Paramount Television (CBS)

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Logo descriptions by James Fabiano, James Stanley Barr, bmasters9, Jeffrey Gray, D.L. Chandell, Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, WileE2005, and Logophile
Logo captures by Shadeed A. Kelly, bmasters9, Eric S., snelfu, V of Doom, JohnnyL80, Sagan Blob, Gilblitz112, Pygmalion X, TheEriccorpinc, and others
Additional edits by Shadeed A. Kelly, Logophile
, Eric S., V of Doom, Donny Pearson, bmasters9, and MrThorax281 and Mario9000seven
Video captures courtesy of JohnnyL80, phasicblu, metrodfclpt, mcydodge919, Gilblitz112, and Eric S.



Background: Paramount Television traces its origins to 1949 when Paramount Pictures owned a television network called "Paramount Television Network".
The network presented and produced 17 programs in total until it and the production banner was dissolved in 1956. Paramount also had a majority stake in the DuMont Television Network and owned KTLA in Los Angeles and WBKB in Chicago (now WBBM-TV). Paramount Pictures' second attempt in the television industry began in 1959 as "Paramount Pictures Television" when they produced the television movie Destination Space for CBS. They also co-produced six unsold pilots with Tandem Productions, such as Henry T. and Meet Me At Danny's. They also had a short-lived production banner called "Telemount-Mutual". When Gulf+Western Industries, parent company of Paramount Pictures, purchased Desilu Productions in 1967, Desilu became the television division of Paramount Pictures and later became "Paramount Television" in late 1967 officially forming the studio and Desilu sales became "Paramount Television Sales". In 2004, Viacom merged Paramount Network Television and CBS Productions to form the "CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group" at the same time it merged Paramount International Television and CBS Broadcast International to form "CBS Paramount International Television" (currently known as "CBS Studios International"). On December 31, 2005, the Viacom/CBS split took effect and Viacom changed its name to the CBS Corporation at the same time it created a spin-off company that bears the Viacom name. On January 17, 2006, CBS Corporation merged the CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, CBS Paramount International Television, and Paramount Domestic Television into the CBS Paramount Television Group, but the on-air logo for PDT remained the same until Memorial Day 2006, when the first CBS Paramount Television logo debuted. As for the network version, the PNT and CBS Productions logos were used before the CBS Paramount Network Television logo debuted on June 10. However, it was renamed as "CBS Television Studios" in May 2009 after CBS lost to license to the Paramount name it had for three years. On March 4, 2013, Paramount Pictures relaunched a current incarnation of
Paramount Television; both divisions are owned by ViacomCBS.


1st Logo
(1949-1955)

Bob Clampett Productions/Paramount Television Network (1950)Paramount Television (1949)Paramount Television Production (1951)Paramount Television (1955)KTLA Paramount Television Productions Inc. logo (1949)

Logo: On a gray background with some random shadows,
we see the following:

A
Paramount
Television
Production

...with "Paramount", "Television" and "Production" in their famous script in white letters, with a prominent shadow effect over the background.

Variants:
  • Some shows such as Time for Beany would have the text at the bottom of the title card reading as "a Paramount Television Presentation".
  • On the magazine show City at Night, the print logo of the time period was seen with some modifications. On top of the mountain is a radio tower with "K T L A" seen in the middle of it. On the mountain is the name "Paramount Television Productions, Inc.".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the intro and outro of the series.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on old kinetoscope prints from some live shows from KTLA such as Time for Beany. This logo is intact on a few episodes of Beany on YouTube.

Editor's Note: This is the first time we see the Paramount script font on a television broadcast.




2nd Logo
(1959-1961?)
Paramount Pictures Television (1959)Paramount Pictures Television (1961)Paramount Television Productions (1960)Paramount Television Productions (1960, in-credit)

Nickname: "Majestic Mountain"

Logo: It's the same as their movie counterpart of the time, but with several differences:
  • This time it's referred as "Paramount Pictures", not as "A Paramount Picture".
  • The text "PRODUCED BY", in a Times New Roman-like font, appears above the Paramount name.

Variants:
  • On the game show Seven Keys, an in-credit version of the print logo of the time period was seen. This one has no sky and "Pictures" was replaced with "TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS INC." stacked word by word and on the bottom of the mountain is a byline reading "A SUBSIDIARY OF Paramount Pictures Corporation" with "Paramount Pictures Corporation" in its trademark script.
  • Another superimposed variant exists of in-credit text that reads "in association with PARAMOUNT TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS, INC.".

FX/SFX: The clouds moving.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare. Other times, it's the closing theme
and/or a voiceover or none.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: On the game show Seven Keys, the host says "Jack Narz speaking, Seven Keys is a Paramount television production".

Availability: Ultra rare, as this only appeared on public domain video releases of the 1959 TV movie Destination Space, the TV special Hedda Hopper's Hollywood, and the
game show Seven Keys
when it aired locally on KTLA-TV, all of which can been seen on YouTube. This was also spotted on a 16mm print of the Three to Get Ready pilot.

Editor's Note: This is the first time a Paramount movie logo was used for television.



