Sesame Workshop

Logo descriptions by Nicholas Aczel, WileE2005, and Juniorfan88

Logo captures by mr3urious, V of Doom, snelfu, Muzzarino and Mr. Logo Lord

Editions by V of Doom, Muzzarino and CuriousGeorge60

Background : First known as "Children's Television Workshop", this non-profit production company was founded in 1968 by Joan Ganz Cooney to create the critically-acclaimed children's show Sesame Street. Until 2000, CTW has produced shows such as 3-2-1 Contact, Square One, Cro, Ghostwriter, The Electric Company, Big Bag, Dragon Tales, and many other edutainment titles. In 2000, the company was renamed to "Sesame Workshop" to symbolize their move beyond producing just television shows and to capitalize on the Sesame Street name.

Children's Television Workshop
1st Logo (Sesame Street Custom Logo 1)

(May 10, 1969-November 21, 1983)

Nicknames : "The Plaque", "CTW Plaque", "The Still Plaque"

Logo : We have 2 still images. Still image 1 was of a regular on the show (sometimes more than one) (i.e. Big Bird, Oscar, Susan, Gordon, Bob, etc.) holding up the Sesame Street title logo, which was a rectangular street sign in dark green and had a yellow border. Some small text in a semi-circle above the rectangle read CTW, which stands for "Children's Television Workshop". Still image 2 featured another regular, (again, sometimes more than one, sometimes none at all), holding up a fancy-looking plaque made of marble. The name:

CHILDREN'S TELEVISION WORKSHOP

appears in blue, black, or pale green in front of the plaque. The text was written more sloppy for a long time, but starting around 1979, it was written more neatly. Initially, this would be done in front of a blue background, but around 1976, it was switched to a random outdoor location (such as Central Park, the 123 Sesame Street apartment steps, etc.).

Variants :
 * A version exists where the copyright date flashes below (this was primarily used in the 1970-71 season).
 * On the first pilot episode, the real Sesame Street sign was used instead.
 * The beginning of Big Bird in China had the words "THE CHILDREN'S TELEVISION WORKSHOP" written in an Asian-style font with a Chinese text translation on the right, all on a red background.
 * On 1976-1977 episodes of Sesamstraat, the logo is in a cursive font and there's no plaque.

Trivia : The plaque used in this logo also appears throughout the beginning and ending segments with Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog in the Sesame Street Pitch Reel. At the end of the last scene, the camera zooms up to the plaque.

FX/SFX : None.

Cheesy Factor : About as cheesy as a static logo can get.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over : The closing of the Sesame Street credits theme plays, as a random SS character says "Sesame Street is a production of the Children's Television Workshop".

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants :
 * On Episode 666, Bert adds a weary "Good night" at the end.
 * Episode 406 features Cookie Monster, after saying the line, adding "...whatever that is."
 * Episode 810 has Count von Count adding "Ah ah ah, bye-bye!" after saying the spiel.
 * When Maria would announce the sponsors, she would typically add "Adios!" after saying the line.
 * On Episode 4, after the voice-over was heard, Oscar adds, "You call this a production? It looks like it was produced by Big Bird! Talk about eggs!"
 * On Episode TBA, 2 people (Old Man and Woman) say the voice-over and the old man says "The Children's Television Workshop? I didn't know that." After that, the woman chuckles.

Availability : While 1969-1983 (Seasons 1-Season 14) Sesame Street episodes are no longer aired on TV, this logo can be found on the Sesame Street: Old School DVD box sets.

Scare Factor : Depending all on the variant used, but minimal for the most part.

2nd Logo (The Electric Company Custom Logo)

(1971-1977)

Nickname : "The Electric Company Logo"

Logo : On episodes of The Electric Company, the closing credits always featured the animated opening title to the show, in which the logo is seen in a cloud-like shape which in turn is seen with several cloud-like shapes and a box that's connected to both sides of the screen. The words "THE ELECTRIC COMPANY" wave, wiggle, and change to the words "THE CHILDREN'S TELEVISION WORKSHOP" in orange. Afterwards, the box-like shape would open up and allow the CTW logo to wiggle away.

