WGBH/Summary

Logo descriptions by AsdfTheRevival, StephenCezar15, Clownninja78 and others

Logo captures courtesy of MSTS1, StephenCezar15 and others

Video courtesy of Tlogos, danf62465, NantoVision2, superpooper180, JohnnyL80, WheelWatcher12345, DudeThatLogo, and youngleader610 (Mr.Logo)

Editions by Hoa, MrThorax281, KirbyGuy2001 and StephenCezar15

Background: WGBH is a Public Broadcasting Service affiliate located in Boston, Massachusetts and was first aired on May 2, 1955 (though they never had a logo until 1971). The network is owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation.

1st logo (1969?-1971?)
Nicknames : "Early WGBH"

Logo : It's a In-credit logo but, with a early design of the WGBH logo:

A production of  WGBH  BOSTON

FX/SFX : None, unless you count the fades.

Music/Sound : Currently unknown as the narrator reads over the airing of the program but, most likely the ending theme of the program.

Availability : Currently unknown but, most likely very rare. This was spotted on "The Nader Report" 1st episode, currently available for viewing on WGBH's open vault.

Editor's Note : None.

2nd Logo (October 3, 1971-September 1977)
Nicknames : "Zooming WGBH", "WGBH of Doom", "Zooming Letters (of Doom)"

Logo : Against a blue  background, the letters "WGBH " in a yellow  generic Helvetica font quickly zoom back, away from the viewer to the vanishing point, and disappearing when the text is very small. Then the word "Boston ," also in yellow, appears out of nowhere and then zooms forward really fast, taking up the whole screen and creating a yellow background. And finally, the word "Presents" zooms forward at a fast pace, in blue.

Variants :
 * On some prints of this logo, due to either film deterioration or film quality, the blue  colors are instead dark green.
 * A black & white version first appeared on March 3, 1974. In this one, "WGBH" and "Boston" are both black, and "Presents" is white. This can be seen on the first two seasons of NOVA.
 * The very first season of NOVA has this logo with the words all in green, zooming out, and Scanimated as part of the show's intro.
 * On many early episodes of NOVA, the background is beige  at first, and the brown  sky at the dawn after "Boston" zoomed in, the words "WGBH" and "Boston" are brown while "Presents" is in beige  and it would zoom forward as always, transitioning to the opening cinematic.
 * On The French Chef, the logo is superimposed over a slanted flag of France against a blue  BG, animation and all.
 * On season 3 of NOVA, everything that is supposed to be green in the logo is blue.
 * There was a variant seen on programs imported to Japan with Japanese text and a flash similar to that seen in the KBYU "Diamond Flash" logo. There is no music.
 * On the Bicentennial edition of Evening at Pops, there is a black background with yellow confetti. The first two words are white and when "Boston" zooms in and takes the full screen, the background is white, and "Presents" is black.
 * A brighter version of the blue version is featured on several episodes of The Advocates. The version has a bright blue/yellow-orange background. Some episodes also feature the logo with a bright teal/cyan  background.
 * Another variant from The Advocates has the yellow  "WGBH" text on a burgundy  background. This is the earliest known version of it.

FX/SFX : The zooming of the words; simple animation. Additionally, The French Chef variant with the transition from Boston to <span style="color:rgb(255,255,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">Presents looks awkward: the <span style="color:rgb(255,255,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">Boston moves upward to not fill the screen in this one, and as "<span style="color:rgb(255,255,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">Presents " stops zooming in, it's off centered, and the flag looks more like a crooked flag of The Netherlands instead of France. The confetti on the Evening at Popsvariant makes the logo look really ugly. And the unmusical "music" is a recipe for disaster.

Music/Sounds : Composed by Gershon Kingsley, we hear eerie, choppy, UFO-like computer blips that ascend and descend several times, followed by a rising Moog violin stinger.

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * The jingle is often sometimes played at a slower speed.
 * Sometimes, the B&W version of this logo has a higher pitch.
 * A low tone variant exists.

Availability : Extremely rare, as programming from this era is usually no longer rerun. Tape-trading is the only way to see it, or you could find this logo on older WGBH programming, assuming it isn't plastered with a later logo. You might find this on old tapes of The French Chef, Zoom, Evening at Pops, The Victory Garden and Nova episodes from the era. The French Chef variant also showed up when WGBH-2 in Boston, MA had a marathon of old episodes of The French Chef on Christmas day, 2011. Tape-Trading is also another you can find this logo. The DVD release of ZOOM: Back to the 70s has this logo and the 1971 PBS logo.

