what da Ngzokidal sock doin? |
NET and PBS are separate entities (though PBS did replace NET) |
||
Line 6:
=== Background ===
The Public Broadcasting Service, known on air as PBS, is a publicly funded non-profit distribution service (founded on November 3, 1969) that serves a variety of television stations in the United States, as well as some areas of Mexico and Canada. PBS replaced its predecessor NET in October 5, 1970 with some of their original affiliates being [[KPBS]] in San Diego, [[WNET]] in New York, [[WGBH]] in Boston, and [[KCET]] in Los Angeles. PBS has over 350 affiliates today, mostly owned by educational institutions.
=== 1st Logo (May 17, 1970-Late Summer 1971)===
Line 972 ⟶ 572:
'''Editor's Note:''' While this logo is almost a decade old, its many variants over the years have kept it fresh.
=== 14th Logo (November 4, 2019-
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:PBS (2019).png
Line 984 ⟶ 584:
File:4r34r4r.png
File:r434r34.png
</gallery>
<center><youtube width=240 height=185>CRolaRePWv4</youtube></center>
'''Nicknames:''' "21st Century PBS", "50 Years of PBS"
Line 1,078 ⟶ 648:
'''Editor's Note:''' A new modernization of the PBS logo for the digital age, and the first since the 1971 logo to not use serifs in its identity. However, the corporate brand unification the company has been pushing with this logo and the design itself seems to be garnering less favorable (initial) reactions compared to previous logos. Time will only tell if the community will warm up to this logo. Nevertheless, its variant set, including and excluding special IDs, appears to be the most robust ever offered by the network thus far.
{{Navbox-PBS}}{{TV-Navbox}}
|
This article is missing images. If you have an image of any logo described here, please upload it and add it to the page in the appropriate place. (More information) |
The Public Broadcasting Service, known on air as PBS, is a publicly funded non-profit distribution service (founded on November 3, 1969) that serves a variety of television stations in the United States, as well as some areas of Mexico and Canada. PBS replaced its predecessor NET in October 5, 1970 with some of their original affiliates being KPBS in San Diego, WNET in New York, WGBH in Boston, and KCET in Los Angeles. PBS has over 350 affiliates today, mostly owned by educational institutions.
Nicknames: "The Text", "The Text of Boredom", "Multi-Colored/Tri-Colored Text", "Public Boredom Service"
Logo: Just a black background with the words:
stacked on top of each other in red, yellow, and blue.
Variant: On Firing Line and most of the first episodes of Thirty Minutes With... (save for the premiere with Secretary Elliot Richardson), the logo cuts in from the CPB logo.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: An announcer, the late MacDonald Carey, saying "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service." Later programs used different announcers (at least two distinct announcers have been identified on Firing Line and Thirty Minutes With...).
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: On Calebration, the opening theme plays over this logo, and there is no announcer.
Availability: Extinct.
Editor's Note: This logo is rather infamous as it is the hardest PBS logo to find because of its incredibly short lifespan. In all likelihood, this was developed as a placeholder logo during the NET to PBS transition, hence why the color scheme is the same as the 12th NET logo. For many years, the only circulating copy was one of very poor quality, and it had barely any information regarding its source. What was known is that it came from "Go Ride the Music", and even then many casual observers failed to connect it with Fanfare for years. However, by the late 2010s, the additional copies mentioned above have come to light, giving the community a few additional captures of this very elusive ID. It has also been found that the original poor quality source comes from a TVARK recording.
Nicknames: "P-Head and Friends", "PBS P-Head", "The Tri-Colored Everyman P-Heads", "The Tri-Colored PBS Logo", "The Tri-Heads from/of Hell/Doom"
Logo: On a black background, an abstract blue "P" zooms out to the top portion of the screen. The "P" turns into a P-shaped head (known internally at PBS as "Everyman"; nicknamed "P-Head" by fans) facing left with the text "PUBLIC" appearing underneath (this set and the later lines of text underneath being set in ITC Avant Garde); both move to the left side of the screen. An abstract orange "B" pops in to the right of the P-Head and two black dots form the holes within the "B" (the latter dot coinciding with the text "BROADCASTING" appearing below "PUBLIC"). An abstract green "S" appears to the right of the "B"; two black dots cut the inner curves of the "S" as the text "SERVICE" appears below "BROADCASTING" (coinciding with the second dot). The final text stack reads:
PBS
PUBLIC
BROADCASTING
SERVICE
Trivia:
Variants:
FX/SFX: Cel animation.
Music/Sounds: A telephone-like synthesizer scale descending rapidly, followed by 5 synthesizer tones as the black dots appear; there is an echo in the final note. Composed by Paul Alan Levi, using a EMS VCS3 Putney synthesizer.