3rd Logo
(January 1-September 1968)

Nicknames: "Rising Circle", "Iris-in Circle", "Dark Mountain", "Changing Paramount Text"

Logo: On a blue background, we see a black mountain and the words "A Gulf+Western Company" in white. Suddenly, a white filled-in circle border makes an iris-in effect behind the mountain. The "Paramount" name, which is written in its majestic script font and appears in black, pops in while 22 white stars appear around the border, starting in the middle and going downward. The word "Paramount" immediately moves upward to make room for "Television" below it, in the same typeface. Below the logo are two subtitles, both in white: "COPYRIGHT © MCMLXVIII BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" in a more standard type, and "Paramount Pictures Corporation" in the Paramount logo font.

Main Variants: One of 6 visual variants were used:
  • For 2/3 of its existence, a small pre-1968 Paramount's print logo appeared alongside the copyright information, while the rest of the 1968 mid-season had just the text.
  • Variants 3 and 4 had the standard format as the first two, with the addition of the Norway Corporation, as credited on Star Trek.
  • For variants 5 and 6, the logo appears with the copyright, but without the Gulf+Western byline. This was featured on Mission: Impossible and Mannix respectively.

Other Variant: A B&W variant exists on 16mm prints of said colors.

FX/SFX: The "sunrise" effect, the stars, and "Paramount" changing into "Paramount Television".

Music/Sounds: The two main themes from the 1966 Desilu Productions logo.

Music/Sounds Variant:
A high tone variant exists for both themes, which is generally heard on PAL prints of shows.

Availability: Very rare as this was short-lived, but it is not too difficult to find. It was seen on early 1968 episodes of Mission: Impossible on ALN (now Youtoo) and is intact on DVD releases of the show. It can also be seen on videocassettes of Star Trek episodes aired during that time period. The last 10 episodes of The Lucy Show also had this logo and is retained on the S6 DVD release. This logo is strangely replaced by the Desilu logo and the first CBS Paramount Domestic Television logo on the Star Trek Season 2 Blu-Ray set.

Editor's Note: This is the first animated Paramount Television logo. This also might be a prototype of the Paramount print logo that made its debut in the same year.



4th Logo
(September 1968-December 20, 1969)
Paramount Television (1968) AParamount Television (1969) - aParamount Television (in-credit) (1969)
Paramount TV 1968 (Bylineless)Paramount Television (1968) - bParamount Television (1969) - bParamount Television (1968) A2

Nicknames: "Split Rectangle", "Yellow Split Rectangle"
, "Benevolent Rectangle", "The Closet Killer", "The Bumper Sticker", "Split Box"

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

PARAMOUNT
TELEVISION
A DIVISION OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION

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

Variants:
  • There was a variation seen on Here's Lucy in which the mountain has no bylines or copyrights.
  • Around September-November 1968, the word "CORPORATION" is missing on the rectangle on some shows.
  • Star Trek has a special variant with Norway Corporation credited.
  • On shows like Mission: Impossible and Mannix and TV movies, this logo appears with the copyright only. This will linger on through the first 2 months of M:I's 4th season and Mannix's 3rd season, as the first 4 episodes didn't feature the copyright on the ending theme just yet.
  • On some late '90s PAX TV airings of season 1 episodes of Here's Lucy, this logo (along with the Lucille Ball Productions and Warner Bros. Domestic Pay-TV, Cable & Network Features logos {the latter replacing the Telepictures "Rollercoaster"}) was played at warp-speed before the compressed credits. On other airings on the same network, the logos would cross-fade into the next one before fading to black.
  • An in-credit version with "in association with" above the print logo with the byline can be seen on 1968-69 episodes of the game show You Don't Say!.

FX/SFX
: The sudden zoom-in.


Music/Sounds:
  • September 1968-1969: A majestic 7-note horn fanfare.
  • September-December 1969: An 8-note horn-driven jingle written by Dominic Frontiere a.k.a. "The Closet Killer".

Availability: Extremely rare, as it is not intact on any current print of any TV show it was once on. Was seen on Mission: Impossible on ALN (now Youtoo), and it can also be seen on season 3 of both Mannix and Star Trek (Look for the 1999/2004 Paramount DVD releases, if you get anything later, you'll see either the CBS/Paramount Television logo or the CBS Television Distribution logo) on DVD, and on several Star Trek episodes when last aired on TV Land and on CBS' YouTube channel. This was also seen on the 1969 TV movies The Immortal (and is intact on current DVDs), The Young Lawyers, and Seven in Darkness.

Editor's Note: This logo resembles a bumper sticker, which could be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Paramount's then owner at the time. This logo was also known for its jarring theme (in its twilight years), which would become more noteworthy in the next logo.




5th Logo
(September 1969-1975, October 10, 1988-May 14, 1990, October 1, 2012-2013)


Nicknames: "Split Rectangle II",
"Red Split Rectangle", "Malevolent Rectangle", "The Closet Killer II", "Bumper Sticker II", "Split Box II"

Logo: Same appearance as the 4th logo except the background is red, the larger rectangle is blue, the Paramount mountain and the stars around it mountain are blue, and the smaller rectangle is white (the mountain is cut off at the bottom in this version). The zoom on the square is still intact.

