Paramount Television

Logo descriptions by'' Daniel DeCosta, James Fabiano, James Stanley Barr, bmasters9, Jeffrey Gray, D.L. Chandell, Eric S., and Shadeed A. Kelly Logo captures by Shadeed A. Kelly, bmasters9, Eric S., snelfu, V of Doom, JohnnyL80, and others Editions by Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile',' Eric S., V of Doom, Donny Pearson, bmasters9, and MrThorax281 Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, phasicblu, metrodfclpt, and mcydodge919

Background: Paramount Television traces its origins when it was originally founded in 1949 when they owned a television network called "Paramount Television Network". The network presented and produced 17 programs in total until it and the production banner was dissolved in 1956. Paramount also had a majority stake in the DuMont Television Network and owned KTLA in Los Angeles and WBKB in Chicago (now "WBBM-TV"). Paramount Pictures' second attempt in the television industry began in 1959 as "Paramount Pictures Television" when they produced the television movie Destination Space for CBS. They've also co-produced six unsold pilots with Tandem Productions such as Henry T. and Meet Me At Danny's. They also had a short-lived production banner called "Telemount-Mutual". When the Gulf + Western Company, parent company of Paramount Pictures, purchased Desilu Productions in 1967, Desilu became the television division of Paramount Pictures and later became "Paramount Television" in late 1967 officially forming the studio and Desilu sales became "Paramount Television Sales". In 2004, Viacom merged Paramount Network Television and CBS Productions to form the "CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group" at the same time Viacom merged Paramount International Television and CBS Broadcast International to form "CBS Paramount International Television" (currently known as "CBS Studios International"). On December 31, 2005, the Viacom/CBS split took effect and Viacom changed its name to the CBS Corporation at the same time it created a spin-off company that bears the Viacom name. On January 17, 2006, CBS Corporation merged the CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, CBS Paramount International Television, and Paramount Domestic Television into the CBS Paramount Television Group, but the on-air logo for PDT remained the same until Memorial Day 2006, when the first CBS Paramount Television logo debuted. As for the network version, the PNT and CBS Productions logos by June 9, 2006 before the CPNT logo debuted on June 10. However, it was renamed as "CBS Television Studios" in May 2009 after CBS licensed the Paramount name for three years.

1st Logo (1949-1955)

Nickname: "Paramount-plain"

Logo: On a grey background with some random shadows, we see the following:

A Paramount Television Production

...with "Paramount", "Television" and "Production" in their famous script in white letters, with a prominent shadow effect over the background.

Variant: Some shows such as Time for Beany would have the text at the bottom of the title card reading as "a Paramount Television Presentation".

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the intro and outro of the series.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on old kinetoscope prints from some live shows from KTLA such as Time for Beany.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The surprise for getting such an odd Paramount logo will get someone.

2nd Logo (1959)

Nickname: "Majestic Mountain"

Logo: It's the same as their movie counterpart of the time, but with several differences: *This time it's referred as "Paramount Pictures", not as "A Paramount Picture".

The phrase "PRODUCED BY", in a Times New Roman-like font, appears above the Paramount name.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The clouds moving.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare.

Availability: Very rare, as this only appeared on public domain video releases of the 1959 TV movie Destination Space.

Scare Factor: Low.

3rd Logo (January 1-September 1968)

Nicknames: "Iris-in Circle", "Dark Mountain", "Changing Paramount Text"

Logo: On a blue background, we see a black mountain and the words "A Gulf+Western Company" in white. Suddenly, a white filled-in circle border makes an iris-in effect behind the mountain. The "Paramount" name, which is written in its majestic script font and appears in black, pops in while 22 white stars appear around the border, starting in the middle and going downward. The word "Paramount" immediately moves upward to make room for "Television" below it, in the same typeface. Below the logo are two subtitles, both in white: "COPYRIGHT © MCMLXVIII BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" in a more standard type, and "Paramount Pictures Corporation" in the Paramount logo font.

