KCET/Summary

Edited by mr3urious Video captures courtesy of Johnny80, Skyoneer2007, BillMillerTV, and File Preserver

Background
KCET was a PBS affiliate located in Los Angeles, California. In 2011, the station broke its deal with PBS and became an independent educational network (with KOCE in Huntington Beach now becoming the main PBS affiliate for the market). Production of KCET produced PBS shows (i.e. Sid the Science Kid and Tavis Smiley) were transferred to other PBS member stations.

1st Logo
(1970-1976) Nickname: "KCET in the Sky"

Logo: We fade in to the gold letters "KCET" on a sky background. Just a few seconds later, "A PRESENTATION OF" and "LOS ANGELES" fade in, above and below "KCET" respectively.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The fading in of the text, which is too plain.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant horn fanfare at the beginning, then a synthesized lute sounder at the end.

Availability: Along with the 1976 KETC, 1972 WGBH, and 1978 WQLN logos, this is another example of a "Holy Grail" of a PBS logo-- it's very hard to find. Check those old tapes!

Scare Factor: None. It's mostly boring, but the tune is actually pretty relaxing.

2nd Logo
(1976-1979)

Nickname: "Los Angeles Community Supported Television"

Logo: Against a blue background, a series of thick, white horizontal lines are drawn in from bottom to top, and go in a pattern from left to right, right to left, left to right, etc.... Then, the camera zooms out as the lines unfurl to reveal the KCET - CLG Wikiletters "KCET" looking similar to the IBM logo. Then, the words "LOS ANGELES", COMMUNITY", "SUPPORTED", and "TELEVISION" (solid, and in yellow) scroll out from "KCET", one-by-one, and repeat.

FX/SFX: The lines being drawn and the words scrolling. This was done by Dolphin Productions.

Cheesy Factor: '70s Scanimate effects.

Music/Sounds: A jazzy, high-pitched synth tune with an electric bass line.

Availability: Extinct.

Scare Factor: Minimal.

3rd Logo
(1979-1988)

Nickname: “Greetings from L.A.!”, "The Postcard"

Logo: On a sky background, (not like in the Warner Bros. logos), a giant rectangle, tilted on its side, rotates into view. It turns out that that rectangle is actually a postcard with the city of Los Angeles on it (with “Greetings from L.A.” in a cursive font placed above the picture). As it zooms into view, “KCET”, in Century Gothic font, zooms out from the bottom-left corner, and we go into the picture on the postcard, zooming over the city, with KCET in the bottom-right corner and moving upwards to the center until we get to the Hollywood Sign, at which point “KCET” is placed above it, and a white light sweeps through the letters.

FX/SFX: Hey, now there’s some good animation! This is actually early CGI animation, produced by Information International Inc., who would later provide CGI effects for Disney's Tron.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic synthesized orchestra tune.

Availability: Rare. Check old recordings for this logo. Can be found on a Turner Home Entertainment VHS of Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.

Scare Factor: None.

4th Logo
(Early 1980s)

Logo: On a black background, we see a blue segmented TV-tube shape with a blue palm tree in it. At the right of the palm tree, is "KCET" in the same font as the previous logos, and "Los Angeles" in a different font. They are both white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: An easy listening theme with an announcer saying "This is KCET Public Television in Los Angeles".

Availability: Extinct. It's only used as a local station ID.

Scare Factor: None. The tune is relaxing.

5th Logo
(1987-1997)

Nickname: “Neon Los Angeles”

Logo: On a blue background, we see the same KCET logo from the previous ID, but in a steel gray color (as opposed to blue in the previous). An orange “Los Angeles” is written underneath the logo, with “L” and “A” both in an odd font. The letters shine.

Variants:
 * On The Puzzle Place, after the credits roll, the two puzzle pieces in the background flip around and fit together, showing the Lancit Media logo on the top and the KCET logo (with a purple background and pink "Los Angeles" text) on the bottom. On even numbered episodes, the KCET logo is shown on the top and the Lancit Media logo on the bottom.
 * A still version appears on California’s Gold.
 * There is a special version that appears in the funding credits in Storytime in which Kino appears and looks at the logo as it crawls up from the bottom of the screen. Here, "KCET" is in light blue, while "LOS ANGELES" is in (non-neon) pink. Afterwards, the logo fades out and Kino walks away.

FX/SFX: The words “Los Angeles” writing in.

Cheesy Factor: Very simple animation, but the logo itself looks rather ahead of its time.

Music/Sounds: An ethereal synth, followed by a piano note.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * Sometimes, like in early episodes of Adventures in the Book of Virtues, the short version of the music begins with the second half of the ethereal synth.
 * On The Puzzle Place, a synth choir sound is heard as the character Julie says one of "The Puzzle Place is a co-production of...
 * Odd Numbered Episodes: "Lancit Media, New York, and KCET, Los Angeles."
 * Even Numbered Episodes: "KCET, Los Angeles, and Lancit Media, New York."
 * On Storytime, the closing bars of the Storytime theme song is heard as a child says "Storytime is a production of KCET Los Angeles."

Availability: Seen on those shows above.

Scare Factor: Minimal, but none for the Puzzle Place and Storytime variants.

6th Logo
(1997-2008)



Nickname: “Infinity KCET”

Logo: On a gaseous background of blue, purple, yellow and orange colors (Which zooms slightly forward throughout), a big KCET logo (in a new font, and with the "C" and "E" connected together, shaped like an infinity sign), with “HOLLYWOOD” underneath it, rotates and spins out. Once the logo plasters into place, we fade out. If you notice, the background seems to zoom in towards the viewer during the animation, even at the very end.

Variant: On The Charlie Horse Music Pizza, the logo is still, and has "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above it in a yellow Funhouse font.

FX/SFX: The logo “twirling” in.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo (Both full and short versions). On later episodes of Adventures From the Book of Virtues, there was a futuristic tune that ended with three ascending notes.

Availability: Seen on all 1997-2003 KCET-produced shows and later episodes of Adventures from the Book of Virtues on qubo, BYU TV and Turner Home Entertainment VHS releases.

Scare Factor: None.

7th Logo
(2003-2011) Nickname: "KCET 2003", "Waves 'n Ribbons"

Logo: On a beige background, two ribbons of brown form an infinity sign. The infinity sign turns into the teal-colored letters "C" and "E" while "K" and "T" in the same font as the 5th logo, which fade in. The slogan "infinitely more", in gray, fades in at the bottom with "Los Angeles" appearing at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes, "Los Angeles" doesn't appear at all.

FX/SFX: The ribbons forming the infinity sign. Breathtaking CGI!

Music/Sounds: An acoustic note with a timpani beat opens the ident, followed by a 5-note French horn tune accompanied by an R&B beat.

Availability: Seen on all KCET-produced shows since 2003. Sid the Science Kid is one show that has this logo. Also appeared on Tavis Smiley until 2011, when production of the show transferred to WNET after KCET became an independent.

Scare Factor: None.

8th Logo (2010?)

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: See previous logo.

Availability: TBA

Scare Factor: See previous logo.