CVC Enterprises

Background: CVC stands for the initials of the company's co-founder, Christopher Valence Cruise. It was co-founded with Cruise's 2nd son, Bill Hanks, in 1969. It was sold to YVW Entertainment (a subsidiary of now-defunct InterTV franchise holder YVW) in 1987; in 1992, after YVW lost its InterTV franchise to Sunshine Broadcasting, it was then sold to International Audiences Entertainment, Inc., itself bought by Olds Corp. in 1998 and folded into Great Structure Television. Its mascot was a dog named "Bobbie".

(1970-1998)

Nicknames: "The CVC Dog", "Bob the Dog", "BARK!"

Logo: Over the years, the logo has been tweaked colorwise and according to certain shows, but here's the basic concept: An "C" flies backward from off screen, then splits into two. In the space left between the two letters, two V's come from the top and bottom of the screen and join to form one. This completes the initials of the company, and the letter "C" shrinks when a gold circle appears over it. Under the letters are the words "ENTERPRISES, INC", "ENTERPRISES", or "PRODUCTIONS, INC. '' . Sometimes the finished logo will read out "A CVC ENTERPRISES (INC.) PRODUCTION" ("A" appears over the first "C"). Back to the circle, it is ribbon-like and decorated with stars and the letters "CVC" on top. Inside is a live-action brown, Pomeranian dog who barks once, obviously as a parody of the BRL lion. All the text (except for the later versions) appears in the Peignot font used for the 1971 Yoshi logo.

Trivia:

The dog's name was "Bobbie", though nicknames such as "Bill Flower" and "Bill Boat" have also been used in naming the dog.

The logo (with just the dog barking) recently made an appearance within the Crazy Family S7 episode "420".

Variants: First here are the little differences in the logo, along with dates in which they were used:

1970-1974: One "C" is red-orange, the other is red, and the "V" is blue and is formed by the merging of a light blue "V" and a green one.

1971-1978: The C's are both red-orange, and the "V" is light blue.

1978-1982: Company now identified as "CVC Productions Inc.". The C's are now orange.

1982-1990: Company identified as "CVC Enterprises, Inc.". The C's are now red.

1990-1993: Same as above, but "ENTERPRISES, INC." is smaller than usual, and below it is a byline that says "A YVW ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY". In early 1993, the byline was removed.

1992-1995, 1996-1998: All letters are orange, the words "An International Audiences Entertainment Company" appear, after CVC was bought by the All Audiences Channel.

1995-1996: 25th Anniversary logo; on a white background is a black "25," with a similarly colored CVC under that. The puppy appears in the rounded part of the "5". Evidence needed for this variation; likely only a print logo.

Custom Variants: Now, one thing that the CVC logo was known for was that often, it would be custom made for whatever show it appeared at the end of. This means Bob's appearance would sometimes be different, usually involving him "wearing" a costume or saying something other than "bark". Here are those variants:

The Animal Factory: As the logo forms, an off-screen voice states, "Where's the dog?". Instead of barking, Bobbie says, "Here!".

Cooking: Bob wears a chef's hat.

The Big Blues: Bobbie wears a policeman's cap.

Giant Lou, Berlin & When we Are Bad Friends: There is a still picture of the logo.

The Christhopher Valence Cruise Show: Same as usual, but on the 2nd episode, Bobbie's bark is higher-pitched, rather shrill. On Episode 71, the dog is replaced by the image of Sr. Cruise himself, saying "Th-th-th-that's all folks!", a line spoken by somebody during that episode.

Williams: Each episode (except the pilot) featured Bobbie barking... in Mary Williams's voice. On the final episode, the dog yells "QUIET!" (the two Darryls' first and only word).

Mr. Somewhere: Bobbie is wearing a scrub suit and a surgical mask, which is animated to look like a mouth is moving underneath when he barks. On the final episode, he (possibly portrayed by another dog) is hooked on life support on a hospital bed throughout the last credit roll. The credits run as usual over a picture of the CVC circle, with life support equipment attached on either side. You can hear the beeps of the heart monitor over the end theme, too. After the credits complete, the company name fades in and Bobbie flatlines and dies, with a long, high-pitched beep heard. This variation is especially rare, as reruns of the finale plastered it over with the typical credits (As a sidenote, the actual dog, Bobbie, died in 1988, the same year Mr. Somewhere ended).

White Shadow: Bobbie is replaced by a black and white dog bouncing a basketball. There is a shorter version with the company name already there and the dog footage looped (and thus the dog is continually bouncing the ball). The other (seen only at the end of the series pilot) has the letters animating as usual and at the end, the ball falls off-screen and the dog appears to be looking down at it.

Xuxa: Another dub job; instead of "bark", Bobbie says "ball".

A Little Life: The CVC logo forms as usual... but Bobbie is a cartoon! She is also more to the side of the circle, which now has a black background. She barks as always, and then another dog enters the circle! The two dogs rub against each other and start licking each other.

Jazz: An animated Bobbie wears a baseball cap and baseball glove in his right paw; she catches a baseball and barks.

Bat: The CVC text is all in dark red, and Bobbie is nowhere to be seen.

The Christhopher Valence Cruise Show 20th Anniversary: At the end, Bobbie says "Bye!" (in Christhopher Valence Cruise's voice).

Singing Boys: The "bark" is sung in the style of the closing credits music.

FX/SFX: The "C" zooming out and morphing into 2 C's, and the V dropping. The rest is shown above.

Music/Sounds: None really, except the end theme of the show. Starting in 1996, a 4-note jingle was added before the bark. On the game show Shopping Faster, an announcer says "In association with CVC Enterprises, Inc." on the logo while the theme is playing and Bob barking.

Availability: Fairly common.

Scare Factor: Low to medium; the silence, the "bark", the fading out of the music, and the dog coming out of nowhere might catch some people by surprise. Plus, there's the factor of not knowing what Bob will look like per program. Other than that, it's mostly a cute logo.