Variants:
  • The placement of the registered trademark "®" symbol is either close to or under the last star on the right side of the near-circle.
  • A version exists with the Paramount copyright. This was seen between 1969-1971.
  • On Mission: Impossible, Mannix, and some TV movies, this logo appears with the copyright only.
  • A still variant with the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above exists on The Brady Kids. Later episodes had "IN ASSOCIATION WITH AND DISTRIBUTED BY" above it instead.
  • On the Petrocelli season 1 episode "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..." on the CBS DVD/VEI release, the red background of the logo is faded to a grayish color, due to film deterioration.

FX/SFX
: Same as the previous logo.


Music/Sounds:
  • 1969: The same Dominic Frontiere jingle used on the previous logo. Notes 4-7 are louder. This applied to most of the 1969 fall season.
  • 1969-1971: An alternate "Closet Killer" theme. This one is noticeably slower with the first three notes and faster for the rest.
  • 1970-1974: An 8-note sped-up, tinkly horn fanfare, composed by Lalo Schifrin. Known only as the "Color ID".
  • 1972-1975: A thick pounding drum rendition of the Schifrin fanfare.
  • 1974-1975: A more dramatic rendition, sometimes referred to as the "Pound & Drop" version. This signature will eventually be redone for the then-upcoming "Blue Mountain" logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:
  • An extreme high tone version of the "Closet Killer" was used.
  • On the first episode of The Magician, it used a sped-up version of the 1972 music variation heard in the next logo.
  • When TBS aired The Brady Bunch around the late '80s or early '90s, one S1 episode had the first version of the "Closet Killer" in low-tone.
  • On the War of the Worlds TV series episode "Eye for an Eye" on its DVD release, it uses the 1987 fanfare, due to a plastering error.
  • In rare cases, it used the closing theme of the show/movie or was silent, such as the 1973-74 animated Star Trek series and the 1975 TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden.
  • An off-sync variant was spotted on an episode of The Brady Bunch. The "Closet Killer" music would begin during the black screen between the credits and the logo, before the logo appears. As a result, part of the logo was silent.

Availability
: Uncommon.

  • Was seen on Mission Impossible on ALN (now Youtoo) and on a number of shows and TV movies, but a lot of it have been replaced with either the 8th, or a later logo (mostly CTD currently).
  • The 1969 versions are rare and it can be seen on The Brady Bunch DVD box sets, as well as on Me-TV airings of the show. Also, it's intact on The Odd Couple on DVD and Me-TV and on Decades and Me-TV airings of Love, American Style.
  • The 1970 version is uncommon and it makes a strange appearance on all S1 episodes of the 1989 War of the Worlds TV series on its DVD release. This is still also retained on The Immortal, and Longstreet on DVD, season 1 of The Odd Couple on DVD and Me-TV, and some local reruns of Love, American Style, such as airings on Decades and Me-TV. Also seen on The Brady Bunch on DVD and Me-TV airings. This variant was "revived" on What Was Carol Brady Thinking? part of the former NickMom block on Nick Jr.
  • The 1972 version is rare and was last seen on the Happy Days S2 episode "Richie's Flip Side" on Hub Network (before the re-brand into Discovery Family), The Magician on DVD, and season 1 of Petrocelli on DVD and when it last aired on AXN Crime. It's still saved on the Happy Days season 1 DVD boxset and on earlier episodes of the show on Me-TV and also seen on The Brady Bunch on DVD and Me-TV airings. In the UK, it is retained on the first two seasons of Happy Days on UK Gold.
  • The 1974 version is extinct as it was last seen on The Odd Couple, but is currently plastered with later logos like the 1995 Domestic, CBS/Paramount, or CBSTD logos.
  • The silent version can be seen on a few productions like The Devil's Daughter and The Legend of Lizzie Borden, which are retained on their DVD releases. The animated Star Trek DVD and Blu-ray box sets, Netflix and recent H&I (Heroes and Icons) prints also has this restored (it was replaced by the 8th logo).
  • The bylineless version is extremely rare and was recently spotted on a 1970 episode of The Brady Bunch on Me-TV and on the Mission: Impossible S6 episode "Blues" on Decades.
  • The Complete Series DVDs of The Brady Kids plaster this with the CBS Television Distribution logo.

Editor's Note: Same as above. Of the two "Split Box" logos, it's the more recognizable version that's also infamous by some viewers for its animation and early Frontiere themes. Also, the 1970 theme would become Paramount's de-facto television theme for the following 17 years.



6th Logo
(1969-1976)

Paramount Television (1969)Paramount Television
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Logo: Same as the theatrical 1968 logo, although it could be either matted or cropped to fit TV screens.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1968 theatrical counterpart.

Music/Sounds:
  • 1969-1970: An extended version of Frontiere's "Closet Killer" jingle; at least two arrangements are known to exist.
  • Circa 1971: A fast-paced piece composed by Lalo Schifrin.
  • Circa 1972: An soft extended horn-driven variation of the Schifrin arrangement introduced in the previous logo.
  • Other than that, generally the closing theme of the show, or none at all.