Editor's Note : The logo became notorious forits high-contrast colors, fast "V of Doom"-style zoom-ins, and eerie synth music. Unsurprisingly, Kingsley would go on to compose the score for the holiday horror film Silent Night, Deadly Night.

3rd Logo (March 3, 1974-Present)
Logo: On a <span style="color:rgb(0,0,255);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">blue  background, we see the letters "WGBH" in a bold <span style="color:rgb(0,255,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">green  font, with the outline of the letters extruding from the front and back, forming a 3D shadow effect from the front and back of the letters. The words "BOSTON" appears underneath also in <span style="color:rgb(0,255,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">green.

Trivia: The logo was designed by design firm Chermayeff & Geismar, of which has also designed for NBC, PBS, Showtime, Univision, Viacom & Screen Gems, among others.

SFX/FX: None

Music and sounds: None or the show's end theme

Availability: Common, It was first seen on NOVA's series premiere, Shows that have this logo are any WGBH show made before 1993, exceptions are Downton Abbey, Curious George, and some Masterpiece Theater shows are some post 1993 shows that have this logo.

Editor's Note : None.

4th logo (January 5, 1977-present)
Logo : Here are the main versions of this logo:
 * 1977-1987: On a black background, two <span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">orange  lines of "electricity" form two, <span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">orange, 2D "shadows", one on top and one on bottom. Then the lines form an <span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">orange  outline of "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">WGBH " in between the "shadows". The lines stop, and an orange flash starts behind the outline. The flash clears out "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">WGBH " as "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">Boston Presents " appears in an orange Univers font. The "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">Boston Presents " logo was a bumper used at the beginning of the show.
 * 1986-1993: Same as above, but shortened to when "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">WGBH " begins to flash.
 * 1993-2009: Similar to the other versions, but the "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">WGBH " logo is already formed as it fades in; then the flash occurs, and the word "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">BOSTON " appears, spaced-out, below the logo in an orange Art Deco font. This version began appearing in 1993 playing at the end of shows.
 * 2001-2009: Similar to the 1993 version, but this time the "<span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">WGBH " logo forms at warp speed.
 * 2008-present: Same as above, except the lighting and drawing effects are smoother and more refined, with stars surrounding the logo (like in space) when it flashes, the flash is brighter than in previous variants, and no text appears underneath the logo.

Trivia : Their slogan up to 1982 was "Public Television. It's better than ever."

Variants :
 * A version can occasionally be spotted in which the "glowing" animation is played, but no text appears. This can be seen on most pre-2005 episodes of Arthur.


 * On later episodes of Arthur, the byline "WGBH is a trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation" (and sometimes a URL) is shown below written in the Arthur font.
 * There is a later variant of the 2001 version of the logo in which the logo zooms in a bit as it's being drawn. This can be seen on episodes of NOVA and Frontline as well as some WGBH shows produced from the mid-2000s to 2009; it is also superimposed on Masterpiece Theater.
 * Another local version used in the 1980s begins with a blue flash, followed by an orange "2" written in the same style as the WGBH logo zooming up. This variant was always played when the station signed on in the morning, and played in reverse when it signed off at night. No music or sounds play here.
 * On Evening with Pops, the 1986 logo was superimposed into the intro.
 * The 1993 version of the logo was superimposed on The American Experience and Building Big: Domes.
 * In another version of the 2001 logo, the flash changes the WGBH logo into the PBS logo. This was used as a station ID and also appeared before WGBH-produced programming on the station.
 * There is a variant of the 2008 logo that is tinted blue. This can be seen on local programming such as Greater Boston.
 * On Neighborhoods, the 1977 logo has the "Boston Presents" bumper cut out, and the then-current Cablevision logo appears instead.
 * On The End of the Rainbow, the logo is pink, probably due to film deterioration.
 * On On the Money, "Boston Presents" transitions to "in association with Money magazine".  "In association with" and "magazine" are above and below the Money (the magazine) corporate logo respectively, and both are in the same font as "Presents".  The bumper glows for a couple seconds and then fades out.

SFX/FX : The lines of electricity, and the flash.

Cheesy Factor : The flash and light effects were typical of CGI in the Scanimate era of the '70s and early '80s. The later variants, however, tone down the cheesiness.

