Comedy Central Productions: Difference between revisions

 

Before the name "'''Comedy Central'''" existed, the network was owned by an outfit called "'''Comedy Partners'''" founded by [[Viacom (1952-2006)|Viacom, Inc.]] and [[Time-Life Television|Time-Life]] (later Time Warner, now [[WarnerMedia]], since merged with [[Discovery Networks|Discovery]] to make [[Warner Bros. Discovery]]). Time Warner's [[HBO IDs|HBO]] unit had expanded into basic cable with a channel called "[[The Comedy Channel Originals|The Comedy Channel]]". Similarly, Viacom was operating "[[Ha! IDs|Ha! TV Comedy Network]]". After both channels took a hit, the two compromised and created a jointly-owned company as "Comedy Partners", merging both channels into "[[CTV: The Comedy Network]]", but later renamed it to "Comedy Central" in order to save confusion from Canada's [[CTV National IDs|CTV]] network. In April 2003, Time Warner sold their half of Comedy Partners for $1.23 billion, resulting in Viacom owning 100% of Comedy Central and the network was made part of the MTV Networks (now Paramount Media Networks).

 

 

[[File:Comedy Central Productions 1991 (High Quality).png|center|350px]]

'''Logo:''' The Comedy Central globe of the era (which isn't tilted to the side, has {{color|#FFD900|yellow}} text, and a {{color|violet|heliotrope}} top) is placed on a pile of rusty tires on a junkyard. The "{{color|#FFD900|'''COMEDY-CENTRAL'''}}" marquee spins around from time to time.

'''FX/SFX:''' The "COMEDY-CENTRAL" marquee spinning around.

 

 

 

 

===2nd Logo (July/August 1994-June 5, 1996)===  

 

 

[[File:Comedy Central Productions 1995 (High Quality).png|center|350px]]

 

 

'''Variant:''' On season seven of ''MST3K'', the logo fades in and is silent.

'''FX/SFX:''' The Comedy Central logo on the moon spinning and the Comedy Central logo emitting blue circles.

 

 

 

'''Availability:''' Seen on season one episodes of ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' on DVD and VHS, and the majority of season six and seven of ''MST3K'' on VHS. This logo and the HBO Downtown Productions logo are retained on at least one episode of ''MST3K'' on PlutoTV, "The Starfighters".

 

 

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'''Logo:''' It begins with a shot of a credit card being inserted into what is presumably an ATM. It then switches to a shot of an ATM screen, with the text in {{color|limegreen|green}} being displayed from top to bottom in a computer-type font. The text reads "{{color|limegreen|{{Font|Courier|'''THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF:'''}}}}", followed by the Comedy Central logo (in {{color|limegreen|green}}, tilted to its side, and with the name written in a different font), and "{{color|limegreen|{{Font|Courier|'''THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE'''}}}}" under the logo. The last line "blinks" a few times, becoming highlighted in {{color|limegreen|green}} with the text in black.

 

*An edit exists on the first three episodes of ''South Park'' where the "credit card" animation was kept in, but the screen in the ATM was cut because it was abruptly switched to the 4th logo.

 

'''FX/SFX:''' The credit card being inserted, which appears to be live-action, and the ATM screen, which is CGI.

 

 

'''Availability:''' Uncommon. It's seen on Comedy Central shows of the period. The Rhino VHS and DVD releases of early ''South Park'' episodes retain this logo (it is removed on the season 1 DVD set) along with seasons two, three and four of ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist''. The credit card animation was still retained on some early episodes of ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' when it was aired on GSN.

 

 

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'''Trivia:''' Comedy Central's logo was slightly redesigned during this period by the design firm Attik, gaining a smoother look; most notably, the small hyphen ( - ) from the "'''COMEDY CENTRAL'''" marquee was removed and the buildings are now on the United States of America, with South America placed further down on the globe.

 

 

 

'''Availability:''' Common. It first appeared on the first episode of ''South Park'' as part of the variant for the previous logo. The first season DVD removes this logo on all but "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut", while the second season DVD features this logo intact. Preserved on DVDs and VHS tapes of season five and the first six episodes of season six of ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'', earlier episodes of ''Bob and Margret'' and on ''Comedy Central Presents'' episodes from the era, although the first episode is plastered by the sixth logo.

 

 

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*{{color|silver|Silver}} background with {{color|red}} and {{color|silver|silver}} bubbles.

*{{color|blue|Blue}} background with {{color|darkblue|dark blue}} bubbles.

*{{color|green|Green}} background with {{color|green}} and {{color|darkgreen|dark green}} bubbles.

*{{color|red|Red}} background with {{color|darkred|dark red}} bubbles.

*{{color|gold|Gold}} background with {{color|goldenrod|gold}} bubbles.

*{{color|darkmagenta|Purple}} background with {{color|purple}} bubbles.

*{{color|deepskyblue|Blue}} background with {{color|mediumvioletred|purple}} bubbles.

 

*A variant on ''Upright Citizens Brigade'' exists where the logo quickly switches between the {{color|blue}}/{{color|darkblue|dark blue}}, {{color|silver|silver}}/{{color|red}}, and {{color|green}}/{{color|darkgreen|dark green}} palettes.

 

 

'''FX/SFX:''' The logo zooming in, pretty simplistic animation compared to the previous logo.

*On ''Strangers with Candy'', a techno theme (also used on Comedy Central's bumpers at the time) with something that sounds like a car's tires screeching.

*On ''Comedy Central Presents'', the last part of the RickMill Productions logo theme plays over the logo.