Variants: One of 6 visual variants were used:

For 2/3 of its existence, a small pre-1968 Paramount's print logo appeared alongside the copyright information, while the rest of the 1968 mid season had just the text.
Variants 3 and 4 had the standard format as the first two, with the addition of the Norway Corporation, as credited on Star Trek.
For variants 5 and 6, the logo appears with the copyright, but without the Gulf+Western byline. This was featured on Mission: Impossible and Mannix respectively.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The "sunrise" effect, the stars, and "Paramount" changing into "Paramount Television" looks very choppy.

Music/Sounds: The two main themes from Desilu Productions.

Availability: Very rare as this was extremely short-lived. It was seen on early 1968 episodes of Mission: Impossible on ALN (now Youtoo) and can be seen on videocassettes of Star Trekepisodes aired during that time period. The last 9 episodes of The Lucy Show also had this logo, but both this and the Viacom "V of Doom", which appeared after the logo in syndication, have been edited over with the current Paramount logo by now. Also seen on early Here's Lucy episodes. On the public domain VHS and DVDs of the last 9 episodes of The Lucy Show, the logo is replaced by the 1966 Desilu "Merging Circles" logo. On the VHS tape of a Star Trek episode called "Assignment: Earth", the logo got replaced by the next logo.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The fanfare might get to some.

4th Logo (September 1968-September 1969)

Nicknames: "Split Rectangle", "Yellow Split Rectangle", "Benevolent Rectangle", "The Closet Killer", "The Bumper Sticker", "Split Box"

Logo: Against a yellow background is a blue rectangle which is split into two sections; the left and the larger contains the words:

PARAMOUNT TELEVISION A DIVISION OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION Besides the last line, all are set in Eurostile font (the company byline appears to be set in Trade Gothic font). "PARAMOUNT" has the largest typeface, and the other two lines are progressively smaller. On the smaller right side of the rectangle is a Paramount logo with a blue border and white mountain. The picture zooms-up to the logo, which kind of looks like a blue and white version of the "Rising Circle" ("A Gulf+Western Company" and copyright message appears at the bottom of the white mountain) except the word "Television" is not present. Also, the copyright stamp appears when the picture zooms in.

Variants:

There was a variation seen on Here's Lucy in which the mountain has no bylines or copyrights.
Around September-November 1968, the word "Corporation" is missing on the rectangle on some shows.
Star Trek has a special variant with Norway Corporation credited.
On Mission: Impossible and Mannix, this logo appears with the copyright only. This will linger on through the first 2 months of M:I's 4th season and Mannix's 3rd season, as the first 4 episodes didn't feature the copyright on the ending theme just yet.

FX/SFX: The sudden zoom-in.

Cheesy Factor: The zoom-in is rough.

Music/Sounds:

September 1968-1969: A majestic 7-note horn fanfare.
September 1969: An 8-note horn-driven jingle written by Dominic Frontiere a.k.a. "The Closet Killer".

Availability: Uncommon. Was seen on Mission: Impossible on ALN (now Youtoo), can also be seen on season 3 of Mannix on DVD, and on several Star Trek episodes last aired on TV Land. Otherwise you'll see a newer logo. This is also on some season 3 episodes of Star Trek on YouTube uploaded by CBS.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The zoom-in plus fanfare may equal some scares. But was probably worse and more awkward when the music got more fast-paced to go with the zooming-in the next logo.

5th Logo (September 1969-1975)

Nicknames: "Split Rectangle II", "Red Split Rectangle", "Malevolent Rectangle", "The Closet Killer II", "Bumper Sticker II", "Split Box II"

Logo: Same appearance as the 4th logo except the background is red, the larger rectangle is blue, the Paramount mountain and the stars around it mountain are blue, and the smaller rectangle is white (the mountain is cut off at the bottom in this version). The zoom on the square is still intact.

