Dramatic Ringing Key Company

Background: Dramatic Ringing Key Company (also known as RING and Ring-Gerard) was formed in 1967 by Gerard Ring and Thomas Ring to produce their long-running soap opera The Personality Ways. Later in 1988, the company started to create more TV shows and soaps including What's The Time?.

1st Logo

(1967-)

Nickname: "Ring-Gerard"

Logo: On a black background or superimposed on the closing credits of The Personality Ways, we see the text:

RING-GERARD

PRODUCTIONS INC.

in a rectangular font (which looks like the Agency FB font).

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of The Personality Ways. Sometimes, an announcer says what's coming up next on the next episode of the soap, so you can't hear the theme clearly when the logo plays. During 2001-2007, the theme of the 5th/6th logos was heard since Galaxy Signature was using split-screen credits after the TV shows started airing the closing credits.

Availability: Currently seen on airings of The Personality Ways, including international airings.

Scare Factor: None to medium. Depends on the background and music played in the logo.

2nd Logo

(1988-1992)

Nicknames: "Ring-Gerald: The Sequel"

Logo: On the same background from the show's credits the same text from before or "Dramatic Ringing Key Company" scrolls in. The copyright stamp then fades in below.

FX/SFX: The scrolling and fading.

Cheesy Factor: Who wanted to name a company "Dramatic Ringing Key Company"? Were they trying to be funny?

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show. In rare occasions, none.

Availability: Extinct. Only appeared on TV shows made by Ring-Gerald or DRKC like Timing, which hasn't reran for years. Still saved by VHS users. It still appears, however, on DVDs of the show Collection Cars.

Scare Factor: None to minimal.

3rd Logo

(1992-1999)

Nicknames: "RING I", "Deep Choir I"

Logo: On a blue-black gradient background, we see the lines colliding to form the words "RING" in the same font as logo #1, but with the words "DRAMATIC RINGING KEY COMPANY" next to it. The logo shines.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The lines, the logo shining. Looks too plain.

Music/Sounds: A deep choir note with two airplane-like sounds and a zap. This was nicknamed "Deep Choir".

Availability: Extinct. It was only seen on TV shows and other soaps produced by them, which no longer air.

Scare Factor: Minimal.

4th Logo

(1999-2001)

Nicknames: "RING II", "Deep Choir II"

Logo: On a black background, we see some rings, then we see the word "Ring" in the same font as the previous logo zooming in with the wording "Dramatic Ringing Key Company" fades in below. The logo shining.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: No animation. Just a simple and plain logo, at least they put some good graphical effort on the rings.

Music/Sounds: Same as before.

Availability: Same as before.

Scare Factor: Minimal to low. The addition of the black background may catch some.

5th Logo

(2001-2003)

Nicknames: "RING III", "Creepy Bells I", "Falling Stars"

Logo: On a dark background, blurry stars appear and dissapear in time with the music. One of them falls down and explodes, illuminating the background. The texts "RING" and "DRAMATIC RINGING KEY COMPANY" (the company's name is seen at the right of "RING"), in the same font as before, zooms in.

FX/SFX: The stars, the explosion, the zooming.

Cheesy Factor: Extremely cheap animation. It improved on the following logo, however.

Music/Sounds: A four-note bell tune, then a descending bell sound, followed by a reverse cymbal and a bang. This is nicknamed "The Creepy Bells".

Availability: Same as before.

Scare Factor: Low bordering on medium, mainly because of the music, but the entire thing is cheap to look at.

6th Logo

(2003-)

Nicknames: "RING IV", "Creepy Bells II"

Logo: On a black background with a "masked" sky on the middle of it, the chrome letters of "RING", in the same font as before, zoom out and spin. They later turn white and 2D after stopping on the center. Then the words "DRAMATIC RINGING KEY COMPANY" fade in below.

Variants:

Before 2004, the whole thing was a still logo, but the sky was still moving.

An enhanced variant started airing in 2010 and it's currently used on HD airings.

There's another version where "DRAMATIC RINGING KEY COMPANY" is replaced by "RING-GERARD PRODUCTIONS INC."

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Better animation than the previous logo, but we still got the crazy company name (which was thankfully replaced for the Ring-Gerard name version). The version before 2004 was just simplistic.

Music/Sounds: Same as before. On rare occasions, the reverse crash/bang was removed.

Availability: Currently seen before airings of DRKC's TV shows and soaps, including The Personality Ways, The Way Way Back and What's The Time?.

Scare Factor: Minimal to medium. There's still that music, but it's an improvement over the previous logo.