Universal Television (2011-present): Difference between revisions

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Revue Studios (first known as "Revue Productions, Inc.") was founded in 1943 by MCA when they originally produced live shows. The partnership of NBC and Revue extends as far back as September 6, 1950, with the television broadcast of ''Armour Theatre'', based on the radio show ''Stars Over Hollywood''. The company was renamed "Revue Studios" after MCA purchased the [[Universal Studios]] lot in 1958. Then in 1962, following the acquisition of Decca Records, who owned Universal-International Pictures at the time, Revue was renamed as "Universal Television".

Universal Television has its roots going back to 1947 when they entered the television market via [[United World Films]]. But after very little success, they shifted into producing TV commercials under Universal International Television, with the United World Name being renamed Universal Television by 1956. The current company of Universal Television was formed in 1962 after MCA bought Decca Records, who was also the owner of [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International Pictures]] and renamed MCA's television production company Revue Studios to the then-current name. They co-produced many shows with Jack Webb's [[Mark VII Limited]] such as ''Adam-12'' and a revival of the 1951 series ''Dragnet'' in 1967. In 1988, Universal Television and [[MCA TV]] formed a sub-division known as [[MTE|MCA Television Entertainment]] (or "MTE").. In 1990, Uni TV began the ''Law & Order'' franchise. The same year, Universal was acquired by the electronics company Mastushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (now "Panasonic Corporation"). In 1995, Universal was acquired by Joseph A. Seagram and Sons and later acquired the USA Networks. In 1996, MCA was reincorporated as "Universal Studios" and acquired [[Multimedia Entertainment]] from Gannett, Inc., and Universal Television's distribution arm, MCA TV, as well as its sub-division, MTE were renamed to Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Television Entertainment respectively. In 1997, Universal sold off its USA Networks and Universal Television to HSN Inc. (a company owned by Barry Diller), who renamed it to Studios USA. In 1998, the breakup of [[United International Pictures]]' TV arm led to Universal reforming its own international television distributor, Universal Worldwide Television. It handled international distribution of Studios USA shows, while Studios USA handled domestic distribution of Universal's own library. In 1998, Seagram bought [[PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (UK)|PolyGram Filmed Entertainment]], which included [[PolyGram Television (UK)|PolyGram Television]]. The deal closed in 1999, and the name PolyGram was soon scrubbed and replaced with the Universal name. However in 1999, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios]] used its debt to acquire most of the pre-1996 films (1,300 titles) by PolyGram from Seagram. In 2001, Vivendi Universal acquired USA Networks and made Diller as CEO of VU Entertainment fully reforming Universal Television. On May 12, 2004, General Electric (GE) acquired 80% of Universal Studios and merged the studio with NBC to form "NBC Universal, Inc." (now "NBCUniversal, LLC") and merged the two television companies to form "NBC Universal Television" (now "[[NBCUniversal Television]]"). However, the company decided to keep the NBC and Universal Television names in the end credits from any series by NBC or Universal. On September 12, 2011, the name "Universal Television" was reinstated, replacing the name "[[Universal Media Studios]]".

===1st Logo (August 11, 1951-1953)===

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'''Nicknames:''' "Rotating Camera", "Turning Camera", "Revue Camera", "Camera of Doom"

'''Logo:''' We zoom in on a shot of a TV camera, which turns sideways, revealing the phrase "'''A REVUE PRODUCTION'''" (in a Futura font) inscribed onto the camera base. Then it later fades to the MCA-TV "Filmreel" logo.

'''FX/SFX:''' The rotation of the TV camera, all done in live action.

'''Music/Sounds:''' A dramatic 1940s-esque horn fanfare.

'''Availability:''' Extremely rare, as the "Filmreel" is long gone. This has appeared for a short time on some episodes of ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'', among a few others.

'''Editor's Note:''' The music will probably be a problem with many viewers. The camera zoom-in and it turning can also give someone the shakes.

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'''Logo:''' Over a light shaded background, we see the phrase "Produced by '''REVUE''' In Hollywood". The word "'''REVUE'''" is taller than the rest of the words, and appears in a very slim, 3-dimensional state. The angle is on the right, looking downward, with a bit of a shadow behind the letters. The remainder of the logo features the other words in a fancy cursive font.

'''Variant:'''

*This logo is shared with the MCA TV "Filmreel" logo on several TV shows.

*On ''Tales of Wells Fargo'', the logo is superimposed into the background and the word "REVUE" is in 2D.

'''FX/SFX:''' None.

'''Music/Sounds:''' None or the closing theme of the show.

