the Rankin/Bass music. Starting in 1994, there was music added:
- 1994-: A 7-note loud horn theme with a drum cresendoing throughout. Some shows with WBDTD would have the first few notes cut off used on reruns like Living Single and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. Some shows in association with WBTV would have the theme cut in half.
- 1998: A rendition version of the 1998 movie theme from the 75th Anniversary movie logo.
- 2003-: A short version of the 1999 WB theme of As Time Goes By from the classic WB film Casablanca. Some shows in association with WBTV would have the theme cut in half.
- Reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air would have a hip-hop theme until the 1994-1996 episodes. This was also used once on one episode on the 2003 logo, "Sleepless in Bel-Air".
Music/Sounds Variants: The 1994 theme exists having a high and a low toned variant.
Availability: Common, depending on the logo timeframe. Still appears on various WBTV shows on TNT, TBS, Spike TV, TVOne, ABC Family, Nick-At-Nite, and in syndication, among others with original (at the time) company info. The 1998 logo is uncommon, and survives on 1998 episodes of Friends in local syndication and The Drew Carey Show on ION. The 2000 WB logo is considered rare, as it has appeared for a short time before Time Warner's merger with America Online. The AOL Time Warner logo is somewhat hard to find as it appeared for quite a short time on TV's Extra and Access Hollywood. The current logo is common. The "50 Years" version is uncommon and can be seen on any WB shows from that year, such as ER, The War at Home, Two and a Half Men, Supernatural, Smallville, Nip/Tuck, and Without a Trace. It also plasters over the Rankin/Bass logo on the DVD release of The Year Without a Santa Claus, but due to its sloppy editing, the logo gets accompanied by the music that played with the Rankin/Bass logo. The variation with the hip-hop theme still appears on reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on ABC Family and TBS and on non-cable stations, like KTLA in Los Angeles, also that market's CW affilate. The 2001 logo with the words "Produced and Distributed by" on top of the shield was seen on reruns of Friends and it is unknown for the 2000 logo with those words.
Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant:
- None if the ending theme of a TV show finishes over it.
- None to minimal with the 1994 theme.
- None for the Fresh Prince variant.
- None with the 1998 theme.
- None with the 2003 theme.
