United Artists Television: Difference between revisions

Logo descriptions by Jason Jones, Shadeed A. Kelly, D.L. Chandell and indycar

Logo captures by Shadeed A. Kelly, Eric S., TrickyMario7654, V of Doom, Bob Fish, snelfu, Gilblitz112, indycar, Pygmalion X, and TheEriccorpinc

 

'''Background:''' United Artists Television was the television production and distribution division of [[United Artists]] that was originally formed in 1949. They distributed their parent company's film library, but by the 1950s, there was little success. United Artists Corporation acquired [[Associated Artists Productions]] in 1958 and renamed it as "United Artists Associated" and in the process, they acquired the pre-1950 [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]] theatrical film library. In 1960, United Artists acquired [[Ziv Television Programs]], forming "Ziv-United Artists" as their television production and primary distribution arm. In 1962, Ziv was phased out, causing the name to revert back to the original name. United Artists was later purchased by Transamerica Corporation in 1967. United Artists Associated was reincorporated as "United Artists Television Distribution" the following year. In 1981, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] merged with United Artists to create "MGM/UA Entertainment Co.". As a result, their respective television units combined as well, forming "MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Television" (or "MGM/UA Television") in 1982. The "United Artists Television" logo was eventually phased out around 1983 in favor of the "MGM/UA Television" banner, although the United Artists Television name was used on select television series as an in-name-only unit of MGM/UA Television until 1995. On September 22, 2014, MGM purchased a 55% interest in [[One Three Media]] and [[Lightworkers Media]] and merged the two companies to form "United Artists Media Group", with Hearst Corporation also owning a minor stake of the company until December 14, 2015, when MGM acquired the remaining 45% stake, becoming its wholly-owned subsidiary and folding it later. United Artists Media Group later became "UAMG Content, LLC". With the exceptions of ''Gilligan's Island'' (distributed by [[Warner Bros. Television]] via [[Turner Entertainment Co.]], who retains the copyright), ''The Fugitive'' (owned by [[CBS Television Studios]] through [[Spelling Television]]) and ''The Mothers-in-Law'' (owned by Desilu, Too (not to be confused with the original Desilu Productions, later [[Paramount Television (pre-2006)|Paramount Television]], now [[CBS Television Studios]]), the remaining United Artists Television library is currently owned by [[MGM Television]].

 

 

===1st Logo (1958-1962)===

'''Logo:''' A superimposed logo, featuring a block-type "UA" stacked diagonally with the text "A United Artists Television Presentation" across. The logo is bordered inside a transparent television tube-like field.

 

*Opening: In a black background, a transparent television tube-like field appears with the block-type letters "UA" inside it. The text "A United Artists Television Presentation" then fades in.

*Ziv-United Artists Variant: See Ziv Television Programs for description.

'''Logo:''' On a grey background, the stacked text "UNITED ARTISTS TELEVISION" appears as an outline, surrounded by 2 white brackets (think this: { }). The brackets then pan over the text, turning it and the brackets black. When they reach over back to the sides (like this: } { ), they quickly close up over the text, wiping it away until they meet, where a line on the bottom of half appears, making a stacked "UA" (looking like this }{).

 

*The color variant had yellow/red/orange/white lettering and the UA logo in white on a blue/brown background; was seen with full animation on ''It's About'' Time and ''My Mother the Car''. It also exists in B&W.

*A still variant with "Released by" on top of the logo and the brackets already in their switched places was seen on season one episodes of ''The Rat Patrol'' and ''Hey, Landlord''.

'''Logo:''' This is an in-credit logo for some of United Artists Television's co-productions. In it, "UA" appears in a bold font. There are two known versions of this logo:

 

* ''The Fugitive'': The logo logo flips in (the same transition effect on all other groups of text on the closing credits) and appears as:

 

in association with

 

UNITED ARTISTS<br>

TELEVISION, INC.

 

Some early episodes lack the "UA" and later episodes have "Filmed at the SAMUEL GOLDWYN STUDIO" underneath the logo.

 

*''Gilligan's Island'': The "UA" is on the left side of the middle section with:

 

A GLADASYA-UNITED ARTISTS TELEVISION<br>

PRODUCTION

 

appearing above. Like ''The Fugitive'' version, there was originally no "UA".

'''Logo:''' On a light blue background, we have a yellow circle and inside it has a black circle. We see the words "UNITED ARTISTS TELEVISION" in yellow lettering (appears to be in a cote-out) appearing inside a circular field. The word "TELEVISION" is under the word "RTISTS" in small lettering. The byline "A Transamerica COMPANY" is seen in small letters underneath. The word "Transamerica" is seen in a yellow Impact font. The letters "U" and the "A" are somewhat taller than the rest of the company name, and they overlap each other. The logo resembles the movie logo at the time, but without the rest of the background.

'''Variant:''' The background is sky blue and the circle and lettering is orange. The text "RELEASED BY" is seen in place of "FROM" on the upper left corner. This variant is also zoomed further away.

'''Logo:''' It starts with two sets of blue lines going into place, all together at the same time, against a black background. One set of three lines turns to the left, the other set turns to the right. There are six lines altogether, revealing the logo of Transamerica Corporation, United Artists' former owner. The logo zooms out to the side to make room for the company name.

'''Opening Variant:''' On this variant, the animation is the same as film counterpart, except the text says "United Artists Television" instead of just "United Artists".

'''Logo:''' It is similar to the previous logo. The re-modified name "United Artists Television" fades in, and the "Transamerica T" fades in along with the shortened byline "A Transamerica Company".

'''Logo:''' It is a shortened variant of the 1981 United Artists logo.

'''Logo:''' It is a still shot variant of the 1982 United Artists logo and is closer up.

===Final Note===

In 2014, [[United Artists Media Group]] was formed, causing the United Artists name to return to television for the first time since 1995.

[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] [[Category: Television Logos]]