Availability
: Rare. Was seen as the intro to several made-for-TV movies produced by Paramount, including Seven in Darkness, Quarantine, Dr. Cook's Garden, Night of Terror, and Women in Chains; most of these have been rarely rerun and a few are only available as bootleg copies, but some have started to resurface in recent years. Also seen on some episodes of The Lost Islands (while the remaining ones, including the pilot, however, use the next logo). Recently, the 1969 version was seen intact on Decades airings of the TV pilot of The Young Lawyers (removed on DVD), and the pilot of The Immortal on DVD.
The 1971 version can be seen on the TV pilot of Longstreet on DVD. The 1972 version can be seen on The Devil's Daughter on DVD.

Editor's Note: None.



7th Logo
(September 9, 1975-1988)


Nicknames: "Late '70s Mountain", "'80s Mountain", "Blue Mountain"

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 1975 movie logo, but more defined this time. The mountain has been modified to give more room for the word "Television" by compressing the mountain about one viewer's inch and downgrading the amount of indentations (or impressions) to 4 from its standard of 5. On a sky blue background, we see a near-circle made by 22 white stars. The near-circle contains a navy blue backdrop and a flat mountain in another shade of blue with the word "Paramount" in white above it. Below the mountain are the words:


A
Gulf+Western
Company

The word "Television" comes from the right and slides in below "Paramount". Same alignment as the 3rd logo.

Variants:
  • This comes with or without a Registered trademark "®" symbol under the right side of the near-circle.
  • This exists as both filmed and videotaped.
  • By around 1982, a new version of the Paramount Television logo is released utilizing the standard template of the main logo with all 5 indentations intact. As a result, the word "Television" overlaps the tip. You may notice on this that the portion of the "Television" logo that touches the mountain peak is a brighter white; this is due to "chroma-keying," per Benjamin Edge on Club CBS Television Studios on Facebook.
  • Depending on the film quality, the colors may vary from dark blue, all the way to a whitish-blue color.
  • In the final 2 seasons of this logo, Paramount uses a videotape trickery. Instead of letting the film clip roll as usual, what they do is show the still of the logo with just "Paramount" 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 MacGyver, a few early episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series, the short-lived revival The New Love, American Style, the CBS sitcom The Cavanaughs, and the TV movie The Jesse Owens Story.
  • A similar variation to the one above exists of the filmed variant becoming a still image after "Television" slides to its place, and the logo fades to black slower than usual.
  • On the first episode of Webster in 1983, 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 "Paramount" and the mountain) is used, with the 1981 sounder.
  • On The Brady Brides, a still variant of this logo (without the sliding word "Television") was used.
  • Another still variant exists with "Television" present. This was spotted on an USA Network airing of The Associates episode "The Censors".
  • On the first two episodes of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, an in-credit variant was seen. On top is the text "Produced in association with PARAMOUNT TELEVISION", and below it is the print logo with the G+W byline in one line inside a square.
  • On a Me-TV airing of Happy Days season 6 episode "Kid Stuff", the white areas (the stars, company name, G+W byline, and registered trademark symbol) has sort of a reddish tint to it. This is most likely due to film deterioration.
  • On Petrocelli season 2 episode "Face of Evil" on the CBS DVD/VEI release, another film deteriorated variant exists that has the blue color of the logo have a reddish tint to it.

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

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:
  • September 9, 1975-1976: Marching band rendition of the Lalo Schifrin jingle.
  • 1976-1977: An 8-note horn fanfare composed by Jerry Goldsmith. A high tone theme also exists.
  • 1977-1979: Redone version of Jerry Goldsmith's jingle, sounding a little slower and more majestic.
  • 1978-1980: Slowed down version of the Schifrin jingle.
  • 1979-1988: The infamous medium tempo version with a xylophone in the background.
  • 1980-1983: Slower, xylophone driven version.
  • December 8, 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-March 28, 1985, October 9, 1986, December 16, 1987: Another medium tempo version (most common on Family Ties) which ends in a harp flourish. There has been other variations of this theme.
  • 1982-1987: Two bombastic horn-driven versions used. Xylophone accompanied on the first horn-driven version and what might sound like a harp on the second horn-driven version. The 2nd most infamous.
  • September 22, 1986-May 4, 1987: A reverberated version heard only on season 2 of MacGyver. There is also a less reverberated version.

Music/Sounds Variants
:
  • This logo was used with the 1972 "Split Rectangle II" music on nearly all season 1 and season 2 episodes of Happy Days when they aired on The Hub before they changed their name to Discovery Family.
  • On reruns of Mannix from 1983, this logo used the previous three logo's themes:
  1. The 1967 Desilu jingle (on episodes aired after January 1, 1968)
  2. The 1968 Split Rectangle music (season 2)
  3. The 1969 Split Rectangle music (both music versions; season 3 and part of season 4)
  4. The 1970 Split Rectangle music (seasons 4-5)
  5. The 1972 Split Rectangle music (seasons 6-7 and most of the final season)
  6. The 1974 Split Rectangle music (early final season episodes - specifically the fall 1974 period)
  • The tall-peaked variant with the 1979 jingle can be spotted on the Happy Days S5 episode "The Apartment", the 1983 Australian miniseries Return to Eden, and some season 5 episodes of Taxi like "Arnie Meets the Kids".
  • In exceptional cases, the closing theme of the show or TV movie was used, or none.
  • The first few notes of the 1982 logo played on the last few seconds of The Georgian Bay Ltd. logo on a few episodes of Webster DVD's, such as the S2 episode "The Uh-Oh Feeling."

