Don Fedderson Productions

Background

Don Fedderson Productions was founded in 1955 by television producer Don Fedderson. Fedderson produced several programs, the most popular of which were My Three Sons and Family Affair. By 1972, all of the various shows produced by the company had either been canceled or ended. The company syndicated The Lawrence Welk Show until 1982 when its eponymous host retired from television at age 79, making him the oldest man to host a regularly scheduled program on American television until Bob Barker of The Price is Right fame surpassed him when he turned 80 in 2003. Fedderson sold The Millionaire and My Three Sons to CBS while they were still on the air; both shows are still owned by CBS, and distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Family Affair was retained by Fedderson; CBSTD holds the US broadcast distribution rights, while NBCUniversal Television Distribution holds the international broadcast distribution rights. Fedderson died on December 18, 1994 at age 81.

1st Logo

(January 19, 1955- June 7, 1972, September 1979 - May 1980)

Logo: Over a burgundy red background, we see the following phrase.

A

DON FEDDERSON

Production

The words "A" and "Production" are in a white script styled font. The name "Don Fedderson" is made out of 3D letters with the face being white and the sides a shiny dark blue color.

Variants:

The logo originally appeared in B&W.
Sometimes, the logo would be smaller and shifted to the upper left with the MCA-TV shield on the bottom right hand corner and the text "Represented by" above it. This was seen on S1-S5 episodes of My Three Sons.
Another version of the above logo has the MCA-TV "Filmreel" logo instead of the shield.
The colors may vary due to film deterioration.
A superimposed variant exists on the 1957-63 ABC game show Who Do You Trust?
The burgundy red title card was revived in 1979 with a remake of The Millionaire on CBS, which the network co-produced with Fedderson. It lasted only one season.

FX/SFX: None

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Common. Seen on My Three Sons on Me-TV and occasionally on Decades. First appeared on The Millionaire which rarely airs on Decades. Also appears on Family Affair which also rarely airs on Decades. Also seen on the shows Who Do You Trust?, To Rome with Love, and The Smith Family. Extinct for the 1979 Millionaire variant.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo

(1971-April 17, 1982)

Logo: Simply the following text (in Clarendon condensed font) over the closing scene:

syndicated by

DON FEDDERSON

PRODUCTIONS

Variants:

From 1979 to 1982, the word "Syndicated" was capitalized.
From 1977 to 1979, the text was presented in a completely different font.

FX/SFX: None

Music/ Sounds: The closing theme of the series.

Music/ Sounds Variant: Sometimes Lawrence Welk spoke over this logo.

Availability: Seen on the syndicated version of The Lawrence Welk Show from 1971 to 1982, Most current PBS airings cut this out and replace it with the OETA logo. However if your PBS station has older prints then this has a slim chance of appearing. Also appears on VHS tapes released by the Welk Group between 1987 and 1989.

Editor's Note: None.