Lorimar Television/Summary

Background: Lorimar was formed initially as "Lorimar Productions" on February 1, 1969 by Merv Adelson, Irwin Molasky, and producer Lee Rich, who named the company after Adelson's ex-wife Lori, and San Diego, California's Palomar Airport. Their first production was the TV movie The Homecoming (now owned by CBS Television Studios), based on the book by bestselling author Earl Hamner. Their first logo didn't appear until 1971 when The Waltons premiered. On April 21, 1986, it merged with Telepictures Corporation and later became Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation (or just simply "Lorimar-Telepictures"). In 1987, the television production companies were later split back in two companies and Lorimar was reincorporated as Lorimar Television, but "Lorimar-Telepictures" remained as the name for their parent company. On January 12, 1989, Warner Communications (now "Time Warner", then WarnerMedia) acquired Lorimar-Telepictures and both distribution arms were folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution by forming "Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution" and continued producing the surviving TV shows. The Lorimar name continued until mid-1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television. However, WBTV continued producing the remaining programs under its name.

=== 1st Logo (1971-1978) ===

Nicknames: "LP", "A Lorimar Production/Presentation"

Logo: On a blank red  screen, we see the words "A LORIMAR PRODUCTION" ("A LORIMAR PRESENTATION" for TV movies) in a Goudy font. A thick white line starts to draw out the letter "L" as the music begins to play. Then it turns and goes straight, then wraps around and forms the letter "P", using the bottom of the "L" above to serve as the bottom of the "P". It then stops at the bottom of, and between the words "LORIMAR PRODUCTION" as the music hits its highest note.

Trivia: The logo was created and designed by Sandy Dvore, who also created the 1982 United Artists "Turning UA" logo and the brush-stroke logo and drawings from the long-running soap opera, The Young and the Restless.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Very simple, rough, 2D animation. Also, part of the "P" appears before it is animated!

Music/Sounds: An electric piano-type scale is played as the "LP" is formed, going up this scale: Low C, A, E, F, A, Mid C, E, F, A, High C (hold and fade, leaving an echo). This ditty was composed by the team of Jack Elliot and Allyn Ferguson and played on a Fender Rhodes electric piano. Sometimes, the last note fades-out early. Sometimes, there would be no music.

Availability: Rare. Still saved on most episodes of The Waltons on the DVD box sets (with the WBTD logo following). This also appears at the end of various TV movies from the era such as The Blue Knight, Bad Ronald and Helter Skelter, whose DVD releases retain them. Also seen on a few earlier episodes of Dallas in its original syndication run. In more recent years, on Dallas and Eight is Enough, the logo has fallen victim to plastering with the Warner Bros. Television Distribution (and in the case of some season 2 Dallas episodes, the 1988 Worldvision Enterprises logo) logo. On VHS, the 1985 Karl-Lorimar tape of the TV movie Bunco retains the logo.

=== 2nd Logo (1978-1986) ===

Nicknames: "The Yellow /Orange  Line of Doom", "Script", "The Line of Doom"

Logo: On a black background, an orange line begins to draw itself. Going down and turning it forms the "L", then makes a loop to form the "O", turns again and goes up, around and diagonally to form the "R" and then back up to form the "I". Another section starts, goes up, diagonally down, diagonally up, then down again to form the "M", then up and down again at angles to form the "A", then finally, up, around, and down diagonally to form the second "R".

Trivia: The logo was created in 1977 by Paul Pascarella and made its debut in 1978.

Variants:
 * This logo has two distinctive colors, which are yellow and orange. Yellow-orange and athletic gold variants also exists.
 * On some programs, the text "DISTRIBUTED BY" above. This was mainly seen on TV prints of Allied Artists films.
 * TV movies had "P R E S E N T S" appearing below.
 * Another opening variant is still and has "LORIMAR " in its font and "Presents " (in a Helvetica font) in red.
 * On the opening of the 1985 Christopher Columbus miniseries, the in-credit text reads "and LORIMAR" with "LORIMAR" in its font.
 * The end of presentations would have "a presentation of" above the logo.
 * This comes with or without a Registered trademark "®" symbol on the lower-right hand corner of the letter "R".
 * Later episodes of the 1980s version of Dream House play this logo's animation as usual but instead of playing over the usual black background, it plays over the set as an in-credit logo.
 * There exists a black & white version of the "a presentation of". In this one, the top text is a little thicker and it's silent.
 * There is another black & white version that has "DISTRIBUTED BY" above the logo in a font that resembles "Cooper Black" in white, and is still, but with the music.
 * A zoomed-in widescreen variant exists on the Warner Archive instant streaming release of the 1982 TV movie One Shoe Makes it Murder.