Availability
: Uncommon.
  • It's currently seen on Family Ties and most episodes of Happy Days when last seen on Hub Network (now Discovery Family), insp tv, and Me-TV. It was seen on some episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series on Chiller, but not on DVD nor the WSWS-TV airings. It's also seen on the first two seasons of MacGyver on Cloo, Me-TV and Netflix, and on the first and second season DVD releases of MacGyver from Paramount Home Entertainment. It is unknown if this was seen on 1970s/1980s prints of The Lucy Show.
  • It also appears on recent DVD releases of the first four seasons of Webster from Shout! Factory (the Paramount logo on S1 would be the standard version with 1979 music [standard version meaning the one with the space between the mountain and "Paramount"] and the Paramount logo on a few S2 episodes and the entire 4th season would use the 1982 tall-peaked variant, though on some international reruns and DVD episodes, it would use the standard version). Paramount (Viacom) had updated this logo with either the 1995 or 2003 Domestic logos, and even syndicated reruns of Cheers (once known as the best source of the logo) have been replaced with the 1995 Domestic logo, although one local rerun episode of Cheers from S5 called "Norm's First Hurrah" and Aussie airings of most season 5 episodes of said show retained this logo. However, any new prints on local broadcast and later DVD prints would have this logo replaced by the CBS Television Distribution logo.
  • Was also seen on 1981-1987 episodes of Solid Gold as well, but the silent 1995 Domestic logo plasters over this logo on VH1 airings from 1998-99. This logo was retained on the DVD releases of Angie, Best of the West, Future Cop, The Bad News Bears, The Powers of Matthew Star, and season 2 of Petrocelli on DVD and when it aired on AXN Crime. It's also intact on Having Babies III on Amazon, and The Winds of War miniseries on DVD. This logo also made a surprise appearance at the end of Australian airings of some episodes of both Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley, as well as an episode of Taxi. On VHS, this is retained on Mork & Mindy Vol. 1 (and possibly other volumes) and the silent version can be found on the VHS and the PAL DVD release of A Woman Called Golda.
  • This logo is also retained on the DVD's and Blu-rays of Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (the 1979 BBC TV series) and its sequel Smiley's People, as well as the short-lived Leslie Nielsen sitcom Police Squad! and the 1980 miniseries Shōgun.

Editor's Note: One of the more fondly remembered television logos, mainly due to its charm and cheesiness.



8th Logo
(Late 1987-August 27, 2006)
Paramount Television (75th Anniversary) (1987)Paramount Television (1987) #1Paramount Television (1993)Paramount Television - CLG WikiParamount Television (1993, NBC split-screen credits)

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

Logo: We see only the finished product of the 1986 movie logo. It is sometimes still, while other times it has the animated clouds moving westward in the background.

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

  • Late 1987-October 1989: "A Gulf + Western Company" (aligned similarly to the last logo)
  • October 1989-May 23, 1995: "A Paramount Communications Company" with a line above the byline. From October 1989-May 21, 1992 and September 12, 1994-January 27, 1995, the byline was in gold. From September 17, 1990-May 23, 1995, the byline was in white.
  • February 13, 1995-August 27, 2006: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (styled after Viacom's logo of the era), with a line above the byline.

Variants:
  • A variant of this logo with the "75th Anniversary" text appeared on late 1987 episodes of Entertainment Tonight.
  • On some shows such as Taxi on TNN, the logo (with a 1990 white Paramount Communications byline and animated) was plastered over the "Blue Mountain" music and on older Bosom Buddies reruns on TBS, the 1987 logo [with a Gulf+Western byline] was plastered over the "Blue Mountain" music, too. This also happened when Fox Family (later ABC Family, and now Freeform) showed episodes of Mork & Mindy and The Brady Brides a few years back, but used the animated Viacom Domestic mountain. This version can also be found on repeats of several Mork & Mindy episodes when they last aired on the Hub Network (before the rebrand into Discovery Family) and an early 2000's airing of The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang episode "Westward Whoa!" on TV Land. If you haven't seen already, this run of The Brady Brides also had another unique occurrence.
  • At the end of a 1987 outtake reel of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 1987 75th logo was shown first as a still picture, then the logo was seen animating in reverse, beginning with the "75th Anniversary" text fading out and continuing to the stars rolling and flying away. The logo then cuts to clip of another mountain exploding from an episode of said show.
  • There is a special bylineless version which appears on a Star Trek: Voyager special and on the opening of some episodes from Cinar's (now "Wild Brain") The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
  • This logo can be in 4:3 or 16:9 (only the 1995 variant has a 16:9 variation).
  • Starting in 1995, when the logo is shown closer, it's from Paramount Network Television. However, if it's further away, it's from Paramount Domestic Television.
  • There is a grayscale variation of 1995 Domestic logo seen on black & white reruns such as on The Andy Griffith Show, My Three Sons, The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Honeymooners on TV Land, and mid 90's prints of The Wild Wild West though most B&W shows (such as Have Gun, Will Travel and non-TV Land airings of B&W Gunsmoke episodes) use the color version.
  • During the Paramount 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 Viacom byline, and was a still variant.
  • Starting in 1990 on Entertainment Tonight, this logo is seen in-credit, inside the area where superimposed footage plays during the credits.
  • One variant featured a green and purple sky with the sky changing back to normal after the logo faded in. This was seen on an August 2017 rerun of Have Gun, Will Travel on H&I. It was most likely an error.
  • On original NBC airings of Fraiser and Wings, the logo is part of the split-screen credits; the stars, "Paramount" text and the byline are drastically smaller to fit inside of it. The Paramount Communications byline now spans across two lines here.