Music and Sounds : Same as the 1971 logo, which adds to the creepiness. There have been 2 versions, a long version and a short version. The entire 7-second jingle is used as the long version, and is in much better sound quality and plays at the correct speed. The short version features only the rising synth chord (but we still hear the UFO noise, but only abridged), and is much more common nowadays.

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * The local version has the full music along with a male announcer saying "(show's name) is a production of WGBH. Produced in Boston, shared with the world."
 * A version has been seen with abridged animation, no voice-over, and slightly lower-pitched music on Design Squad.
 * Two versions can be heard whether it's long or short; one is the original pitch, while the other is slightly higher pitch. The 1986 and 2008 versions have the former, while the 1993 version has the latter. The 1977 version has either.
 * Sometimes the 1993 or 2001 logos have an announcer saying "(Show's name) is a production of WGBH Boston." or simply "A production of WGBH Boston". From 1998 to 2002, on Mystery and Masterpiece Theatre, the announcer has a British accent. On the 1999 revival of Zoom, a kid from the show voices over, with the short music. Starting in 2002, there would be no announcer and it would just have the music. One variant has a creepy voice-over say "Mystery is a presentation of WGBH Boston."
 * On Neighborhoods, a female announcer says "The following program is a co-production of WGBH Boston and Cablevision of Boston". This is the only instance where the 1977 logo has an announcer.
 * On High School Quiz Show, the 2008 logo has an announcer say "A production of WGBH."
 * On Greater Boston, an announcer says "This is a production of WGBH 2 Boston" with the show's opening theme music.
 * Sometimes, the closing theme of the show will play over the logo.
 * The End of the Rainbow variant had a warped version of the music, possibly due to film deterioration.
 * On On the Money, there is a slight reverb at the end of the jingle.

Availability: Very common, quite possibly the most common PBS logo you can find. The first version made its debut on the NOVA episode "Hitler's Secret Weapon", and can be seen in its various versions on many PBS shows, such as NOVA, Frontline, American Experience, Masterpiece Theatre, The Victory Garden, and Arthur, among others. The 1993 version with the short music and no announcer has been sighted on early episodes of Fetch with Ruff Ruffman. The "Boston Presents" version can be found on video and may also show up on WGBH shows produced from 1977-1993 if your station has older prints. The original unabridged version can be seen on videocassettes and DVDs of their 1979 miniseries The Scarlet Letter, all of which also preserve the 1971 PBS logo, and also appears on earlier prints of Cathedral. Until 2017, more recent prints of Arthur plastered the 1993 version with the 2008 variant.

Editor's Note : Like the 1971 logo, this logo was famous for its dark colors, eerie animation, and the creepy synth music; however, it is a favorite of many due to its usage on classic shows.

5th logo (September 1977-January 1982)
Nickname: "The 2"

Logo: We see a large number 2, next to the 2 is the name of the show that's coming up next.

SFX/FX: None.

Music and Sounds: The announcer saying the name of the show that's next on WGBH 2

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note : None.

6th Logo (1979?-1982?)
Nicknames: "The 2 II", "Shiny 2", "Silver 2"

Logo: On a black background, we see a silver outline of the "2" from before, with a flash of light on its top. To the left of the 2 is "WGBH TV" and to the right of it is "BOSTON". After a couple seconds, the logo fades to the 3rd logo.

FX/SFX: The logo fading in, then to the 3rd logo.

Music/Sounds: A female announcer says "This is Channel 2, WGBH-TV Boston."

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a station ID.

Editor's Note : None.

7th Logo (1983?- 198?)
Nicknames: "2 City" "Cheesy 2"

Logo: Over a shot of the Boston skyline at night, a white colored "2" (with the extrusions filled and the "2" being a cutout) zooms back to the center of the screen. To the left of the "2" is the text "WGBH TV" and to the right of the "2" is the word "BOSTON." The "2" flashes similar to the 3rd logo turning the background black, the "2" white, and the outline orange.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming out. The logo flashing. The logo and background changing.

Music/Sounds: A mellow synth theme with a synthesized whoosh as the logo zooms out. There is a "ping" as the logo flashes and a drumbeat afterwards. Throughout the logo, an announcer (William Pierce) says "This is viewer supported television from Boston. WGBH TV."

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a station ID. Appeared before programs on WGBH.

Editor's Note : None.