 

'''Availability:''' The silver/red/silver, blue/dark blue, green/green/dark green and red/dark red variants are uncommon. The yellow, purple, and blue/purple ones are rare. First seen on season 2 episodes of ''Comedy Central Presents'' and last seen on the ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' episode "Lerapy". The blue variant was seen on ''South Park'' episodes from this era up to "Probably", but given constant plastering from the next logo, can only be currently seen on "Prehistoric Ice Man" on the second season DVD (the first ''South Park'' episode to use it, the rest of the episodes on the DVD end with the previous logo). Nearly all of the colors can be found on DVDs of ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' episodes from the era. It also appeared on Craig Kilborn/early Jon Stewart-era ''The Daily Show'' episodes and ''Comedy Central Presents'' episodes from the era. The blue version can also be seen on the DVD of ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', at the end of ''Comedy Central's Canned Ham: The Dr. Evil Story'' (a fake documentary tying in with the film).

 

 

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'''Logo:''' Over a shaded {{color|darkorange|orange}} background, we see lots of {{color|#FFD900|yellow}} circles zooming in toward the camera. Each circle has a different close-up of the current Comedy Central logo (much like the original, but looking more abstract, with different buildings and a different font) and the text "'''''THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF'''''" scrolling to the right. When the circles move away, we are treated with the end product, the updated Comedy Central logo in the center with "'''''THIS HAS BEEN A PRESENTATION OF'''''" above in black, and "'''comedycentral.com'''" below, in white, and circles moving behind the logo.

 

*On later seasons of ''South Park'', this logo starts with the finished product on numerous episodes, bypassing the circles. A copyright stamp for Comedy Partners is included. A few episodes keep the animation as usual, but still have the copyright notice plastered over all the animation. The first variant also appeared on ''Comedy Central Presents''.

*Current reruns of ''South Park'' keep this logo intact; however, it is part of the split screen credits. Therefore, sometimes the logo is extended to fit with the length of the commercial (in case it is too long). This is done by having the logo play as normal with the last bit of the circle animation going on a continuous loop when the finished product appears.

 

 

'''FX/SFX:'' Animation.

'''Music/Sounds:''' A funky bass/guitar sounder that loops itself, not unlike music heard on Comedy Central's commercial tags at the time. It depends on the variant.

 

 

===7th Logo (In-credit variants) (2004-)===

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

===8th Logo (2004-2005?)===  

 

 

 

 

'''Logo:''' On a {{color|#FFD900|yellow}}-{{color|orange}} background, we see several graffiti designs in different styles moving and a grunge-like Comedy Central logo, then it zooms in to the logo in the center with "'''this has been a presentation of'''" above, and "'''comedycentral.com'''" below.

 

===9th Logo (2004-2005?)===  

 

 

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'''Logo:''' On a {{color|red}} background, we see a close-up of the then-current Comedy Central logo, which zooms out as the camera cuts to the text "'''THIS HAS BEEN'''" and "{{color|lightskyblue|'''A PRESENTATION OF'''}}" sliding next to what looks like melting graffiti. "'''THIS HAS BEEN'''" flickers, and the screen then cuts to another close-up of the Comedy Central logo as the text slides in at an angle, and the white parts of the logo briefly flash to black. The text flickers again and we see the logo appear in white once again. Everything flickers, as the logo changes its position and flickers between black and white. This all continues until it cuts to black.

 

 

 

'''Music/Sounds:''' Same as the previous logo, or sometimes a different hip-hop music is used.

 

'''Availability:''' Rare, as this logo was limited to DVD releases of Comedy Central shows at the time.

* Notable releases with this logo include Seasons 4-6 of ''South Park'' as well as Season 2 of ''Reno 911!''.

===10th Logo (2005-December 31, 2010)=== <!--T:83-->

'''Logo:''' On a {{color|limegreen|lime green}} background, we see an extreme close-up of a white grunge-like Comedy Central logo with the holes in the letters "'''O'''", "'''R'''" and "'''A'''" filled in, skewed to the right and flashing a bit, then it suddenly cuts to a normal version of the logo next to a {{color|limegreen|green}}, white, and {{color|lightskyblue|blue}} cloud with the text "'''PRODUCTIONS'''" in a grunge-like font with all holes filled in. A copyright stamp with the year of the ''South Park'' episode's release next to it appears below in white.

'''FX/SFX:''' The flickers, the cuts. Again, the logo is designed by INTERspectacular.

===11th Logo (January 1, 2011)===  

 

 

[[File:PZKv2iVnsT-ppUjaH09LuQ36330.png|center|350px]]

 

 

===12th Logo (September 25, 2012-April 14, 2015)===  

 

 

[[File:Comedy Central Productions logo (2012).PNG|center|350px]]

 

'''Logo:''' On a black background, we see the white words "COMEDYCENTRAL". Then, the two "C"s from the previous logo pops in while the word "CENTRAL" is in upside-down.

 

===13th Logo (2012-2019?)===

[[File:2015 Comedy Central International logo.jpg|center|frameless]]

 

 

{{YouTube|id=7WX3qARemrA|id2=https://youtu.be/xtgBkVn6AeU}}

 

===14th Logo (May 4-September 7, 2020)=== <!--T:116-->

'''Logo:''' We see the text "'''COMEDY CENTRAL PRODUCTIONS'''" with the words stacked on top of each other in white. The network's "{{color|#FFD900|'''C'''}}" logo in {{color|#FFD900|yellow}} occupies the space next to the former two words.

 

'''Availability:''' Rare. Only seen on the new series of ''Reno 911!''. However, all future shows from Comedy Central will start using the [[MTV Entertainment Studios]] logo instead.