Castle Rock Entertainment Television/Summary

Background : Castle Rock Entertainment created a television unit when the company was formed in 1987, and produced its first program, an NBC pilot, Heart and Soul, in 1988. Glenn Padnick, the company's co-founder and partner, previously ran Embassy Communications, and it was decided to operate a television branch for him to run. Although Castle Rock continues to operate, the television department has been dormant since The Seinfeld Story in 2004. It has possibly been dissolved into Warner Bros. Television. They don't use a proper logo entirely (for the most part), just the Castle Rock movie logo with a sped-up version of the studio's fanfare and a copyright stamp below.

1st Logo (July 21, 1988-September 4, 1989)

Nicknames : "The Lighthouse", "The Early Lighthouse"

Logo : On a pink, orange and yellow morning sky is the black lighthouse (with the sun behind it) with land and blue water. Below is "C ASTLE ROC K ENTERTAINMENT ", with "ENTERTAINMENT" shown below "ASTLE ROC". Under that is the copyright stamp: "Copyright © (YEAR) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT All Rights Reserved". This was likely a placeholder logo used before the animated logo was ready for use.

Variant : An early version exists without the copyright stamp. This was seen on Heart and Soul. In this case, the copyright info is part of the end credits.

FX/SFX : None.

Music/Sounds : None.

Availability : Extremely rare. This appeared on Heart and Soul and Julie Brown: The Show, both pilots that aired on NBC and CBS, respectively. This might have appeared on the 1989 CBS pilot The Ed Begley, Jr. Show and the original NBC airing of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" (considering Julie Brown aired two months after the Seinfeld pilot). The logo is preserved on the Julie Brown pilot as it's seen as a bonus feature on the DVD release of The Edge.

Editor's Note : It's the first time Castle Rock's iconic lighthouse logo appeared in any shape or form on-screen. It would take about a year before the animated logo would debut on television first and then in movies nine days later

2nd Logo (July 5, 1989-November 17, 1994)

Nicknames : "The Lighthouse II", "The Light Tower", "Majestic Lighthouse"

Logo : Same as the 1989 Castle Rock Entertainment logo, but the logo is sped-up and shortened, and a copyright stamp appears under the company name.

Variants :
 * July 5, 1989: The main version of this logo shows that the first copyright stamp appears underneath the logo, then this one fades out until the logo fades out to black.
 * May 31, 1990-November 17, 1994: The second copyright stamp appears under it. Instead of this one fading out, the logo fades out later.
 * On The Powers That Be, Ann Jillian, New Attitude and the 704 Hauser pilot episode "Meet the Cumberbatches", the logo has no copyright stamp. Powers and Hauser are co-productions with ELP Communications and Columbia Pictures Television while Ann Jillian and New Attitude has the copyright info as part of the end credits.
 * Some shows have the copyright stamp in a slightly different font, and it fades out when the music ends. This appeared on Thea and the original broadcast of Seinfeld (the DVD and HD versions use a different font for the copyright stamp [like that of the next logo]) (the reconstructed version has the logo fading out a second after the music ends). Also before the light beams past the screen, you can briefly see the company name in black. You have to look hard, but it's there.
 * Homeroom has the copyright info in a stylized font (same as the one used in the credits). Here the copyright stamp is seen before the light beams past the screen. The logo fades out slightly earlier than usual.
 * On the "Mayor Dinkins" version of the season 5 Seinfeld episode "The Non-Fat Yogurt", the logo fades out earlier than usual (like on Homeroom), but without the stylized font for the copyright stamp.
 * The short-lived 1992 Fox sitcom Great Scott! has yet another version with a different font in the copyright.
 * On the original broadcast of Seinfeld episodes on NBC during the 1993-1994 and 1994-1995 seasons, the logo is part of the split-screen credits and the company name and copyright stamp are very small to fit inside the logo.

Copyright Stamps :
 * (July 5-December 17, 1989) "Copyright © (year) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT All Rights Reserved".
 * (May 31, 1990-November 17, 1994) "Copyright © (year) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT Castle Rock Entertainment is the author of this program for the purpose of copyright and other laws. All Rights Reserved.".

FX/SFX : The "CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT" text sweeping, the copyright appearances.

Music/Sounds : A sped-up rendition of the last five notes of the movie jingle. Sometimes, the closing theme was used.

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * On the season 5 Seinfeld episode "The Barber", the logo is silent until the theme cuts in partway through the first note.
 * Later in the same season, on the episode "The Conversion", the audience applause from Jerry's closing stand-up bit continues into this logo.
 * The next two episodes, "The Stall" and "The Marine Biologist", have the theme off-sync.
 * Two further episodes from later in that season, "The Pie" and "The Stand-In", have the theme played at a lower volume.