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Uncommon. Due to replacement with newer logos and newer shows, it was extremely rare in recent years. However, DVD releases and streaming have made it easier to find.
Editor's Note: Many individuals who grew up during this logo's time period have strong memories of it -- whether fond or otherwise. The loud synthesizer music freaked out a few people in its day, but now this logo stands for nostalgia more than anything else.
Nicknames: "Split Profile", "The Everyman/Everyperson P", "PBS P-Head II", "The Split"
Logo: On a black background, a blue P-head appears on the upper-mid screen, facing backwards. A piece, unofficially called "The Split", comes out to the right and settles itself about half an inch away. The text "PBS" appears below in a slab serif font, which was designed specifically for PBS (called "ITC Lubalin Graph Bold").
Trivia:
Variants:
FX/SFX: The P-head "splitting" as a fragment of the logo stretches away.
Music/Sounds: A majestic piano chord, followed by six string pizzicato tones, and then a softer version of the piano chord. Composed by Jonathan Elias.
Music/Sounds Variant:
Availability: Common. It appeared on old prints of PBS shows produced from 1984-89. Can also be found on early PBS Home Video releases from the '80s; just look for a banner with the P-Head on the left and "PBS VIDEO" filling the entire rest of the banner.
Editor's Note: While this logo has not been seen on television for many years, it is still very highly regarded and is a favorite of many.
Nicknames: "3D Glass", "Transparent blue P-Head", "Merging Crystal P-Head", "PBS P-Head III"
Logo:
Trivia:
Variants:
FX/SFX: The P-head folds, leaving behind a trail as it settles in the center of the screen. Multicolor lines wipe in to form the PBS logotype.
Music/Sounds: A long held-out string note combined with synth bells (played on a Roland D-50 using the Fantasia preset) and chimes, followed by an announcer (Paul Anthony, who is also the longtime announcer for Washington Week) saying "This is PBS".
Music/Sounds Variants:
Availability: Rare. As with other vintage PBS logos, the chance of showing up on TV now is almost nothing, but some PBS Home Video releases from the era may have it. Just look for a square in the top-left corner of the front of the box with "PBS VIDEO" below a P-head.
Editor's Note: The logo is well-liked for its nice animation and soft music.
Nicknames: "Orange P-Head", "Glass P-Head", "Pink P-Heads", "PBS P-Head IV", "Pink PBS Logo"
Logo: On a pink/orange lighted background, several transparent ellipses revealing people's faces appear and disappear one at a time. Then we zoom out through a circle, which turns out to be the eye in the PBS P-Head standing on a floor, made from glass. To the left of the P-Head, the text "PBS" rotates to face the screen.
Trivia:
Variant: There is a completely still variant with a male or female announcer saying, "This is PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service." This was used for program breaks. The same still variant, without the announcer, would be substituted in place of the "Viewers Like You" credit on Ken Burns' The West.
FX/SFX: Several ellipses appear before the camera zooms out to reveal the P-Head. The PBS logotype flips in.
Music/Sounds: A funky, boogie piano tune with choir vocalizing, followed by an announcer (Chris Murney, the voice of Elisha Hunt Rhodes in Ken Burns' The Civil War) who says "This is PBS." The music was composed by Peter Fish, who has also done music for CBS News.
Music/Sounds Variant: There is a rare variant that exists without the voice-over. This was seen on the aforementioned mini-documentary Making the PBS Logo, which was used as a filler program for when there was time left at the end of any program.
Availability: Uncommon.
Editor's Note: This logo is highly regarded by the community due in part to its production process, done without resorting to primarily using computer animation.
Nicknames: "Auroras", "Metallic Blue", "The blue Aurora P-Head", "Metallic P-Head", "PBS P-Head V"
Logo: Dark blue lights can be seen swirling and moving around over a blue aurora background. The PBS logo, seen in a similar fashion to the 3rd logo, sits over the lights. The logo is colored light blue with a slight tint of teal, it and the text are metallic and the logo reflects the aurora and the lights moving around.
FX/SFX: Just the aurora and lights moving around, nothing else.
Music/Sounds:
Availability: Extinct. This was used between programs on PBS's satellite feed.
Editor's Note: This logo was a surprise discovery, largely because home recordings from the PBS satellite feed are very rare. A more recent discovery is that everything was done with dissolves in the early years of PBS Express on Schedule X.
Nickname: "If PBS Doesn't Do It, Who Will?"
Logo: One of seven genre-based logos, which would form the basis for the 1996 PBS logo:
Trivia: Stations known to have used this branding on their IDs and/or promo tags include Kentucky Educational Television, KERA, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Public TV for East Tennessee, Vermont ETV, WITF, WNET, WQED, and WVIZ.
