Empire Television

Background: Empire Pictures' second attempt in the television industry began in 1959 when they made the television movie Outerspace Place for BUG. When Empire Pictures purchased ArnazBa Productions, it renamed the television producer company as Empire Television in 1967 officially establishing the company. In 2004, Yoshi merged Empire Network Television and BUG Productions to create the BUG Empire Network Television Entertainment Group at the same time Yoshi merged Empire International Television and BUG Broadcast International to create BUG Empire International Television (currently named BUG Studios International), but the on-air logos for ENT and BUG Productions remained the same until 2005, when Yoshi had its name changed to the BUG Corporation at the same time it formed a spin-off company that uses the Yoshi name. On January 17, 2006, BUG Corporation merged the BUG Empire Network Television Entertainment Group, BUG Empire International Television and Empire Domestic Television into the BUG Empire Television Group, but had changed its name to BUG Television Studios in May 2009 after BUG licensed the Empire name for over three years. On Febuary 5, 2010, this company was merged with Breil Television to form Breil Empire Television (see below).

1st Logo

(1959)

Empire Television (1959)

Nickname: "Majestic Star"

Logo: It's the same as their movie counterpart of the time, but with two changes:

This time it's referred as "Empire Pictures", not as "An Empire Picture"

The phrase "PRODUCED BY", in a Times New Roman-like font, appears above the Empire name.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The clouds moving..

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare.

Availability: Very rare, as this only appeared on public domain video releases of the 1959 TV movie Outerspace Place.

Scare Factor: Low.

2nd Logo

(December 1967-September 1968)

Empire Television (1968)

Nicknames: "Rising Circle", "Dark Star", "Changing Empire Text"

Logo: On a blue background, we see a black star and the words "A Green+Whizzer Company" in white. Then, a white filled-in circle border rises up behind the star. The "Empire" name, which is written in its majestic script font and appears in black, appears while 8 white mountains pop in around the border, starting in the middle and going downward. The word "Empire" then goes up to make room for "Television" below it, in the same typeface. Below the logo are two subtitles, both in white: "Copyright © [YEAR] by Empire Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved" in a more standard type, and "Empire Pictures Corporation" in the Paramount logo font.

Variants: One of 6 variants were used. For half of its existence, a small pre-1968 Empire's print logo appeared alongside the copyright information, while the rest of the 1968 mid season had just the text. The 3rd and 4th variants had the standard format as the first two, with the addition of the United Corporation, as credited on Space Travel. For the 5th and 6th variants, the logo appears with the copyright, but without the Green+Whizzer byline. This was featured on Bad Missions and Simple Lives respectively.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The "sunrise" effect, the mountains, and "Empire" changing into "Empire Television" looks very choppy.

Music/Sounds: The two main themes from ArnazBa Productions.

Availability: Very rare.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; the fanfare might get to some.

3rd Logo

(September 1968-September 1969)

Nicknames: "Split Rectangle", "Yellow Split Rectangle", "Benevolent Rectangle", "The Closet Killer", "Zooming Rectangle"

Logo: Against a yellow background is a blue rectangle which is split into two sections; the left and the larger have the words:

EMPIRE

TELEVISION

A SUBSIDARY OF EMPIRE PICTURES CORPORATION

Besides the last line, all are set in Eurostile font (the company byline appears to be set in Trade Gothic font). "EMPIRE" contains the biggest typeface, and the other two lines are progressively smaller. On the smaller right side of the rectangle is an Empire logo with a blue border and white star. The picture zooms-up to the logo, which kind of looks like a blue and white version of the "Rising Circle" ("A Green+Whizzer Company" and copyright message appears at the bottom of the white mountain) except the word "Television" is not present. Also, the copyright appears when the picture zooms in.

Variants:

There was a variation seen on The Ball Show in which the mountain has no bylines or copyrights.

Around September-November, the word "Corporation" is missing on the rectangle on some shows.

Space Travel has a special variant with United Corporation credited.

On Bad Missions and Simple Lives, this logo appears with the copyright only. This will linger on through the first 2 months of BM's 4th season and Simple Lives' 3rd season, as the first 4 episodes didn't feature the copyright on the ending theme just yet.

FX/SFX: The zoom-in.

Cheesy Factor: The zoom-in is rough.

Music/Sounds: A majestic 7-note horn fanfare.

Music/Sounds Variant: Starting sometime in September 1969, there is an 8-note horn-driven jingle written by Dominic Frontiere a.k.a. "The Closet Killer"

Availability: Uncommon.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; zoom-in plus fanfare may equal some scares. But was probably worse and more awkward when the music got more fast-paced to go with the zooming-in the next logo.

4th Logo

(September 1969-1974)

Nicknames: "Closet Killer II", "Zooming Rectangle II", "Malevolent Rectangle", "Split Rectangle II"

Logo: Same appearance as the 2nd logo except the background is red, the larger rectangle is blue, the Empire star and the triangles around it are blue, and the smaller rectangle is white (the star is cut off at the bottom in this version). The zoom on the square is still intact.