Availability : Rare. Seen on Thea whenever any network decides to show it. On Seinfeld, the DVDs of seasons 1-5 retain this (they were plastered over with the next in syndication until January 26, 2010, when the remastered HD widescreen version, which was seen exclusively on TBS HD beginning in 2008, premiered). The earlier variant was seen intact only on the pilot episode of Seinfeld, titled "The Seinfeld Chronicles". This also appeared on the short-lived comedy series The Second Half, Morton & Hayes and Homeroom. The version without the copyright stamp is extinct, as the shows that had it have not seen any exposure in decades.

3rd Logo (December 8, 1994-November 25, 2004)

Nicknames : "The Lighthouse III", "CGI Lighthouse", "CGI Light Tower", "Ultra Majestic Lighthouse"

Logo : Same as the 1994 movie logo, but once again, the logo is sped-up and shortened, and a copyright stamp appears underneath the company name.

Bylines : Below the name, one of these three bylines appear below the logo:
 * December 8, 1994-October 3, 1996: "A TURNER COMPANY", with a copyright stamp underneath the byline.
 * September 25, 1997-December 19, 2000: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY", with a copyright stamp underneath the byline (same here).
 * March 21, 2002-July 1, 2003: "AN AOL TIME WARNER COMPANY" (No version with the copyright stamp is used.)

Variants :
 * At the start of the Seinfeld final season episode "The Betrayal", the logo plays backwards, fitting in with the episode's plot and delivery, with the music playing forwards. The standard version appears on the "Back to Front" (with the events running chronologically) version of that episode, which is a bonus feature on its DVD release. (It also appears at the end of the normal episode.)
 * On original NBC airings of Seinfeld episodes shown during the 1994-95, 1995-96, and 1996-97 seasons, the logo is part of the split-screen credits and the company name and copyright stamp are very small to fit inside the logo.
 * Sometimes, the logo has no byline when the copyright stamp appears. This is seen on 1996-1997 episodes of Seinfeld when they were aired on NBC, pre-1995 episodes of said show in syndication and the 2004 documentary The Seinfeld Story.
 * On Mission Hill, the byline and the copyright stamp were eliminated, while international airings of the show and prints on Adult Swim have them intact.
 * On original airings of the final season of Seinfeld, the web address "www.seinfeld.com" is seen above the lighthouse. On the DVD release of that season, it's only retained on "The Finale".
 * On the TV movie pilot of The Lazarus Man, the Turner byline and copyright stamp appear in a different font.
 * On the unaired pilot for Zero Effect, it has the "AOL Time Warner" byline fading in without the copyright info.
 * The FX TV series Lucky has an almost still version of the logo with AOL Time Warner byline with only the water shimmering.
 * Starting with Reunited and The Army Show in 1998, the byline and copyright stamp fades in while the logo is animating. Before that, the company name, the byline and copyright appeared together. The effect was also used before that on The Single Guy.

Copyright Stamps :
 * "Copyright © (year) CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT Castle Rock Entertainment is the author of this program for the purpose of copyright and other laws. All Rights Reserved.". (Regular version.)
 * "© (year) Castle Rock Entertainment and the National Broadcasting Company, Inc. are the authors of this program for the purpose of copyright and other laws. All rights reserved." (Used on The Single Guy.)

FX/SFX : The lighthouse and the company name zooming out, the byline and copyright stamp appearing.

Music/Sounds : Same as above. Starting in 1996, a sped-up variant of the re-orchestrated and dramatic-sounding music from the 1994 theatrical logo is used.

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * Strangely, there is a low toned version of the theme.
 * Several different music variations (five different music cues, and two lines of dialogue) were used throughout the final season of Seinfeld:
 * "The Blood": An unnamed rhumba.
 * "The Junk Mail": A 1980s-esque electro-funk tune.
 * "The Merv Griffin Show": The classic jazzy theme of said show.
 * "The Slicer": "Slow Ride" by Foghat.
 * "The Strike": The normal theme fades out, and George Constanza's father says "...A nickel?".
 * "The Reverse Peephole": "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo.
 * "The Strongbox": Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) says "Really one for the books." over the theme.
 * On the Seinfeld S8 episode "The Millennium", the theme fades out on the second-last note, and Newman (Wayne Knight) quacks.
 * On a few episodes of Seinfeld, The Single Guy and the unaired pilot for Zero Effect, it's the end title theme.

Availability : Common. Can be seen on the SD syndie prints of seasons 1-5 of Seinfeld (the late 2000s HD remasters have the 2nd logo) and DVD releases beginning with the sixth season. This logo was seen originally on late 1994-98 episodes of Seinfeld. The "Turner" version can be found on the "Best of" Seinfeld 100th Episode VHS tape that was released in 1995 as part of a promotion with General Mills. Also appears on Mission Hill aired occasionally on Adult Swim. Also appeared on The Lazarus Man (the TV movie pilot is available on VHS from Turner Home Entertainment), Boston Common, Reunited, The Army Show, The Michael Richards Show and Movie Stars. Also appeared on Lucky, which has only seen a commercial release on a "For Your Consideration..." Emmy DVD.