Screen Gems Television: Difference between revisions

Screen Gems, previously the [[Screen Gems Cartoons|cartoon division]] of [[Columbia Pictures]], was revived as a television subsidiary in 1948. It was formed when Columbia acquired Pioneer Telefilms, a television commercial company founded in 1947 by Ralph M. Cohn, the son of Columbia Pictures co-founder, Jack Cohn, and the nephew of longtime Columbia Pictures president and co-founder, Harry Cohn. Pioneer Telefilms was renamed to Screen Gems after the acquisition. It was responsible for television production, TV movies, syndicating the Columbia Pictures movie library, and starting in 1958, ''The Three Stooges'' shorts starting with the Curly series. Screen Gems became a fully-fledged studio in 1951 by moving into Telefilm syndication and later into television production in 1952. On July 1, 1956, Columbia studio veteran Irving Briskin formed [[Briskin Productions]] to oversee all of Screen Gems' productions. On December 10, 1956, Screen Gems acquired television syndication company Hygo Television Films (a.k.a. "Serials Inc.") as well as its affiliated company, United Television Films, Inc. On August 2, 1957, Screen Gems agreed to syndicate the Universal Horror Package from [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International]] for 10 years under the names ''Shock'' and ''Son of Shock''. From 1957-1966, Screen Gems held a 20% stake in [[Hanna-Barbera Cartoons|Hanna-Barbera]] and acted as their distributor; Screen Gems (and later, Columbia Pictures itself) also owned the distribution rights to ''The Flintstones'' until the 1980s. In January 1961, Columbia Pictures Corporation and Screen Gems, Inc. were split into separate companies, when the former studio sold 11% of the latter's stock to the public. On December 23, 1968, Screen Gems merged with its parent Columbia Pictures Corporation and the whole organization was reincorporated as "Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.". On May 6, 1974, Screen Gems was reincorporated as "[[Columbia Pictures Television]]" (now "[[Sony Pictures Television]]"). The name was suggested by David Gerber, the then-current president of Columbia's television division.

=== 1st Logo (April 1951-1952, December 14, 1957-1974) ===

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

'''Editor's Note:''' The logo fits well with the company name as the "SCREEN" is the TV tube, and the "GEMS" are the stars on the screen. It's a rather peculiar concept that was shelved in favor of the "Torch Lady" years later.

'''Editor's Note:''' This was the first use of the "Torch Lady" for television. It's mostly a well-liked logo, but some viewers in their youth were put off by the loud and dramatic nature of the fanfare heard on some shows, which has been referred to by some as the "Fanfare of Doom".

=== 4th Logo (September 3, 1960-July 7, 1963) ===

'''Editor's Note:''' It's more of the same from the previous logo, but with less clutter. An updated version of sorts could be seen as the logo for the [[Screen Gems Network]], the '90s syndicated package of classic SG, Columbia, Tandem, and ELP shows.

'''Editor's Note:''' A straight example of early '60s art decor. Advertising in the 1960s commonly used this style of art.

'''Editor's Note:''' For a logo from the '60s, this features very smooth animation, especially when compared to other logos of the time. However, this logo has gained somewhat of a cult following due to its notoriety for scaring some viewers, even enough to spawn a short mockumentary in 2010 called ''The S from Hell''.

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[[Category:American Television Logos]]