Variants:

A version exists with the Paramount copyright. This was seen between 1969-1971.
On Mission: Impossible and Mannix, this logo appears with the copyright only.
A still variant with the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above exists on reruns of The Brady Kids.

FX/SFX: The 2nd music plug from the "Yellow Split Box".

Cheesy Factor: Same as above.

Music/Sounds: There were two themes for this logo. The first is the last 8-note horn-driven jingle written by Dominic Frontiere that was used on the "yellow split rectangle", best known as the "Closet Killer", of which there are two versions. The other is a faster version of what will later be known as the "Blue Mountain" music by Lalo Schifrin and Robert Drasnin. The first three of its many versions were used for the "Split Box" logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:

1969: The same Dominic Frontiere used on the previous logo. Notes 4-7 are louder. This applied to most of the 1969 fall season.
1969-1971: An alternate "Closet Killer" theme.
Was later switched in late 1970 to an 8-note sped-up, tinkly horn fanfare composed by Schifrin. Known only as the "Color ID", Lalo Schifrin's jingle was slowed down in 1972 to a thick pounding drum rendition, and again in 1974 to a more dramatic sounder, referred to as the "Pound & Drop" version. This signature will eventually be redone for the upcoming "Blue Mountain" logo.
In some extremely rare cases, it used the closing theme of the show, as in the case of the 1973-74 animated Star Trek series.
An extreme high tone version was used.

Availability: Was seen on Mission Impossible on ALN (now Youtoo) and currently seen on several earlier episodes of Happy Days on Me-TV, but the rest have been replaced with either the next or the current logo. However, it's still saved on the Happy Days season 1 and The Brady Bunch DVD box sets. The animated Star Trek DVD box set has this restored. (It was replaced by the 1987 Paramount Television logo) This is still also retained on some local reruns of Love, American Style. The 1972 version is also spotted on Happy Days S2 episode "Richie's Flip Side" on The Hub.

Scare Factor: Medium. The mountain drawing, the zoom, and the very dramatic fanfare can scare more than a few. But, those who are used to seeing it will have a less problem.

6th Logo (1975-1987)

Nicknames: "Early 80s Mountain", "Blue Mountain", "Killer Mountain", "Blue Mountain of Doom"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 1975 movie logo, but more defined this time. The mountain has been modified to give more room for the word "Television" by compressing the mountain about one viewer's inch and downgrading the amount of indentations (or impressions) to 4 from its standard of 5. On a sky blue background, we see a near-circle made by 22 white stars. The near-circle contains a navy blue backdrop and a flat mountain in another shade of blue with the word "Paramount" in white above it. Below the mountain are the words:

'A' Gulf+Western Company The word "Television" comes from the right and slides in below "Paramount". Same alignment as the first logo.

Variants:

By around 1982, a new version of the Paramount Television logo is released utilizing the standard version template of the main logo with all 5 indentations intact. As a result, the word "Television" overlaps the tip.
Toward the end of the run of The Brady Brides on Fox Family in 1999, a still shot of this logo was shown before the compressed credits (a la the "CGI Mountain" logo).
In the final 2 seasons of this logo, Paramount uses a videotape trickery. Instead of letting the film clip roll as usual, what they do is show the still of the logo with just Paramount showing. Then they allow "Television" to slide on in, and then it reverts back to a still image. This can be seen on the first two seasons of MacGyver and a few early episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series.
Exists as having a filmed and a videotaped version.
On the first episode of Webster in 1983, instead of the bombastic 1982 logo with "Television" sliding in in front of the mountain, the standard version (with "Television" coming into its usual place between "Paramount" and the mountain) is used, with the 1981 sounder.
On some TV specials, a still variant of the movie logo of the era (without the sliding word "Television") was used.

FX/SFX: The word "Television" sliding in like a piece of construction paper (a la South Park).

Cheesy Factor: The "Television" sliding in looks REALLY choppy and amateurish, like a long piece of construction paper!