FX/SFX: Depends on the animations.
Music/Sounds: Differs based on the ID.
Availability: Extinct. Can be seen on Vimeo, oddly enough under the name "PBS 2000". Known to have appeared before programs on WSJK/WKOP and the Schedule X satellite feed, and after programs on WNET.
Editor's Note: This logo has quite a creative concept.
Nicknames: "Windows", "The PBS Windows III", "CGI Window", "PBS P-Head VI", "PBS Express"
Logo: On a black background, a CGI window appears with a bird's-eye view of the Earth, a plastic globe spinning on the top right, and a telescope rotating on the bottom left. A pear-colored PBS P-Head (with the split colored light blue) appears in front of the window and grows smaller as the window grows bigger. As the two meet each other, the window disappears. Inside the P-Head are transparent images of two globes, a feather and a telescope. The P-Head takes its place in the top center of the screen and turns to light blue and aquamarine as the text "PBS" fades in below them.
Variant: Early editions of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer that featured this logo had this fading in and out.
Trivia:
FX/SFX: Neat CGI effects.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A new age tune with guitars and flutes, composed by Elias Associates, followed by a female announcer (the late Lauren Bacall) who says "This is PBS."
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:
Availability: Uncommon. It appears on TV sometimes, but PBS Home Video tapes are an easier way to find it.
Editor's Note: This logo has some very neat effects for the time as well as a calming theme.
Nicknames: "Acrobats", "Circle P-Heads", "PBS P-Head VII", "Circle PBS P-Head", "This Is Who We Are"
Logo: On a computer-animated green sky background, a person standing to the left covers his or her head with a black circle with the PBS P-Head on it in white. Acrobats jump from all directions off the circle. The text "PBS" appears to the right, with the URL "www.pbs.org" appearing below it. This is the last logo that used the words "This Is PBS". Also, throughout the ident, many things happen in the background: On all ten variants, there are small superimposed silhouettes of people flying in a circle behind the acrobats. On three out of ten of the variants, there are silhouettes of big wands briefly flying down behind the PBS text. And on the rest, there are silhouettes of people tip-toeing in an oval (a circle on the widescreen version) around the person.
Trivia:
Variants: Each time you see this logo, different people are holding the circle with the P-head on it, and the acrobats doing all kinds of tricks around the P-Head circle. Here's a list of the men and women you see (also including the tricks the acrobats do):
FX/SFX: The computer effects used to shrink the acrobats and superimpose them around the circle.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A brief synth swell and a 3-note flute fanfare, then a new age percussion tune (with men vocalizing), followed by the female announcer from the previous logo (Lauren Bacall) who says "This is PBS." If you listen carefully, you can also hear a trombone and strings in the background as well. There is also a variant that exists with Lauren Bacall saying, "You are watching PBS." This was used for program breaks.
Availability: Rare.
Editor's Note: The many variations of this logo marked the beginning of a trend for PBS idents that continues to this very day. Like the last logo, this one also features very nice effects as well as a great musical theme.
Logo: Against a computer-animated sky background, a kaleidoscope consisting of several humans holding placards is zoomed in on, with the PBS circle in the center. The circle briefly fades out before fading back in, and the placards alternate between a random program's title card and a still from the same program throughout.
FX/SFX: TBA.
Music/Sounds: A rearrangement of the 1998 PBS logo's theme.
Availability: Extinct. Was seen on a WXEL recording from June 1999.
Editor's Note: None.
Nicknames: "Stay Curious", "PBS P-Head VIII", "Circle PBS P-Head II"
Logo: Against an orange background, we see the PBS circle in a light yellow color with the P-head being the same orange color as the background. The "P" Circle slowly eases back and fades out as four green circles appear and spread around the screen revealing smaller light yellow circles inside. Four more circles appear and the outer circles merge with the other circles before they begin spreading out. The PBS "P" Circle, now in the standard black and white colors, appears with a blur effect. Small circles form "pbs.org" below in a white calibri font.
Variants:
FX/SFX: The "P" Circle easing back and vanishing. The circles forming, spreading, merging, and spreading again. The blurring in of the PBS logo. The circles forming the pbs.org name. Typical early 2000's animation.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A three-note ascending tune (D, E, A); most likely played on sitar, Gibson Les Paul or a Rickenbacker 325 (put through a wah-wah pedal) and a voiceover saying "This is PBS."
Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants: On the blue variant, one of two tunes was used:
Availability: Extinct.
Editor's Note: Very simple compared to the rest of the logos on here, but some may like its vaguely '60s-ish vibe.
