Columbia Pictures Television: Difference between revisions

=== 3rd Logo (2nd official logo) (September 21, 1976-September 28, 1982, April 13, 1983) ===

 

'''Logo''': We see a bright torch light appear against a black screen and as it shrinks, it changes into a more "abstract" torch light. The light rays recede from the bottom to about half way with 13 symmetrical white light rays remaining. An {{font color|orangered|orange-red}} semicircle, fades in from behind the rays and the words "{{Font|Times New Roman|{{font color|orange|'''Columbia Pictures Television'''}}}}" appear under it in an {{Font color|orange|orange}} Souvenir font. The entire logo then slowly backs away as it fades out.

*This logo is actually the second half of the 1976 Columbia Pictures movie logo and, aside from a different color designation for the abstract torch, the footage also seems to be played faster than its theatrical counterpart.

*Depending on the quality of the film print or telecine, the logo would appear slightly {{font color|red|red}}. It should be noted that despite this, orange was the designated color for Columbia's television unit during this era.

*According to the book Screen Gems: A History of Columbia Pictures Television from Cohn to Coke, 1948-1983, by TV historian Jeb H. Perry, this logo was described as "a graphic representing the glow from The Lady's torch", which is, indeed, what this logo was meant to represent. Mr. Perry, however, made a mistake in this book, in that he said that this logo started in 1974 with the change to Columbia Pictures Television from Screen Gems. The real first logo of CPT was the "Pretzel", as described above.

*On occasion, the glow around the sunburst varied in brightness or was not visible at all. This was generally the case during the 1980s on network TV.

*On the second episode of the short-lived series ''Filthy Rich'', titled "Town and Garden", the sunburst appears in-credit as animating on the end-title scene. The CPT logo here, however, does not have its own jingle playing; rather, the ''Filthy Rich'' closing theme plays over it.

*A B&W version exists.

*An ultra dark version exists, where the text and semicircle are invisible and only the torch light remains barely visible. This can be seen on the ''Police Woman'' episode "The Human Rights of Tiki Kim." A similar variant, with a {{Font color|maroon|brownish-colored}} sunburst, is rumored to have appeared on an episode of ''Fantasy Island''.

*Some syndicated broadcasts of this logo have a shorter version of the music, only playing the second half. This was due in part because of the splice edit method that was commonplace on early film prints of their shows.

*Sometimes, the music was played at a lower pitch.

*In rare cases, it used the closing theme of the show or TV movie.

*It appears with closing music playing over it on the VHS tape of the 1981 miniseries ''Family Reunion'' with Bette Davis, the 1982 TV movie ''Ivanhoe'' on DVD, the Vidmark VHS, SPHE DVD release, the Sony Movie Channel broadcast and current prints of the 1982 Tom Selleck TV movie ''The Shadow Riders'' (its last known new appearance), and two post-1980 ''Barney Miller'' episodes: "Homicide, Part I" and "Contempt, Part I" on local syndication. It appeared with music at the end of the 1977 TV movie ''A Killing Affair'', but it has not been seen since Encore last aired it in 2006. Also seen on an international airing of ''Fantasy Island'', followed by the Sony Pictures Television International logo.

*The logo with music has been restored on all season 1 episodes of ''T.J. Hooker'' on the 2014 Mill Creek Entertainment re-release of the first and second seasons of that show on DVD and without the SPT logo at all (the original Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2005 release had the logo replaced with the SPT logo). The logo appears in silence at the end of ''Barney Miller's'' series finale "Landmark, Part 3" on the 2011 Shout! Factory complete DVD series set. This logo can be seen on the ''Father Knows Best'' reunion special ''Home for Christmas'', last seen on GetTV and Sony Movie Channel. It also appears on Seasons 3 and 4 of ''Police Woman''. Also spotted on a Sony Movie Channel airing of ''Last of the Good Guys''.

*On Blu-ray, this appeared on ''The Making of The Deep'', seen on the Blu-ray release of ''The Deep''.

*It can be seen restored in high definition on Crackle's print of the 1978 TV movie ''More Than Friends''.