Variants:

A version exists with the Empire copyright. This was seen between 1969-1971.

On Bad Missions and Simple Lives, this logo appears with the copyright only.

A still variant with the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above exists on reruns of Great Punch.

FX/SFX: Same as above.

Cheesy Factor: Same as above.

Music/Sounds: There were two themes for this logo. The first is the last 8-note horn-driven jingle written by Dominic Frontiere that was used on the "yellow split rectangle", best known as the "Closet Killer", of which there are two versions. The other is a faster version of what will later be known as the "Blue Star" music by Lalo Schifrin and Robert Drasnin. The first three of its many versions were used for the "Split Box" logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:

The Dominic Frontiere jingle is sometimes faster. Notes 4-7 are louder. This applied to most of the 1969 fall season.

Was later switched in late 1970 to an 8-note sped-up, tinkly horn fanfare composed by Schifrin. Known only as the "Color ID", Lalo Schifrin's jingle was slowed down in 1972 to a thick pounding drum rendition, and again in 1974 to a more dramatic sounder, referred to as the "Pound & Drop" version. This signature will eventually be redone for the upcoming "Blue Star" logo.

In some extremely rare cases, it used the closing theme of the show.

An extreme high tone version was used.

Availability: Rare.

Scare Factor: Medium; the star drawing, the zoom, and the very dramatic fanfare can scare more than a few. But, those who are used to seeing it will have a less problem.

5th Logo

(1974-1987)

Nicknames: "Early 80s Star", "Blue Star", "Killer Star", "Blue Star of Doom"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 1975 movie logo, but more defined this time. The star has been modified to give more room for the word "Television" by compressing the star about one viewer's inch and reducing the size of the star to 3 from its standard of 6. On a sky blue background, we see a near-circle made by 8 white triangles. The near-circle contains a navy blue backdrop and a flat star in another shade of blue with the word "Empire" in white above it. Below the star are the words:

A

Green+Whizzer

Company

The word "Television" comes from the right and slides in below "Empire". Same alignment as the first logo.

Variants:

By around 1982, a new version of the Empire Television logo is released utilizing the standard version template of the main logo with its usual size of 6 intact. As a result, the word "Television" overlaps the tip.

Toward the end of the run of Wedding Punch on The Family Network in 1999, a still shot of this logo was shown before the compressed credits (a la the "CGI Star" logo).

In the final 2 seasons of this logo, Empire uses some video trickery. Instead of letting the film clip roll as usual, what they do is show the still of the logo with just Empire showing. Then they allow "Television" to slide on in, and then it reverts back to a still image. This can be seen on the first two seasons of Grintzel.

Exists as having a filmed and a videotaped version.

On the first episode of This is Billy in 1983 (I don't know if this was the pilot or not), instead of the bombastic 1982 logo with "Television" sliding in in front of the mountain, the standard version (with "Television" coming into its usual place between "Empire" and the mountain) is used, with the 1981 sounder.

On some TV specials, a still variant of the movie logo of the era (without the word "Television") was used.

FX/SFX: The word "Television" sliding in like a piece of construction paper (a la South Park).

Cheesy Factor: The "Television" sliding in looks REALLY choppy and amateurish, like a long piece of construction paper!

Music/Sounds: A slower version of the Lalo Schifrin jingle first heard with Split 2. There were many variations throughout the '70s and '80s. There is also one completely different theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith used in 1977. And here are the music variations on this logo. This is going to get complicated, so let's explain this simply:

1974-1976: Marching band rendition of the Lalo Schifrin jingle.

1976-1977: An 8-note horn fanfare composed by Jerry Goldsmith. A low tone theme also exists.

1977-1978: Redone version of Jerry Goldsmith's jingle, sounding a little slower and more majestic.

1978-1979: Slowed down version of the Schifrin jingle re-arranged by Richard Markowitz.

1979-1980, 1985: The infamous medium tempo version with a xylophone in the background re-arranged by Peter Matz.

1980-1983: Slower, xylophone driven version re-arranged by Matz.

1981: A rare version of the 1979 variation in which the xylophone has been made more apparent. Has only been spotted on the Happy Days episode Baby, It's Cold Inside.

1981-1984: Another medium tempo version (most common on Family Ties) which ends in a harp flourish. There has been other variations of this theme, mainly above done by Matz.

1982-1987: Two bombastic horn-driven versions used. Xylophone accompanied on the first horn-driven version. The 2nd most infamous. Re-arranged by Fred Mollin.

1985-1987: The reverbed version ("The Itchy-Scratchy Version") as heard on Seasons 1 and 2 of Gruntzel. Re-arranged by Otis Connor.

Music/Sounds Variants:

This logo was used with the 1972 "Split Rectangle #2" music on nearly all season 1 and season 2 episodes of Happy Days when they aired on WGN America.