Music/Sounds: A slower version of the Lalo Schifrin jingle first heard with Split 2. There were many variations throughout the '70s and '80s. There is also one completely different theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith used in 1977. And here are the music variations on this logo. This is going to get complicated, so let's explain this simply:

1975-1976: Marching band rendition of the Lalo Schifrin jingle.
1976-1977: An 8-note horn fanfare composed by Jerry Goldsmith. A high tone theme also exists.
1977-1978: Redone version of Jerry Goldsmith's jingle, sounding a little slower and more majestic.
1978-1979: Slowed down version of the Schifrin jingle.
1979-1985: The infamous medium tempo version with a xylophone in the background..
1980-1983: Slower, xylophone driven version.
1981: A rare version of the 1979 variation in which the xylophone has been made more apparent. Has only been spotted on the Happy Days episode Baby, It's Cold Inside.
1981-March 28, 1985, October 9, 1986, December 16, 1987: Another medium tempo version (most common on Family Ties) which ends in a harp flourish. There has been other variations of this theme.
1982-1987: Two bombastic horn-driven versions used. Xylophone accompanied on the first horn-driven version and what might sound like a harp on the second horn-driven version. The 2nd most infamous.
1986-1987: A reverberated version as heard only on season 2 of MacGyver. There is also a less reverberated version.

Music/Sounds Variants:

This logo was used with the 1972 "Split Rectangle #2" music on nearly all season 1 and season 2 episodes of Happy Days when they aired on The Hub.
In exceptional cases, the closing theme of the show or TV movie was used, or none.
On reruns of Mannix from 1983, this logo used the previous three logo's themes:

The 1967 Desilu jingle (on episodes aired after January 1, 1968)
The 1968 Split Rectangle music (season 2)
The 1969 Split Rectangle music (both music versions; season 3 and part of season 4)
The 1970 Split Rectangle music (seasons 4-5)
The 1972 Split Rectangle music (seasons 6-7 and most of the final season)
The 1974 Split Rectangle music (early final season episodes - specifically the fall 1974 period)

The tall-peaked variant with the 1979 jingle can be spotted on the Happy Days S5 episode "The Apartment".

Availability: Pretty common. It's currently seen on Family Ties and most episodes of Happy Days on The Hub, insp tv, and Me-TV, some episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series on Chiller, the first two seasons of MacGyver on Sleuth, and on the first and second season DVD releases of MacGyver from Paramount Home Entertainment. It also appears on recent DVD releases of the first and second seasons of Webster from Shout! Factory (the Paramount logo on S1 would be the standard version with 1979 music [standard version meaning the one with the space between the mountain and "Paramount"] and the Paramount logo on some S2 episodes would use the 1982 tall-peaked variant, though on some international reruns and a few DVD eps., it would use the standard version). Paramount (Viacom) had updated this logo with the 1995 logo, and even syndie reruns of Cheers (once known as the best source of the logo) have been replaced with the current logo, although one local rerun episode of Cheers from S5 called "Norm's Last Hurrah", retained a Blue Mountain logo. But any new prints on local broadcast would have this logo replaced by the CBS Television Distribution logo. Was also seen on 1981-1987 episodes of Solid Gold as well.

Scare Factor: Medium to high. Many cannot stand the music or hate the way the choppy "Television" slides in like a long, narrow piece of construction paper. But it's less scary for those who are used to it.

7th Logo (1987-August 27, 2006)

Nicknames: "CGI Mountain", "Mountain of Monotony", "Majestic Mountain", "'90s Mountain", "Star Wars Mountain"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 1986 movie logo. Sometimes still, or with the animated clouds moving westward in the background.