FX/SFX: Superb animation and timing.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo or silence.

Music/Sounds Trivia: Recent American prints of The Ninth Configuration feature a high-pitched (or double-pitched) variant of the jingle playing over a dedication screen (to writer/director William Peter Blatty's son, Peter Vincent Galahad Blatty). Lorimar (and WB) held some foreign rights to the film, so it's possible that the audio was taken from a foreign TV airing.

Availability: Uncommon, bordering on rare. Can be seen on The Waltons, Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest episodes from the era. The "PRESENTS" version has been long gone from television, however, but on DVD, it's still intact on the first season of Knots Landing and two first-season episodes of Falcon Crest. This can also be found on much later episodes of the 1980s version of Dream House as well. The B&W version of the "A presentation of Lorimar" logo is found on the 1989 VHS release of House on Haunted Hill, released by CBS/Fox Video (though the box has the Lorimar-Telepictures logo). On some pre-fall 1986 episodes of Falcon Crest, the logo this logo got plastered over with the Lorimar-Telepictures logo. This logo was also originally seen at the end of seasons three-five of Eight is Enough, but this logo got plastered over by the 1990 WBTD logo on some reruns in syndication. This was originally seen on the pilot of Valerie (aka The Hogan Family) and early episodes of Perfect Strangers, but the DVD version replaces it with the Lorimar-Telepictures logo. It also appeared on the 1983 unsold CBS TV pilot The Best of Times. It has been spotted at the end of the Karl-Lorimar, Lorimar Home Video, and Warner Home Video prints of Americathon with the music (it was omitted from the Warner Archive DVD release). The logo has been spotted on a select handful of Dallas episodes on DVD from season 3 and onward, Dallas: The Early Years on DVD from the Dallas Movie Collection (preceded by the Roundelay logo), and followed by the 1972 "Distributed by Warner Bros." logo on some episodes of Knots Landing on DVD. It was seen at the end of the unsold game show pilot Babble, when Game Show Network first aired the full pilot on October 5th, 2014 (without the credit crunching). The Warner Archive streaming service retains this on the TV movies Desperate Lives and One Shoe Makes it Murder.

=== 3rd logo (March 9, 1988) ===

Logo: On a white background, two logos fade in. The top being the one for Green/Epstein Productions (a giant green stylized "GE" with the company name Green Epstein Productions/Lorimar Television underneath the "E") and the bottom being the print logo for Lorimar Television (which is based off the next logo used below with "A LORIMAR TELEPICTURES COMPANY" byline below). In between the two logos are the words "in association with".

FX/SFX: The logos and IAW text fading in.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme to the program.

Availability: Possibly extinct. Seen on the TV movie Shattered Innocence. It may appear on its Warner Home Video Archive Collection MOD DVD.

4th logo (October 3, 1988-September 1993)


Nicknames: "Marble Background", "CGI Lorimar", "White Marble", "Marble", "Lorimarble"

Logo: On a white marble background, wave ripples zoom out from the center. This causes "LORIMAR" (in black, and in a revised version of the design from the last logo) to be written out, not unlike the last logo. At about the same time the "A" in "LORIMAR" is finished, a shadowed red bar with "T E L E V I S I O N" in white, etched in, rotates in below "LORIMAR". From early 1992-1993, the Time Warner byline, in the same font as used in the Warner Bros. logo, appears below the red bar.

Trivia: The logo was first created in 1987. The design was used for Lorimar-Telepictures' other divisions, but the red bar would have read either "MOTION PICTURES" (or "FILM ENTERTAINMENT"), "HOME VIDEO", "SYNDICATION", "INTERNATIONAL", or "RECORDS" depending on the unit; they were never seen onscreen with the possible exception of trailers.

Bylines:
 * January 2, 1992-August 8, 1992: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
 * September 1, 1992-July 15, 1993: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"

Variants:
 * As with the 2nd logo, this comes with or without a Registered trademark symbol "®" on the lower-right hand corner of the letter "R".
 * There is also a rare filmed variant of this logo used mainly on TV movies.
 * On a few episodes of 3rd Degree!, the logo is shortened with the words "LORIMAR" already in place and the "TELEVISION" bar rotating into place before the 1984 WBTV logo appears.
 * On the TV movie O Pioneers!, after the Craig Anderson Productions logo, the "in association with" text from the previous logo is seen at the beginning of the animation of the logo.

FX/SFX: The CGI bar rotation, ripple, pretty neat stuff.