FX/SFX
:
  • 1987-1995: None.
  • 1987-1989; 1990-1995: 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 Paramount Pictures' 1987 theatrical fanfare, which sounds suspiciously similar to the Star Wars theme (but it's actually a re-arrangement of Elsie Janis/Jack King's Paramount on Parade by Jerry Goldsmith, first heard on trailers for Paramount Pictures since 1976). There are two arrangements of the theme. Many of these logos are plastered onto old shows (mostly on TV Land airings, as well as TV movies) with the logo being silent.

Pre-1987 Paramount Television Music/Sounds Variants: As a result of poor attempts at plastering, each variant of the logo was spotted with the following themes from the 4th, 5th, and 7th logos:
  • 1987 logo with 1979 and 1980 themes.
  • 1989 logo with gold byline with the 1970 and 1978 themes.
  • 1990 logo with 1970, 1972, 1976, 1978 and 1979 themes. The version with the 1978 theme was spotted on Me-TV's print of the Taxi episode "Jim and the Kid", while the version with the 1979 theme was spotted on an Australian airing of Taxi.
  • 1995 domestic logo with 1968, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981 themes. The 1978 theme variant was seen on most episodes of Mork & Mindy on Syfy, while a few had the 1981-B theme variant, an early 2000's airing of The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang episode "Westward Whoa!" on TV Land used the 1980 theme variant, and the 1968 theme variant was seen on a French airing of Mannix.

Other Music/Sounds Variants
:

  • On The Busy World of Richard Scarry, 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.
  • On some episodes of Gomer Pyle, USMC and possibly other shows formerly distributed by Viacom, the "V of Doom" music in warp-speed is heard with the 1995 domestic logo. This is likely due to an extremely poor plaster job.
  • On a few episodes of Gunsmoke last aired on Encore Westerns, the Viacom "V of Steel" music in normal speed would be heard with the 1995 domestic logo due to sloppy plastering. The music would jarringly cut after the logo fades out.
  • Reportedly, TubiTV's print of the 1990 film Men at Work had the Viacom "Wigga Wigga" music with V/O play over the 1995 domestic logo due to sloppy plastering.
  • On an episode of Entertainment Tonight, aired May 16, 1990, the logo is silent, out of a show of respect to Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jim Henson, who both passed away that day, which the episode was about.
  • A low-toned version was spotted on some episodes of Family Affair on Me-TV and Decades, which plastered older Viacom logos.
  • On Judge Judy (season 4 to mid-season 6), Judge Joe Brown (seasons 2 & 3), the final 2 seasons of Judge Mills Lane in syndication, the final 2 seasons of Nash Bridges, and The Adventures of Corduroy, the end themes would play over the 1995 Domestic or Network logo.
  • At the end of a 1987 outtake reel of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the last note from the 1966 Star Trek: The Original Series theme music (aka "Theme from Star Trek"), is heard, followed by the 1967 Desilu logo's music, the 1979 Paramount Television theme, and some suspenseful music sounding like the theme music from the 1975 film Jaws before finally concluding with an explosion sound.
  • A version exists that has the last note of the theme cut short.
  • The first episode of The Invaders on a foreign DVD set had the 1995 domestic logo intact but with the 1988 Worldvision "Whoosh Globe" music playing over it due to sloppy plastering. This also applied to some early 2000s prints of episodes of The Love Boat.
  • A February 2019 rerun of Nash Bridges on H&I used the CBS Television Distribution music with the 1995 Network logo. This is most likely a reverse plaster.

Availability
: Common.