Bylines: On the bottom, the following bylines were used:

1987-1989: "A Gulf+Western Company" (aligned similarly to the last logo)
1989-1992, 1994-1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" with a line above the byline. From 1989-1992 and 1994-1995, the byline was in gold. From 1991-1995, the byline was in white.
1995-2006: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (styled after Viacom's logo of the era), with a line above the byline

Variants:

An early variant of this logo with a "75th Anniversary" text appeared on early 1987 episodes of Entertainment Tonight.
On some shows such as Taxi on TNN, the logo (with a Paramount Communications byline) was plastered over the Blue Mountain's music and older Bosom Buddies reruns on TBS, the logo [with a Gulf+Western byline] was plastered over the Blue Mountain's music, too. This also happened when Fox (now ABC) Family showed episodes of Mork & Mindy and The Brady Brides a few years back, but used the Viacom mountain. If you haven't seen already, this run of The Brady Brides also had another unique occurrence.
Strangely, when Nicktoons were syndicated to some local stations around 1994, this logo was seen, but like Taxi, had the 1975 logo's music.
There is a special bylineless version in the opening of some episodes from Cinar's (now "Cookie Jar Entertainment") The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
In 1995, when the logo is shown closer, it's from Paramount Network Television. However, if it's further away, it's from Paramount Domestic Television.
There is a grayscale variation seen on black & white reruns such as on The Andy Griffith Show.
Early episodes of Enterprise feature this logo in letterboxed format.
During the Paramount Communications era, airings of TV movies would close the movie with the full logo's animation and then fade out before the byline faded in, technically creating a bylineless TV variant.
The 1995 network variant often appeared with a noticeably chyroned Viacom byline, and was a still variant.

FX/SFX: Depending on the logo variant:

1987-1995: None.
1991-1995: Only clouds moving westward in the background.
1995-2006: (Network and domestic television): Same as first two.

Music/Sounds: A re-orchestrated version of the last six notes to Paramount Pictures' 1987 theatrical fanfare, which sounds suspiciously similar to the theme from Star Wars (but it's actually a re-arrangement of Elsie Janis/Jack King's Paramount on Parade by Jerry Goldsmith, first heard on trailers for Paramount Pictures since 1976). There are two arrangements of the theme. Many of these logos are plastered onto old shows with no music.

Music/Sounds Variants: As what was mentioned, this logo used the blue mountain themes:

1987 logo with 1980 theme.
1989 logo with gold byline with the 1976 and 1986 themes.
1989 logo with white byline with the 1970 and 1978 themes.
1991 logo with 1978 theme. This was spotted on Me-TV's print of the Taxi episode Jim and the Kid.
1995 domestic logo with 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981 themes. The 1978 theme variant was seen on most episodes of Mork and Mindy on Syfy, while a few had the 1981-B theme variant.
On The Busy World of Richard Scarry, the logo appeared at the beginning with the show's theme playing and the mountain faded into a mountain in the show.
Starting in 1989, the two arrangements of the logo's music sounds somewhat like a re-orchestration of the first few seconds of the Star Wars-like theme, but sped up.
On some episodes of Gomer Pyle, USMC on Me-TV, most episodes of The Lucy Show on Me-TV and on some of the Star Trek: DS9 episodes when aired in syndication and Netflix, the "V of Doom" music in warp-speed is heard with the 1995 domestic logo. Likely due to an extremely poor plaster job.
On a few episodes of Gunsmoke last aired on Encore Westerns, the Viacom "V of Steel" music in normal speed would be heard with the 1991 logo. The music would jarringly cut after the logo fades out.
On a least one Twilight Zone (1959-1964 version) episode on Me-TV and Syfy, the Viacom "Wigga-Wigga" music would be heard with the 1995 domestic logo.