Music/Sounds: A futuristic whoosh sound leads into a relaxing synth driven track with a horn that plays a few notes. There's also some type of wind FX behind the music. The music was composed by X-Files composer Mark Snow.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * Some 1988-91 episodes of The Hogan Family and the season 2 Full House episode "It's Not My Job" exclude the fourth and fifth notes in the logo theme.
 * October 28, 1988, September 22, 1992-May 18, 1993: There is also a warp-speed variant, which was heard on some season 1 episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.
 * On one episode of Perfect Strangers from the 1987-1988 season, it has the music from the Lorimar-Telepictures logo playing over it. Likely due to a plaster error.
 * On some shows such as Love Connection, Fun House, College Mad House, and the short-lived 3rd Degree!, as well as early season 1 episodes of Time Trax, the closing theme plays over this logo.
 * College Mad House had the theme playing over while announcer Beau Weaver spoke, "College Mad House is a Stone Television production, in association with Lorimar Television, and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution!".
 * On season 14 of Dallas, the horns are slightly muted.
 * On the season 2 Full House episode "Cutting it Close", a silent version is used.
 * Later in the season, on "D.J.'s Very First Horse", the music appears slightly warped.
 * Two episodes after the previous variant, on "Beach Boy Bingo", the very end of the episode's closing theme plays into the logo music.

Availability: Uncommon. The warp speed version was last seen on S1 of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper on ION Television and TV One. The standard version can be seen on the second and third seasons of Full House when shown on TeenNick and ABC Family and on DVD releases. It can also be seen on reruns of the 7th season (1989-90) of Love Connection on GSN (depending on whenever the season is shown), Step by Step, Dallas, Knots Landing, and the final two seasons of Falcon Crest, among others. The last series that had this logo was Time Trax, which premiered on January 20, 1993 and ended on December 3, 1994. The filmed variant of this logo was seen on old prints of TV movies from the era, such as It, The Owl, and O Pioneers! After that, Lorimar was put to an end in late September 1993 and folded into Warner Bros. Television. Also appeared on seasons four-six of both Perfect Strangers and The Hogan Family, and on the final pre-FOX era episodes of Fun House and spin-off College Mad House. The Lorimar Television logo with the "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" byline plastered the Lorimar "Line of Doom" logo seen on the first season of The Hogan Family (under the title Valerie) and the Lorimar-Telepictures logo on its next two seasons (under the titles Valerie and Valerie's Family) on syndicated reruns and on certain other reruns, namely ABC Family (now Freeform) reruns. This has also popped up on some international reruns of the 3rd and 4th seasons of ALF as well. This was also seen on the short-lived 1989-90 game show 3rd Degree! with the late Bert Convy, and on the 1991-93 NBC drama series I'll Fly Away.

=== 5th Logo (In-credit) (September 22, 1989-August 6, 1993) ===

Nickname: "Still Script"

Logo: We go back to the yellow-orange "LORIMAR" logo for this, but with the word "T E L E V I S I O N" below and no animation whatsoever (here the "LORIMAR" logo has the 1978 design, but with the "A" having the line through it like in the 1988 design). This is seen on screen in the credits. From early 1992-1993, the Time Warner byline is seen below.

Bylines:
 * January 3, 1992-May 12, 1992: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY"
 * September 18, 1992-August 6, 1993: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"

Variants:
 * The logo would appear in either yellow, yellow-orange, gold, or light blue.
 * The logo would appear centered in the screen or shifted down.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: Most of the times it is the closing theme of the show, but on some instances like Full House season 4 on DVD, it is the previous logo's music. During syndicated airings, an announcer says: "(Show title) is a (show creator...usually Miller-Boyett Production) in association with Lorimar Television, (on the WBTD logo) and is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution".

Availability: Common.
 * It first appeared on Family Matters in 1989, then appeared on seasons 4-6 of Full House, Going Places, Getting By, the very short-lived series Scorch, later season 6 and beyond episodes of Perfect Strangers, and finally, the first 2 seasons of Step by Step.
 * It can be seen on reruns of Family Matters on BET, along with seasons 4 and 5 of Full House last aired on Hallmark Channel, Step by Step on Hub Network (now Discovery Family).
 * On a few episodes from season 4 of the Full House DVD box set, you can hear the music from the 1988 Lorimar Television logo after the theme song finishes; it may have been an audio goof.
 * The final 2 seasons of Perfect Strangers, in their original broadcasts and on some repeats, also had this in-credit notice with their respective bylines of the time on their closing credits during that period as well.