Variants :
 * On seasons 1-2, this logo was just two stills of "THE ELECTRIC COMPANY" and "THE CHILDREN'S TELEVISION WORKSHOP" in the cloud-shape. The text was also in white.
 * On Episode 290, as the words "The Electric Company" transition into "The Children's Television Workshop", a series of four blue Scanimated lightning bolts (which appeared during the opening title graphic) converged toward the center and then retracted; once the voiceover said "The Children's Television Workshop", the logo stayed on screen a few seconds longer than usual, then immediately cut away to the copyright slide; the box did not open up, and the words did not disappear into the center of the screen.

FX/SFX : The words changing/zooming away, the box opening up. Typical Scanimate effects.

Cheesy Factor : This logo is a very obvious product of the 1970s, with the tie-dye-ish design of the box and the clouds and the pattern seen on the words inside.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over : The closing theme was usually heard, and a character from the TV show would always say, "The Electric Company gets its power from...the Children's Television Workshop."

Availability : Although the original The Electric Company is no longer on TV, the logo can be found on the show's two "best of" DVDs, released in 2006.

Scare Factor : Minimal. Some may be rattled by the logo design and the voice-over, but it's a pretty funky logo overall.

3rd Logo (1978-1983, 1988-1989)

Nicknames : "The Orange Snake", "The (Orange) CTW Snake," "The CTW Box", "Cheesy CTW"

Logo : On a black background, four vertical orange rectangles appear in the center of the screen and start transforming into the letters in "ctw" simultaneously. The rectangle on the left stretches slightly to the right and left until it forms a square, then curves to the top and bottom to form a "c". The rectangle in the middle stretches on all sides vertically and horizontally until it resembles a cross with the top right corner slightly bent, then the bottom side stretches out some more and curves to the right to form a lower case "t". The two rectangles on the far right stretch in opposite horizontal directions until they connect each other in the middle with a bend in one of the quadrilateral corners for emphasis. The two quadrilaterals, along with the middle right corner of the "t", stretch to the bottom to form the "w". The small blue text CHILDREN'S TELEVISION WORKSHOP appears in the top left corner where the "t" and "w" connect.

Variants :
 * On the first two seasons of 3-2-1 Contact, the closing logo is still (the animated version appeared at the beginning as an opening logo).
 * There was a filmed variant where the forming-rectangle animation was much slower, and among finishing, the blue text appears above it. The videotaped variant as seen on 3-2-1 Contact speeds up the forming animation, then freezes on the finished "CTW" logo for a few seconds until the "Children's Television Workshop" text appears above it.
 * Some early episodes of 3-2-1 Contact had the 'CTW' words in a pinkish-red color and the "CHILDREN'S TELEVISION WORKSHOP" text in bright green (Though this could be from film quality)
 * An in-credit version appears on the 1979 10th anniversary special, A Walking Tour of Sesame Street.
 * Another in-credit version appears with the NOS logo in blue on 1988 episodes of Sesamstraat.
 * There is a still version on a navy blue background where the logo is orange, has a white outline, and is still. Below is the text "a public service message from NBC". This variant is seen on the 1982 NBC PSA, Betcha Don't Know.

FX/SFX : The rectangles stretching.

Cheesy Factor : The cel animation is a bit cheesy, especially in the videotaped variant.

Music/Sounds : A pitter-pattery synthesizer tune which sounds like outer-space music, and once the logo completes, we hear a "ding" at the end to mark the appearance of the "Children's Television Workshop" text. This typically accompanied the videotaped variant.

Music/Sound Variant : On Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, we hear a dreamy 8-note tune accompanied by bells and strings. This was used with the filmed variant of the logo.

Availability : Extremely rare/near extinction; It used to be on the first 2 seasons of 3-2-1 Contact, but was plastered with the Sesame Workshop "House of Boredom" logo on 2000-2003 airings on Noggin. DVD releases of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street have also deleted it, so the special starts with no logo. However, this can be found on older Random House VHS prints of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (Sony Wonder VHS prints replace it with the next logo and DVD releases have no logos).

Scare Factor : Low to medium, due to its cheesy animation, creepy electronic music, and the dark environment. The design of the logo wasn't the easiest to look at either. The Christmas variant is slightly tamer, though. Some may like both variants for their atmosphere. But it's not as bad as the next one...