8th Logo (1989-Early 19??s)
Logo: We fade into what appears to be space. The background is entirely black with the exception of a dark blue glowing semicircle that looks like Earth. The "2" from the previous logo zooms out, but it is gold shaded instead of orange. As it stops zooming back,pink- red, green, and bluecomets come in from the top left of the screen and go through the cut-out "2" as they streak off to the right. "W G B H T V B O S T O N" appears below in a grey- white generic font. The animation loops a few more times before the logo ends.

Mystery Variant: A reversed version might have been used as a sign on. We're not sure of this yet, as this needs validity.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a sign off ID (and possibly a sign on ID).

Editor's Note : None.

9th Logo (1989-Early 1990s)
Nicknames: "The 2 V", "CGI 2", "Gold 2"

Logo: On a black background, a gold colored "2" (in the same design as before but in 3D) zooms and tilts back until it disappears.

Mystery Variant: A reversed version might have been used as a sign on. We're not sure of this yet, as this needs validity.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a sign off ID (and possibly a sign on ID).

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (1991-1995)
Logo: We see a small globe rotate and we see the word <span style="color:rgb(255,217,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">WQED  (in <span style="font-weight:normal;color:rgb(255,217,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">yellow-orange ) with "PITTSBURGH".

SFX/FX: The rotating globe and the letters.

Music and Sounds:
 * September 30, 1991-December 25, 1992: The first part of the theme of the show as Lynne Thigpen says "Today's caper is presented by WQED Pittsburgh.
 * September 27, 1993-October 4, 1996: The end theme of the show with Lynne Thigpen saying "This program is presented by WQED Pittsburgh.

Availability: Ultra rare. Only seen on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. Various episodes of the show can be found on YouTube, but the show is hardly, if ever, reran these days. If not, you might see it on VHS.

Editor's Note : None.

11th logo (January 22, 2001-November 24, 2013?)
Logo: A brief flash shows us uncolored pipes. Suddenly, <span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">gold  beams fly through them, as the camera pans around, following it. The camera then pans and zooms outward, revealing the now-completed WGBH logo in a neon format as it flashes bright like the 1977 logo. The logo goes dim as a neon number "2" [the channel number] lights up in a <span style="color:rgb(115,162,255);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;">bluish-white  color for about 3 seconds and goes out.

Variants:
 * Also seen with affiliate stations in a black typeface on the bottom of the logo.
 * A short version exists.

SFX/FX: The flashing and the WGBH logo appearing and the 2 appearing.

Music and Sounds: A slightly extended version of the infamous WGBH synth theme. When the WGBH logo flashes, Jim Birdsall, who has done work for CNBC and NBC stations KING and KGW in Seattle and Portland, says "WGBH Boston". Finally, a humming sound is heard when the "2" appears.

Availability: Probably extinct. Was only seen as a local station ID. You would've had to go to Boston (or, more generally, the Greater Boston area) to see this logo in person. It only appeared at the end of Plum Landing.

Editor's Note : None.

12th Logo (November 25, 2013-)
Nicknames: "The Neon Sign IV", "WGBH Outline IV", "Flash of Doom Redux", "Eerie Outline II", "The More Eerie Outline", "Flash of Final Judgment II", "Sleepless in Boston II"

Logo: On a black background, <span style="color:rgb(255,165,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;">orange  neon lights start to trace out the inner part of the WGBH logo, with the top coming first, followed by the bottom part, the 2 holes on the "B", and finally the part that makes part of the "G". The light then draws out the full outline as another line starts to draw the "shadow" part. When the inner outline is complete, the rest of the logo flickers on and flashes, revealing "WGBH-TV BOSTON" on the bottom. The logo then glows a la the "2" in logo 7 then shortens out in a similar matter.

Trivia: This logo was created by Paul Sanni (sound and video editing) and Elias Mallette (animation), both of which also did work for the 7th ID. You can read more about the making here.

FX/SFX: The tracing of the inner parts, the drawing of the logo, as well as the usual flash. Pretty cool animation.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: An ominous hum is heard first, followed by a series of snippets of the infamous theme when the neon traces the logo, but computer blips are now terribly out of tune. The logo then plays the full theme with an announcer saying "You're watching WGBH 2, Boston.", followed with the same humming sound from the 7th logo.

Availability: Current. But like the 11th logo, only as a station ID. To see this logo in person, travel to Boston, or the Greater Boston area.

Editor's Note : The neon sign aesthetic from the 11th logo is seen here as well, but this time in 2D and more like the 3rd logo