MTM Enterprises (Animation)

This fictional logo is based off a real logo.

Background: MTM Enterprises is an independent production company established in 1969 by actress Mary Tyler Moore (hence the initials of the company) and her then-husband Grant Tinker. The company was formed as a result of an agreement with Moore and the CBS network to produce 22 episodes of a new sitcom, which would become The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In 1986, MTM acquired television distribution company Victory Television, Inc. and became "MTM Television Distribution". MTM was sold to TVS Entertainment (a subsidiary of now-defunct ITV franchise holderTVS) in 1987. In 1992 after TVS lost its ITV franchise to Meridian Broadcasting, it was then sold to International Family Entertainment, Inc.

1st Logo

(September 19, 1970-August 14, 1998)

Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten", "Mimsie the Cat", "MEOW!"

Logo: Over the years, the logo has been tweaked colorwise and according to certain shows, but here's the basic concept: An "M" flies backward from off screen, then splits into two. In the space left between the two letters, two T's come from the top and bottom of the screen and join to form one. This completes the initials of the company, and the letter "T" shrinks when a gold circle appears over it. Under the letters are the words "ENTERPRISES, INC", "ENTERPRISES", or "PRODUCTIONS, INC.. Sometimes the finished logo will read out "AN MTM ENTERPRISES (INC.) PRODUCTION" ("AN" appears over the first "M"). Back to the circle, it is ribbon-like and decorated with stars and the letters "MTM" on top. Inside is a live-action orange striped kitten who meows once, obviously as a parody of the MGM lion. All the text (except for the later versions) appears in the Peignot font used for the 1971 Viacom logo.

Trivia:

The cat's name was "Mimsie", though nicknames such as "Dick Turpin" and "Dick Marino" have also been used in naming the cat.
The logo (with just the cat meowing) recently made an appearance within the Family Guy S7 episode "420".
On recent Me-TV promos of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show, Ed Asner and Bob Newhart uttered the word "Meow!" on the MTM logo at the end of the promos from their respective shows.

Variants: First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:

September 19, 1970-March 2, 1974: One "M" is red-orange, the other is red, and the "T" is blue and is formed by the merging of a light blue "T" and a green one.
September 14, 1974-1978: The M's are both red-orange, and the "T" is light blue.
1978-1982: Company now identified as "MTM PRODUCTIONS, INC.". The M's are now orange.
1982-1990: Company identified as "MTM ENTERPRISES, INC." (or "MTM PRODUCTIONS"). The M's are now red.
September 17, 1990-1993: Same as above, but "ENTERPRISES, INC." is smaller than usual, and below it is a byline that says "A TVS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY". In early 1993, the byline was removed.
1992-1995, 1996-August 14, 1998, 2013-: All letters are orange, the words "'AN INTERNATIONAL FAMILY E'NTERTAINMENT COMPANY" appear, after MTM was bought by the Family Channel.
1995-1996: 25th Anniversary logo; on a white background is a black "25," with a similarly colored MTM under that. The kitten appears in the rounded part of the "5". Evidence needed for this variation; likely only a print logo.
A still version of this logo did turn up in the movies, notably the Orion Pictures release of Just Between Friends and possibly more. This is a still of the "Red/Blue Letters" version of the logo, and is shrunk to a considerably small size. No music, animation, or "meow" is present.
Another still version of this logo appeared at the beginning of a FamNET rerun of a season 8 episode of Newhart from 1989 "Don't Worry, Be Pregnant," the logo is the same as the later International version, except the letters "MTM" appear to be slightly smaller, the circle with Mimsie appears to be slightly larger and the logo just reads "MTM INTERNATIONAL."
On late 90s FOX TV airings of season 1 episodes of Here's Mary, this logo (along with the Cairo Pictures Domestic Pay-TV, Cable & Network Features logo [replacing the Kensington "K of Doom"]) was played at warp-speed before the compressed credits.
A still variant with the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above exists on The Acres Kids. Later episodes had "IN ASSOCIATION WITH AND DISTRIBUTED BY" above it instead.
Sometimes, instead of "ENTERPRISES", it says "ENTERPRISES GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND", "ENTERPRISES CANADA", "ENTERPRISES AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND", "ENTERPRISES INDIA AND PAKISTAN", "ENTERPRISES VLOKOZU UNION", "ENTERPRISES CD20 ISLAND", "ENTERPRISES EUROPE", or "ENTERPRISES CYRUMULAND".

Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow". Here are those variants:

The Duck Factory: As the logo forms, an off-screen voice states, "Where's the cat?". Instead of meowing, Mimsie says, "Quack!".
Graham Kerr: Mimsie wears a chef's hat.
Hill Street Blues: Mimsie wears a policeman's cap.
Lou Grant, Paris, and Just Between Friends: There is a still picture of the logo.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Same as usual, but on the 2nd episode, Mimsie's meow is higher-pitched, rather shrill. On episode 71, the cat is replaced by the image of Miss Moore herself, saying "Th-th-th-that's all folks!", a line spoken by Mary Richards during that episode.
The Bob Newhart Show: The 1972 Christmas episode features a wreath in place of the MTM ribbon. On the season 4 episode "No Sale", a cat from the episode named Abogast appears in the circle instead. He jumps down, disappearing from the circle's view, and as he does, you hear the usual meow. On the season 5 1976 Christmas episode "Making Up Is the Thing To Do," another Christmas Wreath is also used. This was also used on the season 1 finale Rhoda episode: Guess What I Got You For the Holidays.
The New WKRP in Cincinnati: Dubbed with Les Nesman Jr. exclaiming "Ooh!".
Newhart: Each episode (except the pilot) featured Mimsie meowing... in Bob Newhart's voice. On the final episode, the cat yells "QUIET!" (the two Darryls' first and only word).
John And John: Mimsie says "Cool". On the Season finale, Mimsie turns Animated and shook hands with John and John (Hence the name of the Show).
Remington Steele: Mimsie wears a Sherlock Holmes deerstalker cap and meerschaum pipe. As she begins to meow, the pipe drops out of her mouth and falls in front of "PRODUCTIONS" or "ENTERPRISES, INC."
St. Elsewhere: Mimsie is wearing a scrub suit and a surgical mask, which is animated to look like a mouth is moving underneath when she meows. On the final episode, she (possibly portrayed by another cat) is hooked on life support on a hospital bed throughout the last credit roll. The credits run as usual over a picture of the MTM circle, with life support equipment attached on either side. You can hear the beeps of the heart monitor over the end theme, too. After the credits complete, the company name fades in and Mimsie flatlines and dies, with a long, high-pitched beep heard. This variation is especially rare, as reruns of the series finale plastered it over with the typical credits (As a sidenote, the actual cat, Mimsie, died in 1988, the same year St. Elsewhere ended).
The Steve Allen Show: Mimsie (who also wears Allen's famous eyeglasses) lip-syncs Allen's "Schmock!".
The White Shadow: Mimsie is replaced by a black and white cat bouncing a basketball. There is a shorter version with the company name already there and the cat footage looped (and thus the cat is continually bouncing the ball). The other (seen only at the end of the series pilot) has the letters animating as usual and at the end, the ball falls off-screen and the cat appears to be looking down at it.
Xuxa: Another dub job; instead of "meow", Mimsie says "ciao".
A Little Sex: The MTM logo forms as usual... but Mimsie is a cartoon! She is also more to the side of the circle, which now has a black background. She meows as always, and then another cat enters the circle! The two felines rub against each other and start purring.
Carlton Your Doorman: Carlton's cat is seen in the MTM logo instead of Mimsie. Carlton says to his cat, "C'mon, 'Meow!'". When the cat doesn't meow, Carlton mutters "D**n cat...".
Bay City Blues: An animated Mimsie wears a baseball cap and baseball glove in her right paw; she catches a baseball and meows.
Vampire: The MTM text is all in dark red, and Mimsie is nowhere to be seen.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show 20th Anniversary: At the end, Mimsie says "Bye!" (in Mary Tyler Moore's voice).
Einsenhower and Lutz: The "meow" is sung in the style of the closing credits music.
The Bob Newhart 19th Anniversary Special: Bob Newhart himself says "Meow!" much like he does from Newhart.
The Trials of Rosie O'Neill: The logo appears in a still shot against a pink background.

FX/SFX: The "M" zooming out and morphing into 2 M's, and the "T" dropping. The rest is shown above.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: None really, except the end theme of the show. Starting in 1996, a 4-note jingle was added before the "meow". On the game show Shopping Spree, Burton Richardson announces "In association with MTM Enterprises, Inc." on the logo while the theme is playing and Mimsie meowing.

Availability: Fairly common. It can be seen on St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues' on ALN and on NuVO TV and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Remington Steele, andNewhart on Me-TV and FamNET. The only factors are the rarity of widespread reruns of MTM shows from the era, and MTM's sparse releasing of DVDs (and sub-licensing of certain series to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment). On Hulu, the logo is intact. The St. Elsewhere finale variation is especially rare, as it was shown on NBC and nowhere else to our knowledge. VHS copies and reruns just use the regular credit sequence and logo (with the exception of the ALN print, which has the normal credits and the 1998 logo). You can see it on the Paley Center's copy, however, as is also the case with the Carlton variation, another particular rarity.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The silence, the "meow", the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus, there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look or sound like per program. The St. Elsewhere finale variation may be extremely upsetting. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.

In 1998, Fox offered to buy International Family. They declined the offer, but allowed Fox to buy 50%. In 1999, MTM Films was founded, using the same logo as MTM Television; in 2000, MTM started distributing films made by them and other companies.

2nd Logo

(1998-2003)

Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten II"

Logo: Same as the 1996 variant of the 1970 logo, but the text is in CGI.

Variant: A still version with Mimsie and the byline made bigger and the MTM text made smaller was used for distribution.

Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow". Variants TBA.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1996 variant of the 1970 logo, but in CGI.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1996 variant of the 1970 logo.

Availability: Fairly common.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The "meow", the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus, there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look or sound like per program. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.