4th Logo (1983-1997)

Nicknames : "Sparks", "Sparks of Doom", "The CTW Sparks", "Tinnitus Sparks", "Cheesy CTW II", "Cheesy Sparks"

Logo : On a black background, a spark flies across the top left corner of the screen, writing the word "CHILDREN'S" in blue. It shifts to the middle left corner and writes "TELEVISION". Then it shifts to the bottom left corner and writes "WORKSHOP". A ray of light flies from the bottom of the screen and "explodes". The logo "glitters". All the words are written in ITC Busorama

Variants :
 * On 3-2-1 Contact and the first season of Big Bag, the logo is already formed. The latter also featured the end "glittering" animation on the logo. This variant was (surprisingly) also found at the end of a PBS airing of Elmo Says BOO!
 * On Sesame Street VHS releases from Random House Home Video, this fades to the My Sesame Street Home Video logo when finished.
 * On 1993 video releases of Plaza Sésamo, the logo is shown on the bottom right of the screen with the Televisa logo at the top left. On 1995 episodes, both logos are in 3D and sometimes spin around each other.
 * On non-USA airings of Koki, there is an in-credit variant.
 * On a 1988 pledge-drive special of Sesame Street (later released on video as Put Down the Duckie), the logo is superimposed over the end of the final scene.
 * A rare still variant on a dark blue background can be seen at the end of Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1983.
 * On CD-ROM games (such as Sesame Street Letters and Sesame Street Numbers), the logo is white and is still. This variant uses a black background, but Sesame Street Art Workshop used a maroon background (due to a color scheme error). The logo is pixelated on most games, but is sometimes in HD.
 * Sesame Street Numbers uses the CD-ROM variant (due to it being a CD-ROM game) however after a couple seconds the logo folds up and the camera zooms out to reveal that it is on a balloon, which, with a few other balloons, carries up Elmo (who is holding the balloons) and reveals the game's title card.

FX/SFX : The spark writing the words, the ray of light flying and "exploding", the "glittering" of the text.

Cheesy Factor : This logo is probably more cheesy than the 3rd logo because the way the spark scrolls and come back flashing seems very cheesy, almost like a real sparkler used against a blue screen, and the light from the bottom looks like a laser, and the electronic sounds are certainly amongst what a stereotypical 1980s logo would sound like as well.

Music/Sounds : 3 electronic keyboard scales quickly descending, each one heard over the spark animations forming each word, followed by a laser zap.

Music/Sound Variants :
 * On The Best of Elmo, a series of ascending bells ending with a "clang" sound is used instead.
 * The still variant at the end of Big Bag features the end of the show's closing theme.
 * On Sesame Street games for the View-Master Interactive Vision, the logo is silent.
 * The CD-ROM variant uses the opening theme of the game, however Sesame Street Letters and Sesame Street Numbers use the original 1969-1992 Sesame Street theme song.

Availability : Rare; it used to be on 3-2-1 Contact, various Sesame Street productions (not including the main series itself) and a few other shows from the company, but the "House of Boredom" logo has plastered itself to most older CTW shows when they were reran on Noggin. However, this logo can be found on older 1980s and early 1990s Sesame Street and 3-2-1 Contact tapes, and the "ascending bells" variant was spotted on a DVD release of Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration. It's longevity is amazing, having being used for 14 years and surviving into the late 90's when CGI was dominating.

Scare Factor : Depending on the variant:
 * Original Version : Medium to high. The electronic music and light effects are bound to get quite a few. Also, it's an absolute eyesore for some people who don't like black backgrounds.
 * The Best of Elmo Variant : Low; the music, while loud, is less scary, but the visual effects are still a bit ominous.
 * Still Variant : None to low.
 * Silent Variant : Absolutely none.

5th Logo (Sesame Street Custom Logo 2)

(1983-1984)

Logo : Superimposed on the screen is an outline of the Sesame Street logo in orange, yellow, or white.(the position varies depending on the episode). This is followed by the CTW logo in its usual font, in that same color.

Variant : Some episodes have the CTW logo horizontally arranged (similar to the next custom logo).

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor : The logos appearing and disappearing. Very simple and crude effects.

Music/Sounds : Same as the first Sesame Street custom logo.

Availability : Uncommon; this was used for a short time, and can be found at the end of Sesame Street episodes from the time period. Check your old tapes!

Scare Factor : None.

6th Logo (Sesame Street Custom Logo 3)

(1984-1995)