Shondaland

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat

Background

Shondaland is the production company of Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey's Anatomy. The company was founded in 2005.

1st Logo (September 25, 2005-November 19, 2015)

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Logo: On a pink surface, we see a blue rollercoaster with chasing lights on it built around a huge hanging heart, shining as it's made of glass. The company name in a decorative pink font is above the structure.

Variant: On the final episode of Private Practice, the heart deflates (and looks like a balloon), the lights bust out, the cart stops moving and people groan when the rollercoaster stopped working.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: The sound of the rollercoaster's wheels moving on the track, then a zapping sound from when "Land" flickers as well as high-pitched voices shouting "Wheeeeeee!" (in the logo's early days the voices said "Hooray!"). Also, a 7-note calliope tune is faintly heard on background.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the final episode of Private Practice, the groaning voices are heard. Also, when the groaning voices start, the calliope tune ends up deteriorating the pitch.

Music/Sounds Trivia: This tune is called "Sound Ideas, MUSIC, CALLIOPE - CALLIOPE PLAYING MUSIC FOR LARGE CAROUSEL, AMUSEMENT PARK, FAIR", sourced from Sound Ideas' The 20th Century Fox Sound Effects Library.

Availability: Though no longer current, it's still common.

• Seen on seasons 2-12 of Grey's Anatomy (up until "Things We Lost in the Fire") and all of its spin-off Private Practice (the latter's final episode uses the variant). It's also seen on the very short-lived series Off the Map.
• Also seen on seasons 1-5 of Scandal (up until "Baby, It's Cold Outside") and seasons 1 and 2 (up until "What Did We Do?") of How to Get Away with Murder.

2nd Logo (February 11, 2016-May 18, 2017)

Logo: On a black background, we see a rectangle with a rollercoaster in the shape of a heart on a red foreground with golden floor. It zooms out as flames go around it, meaning the cart is going really fast. The structure leans outside the box and the rollercoaster zooms out of the logo. The company name in orange is revealed as it lights up.

Variants:

• On CTV airings of The Catch, the logo starts from the rollercoaster zooming past us.
• A variant exists on the series finale of the aforementioned show: right before the whoosh, the animation starts to play in reverse (as the box is revealed at the same time, flames removed) and then we see the people (pets included) from the rollercoaster leave it and then they stand in their wide close-up (the camera panning from the first in the line to the last in the line and then revealing an extreme long shot) as they sing their own tune: "Thank you, everyone! Thank you, Shon-da-Land!". Animated (including cartoon-styled) and live-action versions exist, as well as both extended versions of this and of said versions.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, albeit the tune is a different, synthesized version and the early version's voices are used. When the coaster zooms away from us, a whoosh is heard.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• In the logo's early days (and also on the pilot of The Catch), the same voices from before were recycled, though the whoosh was retained.
• On the series finale of the aforementioned The Catch, right before the whoosh the music starts to play in reverse (with a chipmunk-voiced warp-speed effect to it), then walking sounds are heard when the people (pets included) leave the rollercoaster and then the people singing the tune.

Availability: Same as before.

• Seen on seasons 12 and 13 of Grey's Anatomy (starting with "Sound of Silence") and seasons 5 and 6 of Scandal (starting with "It's Hard Out Here for a General").
• Also seen on seasons 2 and 3 How to Get Away with Murder (starting with "What Happened to You, Annalise?") and the short-lived series The Catch.
• The variant is ultra rare, bordering on extinct; it's seen only on the series finale of the aforementioned The Catch and currently hasn't been found online (unless for YouTube).

3rd Logo (September 28, 2017- )

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Logo: On a black background, a rollercoaster car collection rides on a glow-in-the-dark track shaped like a lowercase letter "e". As they leave, the words "shondaland" appear.

Variants:

• On the final episodes of Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, the rollercoaster stops with groaning people after the text "shondaland" appears.
• An exclusive variant exists on Bridgerton: the rollercoaster car collection is replaced by colorful lines representing the rollercoaster.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2nd logo. The Bridgerton variant has a mysterious zapping-like sound with a soft whoosh.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the final episodes of Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, the groaning voices from before (albeit different) are used.

Availability: Current and common.

• Seen on Grey's Anatomy starting with season 14 and all of its spin-off Station 19. It also appears on Bridgerton.
• Also seen on Scandal starting with season 7 and How to Get Away with Murder starting with season 4.