Universal Television (2011-present): Difference between revisions

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Background

Universal Television has its roots going back to 1947 when they entered the television market via United World Films. But after very little success, they shifted into producing TV commercials under Universal International Television, with the United World Name being renamed Universal Television by 1956. The current company of Universal Television was formed in 1962 after MCA bought Decca Records, who was also the owner of Universal-International Pictures and renamed MCA's television production company Revue Studios to the then-current name. They co-produced many shows with Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited such as Adam-12 and a revival of the 1951 series Dragnet in 1967. In 1988, Universal Television and MCA TV formed a sub-division known as MCA Television Entertainment (or "MTE").. In 1990, Uni TV began the Law & Order franchise. The same year, Universal was acquired by the electronics company Mastushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (now "Panasonic Corporation"). In 1995, Universal was acquired by Joseph A. Seagram and Sons and later acquired the USA Networks. In 1996, MCA was reincorporated as "Universal Studios" and acquired Multimedia Entertainment from Gannett, Inc., and Universal Television's distribution arm, MCA TV, as well as its sub-division, MTE were renamed to Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Television Entertainment respectively. In 1997, Universal sold off its USA Networks and Universal Television to HSN Inc. (a company owned by Barry Diller), who renamed it to Studios USA. In 1998, the breakup of United International Pictures' TV arm led to Universal reforming its own international television distributor, Universal Worldwide Television. It handled international distribution of Studios USA shows, while Studios USA handled domestic distribution of Universal's own library. In 1998, Seagram bought PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which included PolyGram Television. The deal closed in 1999, and the name PolyGram was soon scrubbed and replaced with the Universal name. However in 1999, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios used its debt to acquire most of the pre-1996 films (1,300 titles) by PolyGram from Seagram. In 2001, Vivendi Universal acquired USA Networks and made Diller as CEO of VU Entertainment fully reforming Universal Television. On May 12, 2004, General Electric (GE) acquired 80% of Universal Studios and merged the studio with NBC to form "NBC Universal, Inc." (now "NBCUniversal, LLC") and merged the two television companies to form "NBC Universal Television" (now "NBCUniversal Television"). However, the company decided to keep the NBC and Universal Television names in the end credits from any series by NBC or Universal. On September 12, 2011, the name "Universal Television" was reinstated, replacing the name "Universal Media Studios".

Universal Studios

1st Logo (1963-1964)

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Nicknames: "CGI Globe II", "CGI Glittering Planet TV", "2000s Globe"

Logo: A near-still shot of the 1997 Universal Pictures logo used in motion pictures (with the globe still rotating and the glow shining). It looks nearly the same, and you can still see a glow from behind it. Text will appear below the logo, as listed below:

1997-1998: "UNIVERSAL TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT" (formerly MTE)
1997-1998: "IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSAL TELEVISION" (seen on co-produced programs from that era)
1997-1998: "UNIVERSAL TELEVISION ENTERPRISES, INC. EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR" (formerly MCA TV)
1998-2000: "UNIVERSAL WORLDWIDE TELEVISION"
1997-2000: Like the movie logo, a small copyright appears at the bottom-right. That variant was used for the first three text variants until 1998 while it was still used for the fourth text variant until 2000.
2000-2004: "www.universalstudios.com"
2002-2004: "(in association with) UNIVERSAL NETWORK TELEVISION, (www.universalstudios.com)"
2002-2004: "(in association with) UNIVERSAL DOMESTIC TELEVISION, www.universalstudios.com"
2002-2004: "UNIVERSAL TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION, www.universalstudios.com"

Variants:

Sometimes, the logo doesn't feature the URL underneath the globe. Plus, the logo fades in and out.
On some TV movies from 1997-1998 such as The Rockford Files TV movie Murder and Misdemeanors, there is a filmed version of the Universal Television version. Plus, the name is already there and is a bit bigger.
On season 4 of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess, the word "PRESENTS" in spaced-out letters, fades in under the "UNIVERSAL" text. The copyright is intact.
Sometimes for Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Worldwide Television and mostly for Universal Television Entertainment, there is a longer version of the logo, starting out with the "UNIVERSAL" name making its way to the front of the globe, and the name appears below the logo after it before the logo finally zooms back to its position before the copyright appears.
On some episodes of the first two seasons of Monk, as well as widescreen reruns of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the tail end of the movie logo, which features the globe zooming back, is shown.
On the 2002-2004 variants, the text's shadow is not there.
For a short time in late 2001 and early 2002, Universal's TV and movie departments were celebrating the 20th Anniversary of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, with a special logo featuring E.T. and Elliot flying across the globe. The TV version's logo is similar to the normal version, except that E.T. and Elliot are flying behind the bold "UNIVERSAL" text, and the words "E.T. 20TH ANNIVERSARY" with "E.T." in its own movie logo font, are featured under the globe.
There is also a B&W variant for classic Revue/MCA/Universal shows in B&W.
On early S4 episodes of The Steve Harvey Show and Just Shoot Me!, the logo (minus the text and the URL) is seen on the right with the 1995 Brillstein-Grey Entertainment logo on the left inside a white outline box against a gray stone spotlight background.
On later episodes of The Steve Harvey Show and Just Shoot Me! since season 4, the logo (minus the text and the URL) is seen on the bottom along with the Brad Grey Television logo above.

FX/SFX: The "fire" behind the globe, the globe rotating, and the name fading in until 2000.

Music/Sounds: A short version of the movie counterpart's theme. On some shows, it's silent. NBC, CBS and ABC used their generic themes. Variations of the theme are listed below. All composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Music/Sounds Variants:

1997-2000: A longer version of the theme used for Universal Television Entertainment and the longer version of Universal Television Enterprises and Universal Worldwide Television. It was used for the first two until 1998 while it was used for the latter until 2000.
1997-1998: An odd short version only heard on Roar and Sliders.
2002-2004: Another odd short version with four notes.
2003-2004: Final short version using the first three notes playing fast and the last note of the theme.
In rare cases, the ending theme of the show/movie plays over it or none.
On season 4 of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess, the first couple seconds of the opening theme from Action Pack is heard on the "PRESENTS" variant of the logo.
One 1996 season 3 episode of New York Undercover has the 1991 Universal Television logo theme playing on the Universal Domestic Television logo, due to plastering.
On the R2 release of Baa Baa Black Sheep (a.k.a. Black Sheep Squadron): The Complete First Season on DVD, the 1977 logo music is heard over the 1998 Universal Worldwide Television logo due to bad plastering.

Availability: Common. Can still be found on most, if not all Universal-produced shows of this time such as the Law & Order franchise (except on Sundance), among others. Universal's merger with NBC put an end to this logo in 2004.

Especially shown on USA Network, Cloo, WGN America, and local syndication, Sitting Ducks and Maisy, the earliest episodes of House, M.D., and shows on Hulu.
It's also seen on season 4 and the final season of Sliders. The Universal Television Entertainment logo has appeared on the 1997 TV movie House of Frankenstein.
The longer version of the Universal Television Enterprises logo has appeared on some later episodes of Jerry Springer and Sally Jesse Raphael during the 1997-1998 season and the standard version is retained on season 4 on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys when seen on The Hub (later Hub Network, now Discovery Family) and on DVD, season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess on DVD, and Team Knight Rider on Hulu.
The long version of Universal Worldwide Television was seen on reruns of In Search of... from the late '90s.
The Brillstein-Grey/Universal (Brad Grey Television/Universal) combo variant is seen on The Steve Harvey Show and Just Shoot Me.
The Universal Domestic Television logo is retained on every season 1 to early season 2 episodes of New York Undercover.
The Television Distribution logo can be seen at the end of Leave It to Beaver reruns on MeTV and previously on Antenna TV. The Universal Television Distribution logo also appears on international airings and the MPI Home Video DVD releases of Family Affair (whose non-USA TV distribution rights are held by NBCUniversal) in place of the logos of American distributor CBS Television Distribution and its predecessors. On Horror's print of The Incredible Hulk season 2 episode "Wildfire", the version with the website URL plays before the start of the episode, confusingly enough.

Editor's Note: It's just the end bit of the then-current movie logo, which is still fine with good relaxing music and CGI.

5th Logo (September 14-October 2011)

Nicknames: "CGI Globe III", "Sunburst Globe", "2010s Globe"

Logo: We zoom out from a Western Hemisphere view of a detailed globe with some clouds. As we pan out, a sunburst appears and shines in the northeastern arc of the globe. A bluish/purple starfield with a few nebular clouds appear in the background. The white text "UNIVERSALTELEVISION" (in a sans-serif font called "Folio" and "UNIVERSAL" in bold) without a space between and with an abstract arc above is vertically wiped in front of the Earth globe with a translucent line once we are at a comfortable distance.

