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Court TV Original Productions
From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum
Background
Court TV was launched on cable on July 1, 1991 by founder Steven Brill, owned by Time Warner and Liberty Media, with American Lawyer Media, Cablevision, and NBC as additional investors. The channel mainly focused on true crime documentary series, legal dramas, and coverage of prominent criminal cases; it also held primary rerun rights to Fox's Cops from 1999 onwards. By 2005, Liberty Media and Time Warner had purchased ALM, Cablevision and NBC's stakes in Court TV; Time Warner subsequently bought out Liberty's share in 2006, and brought the channel under Turner Broadcasting.
On January 1, 2008, Court TV was rebranded as TruTV with a bigger focus on action-oriented docusoaps and "caught on camera" programs; the original programming slate kept running on daytime as In Session until September 30, 2013. A digital broadcast network carrying the Court TV name was later launched by Scripps Networks on May 5, 2019.
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| 1st Logo (December 1990?-1995?) | 2nd Logo (September 1999-March 2005) | 3rd Logo (August 15, 2005-January 2008) |
1st Logo (December 1990?-1995?)
 | This logo contains an old telephone number. Please do not try to dial it. |
Visuals: There is the original Court TV logo, which consists of two blue lines, the words "COURT" in the center, along with a blue and a gray rectangle, the gray one having the word "TV". The logo slowly rotates from left to right.
Variants:
- In the original pitch reel for the channel, the logo is on a black background and the words "WATCHING THE REAL LIFE DRAMA OF JUSTICE" fade in under the Court TV logo.
- In the VHS release of The Rodney King Case: What the Jury Saw in California v. Powell, many different footage in blue is seen, which then ends at a court setting, the blue lines then open up to the beginning.
- In Court TV: Inside America's Courts, first there is black and white footage of a judge's hammer slamming on a gavel, then the Court TV logo fades in. On top of the logo is "For information about", and at the bottom of it is "And the case it covers", along with the company's phone number.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: Either the opening theme or the closing theme of the show.
Audio Variants:
- In the pitch reel, an announcer says "Court TV, watching the real-life drama of drama and justice."
- In the VHS release of The Rodney King Case: What the Jury Saw in California v. Powell, an announcer says "Court TV presents."
- In Court TV: Inside America's Courts, an announcer says "For information about Court TV and the case it covers, call 1-800-9-COURT-0."
Availability: It first appeared in a pitch reel for the channel, and also appeared in the VHS releases of The Rodney King Case: What the Jury Saw in California v. Powell and Court TV: Inside America's Courts.
2nd Logo (September 1999-March 2005)
Visuals: On a blue background with white outlined "COURT"s, the words "In association with" appear with a wipe sparkle effect, then the words "COURT TV" in Alternate Gothic fly letter-by-letter (a la Game Boy). "TV" then forms a red fingerprint, the background then moves until the logo fades out.
Variants:
- A still version exists with the logo on a white background, "COURT" in black and less spaced out and the TV fingerprint in orange.
- Sometimes, the logo is seen with a copyright notice on the bottom.
Technique: CGI by Lee Hunt Associates.
Audio: A large swoosh sound followed by a low tone note.
Audio Variants:
- In the still version, none.
- On some shows such as Forensic Files, the ending theme of the show trails off into the logo.
- On some episodes of Masterminds, it's the show's ending theme.
Availability:
- Seen on Court TV originals at the time, such as Mugshots, early episodes of North Mission Road, Masterminds, seasons 7-10 of Forensic Files, Stories of the Innocence Project and Trace Evidence: The Case Files of Dr. Henry Lee.
- Later prints tend to remove this logo, but it's preserved on DVD prints of Forensic Files (FilmRise prints plaster this with the Medstar Television logo, with the theme still intact in 2014 prints of the show) and Tubi and Amazon Prime Video prints of Masterminds.
- The still version is only seen on Guilt by Association.
3rd Logo (August 15, 2005-January 2008)
Visuals: On a dark blue background, a bunch of red rectangles fly across the screen, which then form the newer Court TV logo, which consists of "courtTV" with a white rectangle underneath with a gap in which several red lines take the space. The words "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" are at the top like the last logo, along with "ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS" at the bottom. The logo slowly zooms in.
Variant: Like the last logo, the logo is sometimes seen with a copyright notice at the bottom.
Technique: CGI by Trollbäck+Company.
Audio: Same as the last logo.
Availability:
- Seen on Court TV originals at the time until its rebrand to TruTV in 2008, including Most Shocking, Jail, Smoking Gun TV, seasons 10-12 of Forensic Files, Most Daring, Parco P.I., Hot Pursuit, Suburban Secrets and later episodes of North Mission Road.
- Most of these shows aren't rerun anymore or haven't seen any home media releases, but Philo prints of Most Shocking and DVD prints of Forensic Files (again, FilmRise prints plaster this with the Medstar Television logo, with the theme still intact in 2014 prints of the show.) and Hot Pursuit preserve this logo.
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Court TV Original Productions |
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