Availability: Common. The Gulf+Western variation was once found on later Family Ties episodes, and 1987-1989 Cheers episodes on syndication, but the 1995-2001 logo usually plasters over them now, though it can be found on Friday the 13th: The Series on Chiller and certain episodes on Syfy. On current series (syndie and network), the 7th logo shows up. The 1995 logo was also used to plaster Viacom logos (hence the appearance on The Andy Griffith Show). It also appears on Frasier on Lifetime and Hallmark Channel, 'Cheers on Hallmark Channel, Reelz Channel, and WGN America, Star Trek: The Next Generation when it was on WGN America, the first two seasons of Soul Food: The Series on TV One, Mork & Mindy and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch on The Hub, and The Dead Zone on Cloo. The 1991 and 1995 variants appear on Wings on USA Network. The 1989 logo with the gold Paramount Communications byline officially ended in 1995 and was used on The New Price is Right hosted by The Young and the Restless Doug Davidson. Just like above, any local syndication prints and all recent CBS DVDs would have this logo replaced by the CBS Television Distribution logo. The 1995 logo with the Viacom "V Of Doom" music was seen on episodes of Gomer Pyle, USMC and The Lucy Show on Me-TV

Scare Factor: Low. The fanfare might unnerve some.

Final Note: Originally, this logo was changed to the final logo in 2002, however on The Dead Zone, the 1995 network variant was kept until 2006.

8th Logo (February 2002-May 28, 2006)

Nicknames: "CGI Mountain II", "Ultra Majestic Mountain", "2000s Mountain"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 2002 movie logo, with the movement of the clouds being the only animation.

Variants:

The 90th Anniversary version appeared from February 2002 through December of that year.
The version on Enterprise is in letterboxed format, just like the last logo.
Just like the recent logo; when the logo is shown closer, it's from Paramount Network Television. However, if it's further away, it's from Paramount Domestic Television.
There was a still shot of the domestic version.
There is also a silent version of this logo.
On the short-lived drama Blind Justice, it shows a portion of the end of the animated movie logo.

FX/SFX: Only the clouds moving westward in the background, except on Blind Justice with the end animation from the movie logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Music/Sounds Variants: Some shows like One on One would have a shorter version of the theme in 2002:

The last notes of the 1987 theme.
Another shorter version has the last note cut off short.
Another variant uses the 1978 theme.
A "spoofed" variant of this logo with the 2006-2009 CBS Paramount Television theme was spotted on one episode of Everybody Hates Chris on Nick @ Nite.
S1 DVD episodes of Laverne & Shirley uses the 1975 Paramount Television theme.
One color episode of The Andy Griffith Show last aired on WGN had the Viacom "Wigga Wigga" music play over the 90th Anniversary logo (after the 1951 CBS logo).
On a least one Honeymooners "Classic 39" episode last aired on Me-TV, the Viacom "Pinball" music would be heard with the 90th Anniversary logo

Availability: Although this logo is falling victim to plastering (by way of the CBS Television Distribution logo), it's still common. It still appears on reruns of several shows, such as Girlfriends on WE tv and BET, the first 3 seasons of NCIS on USA Network, Frasier on Lifetime and Hallmark Channel, One on One on BET, Sabrina the Teenage Witch on The Hub, Everybody Hates Chris on Nick @ Nite, TeenNick, BET, and local syndication, The Parkers on BET, Soul Food: The Series on TV One, Blind Justice on Sleuth, and syndicated reruns of the first two seasons of Numb3rs that end each episode of the first two season with this logo, followed by the CBS Television Distribution logo. The 90th Anniversary variation is uncommon and can be seen on 2002 episodes of One on One on TeenNick, Star Trek: Enterprise on Syfy, and 2002 episodes of Frasier on Hallmark Channel. It also appeared on several first-run syndicated shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Dr. Phil, and Judge Judy. As for the Paramount Domestic Television variant, it survives on Deadwood on Audience Network on DirecTV. This logo has been used to either follow or plaster older logos on some reruns of some shows such as The Andy Griffith Show (following the 1951 CBS logo), Laverne and Shirley, and Hogan's Heroes on the recently nationally-expanded Me-TV reruns.

Scare Factor: None. _______________________________________________________________

Copyright Stamps: Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the Paramount TV series:

Paramount Television

Fan Feed