FX/SFX: The zoom out of the globe, and the name wiping in., and the globe is spinning to the left.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show or NBC's generic theme with a voice over.

Availability: Extinct.

It debuted (as a placeholder) on new season premieres of Parenthood, Community, and The Office, among others before the split-screen credits on network TV.
This logo also appears on original prints of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Last Call with Carson Daly. Like the returning series mentioned above, it was also seen on new shows such as Whitney, Up All Night, and the American version of Prime Suspect, among others, all on NBC before the split-screen credits.
On-demand prints of new season episodes (i.e. Hulu, NBC.com) of these shows retained the Universal Media Studios logo.

Editor's Note: An excellent effort to bring the classic Universal Television name back, except one problem: the globe is rotating to the left instead of to the right. Strange, isn't it? But this was short-lived as it was replaced a month later.

6th Logo (October 13, 2011-)

Nicknames: "CGI Globe IV", "Sunburst Globe II", "2010s Globe II"

Note: This is an enhanced, standard version of the previous logo, complete with a corporate byline.

Logo: Against a bluish starfield background that's almost similar to the one from the previous logo with some nebular clouds, we see a much more detailed Earth globe zooming from the front right to the center which is now rotating forwards this time like the other Universal logos. As the globe reaches to the center, the sunburst appears flashing on the top-right part of the globe. As this happens, the text "UNIVERSALTELEVISION", in the same font as before with the abstract arc above it, appears rotating in from the left and making a stop in front of the globe as the sunburst dims down a bit and a couple light rays are seen behind the globe and some of the nebular clouds are seen moving in front of the logo. The byline "A Division of NBCUniversal" appears under the logo.

Trivia: This logo was created and animated by Imaginary Forces. The logo has some elements from the 1991 Universal Television logo.

Variants:

There is one version of the logo where the "UNIVERSALTELEVISION" text, along with the abstract arc above, appears wiping in vertically like the previous logo instead of rotating in as the globe goes into the center. Plus, a couple of light rays are gone.
In 2013, the logo was enhanced, with darker tones and a dimmer sun. This version is bylineless, presumably to reflect the new 100% Comcast ownership. This variant was used for an extremely short period of time.
There is also a prototype version where the "UNIVERSALTELEVISION" text is replaced by the "UNIVERSAL NBC TELEVISION" text, along with the "A Division of NBCUniversal" byline is replaced by the "An NBCUniversal Company".

FX/SFX: The globe zooming out, the sunburst flashing, and the words rotating or wiping in.

Music/Sounds: A three-note orchestrated theme, consisting of the first two notes of the three-note NBC chimes jingle and a final note that sounds similar to that of the 1997 Universal Pictures fanfare, composed by Jerry Goldsmith. This jingle sounds quite similar to the NBCUniversal Television logo music.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On three S3 episodes of Community, the Universal Media Studios logo music is heard.
There is also a long version of the logo theme.
Prototype version have a triumphant, news-like rendition of the NBC chimes. Composed by The Elements.

Availability: Very common.

It debuted on the October 13, 2011 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and was used in tandem with the previous logo.
It is currently seen on new episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Parenthood, Up All Night, and The Office, among others on NBC. Also seen on the final season of House on Fox.
On cable television, it can be seen on The Jack & Triumph Show airing on Adult Swim, also seen on The 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
If a rare, prototype version might be used before the name change for Universal Television, this is possible to be used in the future.

Editor's Note: Another brilliant television logo from Universal, improving over the previous one.

Copyright Stamps

Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the Universal Television series and TV movies:

@@ Line 246: / Line 246: @@
 |Universal pay tv 82.png|
 }}
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+{{YouTube|id=o0jdIgLY0zw</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>3-dARTdwMWs</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>SeCNjuIkDqo</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>NijCNbq4rn8</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>pj60VZ7fsGE</youtube><youtube width=240 height=185>ZQK1Z0gutOY}}
 '''Nicknames:''' "Universal Globe III", "Globe from/of Hell/Doom",  "MCA Globe VI", "Still Zooming Globe III"