T.A.T. Communications Company

Credits

Descriptions by
Matt Anscher, Jeffrey Gray, Shadeed A. Kelly and Logophile

Captures by
Michael Pannoni

Editions by
Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, Unnepad and Mario9000seven

Video captures courtesy of
The AVID Channel via Logo Central and SamBonzi

Background

T.A.T. Communications Company (often shortened to "T.A.T.") was formed in 1974 by Norman Lear and comedian Jerry Perenchio, a year before Bud Yorkin ended his partnership with Lear. T.A.T. produced The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time, among others. In 1976, T.A.T. formed its own distribution division.

On January 6, 1982, T.A.T. Communications Company was reincorporated as "Embassy Communications, Inc." and renamed the T.A.T. production division as "Embassy Television" (now ELP Communications) with the acquisition of Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation by Lear and Perenchio, while the distribution division of this company was renamed "Embassy Telecommunications". T.A.T. Communications Company is currently known as "ELP Communications", and serves as an in-name-only unit of Sony Pictures Television.

"T.A.T." stood for a Yiddish phrase pronounced "Tuchus Affen Tisch", which roughly meant "Enough talk- put your ass on the table".

Logo (1979?-1982?)

• 
  The final frame of the logo, as sourced from a partial recording of the logo before it was cut out by a CBS ident

• The jingle in full, as described below.

Visuals: The logo starts with an orange screen. The screen then starts to zoom out to reveal that it's a star, as it reveals a black background with the text "TAT" in lined letters and "COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" in white. It's currently unknown what the rest of the logo is. A freeze-frame analysis shows the final frame after, which is slightly covered by the CBS logo, shows the first "C" in "COMMUNICATIONS" and the "C" in "COMPANY" are slightly larger than the rest of the text.

Technique: Analog switcher effects.

Audio: A 12-note synthesized theme composed by producer John Maxwell Anderson.

Audio Variant: One airing of The Jeffersons has the jingle slightly low-pitched, as heard here.

Availability: Nearly 20 years of searching have yielded only a partial recording, as well as two audio files. It is currently documented as "lost media" since the full logo is not preserved anywhere online and it is unclear if it will ever surface.

• It was only seen on original CBS daytime reruns of One Day at a Time and The Jeffersons and CBS Late Movie airings of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, as well as original NBC reruns of The Facts of Life. This logo was quickly replaced in syndication with the Embassy Telecommunications logo once it was introduced, though it has been said to be seen after it was replaced.
• VHS releases of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman were rumored to have it, but it has been confirmed it's not on them.
• It has been said that it appeared on a few broadcasts of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman on TV Land in 2002 during the Norman Lear Marathon and in the mid-1990s on reruns of The Jeffersons on WGN.
• Re-TV Video Library's tapes of One Day at a Time, and The Jeffersons have not yet been confirmed to have the logo, but it is unlikely.
• In 2018, a partial clip of the logo before it was cut out by a CBS ident was spotted on the October 21, 1980 rerun of a 1976 episode of One Day at a Time.
• A very faint segment of the tune before it was cut out by the Columbia TriStar Television Distribution logo had also been spotted on three episodes of One Day at a Time.
• It is also said that the logo itself was seen as late as the early to mid-1990s before the Columbia TriStar Television Distribution logo came into full effect plastering it.
• It was also speculated that it was seen on reruns of pre-1982 episodes of The Facts of Life as late as 1985.
• This logo may be only used for syndication and reruns, as original airings only use an in-credit text mentioning the company.

Legacy: It has been documented as one of the rarest logos on this wiki. As a result of its rarity, it is also one of the most popular/infamous logos in the community, spawning a widespread amount of parodies, remakes, and fake "findings".

External Links

• The Lost Media Wiki article on the logo

T.A.T. Communications Company

Embassy Television ►