  • The Gulf+Western variation was once found on later Family Ties episodes (seen intact on recent airings such as those on Antenna TV), and 1987-1989 Cheers episodes in syndication, but the 1995-2001 Domestic logo usually plasters over them now, though it was found on Friday the 13th: The Series on Chiller and certain episodes on Syfy. On Netflix, the Gulf+Western version has also turned up on the final two seasons of Family Ties (plastered on DVD) and seasons 3-4 and the first 4 season 5 episodes of MacGyver. On current series (syndie and network), the 10th logo shows up. The short-lived 1988-89 game show Wipeout (with Peter Tomarken) had this as well, and it was retained when the USA Network reran from 1989 to 1991 (episodes can be found on YouTube).
  • The 1995 logo was also used to plaster Viacom logos (hence the appearance on TV Land airings of The Andy Griffith Show, the 1970 Harlem Globetrotters cartoon, Cannon, color Gunsmoke episodes (and some black and white episodes), Petticoat Junction, Family Affair, Gomer Pyle USMC, Hawaii Five-O, I Love Lucy, My Three Sons, The Honeymooners, and the official YouTube print of Don't Give Up the Ship. It is unknown if this applied to TV Land airings of The Dick Van Dyke Show, seasons 1-8 of Matlock, The Devlin Connection, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle, and Perry Mason).
  • The 1995 logo also appeared at the end of various episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies around the year 2000 on Nick at Nite. These same prints also aired on TV Land in the early 2000s.
  • The silent variant appears at the end of Nickelodeon shows on VHS, such as Rugrats and Blue's Clues.
  • It also appears on Frasier on Lifetime and Hallmark Channel and DVD box sets, Cheers on Hallmark Channel and Netflix, Me-TV, Reelz Channel, and WGN America and on DVD up to season 8, the final season of Matlock (S8 DVDs use the CTD logo instead), the second season of Diagnosis Murder on Me-TV and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (S2 DVDs use the CBS/Paramount "Wallpaper" logo instead), Star Trek: The Next Generation when it was on WGN America, the first two seasons of Soul Food: The Series on TV One, The Lucy Show, Mork & Mindy and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch (except for seasons 1 and 7, including Decades airings of Sabrina Goes to Rome) on Antenna TV and when last seen on Hub Network (before the rebrand to Discovery Family),The Dead Zone on Cloo, early 2000's TV Land airings of The Fonz & the Happy Days Gang, which was followed by the 1981 Hanna-Barbera "Swirling Star" logo, the 1970 Harlem Globetrotters cartoon, Cannon, Me-TV airings of Taxi, The Odd Couple, a 2013 airing of Return to Mayberry (after the Viacom "V of Happiness"), and 1998-99 VH1 airings of Solid Gold.
  • The 1990 and 1995 variants appear on Wings on USA Network, DVDs use CBS Paramount Domestic Television starting with season 4, and later seasons use CTD.
  • The 1989 logo with the gold Paramount Communications byline officially ended on January 27, 1995 and was used on The New Price Is Right, hosted by The Young and the Restless' Doug Davidson, but can still be found on DVD and Netflix's prints of seasons 5-7 of MacGyver and the first season DVD of Wings. Get TV airings of The Boy Who Loved Christmas retains this logo though it's followed by the CBS Television Distribution logo. It also made a surprise appearance on the 1993 un-aired pilot Gloria Vane. Just like above, any local syndication prints and all recent CBS DVDs from 2007 onward would have this logo replaced by the CBS Paramount Domestic/Network Television or CBS Television Distribution logos.
  • The 1990 logo with the white Paramount Communications byline made its final regular appearance on The Marshal season 1 episode "The Great Train Robbery", aired on February 11, 1995, while its final overall appearance was on The Laverne & Shirley Reunion.
  • The 1995 logo with the Viacom "V of Doom" music was seen on episodes of Gomer Pyle, USMC on Me-TV.
  • Star Trek: Enterprise season 1 reruns on Netflix and DVD retain this logo, while they are replaced by the CBS Television Distribution logo on the 2013 Blu-Ray set.
  • Was also seen on the final 2 seasons (1st-run syndication-era) episodes of Webster. On the initial U.S. syndication reruns of the 1st 4 seasons of Webster, the 1987 logo plastered the "Blue Mountain" on all but a select few episodes, as did the 1995 Domestic logo on much later U.S. syndication reruns after 1995.
  • It has also been spotted on Have Gun Will Travel and Petticoat Junction on Me-TV and H&I, plastering any Viacom logos that may have been there previously, as well as The Wild Wild West on H&I, and more recently, Me-TV (black-and-white episodes of Petticoat Junction use CTD while current color prints of The Wild Wild West use the CBS/Paramount "Wallpaper" logo, though mid 90's TNT, feTV, and French airings overseas retain this logo). This was also used on USA Network's airings of the 1st 4 seasons of Nash Bridges (after the Rysher Entertainment logo), though H&I airings plaster this logo with the CBS Television Distribution logo on seasons 1-4 and retain it on the last 2 seasons. It has also recently been spotted on one episode of Rawhide on H&I and at least one episode of The Phil Silvers Show on Decades that was broadcast on December 1, 2018. H&I airings of JAG also leave this logo intact except on seasons 3 & 4 which uses the silent CBS/Paramount wallpaper logo from DVD prints. It was also intact on an episode of The Twilight Zone that aired on the Portuguese version of the USA Network and one episode of Hogan's Heroes on Forces TV in the United Kingdom.
  • This logo makes a strange appearance with the fanfare on a demo VHS tape of Boohbah: Comfy Armchair following the Dot variant of the PBS Kids Video logo.

Editor's Note: It's mostly a still shot of the 1986 movie logo, which is fine enough. It also began Paramount's full time practice of using their movie logo as their de-facto television logo. However, the 75th Anniversary version was largely wasted, as it only appeared on Entertainment Tonight, while other shows during the period would instead use the standard Gulf+Western variation, before its use on films in 1988. In addition, this logo (mostly the 1995 variants) was notorious at the time for its wide prevalence during its lifespan, primarily due to plastering older logos, mainly ones from older Paramount TV and Viacom. Despite its notoriety, this would pale in comparison to the later CBS Television Distribution, which plastered logos on a larger scale. Originally, this logo was changed to the final logo in 2002; however, on The Dead Zone, the 1995 network variant was kept until 2006.