In 2003, International Family was reorganized after acquiring Astral Media, owners of the Canadian Family Channel. The company was renamed the MTM Group, and both Family Channels were renamed Freeform. A year later, MTM sued TBN for using their contract to force the American version of Freeform to air The 700 Club and The TBN Telethon.

3rd Logo

(2003-2007)

Nicknames: "Where's Mimsie?", "Mimsie But She's Not Here", "Mimsie's Not Here"

Logo: Basically an old black and white film countdown, but with the new MTM logo overlaid in aqua blue.

Variants: On most TV shows made by MTM, the first 5 seconds of the logo were cut out.

FX/SFX: The film countdown.

Music/Sounds: None, except for a short beep at the end.

Availability: Fairly common. Seen on MTM's shows from 2003 to 2005, and on their movies from 2003 to 2007.

Scare Factor: None. You'll just be annoyed by the lack of Mimsie, who has graced the MTM name for 30+ years.

In 2005, MTM won the TBN lawsuit. TBN had to pay MTM 5 million dollars, which they didn't have. As a result, TBN went bankrupt; ironically, their assets were sold to MTM. Also, MTM's television division celebrated its 35th anniversary, and celebrated both the milestone and the legal victory with a new logo. 2 years later, the film division adopted it, as MTM reworked the TBN network to compete with The CW and to attract a more general audience.

4th Logo

(2005-2011)

Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten III", "Mimsie Returns"

Logo: Same as the 1996 variant of the 1970 logo, but without the International Family Entertainment byline.

Variants: Starting in 2009, the circle containing Mimsie is bigger and the MTM text is smaller.

Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow". Variants TBA.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1996 variant of the 1970 logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1996 variant of the 1970 logo, but without the 4-note theme.

Availability: Fairly common.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The silence, the "meow", the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus, there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look or sound like per program. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.

In 2011, MTM acquired the Ion Network, formerly PaxTV and I. They merged it with TBN and Fox's struggling MyNetworkTV, creating the MTM Network. Despite a rebrand as "CBS2" in 2012, The CW could not beat the new MTM Network, which was now competing with bigger players (NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.) In 2013, CBS and Warner gave up, and the CBS2 stations either became independent stations or affiliated with CBS or MTM.

5th Logo

(2011-2017)

Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten IV"

Logo: On a yellow background, we see the "Mary Tyler Moore" text in yellow animating (a la Viacom Pinball). After it finishes animating, the background, and all of the letter except the initials ("MTM"), fade to black; however, the remaining "M"'s turn red, and the "T" turns light blue. The "M", "T", and "M" zoom into their familiar places, as the "ENTERPRISES" text in yellow fades in below, and Mimsie fades in above. Mimsie meows.

Variants: On most TV shows made by MTM, it started with the "M", "T", and "M" zooming.

Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow". Variants TBA.

FX/SFX: The text animating, the zooming, the fading, and the clip of Mimsie meowing.

Music/Sounds: A bombastic fanfare, followed by Mimsie meowing.

Availability: Fairly common.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The fanfare, the "meow", the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus, there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look or sound like per program. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.

In 2015, the 50% of MTM not owned by Fox was acquired by the Magnetic Entertainment Group, a partnership between Disney, ITV plc, and Fremantle Media that owned many smaller companies, including DHX Media, 9 Story Media, and Litton Entertainment. The FCC made Disney sell their share in Magnetic, but Disney got both versions of Freeform, which MTM didn't want anymore, since they now had something better: a major over-the-air network in both countries (MTM had spent most of the late 2000s and early 2010s looking for minor networks which the CRTC was forcing media companies to sell during mergers or bankruptcies, including E!, CityTV, and A-Channel, all of which were merged into the new MTM Network Canada). However, MTM retained the rights to most Freeform original programming from before 2015. All was well, except for a few complaints about their use of repeat transmitters in Washington State (KCHK, KCHE, and KHEK) to turn CHEK-TV into a "border blaster" into Seattle (which was done because they had been forced to sell KTBW and KWPX and KZJO had refused to affiliate with them), and a new logo was in the works...

6th Logo

(2016-)

Nicknames: "The MTM Kitten V"

Logo: First, the MTM letters zoom up. Afterwards, it animates a la the 1998 logo, but with better CGI, the Mimsie clip remastered, the MTM text sparking, and the byline reading "a Twentieth Century Fox/Magnetic Entertainment Group Company".

Variants:

There was a prototype used on a few films made by MTM in 2016 where the letters weren't CGI, the Mimsie clip was the original version, and the byline was slightly different.
On most TV shows by MTM, the zooming letters are cut out.

Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the MTM logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Mimsie's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving her "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "meow". Variants TBA.

FX/SFX: The text zooming up, animating, and sparkling, followed by the Mimsie clip.

Music/Sounds: A timpani roll, followed by the 1998 music.

Music/Sound Variants: On the prototype, the timpani roll is missing.

Availability: Fairly common.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The "meow", the fading out of the music, and the kitten coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus, there's the factor of not knowing what Mimsie will look or sound like per program. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.

MTM Enterprises (Animation)

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