Viacom Productions: Difference between revisions

* Two versions of this logo have been used throughout its life.

** The original version of this logo was filmed, and was used from <u>1976 until 1985</u>.

* '''Filmed Variants:'''

** A black and white version of the filmed "'''V'''" was used in the <u>earlier years</u>.

** A videotaped variant of this logo has an {{color|orange}} background and a {{color|midnightblue|midnight blue}} "{{color|midnightblue|'''V'''}}" seen on <u>1978 episodes of ''You Don't Say!''</u>. There is also a <u>warp speed</u> version of this.

** A videotaped variant with the logo superimposed in a circle over a moving starfield background was used on the short-lived series ''<u>Hot City</u>''. This is nicknamed the "V in Space".

'''Technique:'''

* Usually, the music used is a five-note synthesized fanfare (composed on an ARP Odyssey synth), complete with a timpani drum roll playing throughout with a final, rather loud pound at the end. Even after the logo faded (or cut) to black, the timpani's echo could still be heard. It is different for both the filmed and videotaped variants, with the audio quality being clearer for the latter.

* The very first version of this logo featured the "Pinball" music from the first logo as a placeholder and was used eventually until late 1978 (and was also often used when replacing the original "Pinball" logo, possibly a bad plastering error). This variant is known as the "V of Pinball".

'''Audio Variants:'''

* On the ''<u>Hot City</u>'' variant, the music starts playing over the last bit of the closing song.

* On a <u>1985 WTBS airing of ''Girls! Girls! Girls!''</u>'','' a split second of the "Pinball" music can be heard before the normal music starts, due to sloppy plastering.  

'''Availability:''' Most shows that had this logo have been updated with either the "V of Steel" or "Wigga Wigga" logos, or those of Paramount Domestic Television, CBS Paramount Domestic/Network Television, or CBS Television Distribution. However, newer variants might be seen on local stations that show older Viacom shows, such as ''The Honeymooners'', ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'', ''Rawhide'', ''Hogan's Heroes'', ''The Twilight Zone'', and ''Gomer Pyle: U.S.M.C.'' All variants of the "V of Doom" (with the exception of the "V of Pinball" until evidence is found) can be seen on VHS tapes of ''The Andy Griffith Show'' released by various video outlets such as Premier Promotions and sometimes (though mostly the videotaped variant) by [[UAV Corporation]].

** The B&W filmed variant with the "Pinball" theme appears on the [[Magnetic Video Corporation|Magnetic Video]] releases of ''King Creole'' (also on the Key Video re-releases) and ''Visit to a Small Planet''.

** This variant was also recently discovered on a 16mm print of ''The Phil Silvers Show''.  

* '''''Filmed Variant'':'''  

** The faster music variant is preserved on the 1985 [[Family Home Entertainment]] release of ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' and its 1988 SLP reissue.

** The filmed variant can be seen on Cozi TV airings of episodes from the first two seasons of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', due to said network using public domain prints of that show.  

** It can also be spotted on almost every episode of ''The Millionaire'', which can occasionally be seen on Decades.

** The color variant of the filmed variant was seen on some prints of ''The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse'' and recently (as of 2018) on three episodes of ''Gunsmoke'' on Me-TV ("The Witness", "Eleven Dollars", and "Kitty's Love Affair") and one episode ("Like Old Times") on CBS Drama in the UK.

** It is unknown if this was seen on the [[Magnum Entertainment]] releases of ''The Deerslayer'', ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1977) or ''California Gold Rush'', the Magnetic Video VHS release and 1985 Key Video re-release of ''Roustabout'', or the 1985 Key Video re-issue of ''Blue Hawaii''.

* '''''Videotaped Variant'':'''  

** The videotaped version appeared on ''Perry Mason'' on Me-TV, but since 2015, they have started to use remastered DVD prints with the 2007 CBS Television Distribution logo. However, these older prints can still be seen on FETV.

** Several of the "Classic 39" episodes of ''The Honeymooners'', as well as the "lost" episodes, had this logo when they previously aired on WGN America and TBS. Newer prints of the "lost" episodes use the [[MPI Home Video]] logo instead.

** It was also seen on episodes of ''The (New) Price is Right'' from 1976-1980.  

** The 1978 and 1983 variants were formerly seen on two episodes of ''The Twilight Zone'' on Syfy ("You Drive" and "One for the Angels") until Syfy acquired updated prints sometime in 2015.  

** The warp-speed variant was also recently spotted on a rerun of ''The Bob Newhart Show'' S5 episode "Making Up Is the Thing To Do" on Me-TV, Hallmark Channel, Decades (occasionally), Sundance, and FamNET, after the decorated [[MTM Enterprises]] logo and preceding the [[20th Television]] logo, and is also available on various season 5 and 6 episodes of that show on Shout Factory's 2014 complete series set, as well as solo releases of said seasons and Me-TV airings of most season 6 episodes, with the logo on a majority of those episodes being followed by the 20th Television logo.  

** It was also seen on some episodes of ''All in the Family'' before [[Columbia Pictures Television|Columbia Pictures Television Distribution]] (now [[Sony Pictures Television]]) acquired the syndication rights to that show.  

** It also makes a strange appearance at the start of the original VHS release of the 1980 film ''The Unseen'' (also intact on an '80s USA Network airing), while the filmed variant appears at the end.  

** This logo also appeared on a recent Decades airing of the season 2 ''Bob Newhart Show'' episode "The Modernization of Emily".  

** It appeared on original broadcasts of ''Family Feud''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s first syndicated run (where it was preceded by in-credit text), but does not appear to have ever been retained in repeat airings.

* '''''Silent Variant'':'''   

** It is also retained on the 1985 Key Video re-issue of ''Fun in Acapulco''.  

** It was also spotted on an '80s USA Network airing of the 1968 movie ''Mission Mars'' (it is unknown if it's intact on any VHS releases of the movie).