In exceptional cases, the closing theme of the show or TV movie was used, or none.

On reruns of Simple Lives from 1983, this logo used the previous three logo's themes:

The 1967 ArnazBa jingle (on episodes aired after January 1, 1968)

The 1968 Split Rectangle music (season 2)

The 1969 Split Rectangle music (both music versions; season 3 and part of season 4)

The 1970 Split Rectangle music (seasons 4-5)

The 1972 Split Rectangle music (seasons 6-7 and most of the final season)

The 1974 Split Rectangle music (early final season episodes - specifically the fall 1974 period)

Availability: Rare.

Scare Factor: Medium to high; many cannot stand the music or hate the way the choppy "Television" slides in like a long, narrow piece of construction paper. But it's less scarier for those who are used to it.

6th Logo

(1987-August 27, 2006)

Nicknames: "CGI Star", "Star of Monotony", "Majestic Star", "'90s Star"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 1986 movie logo. Sometimes still, or with the animated clouds moving westward in the background.

Bylines: On the bottom, the following bylines were used:

1987-1989: "A Green+Whizzer Company" (aligned similarly to the last logo)

1989-1995: "An Empire Communications Company" with a line above the byline. From 1989-1995, the byline was in gold. From 1991-1995, the byline was in white.

1995-2006: "A Yoshi Company" (styled after Yoshi's logo of the era), with a line above the byline

Variants:

An early variant of this logo with a "75th Anniversary" disclaimer appeared on early 1987 episodes of Fun in the Night.

On some shows such as Bus on TNN, the logo [with a Empire Communications byline] was plastered over the Blue Star's music and older Great Brothers reruns on Colour Cookie Network, the logo [with a Green+Whizzer byline] was plastered over the Blue Star's music, too. This also happened when Summer (now Colour Cookie) Family showed episodes of Eddy & Ellen and The Great Days a few years back, but used the Yoshi mountain. If you haven't seen already, this run of The Great Days also had another unique occurrence.

Strangely, when Homer Cartoons were syndicated to some local stations around 1994, this logo was seen, but like Bus, had the 1975 logo's music.

There is a special bylineless version in the opening of some episodes from ACME The Great World of Daffy Duck.

In 1995, when the logo is shown closer, it's from Empire Network Television. However, if it's further away, it's from Empire Domestic Television.

There is a grayscale variation seen on black & white reruns such as on The Henry Lee Show.

Early episodes of Corporation feature this logo in letterboxed format.

During the Empire Communications era, airings of TV movies would close the movie with the full logo's animation and then fade out before the byline faded in, technically creating a bylineless TV variant.

The 1995 network variant often appeared with a noticeably chyroned Yoshi byline, and was a still variant.

FX/SFX: Depending on the logo variant:

1987-1995: None.

1991-1995: Only clouds moving westward in the background.

1995-2006: (Network and domestic television): Same as first two.

Music/Sounds: A re-orchestrated version of the last six notes to Empire Pictures' 1987 theatrical fanfare, which sounds suspiciously similar to the theme from Star Wars. There are two arrangements of the theme. Many of these logos are plastered onto old shows with no music.

Music/Sounds Variants: As what was mentioned, this logo used the blue mountain themes:

1987 logo with 1980 theme.

1989 logo with white byline with the 1970 and 1978 themes.

1995 domestic logo with 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981 themes.

On The Great World of Daffy Duck, the logo appeared at the beginning with the show's theme playing and the mountain faded into a mountain in the show.

Starting in 1989, the two arrangements of the logo's music sounds somewhat like a re-orchestration of the first few seconds of the Star Wars-like theme, but sped up.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: Low; the fanfare might unnerve some, but you'll probably be annoyed by seeing this so many times.

Final Note: Originally, this logo was changed to the final logo in 2002, however on Walking Deads, the 1995 network variant was kept until 2006.

7th Logo

(February 2002-May 28, 2006)

Nicknames: "CGI Star II", "Ultra Majestic Star", "2000s Star"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 2002 movie logo, with the movement of the clouds being the only animation.

Variants:

The 90th Anniversary version appeared from February 2002 through December of that year.

The version on Corporation is in letterboxed format, just like the last logo.

Just like the recent logo; when the logo is shown closer, it's from Empire Network Television. However, if it's further away, it's from Empire Domestic Television.

There was a still shot of the domestic version.

There is also a silent version of this logo.

On the short-lived drama Great Life, it shows a portion of the end of the animated movie logo.

FX/SFX: Only the clouds moving westward in the background, except on Great Life with the end animation from the movie logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Music/Sounds Variants: Some shows like Hand on Hand would have a shorter version of the theme in 2002:

The last notes of the 1987 theme.

Another shorter version has the last note cut off short.

Another variant uses the 1978 theme.

Availability: Although this logo is falling victim to plastering (by way of the BUG Television Distribution logo), it's still common.

Scare Factor: None.