9th Logo (In-credit variant)
(September 7, 1987-1989)

Paramount Television (In-credit logo)Logo: Just in-credit text that reads:

Distributed by
————————
Paramount Television
Domestic Distribution, Inc.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme to the show.

Availability: Extinct. Appeared on the first two seasons of Geraldo, which like other talk shows, never have reruns after finishing their original broadcast. However, this has been kept intact on Geraldo episodes on the streaming service Nosey.

Editor's Note: None.



10th Logo (9th official logo)
(February 2002-August 27, 2006)

Paramount Network TV 2002Paramount Network Television 90th Anniversary 2002Paramount Television (2002) [Open Matte]

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

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. A still shot of that logo was used only on Montel.
  • Just like the 8th logo, this logo exists in both 4:3 and 16:9.
  • Just like the 8th logo; when the logo is shown closer, it's from Paramount Network Television. However, if it's further away, it's from Paramount Domestic Television.
  • There was a still shot of the domestic version as used on Montel and Lifetime airings of the first episode of Frasier.
  • A still shot of the Network logo was also used.
  • There is also a silent version of this logo.
  • On the short-lived drama Blind Justice, it shows a portion of the end of the animated movie logo.

FX/SFX
: Only the clouds moving westward in the background, except on Blind Justice which shows the end animation from the movie logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 8th logo.

Music/Sounds Variants: Some shows like One on One 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.
  • A variant of the network logo with the 2006-2009 CBS Paramount Network Television theme was spotted on one episode of Everybody Hates Chris on Nick @ Nite, probably due to a plastering error.
  • S1 DVD episodes of Laverne & Shirley use the 1975 Paramount Television theme.
  • A silent version is also sometimes used.
  • Judge Judy from mid-season 6 to mid-season 10 uses the end theme of the show.
  • On a Bounce TV airings of several season 7 episodes of Judge Joe Brown, the CBS Television Distribution theme is played over the Domestic variant due to reverse plastering.

Availability
: Although this logo is falling victim to plastering (by way of the CBS Paramount Domestic/Network Television or CBS Television Distribution logos), it's still common.

  • It still appears on reruns of several shows, such as pre-2006 episodes of Girlfriends on WE tv and TV One (plastered on DVD by CPDT or CTD), the first 3 seasons of NCIS on USA Network before falling to compressed credits which use the CBS Television Studios logo, Frasier on Lifetime and Hallmark Channel and on the Complete Tenth and 11th Seasons DVD box sets, One on One on Bounce, Sabrina the Teenage Witch on Antenna TV and when last seen on Hub Network (except season 6, before the re-brand of Discovery Family), Everybody Hates Chris on Nick @ Nite, TeenNick, BET, Fuse, and local syndication, The Parkers on BET, Soul Food: The Series on TV One (plastered on DVD), Blind Justice on Sleuth, 2004 syndicated late-night airings of Perry Mason Returns, which followed the 1990 Viacom "Wigga Wigga" logo, and syndicated reruns of the first two seasons of Numb3rs, followed by the CBS Television Distribution logo. Also appeared at the end of a 2016 Showtime 2 broadcast of Universal Soldier. The final show to use this logo was Deadwood.
  • The 90th Anniversary variation is uncommon and can be seen on 2002 episodes of One on One on TeenNick, Star Trek: Enterprise on Syfy, and 2002 episodes of Frasier on Hallmark Channel and Netflix, but not on DVD, it was also seen on an episode of Clueless and seen on local reruns of Nash Bridges. It also appeared on several first-run syndicated shows which were Entertainment Tonight, Dr. Phil, Judge Judy (mid-seasons 6-10), and Montel. This was also seen on Becker when it was last shown on WGN America and on H&I's of 2002 episodes of JAG.
  • As for the Paramount Domestic Television variant, it survives on Deadwood on Audience Network on DirecTV and on reruns of Judge Joe Brown on Bounce TV. This logo has been used to either follow or plaster older logos on some reruns of some shows such as The Andy Griffith Show (following the 1951 CBS logo), Laverne & Shirley (plastering the 1975 and 1995 logos), and Hogan's Heroes on the recently nationally-expanded Me-TV reruns, this logo follows the 1989 Worldvision Enterprises logo on season 1 of Beverly Hills 90210 on Hulu, when SoapNet (now Disney Junior) aired the pilot of Melrose Place years ago, this logo plastered the Worldvision logo. Star Trek: Enterprise Seasons 2-4 reruns on Netflix and DVD retain this logo, while they are replaced by the CBS Television Distribution logo on the 2013-14 Blu-ray sets.
  • The version with the fanfare makes a surprise appearance at the end of the Dora The Explorer: It's A Party! VHS

Editor's Note: This is the final Paramount logo seen on television until six years later.
_______________________________________________________________

Copyright Stamps: Here is some information about the copyright stamps on the Paramount TV series:
  • 1968-1990: Copyright © [YEAR] by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
  • 1985-1988: © [YEAR] by Paramount Domestic Television and Video Programming. All Rights Reserved.
  • 1990-2006: Copyright © [YEAR] by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
  • 2006: Copyright © [YEAR] by CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.