Nicknames: “Be More”, “We Are PBS”, “I Am PBS”, "I'm PBS", "The Sienna Curtains", "PBS P-Head IX", "Circle PBS P-Head III", "Launch and Megatron Announce PBS"
Logo: We see a letterboxed clip show of live-action footage, filmed on a large set with hardwood floor and a background of bushy raw sienna-colored curtains. Culturally and generationally diverse people are employed in the variants, each giving various performances on-camera. As the last clip plays, we see the “Circle P-Head” logo animating with the word "PBS" in PMN Caecilia on the right and the slogan “Be more” on the left. The text has been modified a bit after the past 18 years. Throughout the bumper, a bug for the URL "pbs.org" is seen in the lower left corner.
Variants: Here are some of the variations that have been seen of late, with a list of the clips in each variant in chronological order:
FX/SFX: Mostly live action, except for the logo animating at the end. This logo was done by PMcD Design.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A majestic orchestral tune. Composed by Tonal Sound and Elias Associates. The same tune is always used, but is rearranged for some variants and has a different voice-over (see above for examples).
Availability: Common, still preserved on reruns of older PBS programming, including the specials Lawrence Welk: Milestones and Memories, where it plasters the previous logo; Lawrence Welk: God Bless America, and Welk Stars Through the Years (the former two use the "Flowers" variant, while the latter uses the "Performers" variant). This wasn't used much for plastering, unlike previous logos, though it did appear on rebroadcasts of An Ice Cream Show from 2002 to 2018, when the original logo was surprisingly restored. Though the logo officially ended on September 27, 2009, the transition to the next logo would be staggered among programs, with programs such as Washington Week and Bill Moyers Journal among the earlier programs to make the transition. The satellite ID variant can still be seen on certain programs to this day, though usually promos and interstitials selected by the local PBS station are used instead (you might catch this if your station, by some random chance, e.g. during a transition to or from Daylight Savings Time, or late at night on KET2, or while technical difficulties are sorted out by the local station, broadcasts promos and interstitials from the standard PBS feed at any time for whatever reason).
Editor's Note: None.
Nicknames: "Be More II", "Be More, PBS", "PBS P-Head X", "Circle PBS P-Head IV"
Logo: We see a video of a person or people having activities. Suddenly, the PBS logo appears with "Be More" on the left and "PBS" on the right. The word "PBS" then changes to the URL "pbs.org". A voice-over says "Be More, PBS." as the logo animates.
Variants:
Trivia: Perhaps due to its appeal to a variety of audiences for the network, this is PBS's second longest-lasting ID, after their Everymen logo.
FX/SFX: Same as the 10th logo.
Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A 5-note tune, created by music company Expansion Team. Like the eighth logo, the same tune is always used, but is rearranged for some variants and has a different voice-over.
Availability: Still used on reruns of most PBS first-run shows, as well as a few new episodes as well; though this has been gradually been phasing out in favor of the next logo. The variants are used randomly, as with the previous logos, on many programs, including Nova, This Old House, Motorweek, and The Woodwright's Shop; however, on certain programs you can always expect to see the following variants:
Editor's Note: While this logo is almost a decade old, its many variants over the years have kept it fresh.
Nicknames: "21st Century PBS", "50 Years of PBS"
Logo:
Variants:
Trivia: This logo incorporates elements of the 1971, 1992, 2002, and 2009 logos, with emphasis on blues, live-action variants, and a quick zoom-out through the eye of the P-head.
FX/SFX: TBA
Music/Sounds/Voice-over:
Availability: Brand new. Formally announced on November 4, 2019, it debuted later that night on Antiques Roadshow's Extraordinary Finds and is expected to replace the 2009 PBS logo over the coming years. The opening variant debuted on Independent Lens, and the intermission variant debuted between the This Old House episode "Westerly: The Doors" and the Ask This Old House episode "Switch, Affordable Geothermal" as part of the November 14, 2019 edition of The This Old House Hour. Don't expect this on the 2020 rebroadcast of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, as it uses the previous logo, though the extended bumpers appear among the post-episode content. It also plasters the previous logo on the final PBS broadcast of the final two episodes of Downton Abbey. Oddly enough, the 2021 National Memorial Day Concert has the generic variant at both ends, even in place of the opening variant.
Editor's Note: A new modernization of the PBS logo for the digital age, and the first since the 1971 logo to not use serifs in its identity. However, the corporate brand unification the company has been pushing with this logo and the design itself seems to be garnering less favorable (initial) reactions compared to previous logos. Time will only tell if the community will warm up to this logo. Nevertheless, its variant set, including and excluding special IDs, appears to be the most robust ever offered by the network thus far.