'''Availability:''' Uncommon, though a variant of sorts can be found on first season episodes of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' on Antenna TV and on DVD, as well as the pilot episode of ''Leave It to Beaver'' on TV Land, Antenna TV, and DVD, and ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'' on DVD.

'''Editor's Note:''' None.

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'''Logo:''' An in-credit version of the previous logo, but the text is in Franklin Gothic and reads "{{Font|Franklin Gothic|'''filmed at {{Big|revue}} in Hollywood'''}}" with "{{Font|Franklin Gothic|{{Big|'''revue'''}}}}" in bold lettering:

<center>{{Font|Franklin Gothic|'''filmed at<br>{{Huge|revue}}<br>in Hollywood}}'''</center>

The MCA Arrowhead above it is located near the logo.

'''Variants:'''

*"Exclusive Representatives" was later changed to "exclusive distributor" on the MCA-TV logo.

*At other times, it would say "{{Font|Franklin Gothic|'''produced by {{Big|revue}} in Hollywood'''}}".

'''FX/SFX:''' Scrolling of the credits or superimposed.

'''Music/Sounds:''' Just the end title theme from any show.

'''Availability:''' Common.

*It's seen on almost the entire 1st season and a few early episodes of the 2nd season of ''Leave It to Beaver'' on Me-TV, Antenna TV and DVD.

*It also appears on the first season of ''Wagon Train'' on Encore Westerns and 1957-1958 episodes of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' on Antenna TV and ''Bachelor Father''.

'''Editor's Note:''' None.

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'''Nickname:''' "The Filmstrips"

'''Logo:''' Two filmstrip-like lines with letters (the top one being black and the bottom one being {{Font color|gray|gray}} move in opposite directions of each other, with the top line going left and the bottom line going right. To the tune of their 5-note fanfare, five letters stack horizontally together, unevenly, spelling the name "{{Font|Franklin Gothic|'''revue'''}}". Then the rest of the letters move away, bringing in a white-outlined rounded rectangle shape (kind of similar to the Warner Bros. \\' logo). Then the inside turns into a {{Font color|darkgray|dark gray}} color under the black and {{Font color|gray|gray}} blocks of letters, with the phrases "filmed in hollywood at" above the blocks, "studios" below them, and "MCA-TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR" under the shape appearing with it. The MCA byline, which was actually underneath the logo, was usually accompanied by its own union bug, which was a small globe with the words MCA over it.  

This logo also appears in series credits. Sometimes, just the name appears just as its predecessor logo has done before.

'''Trivia:'''  

* The letters featured on the lines are the following:

* The top of the row also spells "revue": {{Font|Franklin Gothic|'''xazcnaqurpemscvxuozserncv'''}}

'''Variants:'''

*This logo appeared in quite a few lengths. There is a long version that features the full-length version of the fanfare. Some shows, such as those produced in association with Kayro Productions, feature an abridged version of the logo that starts with the TV tube zooming out and a shortened fanfare. There are also several versions of this logo used for co-productions, such as for Kayro shows, JaMco Productions, Hubbell-Robinson Productions, Top Gun Productions, and Shamley Productions; those feature the company name alongside a smaller version of the Revue logo.

*On season 2 of ''Leave It to Beaver'' among other series, it has the words "'''productions inc.'''" on the Revue logo, which later changed to "'''studios'''" in 1959.

'''FX/SFX:''' The building block-type animation.

'''Music/Sounds:''' A loud but majestic horn fanfare accompanied by a xylophone; this has appeared in quite a few lengths, corresponding with the logo. There were two jingles, a (rarely-heard) long version and a short version both arranged by Stanley Wilson and Juan Garcia Esquivel. The long version has the first note longer and 4 extra notes. The short version has the 1st note shorter and deleted the 4 extra notes.

'''Music/Sounds Variants:'''

*Over the years, some shows have the regular jingle plastered with the 1964 Universal Television theme.

*A high tone variant of the long version also exists.

'''Availability:''' Common.

*It's currently seen on ''Leave It to Beaver'' on TV Land, Me-TV, and Antenna TV, S1 of ''McHale's Navy'' and ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' on Antenna TV with the in-credit logos from 1958-1960 and the animation from 1960-1963.

*The color version is rare and was last seen on the first season episodes of ''The Virginian'' on Starz Encore Westerns and Laramie and the other on the color episodes of ''McHale's Navy''. More recently, the color version has been spotted on several color episodes of ''Laramie'' on Encore Westerns, followed by the 1960-63 NBC Studios "Snake" logo.

'''Editor's Note:''' None.

'''Final Note:''' Kayro Productions and Revue Studios formed a partnership by forming [[Kayro-UTV Productions|Kayro-Vue Productions]] in 1964.